MX Linux Forum

In a way, this is a "testimonial" that deserves to be heard out.

At about the 17:33 min. mark in this recent video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzJjxxSrPCY
Rob Braxman (of security fame) explains why he can't recommend MX XFCE to newbies.
Like the other examples in this video, his report is based on VM tests.

Of these 7 (?) distros tested, Ubuntu MATE, Pop_OS and Zorin seem to come out favored.

This is not a shocker. Jesse Smith has written of his preference for Mint over MX for true newbies--which I think is probably a correct call.

Guess that also explains Tom's (Switched to Linux) rather dry comment on MX.

Mint is truly a newbie's starter, but man!
Who can beat MX installation process in less than 5 min., the kind support forum and the vast, well cured selection or apps and tweaks?

Still, always something to learn from people's comments.

Think Pop_OS is onto something with that Rust twist...

I so glad that I watched a what? 25min video filled with 15 mins of peddling crap, 5mins of forced YouTube Ads to monetize more, than 5mins of 30sec farts on a few Distros.

Click bait alert I say.

Comparing this or even referencing the Switched to Linux video isn’t even close and unfair to Switched to Linux which was legitimate.

MX is perfectly fine if new Linux users, my wife and grandma included.

Mint is a great Distro for new and regular Linux users.

Pop… that’s for people who can’t read warnings and hose their whole system because they think they are smart, then whine like babies and say APT is broken because the Distro didn’t actually test a package before putting it in their repositories.

Mate distribution? circa 17 min point.
ADDED: Really a poor, superficial, and prejudiced review. He likes what he likes. Waste of my time, really.
ADDED+: I switched a small school's desktops and a computer lab from Mint to MX; my wife too.

First third or so of this "review" is spent on pushing his own stuff, then lots of blah blah and minutes on end installing virtualbox (without, strangely, mentioning getting the appropriate service pack as well), and creating guest machines. WTF? Then, more blah, followed by about just over a minute on each distro he's looking at. Here, his focus appears to be on whether he likes the icons, and how much CPU is used to run a video. Really?

And if icons and looks are your prime concern, it might be worth pointing out to newbies that you can customize the hell out of most distros (especially ones which aren't Gnome or elementary) to make them look any which way you like. This guy gives the impression that you're stuck with what you get, and if the icons aren't pretty or what he deems to be the right size, that's the end of it. I don't call that a review. And what about all the kind of questions newbies may have, like update and upgrade procedures, installing programs, stability, software solutions? He only ever mentions libreoffice, like whether or not that's preinstalled decides the fate of a distro!

Finally, I'm not sure it's fair to dismiss a distro because as a vbox guest it doesn't play videos without occasional stuttering. How does the distro perform on real hardware? Isn't that what counts? I see this as a complete waste of time!

Ah well.. I wouldn't recommend windows to newbies either, but what can I do

Personally, I don't care what people recommend. It's a good thing there are choices. :)

@Eadwine Rose i would`t recommend windows to anyone!

I didn't know who Rob Braxman is, so I did a search for "rob braxman" and got 207,000 hits -- all of which seem to be self serving:

https://www.google.com/search?q=rob+bra ... e&ie=UTF-8

it's as though he has expunged the internet of anything critical. I'll pass.

Eadwine Rose wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 3:19 am
Personally, I don't care what people recommend. It's a good thing there are choices. :)

+1, ... Freedom first ;-)

+2, ... to @Eadwine Rose and freedom first!

Had no intention to criticize Tom's report which was good.
Just didn't give me a sense of enthusiasm.

Given the number of comments on his Youtube, will be curious to see how Rob handles his next comments on Linux distros.

VPN definitely not the way to go, but at least as a mostly Linux server "geek" he did not show any bias.

I can't understand why "Linux newbie" still means someone who is new to Linux, but has casually used Windows for tens of thousands of hours.

There are more and more people who start using a personal computer later in their lives, than there were 20 years ago.
People are forming opinions regarding technology at an earlier age than they did 20 years ago.
Therefore, there are more and more "pure newbies" at using a PC who want to chose an OS according to their needs.

The "Windows lookalike" edge is less and less relevant.

Dedoimedo, on the other hand gave the KDE version a very positive review, 9/5 of 10 no less!

What does newbie mean though? I was newbie when I started with MEPIS almost 18 years ago, it went well. I don't think MX is harder than MEPIS was at that time, it certainly has more features and improvements. So a newbie like I was 18 years ago would not like MX? Are we talking about computer-phobic people or people who have the courage and are able to install an operating system? I find this "not recommended to newbie" insulting to newbies, not to MX... maybe newbies that listen to this kind of reviews should not use MX anyway. I see this as a win-win.

Adrian wrote: Sat Nov 20, 2021 4:19 pm ... I find this "not recommended to newbie" insulting to newbies ...

Totally agree with you Adrian.

I think the MX tools would be very helpful to newbies, especially MXPI. Does Mint have anything like that?

I think there's a difference between newbie, which implies there is a learning curve of some kind, (at some point you are no longer new) and people who expect zero learning. In the case of the latter they really just want to stay with what they "know," or essentially are conditioned for/used to - isn't that why Windows lookalike UI out of the box is "needed"? That effectively mean resistance to deliberate learning, and learning by definition always involves something new. Todays consumer facing product culture prompts people to assume it is always zero learning as if tech is an extension of nature.

Heck I haven't even learned that much, but where maybe someone may give up because there isn't a pretty GUI solution I have been able to get something done doing a little one time research, the minimum to do what I need. I have no doubt in my Windows days I wasted way more time on non-essential stuff.