What distro should I use

Hi I started running Linux for desktop less than a year ago coming from Windows. I have a Lenovo Legion five and when I first got it anything I looked up said Ubuntu was the only thing that worked on it. I’m wanting to try something else specifically Fedora, does anybody have a legion five with Linux on it? If so what are you running?

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“What distro shoud I use”

You should use the distro that makes you want to use Linux the most and that answer will be different for everyone. I’d be careful with listening to praise as it’s often delivered without much context, something can be amazing but assumes you have X knowledge and are looking for Y.

Ubuntu is among a few distros that ship proprietary drivers by default so it makes it very good at “just working”, A LOT of distros are also based on it so they tend to share the same level of compatibility.

If your hardware doesn’t work you can usually install these drivers manually on other distros straight from the repo. It may take a bit of tinkering but if you share it here we can help you out.

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While distro makes a difference in what your Linux experience will be, it’s not nearly as impactful as desktop environment. So, I’d use few most popular DE’s for a bit, see which one you like the most and pick a distro that has a good support for it.

Also I’d go with something Debian/Ubuntu (Elementary, Mint, KDE Neon, most distros really) based as it usually makes installing software from outside of repository easier.

Personally I use KDE Neon, because I’m big KDE fan and sometimes even contribute to KDE with code. It has all new features fast, but regressions also happen from time to time, so might not be the best KDE distribution for beginners.

I used to have pretty good experience with Pop!_OS (GNOME) and if you want to try Arch based system Manjaro has good reputation.

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Have you considered multi-booting with three or four distros/DEs and seeing which one you spend the most time in?

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thanks I will look into Neon.

I think there are a lot of reasons to use various distros, the problem with this question is that we really need more details as to what kind of experience do you want. Do you want a Windows-like interface, Mac-like, or something unique? This will have an affect on the suggestion.


In response to your comment about considering KDE Neon.

There are many options as others have said but when it comes to KDE Plasma as the DE, the best distro to start with for that is Kubuntu.

I would highly recommend avoiding KDE Neon for many reasons but the biggest reason is that it is built for developers first and foremost. Yes, they have a “user edition” but in my opinion, they shouldn’t because they focus solely on the KDE stack and everything else they just pull in from Ubuntu for better or for worse. This means that upgrades can be rather painful. Sure, you won’t experience this pain for at least 6-8 months from now but it has been a consistent issue. I would hope the KDE team would stop making a “user edition” because it’s not really for users and it certainly is not for people relatively new to Linux.

also while not really necessary to say, I feel like I have to because of all the hype it has . . . no one should start with Arch. Arch is specifically for experienced users and nothing based on it should be used by beginners of any level.


I have a different perspective on this part. This was true for many years but with the introduction of Flatpaks, Snaps, and AppImages the out of repo access is kind of irrelevant these days. PPAs are almost unused these days so you can kind of apply this to all of the major distros.

Yeah I have been listening to enough podcasts and watching enough YouTube to know I shouldn’t mess with Arch. I was just posting to get a feel for what people were using and what they suggested, maybe see if anyone was using the same laptop then do some research into the distros. Going into this I thought I would have problems with something other than a Windows layout but after a brief stent on Linux Mint I have been using Ubuntu with out any real problems. I just want to try something else to see how it works for me. I use my computer mostly to work on college projects, edit videos, and record podcasts and jam sessions.

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