Hi, I am completely new here and I’m trying hard to follow the guidelines for posting. I haven’t been able to find this topic so I’m creating a new one and hope it’s not problematic. I have put together my beautiful new framework 12 diy and need to upload an operating system. I’ve been thinking about switching to Linux for years now and the change to Windows 11 has pushed me over that edge. Here’s my questions and I hope someone can shed some light for me. I’ve read up on the various Linux distros and had finally come to the conclusion that mint looks like something that will work for me. Then just a short while ago I read that the framework 12 won’t operate in tablet mode with mint as it currently exists and it is recommended to upload Ubuntu instead. I feel like I’m back to the drawing board in terms of finding a Linux distro that will work for me as seamlessly as possible considering I don’t have a lot of time and energy for Steep learning curve for at least the next few months but I need a functional laptop in the meantime. If anyone has experience with Mint or Ubuntu on the framework 12 I would love to hear what you can tell me. My main uses right now will include handling spreadsheets and documents. I have a bunch in Microsoft Excel that I will want to have access to, and will need to generate new spreadsheets that can be converted to PDFs. I would also like to be able to run Google Earth Pro on the laptop or in tablet mode. So any thoughts or input on choosing between the two for starting out would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading this long.
Hi and welcome @desertholly! Congrats on your Framework12! 
If you want a smooth set-it-and-forget-it linux install on the Framework12 I’d recommend checking out Bluefin. Bluefin is set up for the Framework, tablet mode works perfectly and you won’t have to mess with system updates at all - that just happens automatically in the background.
Ubuntu is fine as well, but I’m having issues with tablet mode on 25.10 right now, so I’d really recommend Bluefin if you want to be on the safe side.
Hi benedolt, thank you so much for the recommendation. I had read about bluefin and liked what I saw, but then forgot about it with all of the other new information I was taking in. I think I will give that one a try. Do you have any recommendations for links for installing Bluefin to my framework 12?
(given that my linux knowledge is about at the pre-K level, lol.)
Yeah bluefin is great! Their new app store is so cool…
You can use framework’s guide on how to install bluefin here. Bazzite and bluefin are cousins and the installation is very similar. 
Just holler if you need any help.
Thank you again! I will definitely try this. I actually need to go out and purchase a clean USB I think to make this happen. So I will probably be working on it a little bit later today but I will definitely holler when I end up needing help. I think it’s going to be a “when” more than an “if” because I am so new to everything that most of what I read sounds like Martian to me
Hi again! I hope I am not being too much of a bother, and I cannot express how much I appreciate your help thus far.
I have a new USB 128g. (Probably overkill but it was way on sale.)
I have read through the bluefin gts installation page, and it’s not quite clear whether I need to download the Fedora Media Writer before downloding the bluefin os in oder to get it onto the usb from which I will boot the Framework12. That seems to be the case? If so, I am ready to download the windows installer for the Fedora Media Writer. However, there is no indication that when I click on the file, (FedoraMediaWriter-win64-5.2.8.exe) it will go to the usb drive and not try to install directly onto the laptop and potentially destroy things there. (There was a warning box that the file would delete everything on the usb drive. Hence the blank drive.) I’m more or less scared to click.
Any thoughts on continuing? (again, thanks in advance!)
Oh boy - what mess is that? My head hurts from broken links and trying to understand how Bluefin suddenly became Bazzite in this thread 
(for context: I’m a Ubuntu user and no real experience with Bluefin… also was not aware of the relation to Bazzite)
- On the FW12 both Bluefin and Bazzite are supported
- Bluefin is community supported and Bazzite is officially supported by Framework: https://frame.work/at/en/laptop12?tab=linux
- For whatever reason the Bluefin link is dead (404) - also the FW16 guide that previously was part of the Bluefin docs… not sure what’s going on there
- The Bazzite guide is available here: Bazzite Installation on the Framework Laptop 12 - Framework Guides
After getting this out of the way: which OS do you currently use @desertholly (before the actual install on your FW12… the one you need to prepare the USB stick)?
In general you download the latest ISO of Bluefin (or Bazzite) and write it to the USB stick. Then you can boot from that on your FW12.
The Bazzite guide (Step 2 + 3) explains how to prepare the USB stick on MacOS and Windows. Should be the same for Bluefin. But you have to download the Bluefin ISO instead of Bazzite:
- Go to the Bluefin website: https://projectbluefin.io
- Click the “Try out” button
- Select the GTS stream and click through the options until you see the “Download ISO” button
- Then write the ISO to the USB stick like it is explained in the linked Bazzite guide (Step 2 + 3)
- Once the USB stick is prepared you boot from it on your FW12 and follow the installer
Wolfie, thanks much!
I guess I wasn’t clear that my framework 12 is brand new and I ordered the diy so there is no os on the framework 12.
My understanding is that in order to add the bluefin os I’ll have to first download it to a usb stick on my old windows 10 laptop.
I’ve followed the first set of steps, but got stuck at what tool i actually need to use (rufus vs fedora media writer).
Unfortunately I won’t be able to implement this until next weekend, as I will be working this week where i have no reliable internet connection.
I’ll re-read your input then and see what I can accomplish.
Again, thank you!
Exactly. You download the ISO (= bluefin OS in one single file like a. zip) on your old laptop. Then you use Rufus to transfer the contents of the ISO to the usb stick. Boot from the stick on your new FW12 and it will provide the installer.
Let us know once you can try if all worked out or if you have any more questions.
It doesn’t matter, use Rufus, Fedora media writer, Balena Etcher or whatever else you prefer. No it will not destroy anything on your computer nor on the USB stick unless you tell it to.
Paulius, thank you. I’m seriously new to all of this, but jumping in and determined to learn.