An "old school" Linux user, the same user who will try to get you, a Windows user, to try to use the terminal for everything, comparable to trying to get you to use Microsoft PowerShell for everything, will tell you Gnome is this wonderful graphical user interface (GUI).
You want KDE Plasma. Trust me. Most of the basic settings and point and click functions, you're seeking, are not going to be in Gnome by default, out of the box. Can it be customized and included with some effort? Sure, anything can be changed with some effort. But as a newbie, I'm assuming the word "effortless" is something you may favor a little more.
That same, "old school" Linux user is likely someone who told you: "Linux Mint is great for newbies" I am sorry to say, you were incorrectly informed.
Have you ever tried to make a copy of a copy? That's Linux Mint. It starts from Debian which is forked to Ubuntu, which is later forks to Mint Linux. You have far too many upstream developments, and like any software, occasionally bugs happen, but in Mint it happens more frequently because you have the issue from Debian or Ubuntu or Mint or a random combination of one or more into a "hot mess".
On top of this, most of the people within the Linux Mint community are "old school" users who will insist you learn and use the terminal for everything, within that "hot mess" of a broken up system. That is comparable to a 1st computer user, being told to use Microsoft PowerShell for everything. Sure, you can, but would you want to?
There are far better alternatives, for example, Ultramarine Linux (I suggest the KDE build).
1st, all the drivers and firmware and non-free media codecs and repos, are already included. You don't have to set any of that up. 2nd, if you know how to use an app store, you can use the one provided with Ultramarine Linux. 3rd, everything from adding a printer to changing user settings or setting up an optional firewall, DNS, VPN, etc. just with a mouse click. 4th, go ahead and download an RPM package, and double-click, it will install just as easily as a Windows Setup File.
Ultramarine Linux is just 1 out of many possible distros you can use, without all the nonsense. There really are better alternatives than Linux Mint.
"But... but.... I used the Debian Edition of Mint"
Which they hardly support. The problem with their Debian Edition is they make their modification and then that's it. You're getting all your patches from Debian, which sounds good on principle, as it doesn't have so much upstream, but those modifications which Mint made are outside Debian, and whatever may be broken, stays broken, long-term, and are exclusive to Mint Debian, while they focus on their Ubuntu based copy. And of course, it is the same "old school" community that want you, a newbie, who knows nothing, and wanted an easy experience, to use the terminal for everything.
As a newbie, Mint Linux or Linux Mint (however you call it), is not the newbie friendly Linux distro you have been led to believe. I can build Linux from source, something I don't expect a newbie to do, but even I have found Mint frustrating at times, because it is a "hot mess".
But I digress. There are (many) better alternatives out there and if your 1st experience with Linux was Linux Mint and you gave up shortly afterward, I can understand as to why.
IN before the Linux Mint groupies claim how wrong I am, but YOU, who gave up after trying Mint, decide for yourself, by trying something else.
@Linux
If you use LMDE, what the heck have to do Ubuntu in all this?
Let me remind you, ultramarin is based in another distro that is based in another distro too ......
Why would you want to use the terminal? cause when you break your system, the terminal usually is the only way to fix it.
Anyway, I'm glad that you found a distro that suits you. Enjoy it!!
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