this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024
85 points (94.7% liked)

Linux

8119 readers
24 users here now

Welcome to c/linux!

Welcome to our thriving Linux community! Whether you're a seasoned Linux enthusiast or just starting your journey, we're excited to have you here. Explore, learn, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for open-source software and the endless possibilities it offers. Together, let's dive into the world of Linux and embrace the power of freedom, customization, and innovation. Enjoy your stay and feel free to join the vibrant discussions that await you!

Rules:

  1. Stay on topic: Posts and discussions should be related to Linux, open source software, and related technologies.

  2. Be respectful: Treat fellow community members with respect and courtesy.

  3. Quality over quantity: Share informative and thought-provoking content.

  4. No spam or self-promotion: Avoid excessive self-promotion or spamming.

  5. No NSFW adult content

  6. Follow general lemmy guidelines.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
MigratingtoLemmy@lemmy.world
85
Thinking about making the switch and need some advice. (lemmy.ca)
submitted 3 weeks ago by TJDetweiler@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.world
52 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Hi all,

As the title states, I'm interested in making the switch from Windows to Linux. I know absolutely nothing about Linux, other than that fact that there are distros that exist under Linux, and Linux itself isn't an OS, or so I think.

I have 2 laptops and my main home office PC, which I use for my job and gaming.

My plan is to switch one of my laptops to a Linux distro, and test it out. This laptops only purpose is web browsing, so I figure getting Linux set up to do something as simple as opening a browser is something I am capable of.

Down the road, once I've sort of learned on this laptop, I may work my way up to using other distros and dual booting my main PC. Who knows, maybe I'll even switch over completely prior to Windows 11 rolling out.

I've heard getting games to work with Linux can sometimes be a hassle, and can require some fiddling, so I won't be doing gaming on a Linux distro until I feel quite comfortable.

So with the above context, I'm looking for recommendations on a distro I should use, any guides that any of you may have found helpful, and generally any insight on things I may need to be aware of.

I am fairly tech savvy (probably not compared to most of you), and am not afraid of tinkering with things until they work. Any help would be muchly appreciated, and if this isn't the correct place to post, please let me know and point me in the right direction.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[โ€“] Labna@lemmy.world 6 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Hi, To try a Linux, you'll need a usb stick drive, at least 2go, then find a distro to try, for that, my advice is to check the ranked list on https://distrowatch.com/
Most of them have different "flavor" (aka desktop manager), gnome, xfce, cinnamon... They are consistent from a distro to another so think about it as distinct feature.
To start the ISO, you can use Ventoy, on which you copy the iso files of several distro at once. https://www.ventoy.net/en/index.html
You may need to chance the order of booting of your laptop to start from the usb stick, depending of the age of the bios/Uefi, it's just a key press during the boot or on windows keep Shift pressed while clicking on the reboot start menu button.
When you get to the started distro you wanna try, you may check if all the hardware is operational (except for nvidia closed driver which need a full install) you can install software to find the tools you need, browse web to find answers to the new questions you'll have, everything you do there is volatile and disappear with restart, so it's a cool playground use it to learn as much as you can.
And after trying, breaking, and finding the coolest distro for you, you can install on your internal drive.
I play a lot on Linux, ark, genshin, civilisation, palworld... As easy as, install steam, go to settings, compatibility, check the square, and install your games, enjoy!

[โ€“] TJDetweiler@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Great, thanks a lot for the detailed write up!