And recommend them Linux Mint instead:

Linux Mint and Ubuntu share a lot in common. However for new users (who come from Windows) there are two big Pros for Ubuntu and one big Con. First, I'll start with the Pros:

1) Ubuntu is the officially supported distro
If a software developer decides to support Linux, usually all of their testing will be done on Ubuntu

2) There are much more tutorials written for Ubuntu, compared to Linux Mint:
When a new user runs into a problem, first thing he will usually do is google the solution. He is guarantied to find way more results when looking for: How to do XY on Ubuntu, than when looking for: How to do XY on Linux Mint.

So far it looks like Ubuntu is the clear winner here. Now for the Con:

GNOME
Please dear GNOME users and lovers, don't start sharpen your pitchfork yet. Yes yes, I know, you love your GNOME and can't see how anyone could ever prefer something like Cinnamon instead. And you know what, I hated GNOME at first, but after using it for a year, I now quite like it too. However, try to look at this from perspective of a user, who is coming from Windows. GNOME is very different from Windows DE and Ubuntufied GNOME even more so. Not to mention, GNOME is opinionated: You either do things the GNOME way, or no way. Even for some basic behavior, if the user doesn't like how GNOME does it, chances are, he will not find it in Settings, but will need to find and install an extension.

So for a new user (from Windows) that makes it: An unfamiliar environment, which you can't easily change to a more familiar one. And because we know how important familiarity with something is for most users, chances are, this plus the fact that it can't be easily changed will lead to frustration and eventually them coming back to Windows.

This is especially true, when it comes to "non-tech" users. I am a Linux enthusiast, so I often tell people about Linux and how great it is. And I already had 4 unrelated non-tech users tell me this:
- "Yeah, I tried Linux, I didn't like it"
- "What do you mean, tried Linux? Which distro?"
- "Linux"
- "Me explaining about Linux and distros"
- "Yeah, I just didn't like it, I'll stick with Windows"

What you have to realize is, that most "non-tech" users don't know what distros are and have no idea that one OS can (from their perspective) look and behave completely differently depending on the DE. That's why it makes way more sense for them to start on Cinnamon, which is made exactly for the purpose of Windows users being familiar with it, when compared to starting with GNOME.



So let's sum it up. On one hand, you have a big Con for Ubuntu which is unfamiliarity of new users with GNOME. On the other hand, you have better support and more tutorials for Ubuntu. However.. Since Linux Mint itself is based on Ubuntu, it is very unlikely that anything a new user would want to do will work on Ubuntu and not work on Mint. As for tutorials, chances are, that a new user will search for "How to do XY on Linux" and not "How to do XY on Ubuntu/Mint anyway, so it doesn't matter that much. I would say those are quite small cons against throwing a new user to a completely unfamiliar, opinionated environment like GNOME.


What are your thoughts about this? Do you disagree with me? If so, I would love to hear your opinion, as I think it is civilized discussions on controversial topics like this, which moves us forward. I promise I will try my best to be open-minded and understand your POV to the best of my abilities.