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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Beginner's Guides for Switching to Linux? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hello!

I'm interested in moving my personal computer to running Linux but I'm not sure where to even begin. As background, I am a casual user and have a desktop with hardware from around 2014 running Windows. I am hoping to setup a NAS drive as a media server in the next year or so, offloading all of the files currently on the Windows desktop and have been interested in open source software such as Jellyfin. I also mostly game on an Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but have used the desktop in the past for gaming such as with an Oculus Rift Headset and some Steam games so not huge on getting games working on the computer. But, I do sometimes torrent using the computer so don't want to lose that capability (especially with upkeep for the media server).

With all of that said, I didn't know how to get started with choosing what Linux OS to use, setting it up, backing up my files to make sure I can use them with the new OS, etc. Making the switch seems to have great options for customization and "choosing a distro that works for you", but I don't know what would work for me or what will be user friendly for a beginner.

Any tips or pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (6 children)

I just moved from Windows to Linux (currently, PopOS) this year around.

You can try out beginner friendly distributions like PopOS, Linux Mint, ZorinOS which are Ubuntu-Debian based or Fedora. Like others have mentioned, applications made on Linux are expected to be cross-compatible with all distributions so your choice will mainly come down to what desktop environment you like as there are many with different feel to the user experience.

To know what works for you try these out in a VM if possible before biting the bullet so you know what all packages are present in Linux, and what all of your usecase will need to be managed through WINE/Proton compatibility layers.

You would want to avoid Ubuntu, and installing anything through Snap or PPA repositories if it ever comes up in your searches.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

@curiousgoo @WR5 "You would want to avoid Ubuntu, and installing anything through Snap or PPA repositories if it ever comes up in your searches."
Snaps have improved greatly and there's nothing to stop people from using Flatpak instead. Also, it's not clear why you suggested not using PPA repositories, there are risks, but there are advantages too. Ubuntu has a huge support community, I've been using Ubuntu happily since 2007, tried many other distros, but always go back.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Mainly from a security standpoint PPAs are something I would want to avoid.

I've not used Snap since I tried it out a couple of years ago, it wasn't as good as Flatpak in terms of performance, and there were concerns which got highlighted like it's entirely proprietary and hosted by Canonical only, I heard Snap was being forced even when you would want through system packages, and something about forced updates.

I get why Flatpak is better in terms of sandboxing each application, but I personally prefer to use system packages wherever I can.

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