Not really, but this is a reply to most comments here about the video so without seeing the video and reading some of the other comments you are missing a lot of context. In the video Linus shows several different sites that recommend Pop, he even looks for recent sites written by people specifically because he got some bad comments about using listacle articles before. He also asks chatGPT, and while that’s not exactly reliable it is based on average messages online so it’s not fully random. Also, like I pointed out, the community we’re using to discuss this also lists is as recommended, which goes to show it’s not a fluke of the sites he used but that it is generally recommend broadly.
The fact that he asks ChatGPT should tell you all you need to know about his professionalism.
Besides, all top 10 websites that are returned by i.e. Google Search list either Ubuntu or Linux Mint as the best choice for beginners.
He also looked at several sites before asking chatGPT to see what other options it would recommend, and he specifically says he asks it because that’s what a lay person would do, in those eyes I would say that a journalist that doesn’t ask chatGPT for this would be a bad one. Also, these are the first 3 links from my search:
All 3 of them list Pop, so it’s not surprising that someone looks at 6 different sites, sees multiple recommendations, one of which appears in all 6 of them and at the top for gaming specific ones and decides to use it.
You might not like it, you might have issues with it, but to say it’s not widely recommended is disingenuous.
Not really, but this is a reply to most comments here about the video so without seeing the video and reading some of the other comments you are missing a lot of context. In the video Linus shows several different sites that recommend Pop, he even looks for recent sites written by people specifically because he got some bad comments about using listacle articles before. He also asks chatGPT, and while that’s not exactly reliable it is based on average messages online so it’s not fully random. Also, like I pointed out, the community we’re using to discuss this also lists is as recommended, which goes to show it’s not a fluke of the sites he used but that it is generally recommend broadly.
The fact that he asks ChatGPT should tell you all you need to know about his professionalism.
Besides, all top 10 websites that are returned by i.e. Google Search list either Ubuntu or Linux Mint as the best choice for beginners.
He also looked at several sites before asking chatGPT to see what other options it would recommend, and he specifically says he asks it because that’s what a lay person would do, in those eyes I would say that a journalist that doesn’t ask chatGPT for this would be a bad one. Also, these are the first 3 links from my search:
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/1lpmmwj/what_is_the_best_linux_distro_for_mostly_gaming/
Top comment says Pop.
https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/top-linux-gaming-distributions-2026-play-better-open-source
First item is SteamOS, the one after that is Pop.
https://www.interserver.net/tips/kb/6-best-linux-distros-for-gaming-and-playing-windows-games/
N°1 on the List is Pop
Even being generic about best distro for beginners without mentioning gaming at all
https://linuxblog.io/best-linux-distro/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/the-best-linux-distros-for-beginners-in-2025-make-switching-from-macos-or-windows-easy/
https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/top-linux-distributions-beginners-friendly-stable-and-easy-learn
All 3 of them list Pop, so it’s not surprising that someone looks at 6 different sites, sees multiple recommendations, one of which appears in all 6 of them and at the top for gaming specific ones and decides to use it.
You might not like it, you might have issues with it, but to say it’s not widely recommended is disingenuous.