On the Rome vs Rock releases for Noobs I will have to disagree. I don’t think the masses know the difference between a rolling-release and a stable release and Rome is very stable compared to Arch. Actually, it’s as stable as Fedora. But when you say your default release is one with those older Kernel numbers showing up on distrowatch you’ll find less peeps willing to dip their toes in the pool. Not saying distrowatch is the panacea of knowledge, but it is the goto for the new user. I think it’s the advanced users who have passed beyond the flashy ‘leading-edge’ kernel number and are just looking for the most stable platform possible that will target Rock, kinda like Debian (although, I could never run Debian). Me, myself, and I tend to like to tinker around a bit and run Rome. Arch isn’t really an OS. It’s more of a hobby. Sometimes I just need a computer to work.
I disagree. I’m here because of YouTux’s video. I know what a rolling vs stable releases are even from videos learning about Ubuntu, and most distro videos identify and differentiate, and go into detail when discussing Arch. On the other hand, I have no idea what a rome or a rock is.. but I’m glad to discover this distro which I never heard about, and look forward to trying it out. He recommended rome x86, so that’s what I’ll be doing.
@MattCatt Welcome!
I am hoping to be proven wrong on ROCK being what new users are looking for. 
I have not used ROCK at all. Not even in a VM. I think ROME is more than stable enough for >90% of users.
As far as what ROME is? I would say it updates about as often as openSuSE Tumbleweed Slowroll. However, I have seen times when it was updating about as often as Tumbleweed. It can vary due to how many packages the devs are pushing through. I often wonder if they sleep. As to differences in how they are built or operate, that is over my head. I’m no dev.
LOL! I love a good conversation!
@MattCatt Welcome aboard 
Well, don’t forget that we have a great Discord server. We have a voice channel where we can sit and just talk. OpenMandriva
@MattCatt @Somech Welcome to OpenMandriva! 
Jump on in, the water’s fine.
As for the Rome vs Rock debate, it really depends upon what kind of computer user you are.
Last few months I’ve been working with people who have been using computers in the workplace since the 1990s. They never change ANYTHING other than the wallpaper (maybe). Regardless of the OS.
They proudly tell me that IT puts the computer on their desk and they never change anything. Because they don’t want to break it.
OK, so they’ve been using computers for over 30 years; I’ve watched them use spreadsheets and wordprocessors. Some have even graduated to gmail, others are still using AOL mail (yahoo).
I recently was working on their systems (a mix of Win11, Mac, and Linux Mint). The LM systems were the ones I “rescued”. And then I was hounded for 3 weeks about how horrible these systems were (including Win11 & Mac) - that I broke everything. That I set them up with computers for programmers (said in snarly disgusted voices), not for normal people.
They couldn’t find anything! I destroyed their systems.
After 3 weeks and a 2 1/2 hour drive I’m back at their office. I sit down at the computers and after 20 minutes or so they say I fixed it (I didn’t do anything…I’m just looking around in the systems to find the phantom problem).
What did I do? In the file manager I had left the view settings on “details”. So when I switched the view to “icon view” suddenly they could find their stuff and the complaints vanished.
I 
you not. They didn’t know how to change the view in the freaking FILE MANAGER!!!
These are the kinds of folks you never bring to OpenMandriva. And you never, Never, NEVER give them KDE.
Linux Mint Cinnamon (default settings, no additional wallpaper, only 2 browsers - chrome & firefox, webmail only). That’s it.
And that group is NOT alone.
On the OpenMandriva side (Rock v. Rome) it boils down to what is your skillset and what is your use case.
So what do I run as my daily driver? Rock. I don’t want my main system to break. Ever. I can’t afford the downtime when I forget to drop to a tty because the X server is updating.
That’s also why I am a big fan of partition images for my system backup. Something breaks, just restore the image. Faster than trying to debug.
KDE has so many options and weird-ass bugs (fixed after forever in plasma5, broken again in plasma6) that if you’re not the kind of person who wants to (or is willing to) dig around in forums and github you’ll get frustrated and leave.
Software installation and updates are not as smooth as they are on say Mint or MX.
Ironically, the 2 programs I use the most (brave and vivaldi) are both in external repos, so they stay up to date. Everything else if I need something more up-to-date I will run it in a VM, use a flatpak/appimage, or install it manually.
