When I’m stuck in Linux or just want to learn about a distribution, I turn to these community resources first.
If you need help with Linux, try these outlets.
You might not get an answer immediately, but one will come.
These are all free to join and enjoy (just watch out for trolls).
Linux is about community, and it has been for a very long time.
Without community, I’m not sure if Linux would be where it is today. When I first started using Linux in the late 90s, I turned to old-school solutions (such as bulletin boards) and found all the help I needed.
Seriously, without those communities, I wouldn’t be here writing this so you could find the help you need. On the occasional instance when I need to find a solution to a problem, I generally turn to one of three things: Forums, social media groups, and mailing lists.
The only reason I place mailing lists last is that the answers aren’t always as immediate as I need. The good thing about mailing lists, however, is that you don’t have to wade through all the spam or dig through different sub-forums to find what you’re looking for.Forums
As I said earlier, forums are my go-to. Why? One of the biggest reasons is that you can almost always find a forum for your specific distribution, desktop environment, or even general forums. Forums are a great place not only to find help, but also to make connections with other users, developers, and distribution or environment maintainers.
Keep in mind that every forum has its own rules, but generally speaking, be courteous, polite, and stay on topic. If you’re using a specific distribution and you run into problems, find that distribution’s dedicated forum and join. If you have general Linux questions, there are forums for that as well.
Here are some of my favorite Linux forums that are sure to give you the help you need.
Linux Forums: This is a collection of Linux forums that cover just about any topic you can imagine.
Stack Exchange: Another general Linux forum. This one isn’t broken into categories, so it’s a bit more challenging to find questions to help with whatever problem you need. However, there’s a lot to be learned here.
Just Linux: Another general Linux forum. This one is broken into categories and is very easy to navigate.
Linux Mint Community: This is the forum dedicated to Linux Mint.
Arch Community: The official Arch forum.
Ask Ubuntu: This is one of the first forums I tend to visit, especially given how many distributions are based on Ubuntu.
Fedora Forum: If you need help with Fedora, this is a great place to start.
KDE Discuss: If KDE Plasma is your desktop environment of choice, visit this forum.
GNOME Discourse: If GNOME is your desktop environment of choice, start here.Social media groups
Social media isn’t going anywhere, so we may as well embrace it.
I’m not going to list sites like Bluesky (or that other, similar one) because there aren’t really groups, only hashtags. That being said, there are plenty of social media groups dedicated to Linux topics, and here are some of my favorites.
Reddit r/linux: A general group that is always helpful. Just be careful of the trolls.
Mastodon – Gaming On Linux: If you’re into gaming, this is the social media group to join.
Mastodon – GNOME: A very handy group for GNOME.
Facebook – Linux: My favorite general Linux group on Facebook.
Facebook – Ubuntu: If Ubuntu is your distro, join this group.
Facebook – Fedora Linux: Fedora? Yes. Join this.
Facebook – Linux Mint: Since Linux Mint doesn’t have mailing lists, try this.
Facebook – KDE: This KDE Facebook group is a great place to start for Plasma.
Facebook – Linux Fans Group: This is a general group, so join if you have general Linux questions.
Facebook – Red Hat: This group is more aligned with business usage.
Facebook – Pop!_OS: This is a very active group dedicated to the System76 operating system.Mailing lists
At one point, I was a member of nearly every distribution mailing list on the planet. Eventually, I had to cut back to only those mailing lists that pertained to the distribution I was using (or the distribution that my distribution was based on). Not every distribution has a mailing list (such as Linux Mint and GNOME), but those that do are still fairly active.
If you don’t mind waiting to get the answers to your questions, mailing lists are a great option. Just remember not to „bottom post.“
Arch Linux Mailing Lists: If you use Arch or any distribution based on Arch, try this.
Ubuntu Mailing Lists: I’ve been on this list for years.
Kernel Newbies: Aspiring Linux kernel developers.
Debian Mailing Lists: Since Debian is the „mother of all distros“, this can be a hotbed of questions and answers.
Gentoo Linux Mailing Lists: You probably don’t use Gentoo, but if you do, join this list because there will be other highly passionate people.
Rocky Linux Mailing Lists: If you use Rocky Linux as your server OS, join this list.
KDE Mailing Lists: The KDE mailing list is one of the best places to get help for KDE Plasma (if you don’t mind the wait).