johngault007 wrote:
Ubuntu and Mint are probably the most stable distributions for users that are not as computer savvy. Most printers and hardware drivers have some or full support, and have Live OS like mentioned above where you can try it before installing. Both have extensive repositories for additional software and have a fairly intuitive installation GUI if one is not comfortable in command line environments.
Keep in mind, that Linux does not support all the creature comforts that Microsoft and Apple have built into the user experience. Gaming and commercial programs are still not fully supported for top shelf software, but that is sort of the point for open source environments.
I would never try to sway anyone away from their comfort zone unless they fully intend to move from Windows or MacOS. I didn't choose Linux for photography, it's sort of been my choice in OS for over a decade, and it fits my other purposes just fine.
Dual-boot (partitioning) is always an option, but I've never had 100% success when mixing Linux with say, Windows 10. The boot loader for linux, which by default is GRUB, will load anything you point it to, but Windows doesn't play well in mixed environments and will eventually try to overwrite a system with it's own boot loader, forcing the user to spend time on keyboard fixing the issue, or keeping the GRUB bootloader on disk or USB drive for easy starts. Again, that has been my experience with it, mileage may vary for other users.
I do love DarkTable, and the more I learn, the easier it is to produce results I am looking for. It's very powerful, and underrated mostly because users don't give it a proper amount of time investment, which is fine. But, if someone is comfortable with Adobe, or another software company, I probably wouldn't try to convert anyone, it's just not worth the "my stuff is better than your stuff" discussions. All modern software is very capable.
Ubuntu and Mint are probably the most stable distr... (
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I use Mint. Have for a long time now. It just works. Install add your apps (if they are not already there) and go. There is a learning curve but it is not too bad. Comparable to going from Windows to Mac or vice versa. It is just different. It is as polished as any OS and no you don't need to write code in a terminal to use it. Another bonus is it is far more secure than either of the two main stream OS's.