I’m currently on Arch, but my first distro was Linux Mint. Linux Mint eased my transition into the Linux world, as it looked and behaved almost the same as Windows. You can avoid terminal commands completely thanks to the GUI apps that the Mint team includes for updating, installing, and removing packages.
I switched to Arch because one of the benefits of Arch is that it forces you to become familiar with the various different components that make up a Linux distro. When you install Mint, pretty much everything is included out of the box. You may have to install a few proprietary drivers here and there, depending on your HW config, but overall, you get everything you need to start using your computer. You don’t have to concern yourself with a lot of things. Arch is different. Even with the archinstall command that you can use to simplify the installation process, you still have much to do post-install. Audio drivers, package manager, Bluetooth, productivity apps, customization options, WiFi drivers, to name a few. And even after that, when you start daily driving Arch, you still may encounter issues that would require you to do some troubleshooting via reading the Arch Wiki or looking for similar problems on Arch forums. It can be a headache at times, but I personally feel it’s worth it.
I’m not familiar with OpenSUSE or Manjaro, but if you are familiar with Ubuntu, then I would recommend either Linux Mint or Pop OS. Both are Ubuntu-based, and Pop OS has a Desktop Environment that is very similar to macOS. Pop OS is also suited for gaming with Steam, but then again, I think Steam works well on any Linux distro. The team behind Pop OS is currently doing some major revamps to the OS, but these changes are not yet released for stable use.
If you are building a new machine, I highly recommend you check to see if your HW will be compatible with Linux. You might want to pay close attention to the GPU and Wifi card. NVIDIA requires special drivers to work with Linux, while AMD works out of the box. As for the Wifi cards, depending on the wifi drivers that are installed in the distro, you may have to tinker a bit to get that to work. I recommend having the option to use Ethernet at the time you are setting up the distro, just so you have internet access to download what you need.
Based on my experience, I think you can. Many distros nowadays offer ways to do things without the use of the terminal. In Linux Mint, for example, you can rely solely on the Update Manager to update all installed applications and modules rather than using the terminal. You can also uninstall apps by right-clicking on them in the Menu and selecting the uninstall option. And finally, if you want to move files around, even to some locations that require root, you can do that using the File Explorer app (e.g. Nemo).
That being said, when I started on my Linux journey, I made it a point to actually learn some terminal commands, because I saw it as an important feature in Linux and a good skill to possess.
I quite agree. The SNES was a part of my childhood. Some of my favorite games to this day were on that platform. Donkey Kong Country 2, Mega Man X 1-3, Super Mario World, Yoshi’s Island, to name a few.
Now that you mentioned this, I do recall in the early days of mobile games, back when the App Shops were first introduced, there were games that you would pay somewhere between $1 and $5, and you get the whole thing. No in-app purchases, no ads, and no lotteries for special characters or gear. I remember Square Enix had some really good JRPG games that were made specifically for the iPhone and iPad. Chaos Rings and DrakeRider were two games I recall playing, but they were much more expensive compared to the usual games I found. But, when you paid for it, you got the whole game and all.
I think mobile app developers have realized that they could get more engagement and cash from their users if they made games that had a gambling aspect to it. Kinda like the casinos in Vegas, the house always wins, but you keep putting in money on the hopes you get a jackpot.
That being said, there is one freemium game that I do find quite fun, and that is Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe. The thing that makes this freemium game a bit different is that Square Enix is quite generous in their in-game currency. You can actually do quite well without making any in-app purchases.
Might I recommend Romancing SaGa 3 and SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions? Both of these games involve non-linear, open world explorations. As for combat, they are turn-based, so I’m not sure if that’s what you would consider a “good” combat system. Also, unlike traditional RPGs, which use a point-based system to level up and gain new skills, SaGa games involve a “Spark” system, where new techniques are learned randomly or through use of an existing technique during battles.
I would like to, but I’m running Arch with Cinnamon, and that desktop environment only has an experimental version of Wayland implemented. I’ve tried it, and it’s too buggy to be used as a daily driver.
Initially, it is quite bland, but I have already downloaded the Linux Mint themes and backgrounds, plus some other theme options that were recommended to me. So, in terms of themes, I’m okay with that.
As for the Wayland option, that is available as a selection in the Login Screen. I don’t use it very often, because it is quite buggy.
By “news”, I mean do we have any major updates, like improvements to the experimental Wayland support. From the link you shared, that minor update doesn’t really mean much to me.