From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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I switched aid after windows 10 was launched. It was kind of tough in the beginning, but after a couple years any and all concerns about this or that not working or how to do something on Linux had disappeared.
Nowadays the os feels like a powerful tool that can do anything I need, and never gets in the way. It's truly a pleasure to use.
So I guess id say that there is light at the end of the tunnel, even if the transition seems hard at times.
Don't be afraid to think for yourself.
You're just using a computer. It's not that complicated or religious.
i always do have a distro live USB in my bag at all times. you never know who gets interested in the question "which distro do you use?"
I used to, but when someone finally got interested, the usb media was so outdated, that I had to download and write a new iso :D
Carry a dual USB A/USB C drive. You then flash distros from your phone. Distros on the fly!
Thanks for the tip, but my phone still uses micro usb lol
Bruh
I did the same thing about a year ago, going to fedora (KDE) from windows. I've booted into windows about 5 times in the last year or so
I won't deny, it's refreshing to see posts like these, and I've seen a few of them around the web. Perhaps we're really going to slowly see some positive change in the tech world.
Good luck, @bpt11@sh.itjust.works and welcome to the community!
It's not a race, take your time to read and understand what is what and how things are functioning together.
Enjoy your stay, it's going to be your next home, take care of it; make it beautiful, make it efficient, make sure to get rid of all what is irritating you.
Start with the minimum and build from there.
And, FFS, make backups ;)
And, FFS, make backups ;)
Here's a good tutorial for an easy to use backup solution: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W30wzKVwCHo
For some of the last really stubborn pieces of software that kept me locked it to at least dual booting windows, I've found running them in bottles is working really well. Bottles has a community preset for Fruity loops Studio, but it wasn't really working. Oh it would run, but with massive input and audio lag, most VSTs just wouldn't work with FL in that install. What does work, is creating a bottle for gaming, and then just installing everything through the "run exe" at the bottle prefix page. After 8 years of dual booting, I finally nuked my windows installs.
The best piece of advice I was given, that I seldom see repeated is this: learn how the filesystem is structured.
It makes everything else easier
I second this. Also, taking time to partition correctly for your purpose, can make disto hopping easier.
I think partitioning was one of the first skills I learned and the one I took most for granted. I had started on Arch cause I wanted to be cool and I liked arduous things, but I just ended up reading on LUKS, TPM, LVM, mdadm, etc. and different ways to set up your partitions. I never really took time to appreciate past me for learning it lol
This is very good advice
Originally read 'from Linux to Windows' and I was like, 'What?'
One of my friends did this. No clue how you can go from Arch back to windows... just wow. I found that insane.
Hey guys, my Dad was always a neck bearded Unix admin so I’ve grown up my whole life on FreeBSD, then moving over to Gentoo during my teen years.
I’m starting to have thoughts about switching to Windows given that’s what my new job uses, but I couldn’t find any instructions on compiling Windows outside of very outdated releases like 2000. Also, does anyone know if emacs and htop are compatible, as those are my most used applications?
... but I couldn’t find any instructions on compiling Windows outside of very outdated releases like 2000.
Damn! I was hoping to do it with Windows 7. Looks like that ship is doomed as well.
That would be a wild experiment.
I almost stopped reading at the first four words, tbh.
This can happen with people that refuse to learn!
Welcome. Sounds like you're going to be very happy here. Fedora is a great choice. I love what they're doing with atomic desktops.
Welcome!
Don't be afraid to experiment relentlessly. Even if you break your OS, that's just more experience fixing or reinstalling it. Also back up your important files locally and remotely.
I made the switch in 2010.
I dual booted for a while, one day I realised that I hadn't booted into windows for 3 months. At that point I reinstalled, no more dual booting. I haven't looked back.
I keep a windows VM, currently has Win10 installed, I haven't had to use it in about 3 years.
My advice is, keep dual booting. One day you'll realise that booting into windows feels like a chore, you haven't done it in months, so why keep it around....
Congrats! Just keep at it, Fedora is stable.
It gets easier with every solved problem!
I did the switch a few months ago and I did it cold turkey. Turning off secureboot and reformating my steam library drive solved all the issues I had. I also reccomend using timeshift or .tar and a bash script to make backups of your os when it's stable, that way you can experiment in peace.
Before you know it, it will be over a decade post-Windows like me. This week I have been trying to get a Linux phone to a satisfactory state to leave the mobile duopoly behind…
its amazing how nice it is now and makes sense for most people. I should have way before this but it was a thing with my wife. still can't get her to take the plunge though.
If you play PC games (and already familiar with Fedora), check out Bazzite. The whole immutable thing is an adjustment, but I really like it.
Though not really an adjustment from Windows, more of an adjustment if you're coming from another Linux distro.
Ban-test
You good.
definitely on board with bazzite for gaming computer. it seems to do well with everything else I throw at it also
I've been running it on my main PC (framework laptop) for I dunno 6 months now? And it's been great.
Distrobox is dope, and "rpm-ostree" is super useful.
Aside from that, it's incredibly stable. And games pretty much just work.
I've seen people say that "it's not for tech people, but good for newbies," and I have to disagree. Just because it works most of the time without having to tinker (but you can if you want) doesn't mean it's for noobs... That's how your PC is supposed to function.
I would warn against using an atomic distro for newbies that want a bit more than Internet surfing and gaming.
Handling such distros well requires specialized knowledge around them in particular, and not all common Linux solutions will fit.
All of Linux requires specialized knowledge. Immutable just takes different knowledge.
The real kicker with that is just that you can't always just follow instructions you find online. Usually you can, as long as you're doing them in a Distrobox, though.
I went with immutable as a newbie, and I think it's great. It feels like getting in on the ground floor of the future.
Yeah, essentially that. But most advice on Linux is for non-immutable distros, so it's better to start with the classic and then choose what you see fit.
Lessons learned when switching:
Some things I didn't expect just work differently on Linux and it took time to figure out those differences. For instance, a change to a network interface config on Windows usually takes effect when you hit the "OK" button. Linux requires toggling the interface for that change to take effect. That one took me a couple of frustrating hours to figure out. There are lots of other examples like this so keep it in mind if things aren't working as you expect.
Trying to do absolutely everything on Linux right away was a mistake. I started switching back to Windows for quick tasks and then learning how to do those tasks on Linux when I could spend a few minutes figuring them out. Over time I spent more and more time running Linux and one day realized I hadn't started Windows in months.
In addition to (or instead of) dual booting, create a virtual machine to allow you to use what you need in either OS without rebooting.
Lastly, if you find that you're spending a lot of time fixing OS problems don't be afraid to try something else. Haven't spent much time with Fedora, but I use Mint daily because I don't have to fuss with the OS much. Others in my household have more problems with Windows 11.
For instance, a change to a network interface config on Windows usually takes effect when you hit the “OK” button. Linux requires toggling the interface for that change to take effect.
That’s not a Linux thing so much as a your particular Linux distribution thing. Different Linuxes can have vastly different user interfaces for various things. Some distributions even go out of their way to be more similar to Windows.
Post-Snowden and post-Windows, I also started with Fedora, and, well, it honestly didn't go all that well (this of course was my experience! If you like Fedora and it works for you, then 👍! Not here to dis the distro!). Actually, I think it had more to do with GNOME than with Fedora, so it depends on which desktop environment you're using; when I switched DE to Cinnamon all my problems seemed to vanish into thin air. And from there, I just went straight to Mint and have been happy as a clam ever since and never looked back.
In my experience, running Windows as a VM inside Mint was overall much better than dual booting, which can really get to be a pain after a while (and also I think that the Windows partition will sometimes overwrite the Linux part so be careful!); it sounds hard, but it isn't—if old and senile Erinaceus can do it, you can too! Always happy to provide recommendations.
EDIT: Also (and again not to step on anyone's toes), I never had good luck using Wine; this is perhaps because I was trying to run Photoshop and other heavy, Adobe-type things in it (this was before Creative Cloud). Other programs might work differently with it, but in every case for me, a VM has worked better. I don't play games (I know, boring), but I sometimes wonder if it wasn't for people's dependence on Adobe products that Windows might finally start losing a lot of market share and eventually end up on the rubbish heap where it belongs.
Welcome to the world of Libre [as in free-software]
Keep a cloud-synced notebook of bugs, ideas, and fixes. That way, you can help people in the future or know how to do things for yourself if you ever need to reinstall. I have notes for fixing things like my keyboard layout on GDM/SDDM or how to set up certain software in a privileged podman container.
Cool. In a little over a month, I hit 3 years.
I’ve been wanting to take the leap, too. I’ve got Linux installed on my gaming laptop and I’ve been trying games one by one to see if they work. Next step is dual booting on my desktop and only switching to Windows when I absolutely can’t make something work. My biggest concern is that I have a bunch of games installed on various drives that are all Windows (NTFS?) formatted and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to run them on Linux. I really don’t want to have to reinstall all of them.
You will probably have to reinstall all of them under Wine or Proton or whatever. I don't think it can import existing installations.