Sorry for the wall of text
Love the reply, and I feel you. I once had to introduce a senior salesperson to a computer and he asked “how do I access this?”, pointing to an obvious link on the page. I told him “you have to click it” where he immediately pushed his finger to the screen (this is before touch screens). I said, “no Sir. You have to use the mouse” whereby he pressed the edge of the mouse to the screen. It was at this point that I had to walk out of the room to keep from laughing in his face.
“HELLO COMPUTER!”
I disagree with the premise of the video. Its like the guy thinks people need to be spoon-fed. “If I don’t get what I want with two clicks, I’ll just give up.”
Gimme a break.
It is two clicks now.
Off topic but mega irritating: I can never get past the captcha for Discord, how bleeping many times to I have to select the same dadgum thing? Today it is worse than ever, it will seem like it has accepted my answer and starts over with “Are you human”.
Thinking out loud:
I can guess that what the guy in the video wants is an initial new user page that focuses on one item written for those that know nothing about Linux. But that page could (and should) link to an “Advanced User” page for the other stuff.
Rock is primarily for business and server use, ROME is primarily for individual users. So to me that initial page should focus on ROME and be oriented towards explaining things to someone coming from windows. Most that already use Linux will immediately jump to the “Advanced User” page.
Personal preference: An Advanced User page that only focuses on Rock, other versions of ROME, and “official” desktops which I believe are Plasma and Gnome. LXQt seems to rough around the edges to me to be considered “official” and should be a spin. Then another page for More Advanced Users with spins and Cooker and the appropriate warnings, like “you use it, you fix it or you help fix it”. Or, “these are all experimental and considered to be in development”. Or “if you are on this page you need to be a problem solver”.
But then there is the WTF does ben79 know argument?
It was fine when I downloaded Rock just over a year ago.
If someone wants to be spoon-fed Linux, they can use Ubuntu, or whatever.
BTW thanks for recommending that Foxclone utility on the other thread. Very handy indeed!
If I can leave a little, very little, small sugestion?
We have a button for OM Rock 6.0
a button for the ROME version in the same with indication to show which version that button downloads.
And done.
Just that. For people who just want to click 1 time and done.
I got the same impression. He believes everyone who knows how to get into the UEFI settings can’t read a web page’s instructions. However…
…he is correct about people needing to be spoon fed. The truth is most people still need to be spoon fed, despite Windows 95 being 30 years in the past.
Three weeks ago a 100% computer-declined friend came to me crying because his crossover SUV erased his flash drive containing his music files. Why? Because he ignored the vehicle manufacturer’s instructions that told him to never say “YES” to any email or text message received regarding software upgrades. “NOW FIX IT FOR ME BECAUSE I CAN’T BECAUSE I STILL USE ITUNES ON SPYWARE 10!” Then he walks away and leaves the Spyware 10 computer and flash drive with me. Yes, he used his Android phone to make the connection to install malware on his vehicle. Guess who’s vehicle spent a week at the dealer’s shop getting a clean software install? Yes, the vehicle’s newly installed malware erases the contents of every flash drive stuck into the radio’s USB port.
Three months ago he was trying to connect his Android phone to his Spyware 10 computer. The Android’s cable is USB-C. The computer has only USB-A. “Why isn’t it working?”
Yes. They exist. Scary, isn’t it? Thankfully, of all my friends, only I know how to get into UEFI settings. Just think if that knowledge was freely available, what chaos would happen. Oh. Wait. Never mind. It is available, if only people took the time to learn how to read.
< sigh > Even if they know how to, they refuse to do so
I blame America’s “adjukashun sistum” and the parents for the ability to not read.
Yesterday I went for a walk at the local nature center, as I frequently do because I don’t wish to die early like the majority of people I went to school with. Every entrance has a huge sign, “No bicycles, skateboards, rollerskates, rollerblades, scooters. NO E-BIKES!” So what do I encounter? Three 12 year old idiots on E-bikes flying through the park, almost running over an elderly couple in their 80s. I got them stopped because I don’t run over too easily, as one of them found out when I stopped him too fast and he kept going while the e-bike stopped. Sort of like how Wile E. Coyote keeps on going after his rocket crashes into a boulder and he flies over the top only to go over the cliff. I was going to chew them out, but the elderly couple beat me to it and let them know that they don’t have enough functioning brain cells to know how to read. I can always count on little old ladies who appear harmless to inflict verbal destruction on teens and pre-teens.
He’s not kidding…
— Daisy May “Granny” Moses, mother-in-law of Buddy Ebsen’s character Jed Clampett on the long-running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies; played by Irene Ryan (1902–1973)
I’ll just leave this here:
