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Active: 1443 users

Switching to Linux ...?

Blogs > LoneYoShi
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1 2 Next All
LoneYoShi
Profile Blog Joined June 2014
France1348 Posts
October 07 2016 16:12 GMT
#1
Hello dear people of TL,

For a variety of reasons, I want to try Linux (I've never used it before). In order to do that, I'd like to go for a dual boot install (keeping my win10) on my current desktop computer.

I'd like to use Linux mainly for entertainment (watching/DL'ing videos, browsing the web, etc) and work (programming). Any advice on which distribution to go for ? From what I've quickly searched for, it seems like Ubuntu, Debian, Mint or Fedora could be decent choices for me, any thoughts ?

*****
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 07 2016 16:30 GMT
#2
As a new Linux user I'd shy away from Debian and Fedora, especially since you're not looking for anything special out of the OS. Ubuntu vs Mint is more a matter of taste than anything else. Ubuntu is more mainstream and has more support.
Integra
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Sweden5626 Posts
October 07 2016 16:34 GMT
#3
Download some sort of virtualizer, like Virtualbox for example and install Linux on that instead of using dual boot. Regarding Linux, Ubuntu is the more popular choice for private use since its really easy to use and it comes in many flavours, recommendation would be Ubuntu 16.04 since its the latest version.
"Dark Pleasure" | | I survived the Locust war of May 3, 2014
ZigguratOfUr
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
Iraq16955 Posts
October 07 2016 16:42 GMT
#4
On October 08 2016 01:34 Integra wrote:
Download some sort of virtualizer, like Virtualbox for example and install Linux on that instead of using dual boot. Regarding Linux, Ubuntu is the more popular choice for private use since its really easy to use and it comes in many flavours, recommendation would be Ubuntu 16.04 since its the latest version.


Whether to run it in a virtualizer or not really depends on your needs. If you want to primarily use Linux for example I'd dual boot rather than use a virtualizer. Here's a good run-down of the pros and cons: http://askubuntu.com/questions/119265/can-i-use-virtualbox-as-a-sandbox-for-12-04/119280#119280
RoomOfMush
Profile Joined March 2015
1296 Posts
October 07 2016 17:27 GMT
#5
I cant tell you too much about the different distros, but I can tell you that Ubuntu is really easy to use. Even my technologically impaired mother is able to use it and that says a lot.
However, even for her very limited needs there is a noticeable drop in quality over Windows 7. Every month or so she calls me over a new glitch / bug (and often times it is actually a real bug and not a user error) that she encountered and doesnt know how to handle.
Most of them are graphical glitches which Ubuntu seems to be very fond of (perhaps a configuration problem on our part?) and sometimes it is problems with mouse / keyboard drivers, display drivers, etc which randomly seem to fail. A reboot / driver-restart usually fixes the problem though.
tofucake
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Hyrule19189 Posts
October 07 2016 18:35 GMT
#6
If you have an AMD video card in the R7 or R9 series, don't get Linux yet. There aren't drivers for it. If you have an nVidia card you'll be fine.

Anyway, I'd suggest Mint. Mint is based on Ubuntu which is in turn based on Debian. It's also the 3rd most used distro, and almost everything on Ubuntu will work in Mint. Cinnamon is closer to the Windows interface than Unity, so it's a bit easier to get used to, and it's also widely regarded as one of the best desktops out there currently.

Regardless of what you want to use, shrink the paritioning in Windows first.
Liquipediaasante sana squash banana
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France12907 Posts
October 07 2016 21:13 GMT
#7
On October 08 2016 01:34 Integra wrote:
Download some sort of virtualizer, like Virtualbox for example and install Linux on that instead of using dual boot. Regarding Linux, Ubuntu is the more popular choice for private use since its really easy to use and it comes in many flavours, recommendation would be Ubuntu 16.04 since its the latest version.

I tried VirtualBox with my poor 4Gb ram desktop and it was shit performance wise, the mouse lagged and it didn't feel proper. So my advice is to dual boot as you planned.
WriterMaru
sabas123
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Netherlands3122 Posts
October 07 2016 21:40 GMT
#8
On October 08 2016 01:30 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
As a new Linux user I'd shy away from Debian and Fedora, especially since you're not looking for anything special out of the OS. Ubuntu vs Mint is more a matter of taste than anything else. Ubuntu is more mainstream and has more support.

This, especially if you don't have any experience working with an command line.
The harder it becomes, the more you should focus on the basics.
DickMcFanny
Profile Blog Joined September 2015
Ireland1076 Posts
October 08 2016 01:23 GMT
#9
I'm honestly disappointed after using Ubuntu on my laptop for a while.

I figured it would be like on the Raspberry Pi, but only a laptop, it kills the battery time and has the fans running all the time. I have yet to find settings to change that and I think I will just give up and try to remove all the spyware from Win10.

The Windows 10 window management is just beautiful, I did not expect the window snapping to work this well.
| (• ◡•)|╯ ╰(❍ᴥ❍ʋ)
LoneYoShi
Profile Blog Joined June 2014
France1348 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-10-08 09:38:01
October 08 2016 07:07 GMT
#10
Thanks for the feedback people.
One of the reason I intend to install Linux is actually to get experience with the command line interface, because I figured it will be a good skill to have for my work. But I suppose that even if you don't have to use the command line in Ubuntu doesn't mean you can't ?

I think I'll start out with Ubuntu to see what's what. I can always switch to another distro later on, once I'm a bit more experienced.

One more question for you guys: Gnome or KDE ?
Vivax
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
22155 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-10-08 10:11:18
October 08 2016 10:10 GMT
#11
I wouldnt try to install it as dual boot on your desktop to avoid boot loader problems. It's really hard to fix if it goes wrong. Just make a live cd to experiment without installing anything.

I use mint for my laptop.
tofucake
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Hyrule19189 Posts
October 08 2016 15:56 GMT
#12
On October 08 2016 16:07 LoneYoShi wrote:
Thanks for the feedback people.
One of the reason I intend to install Linux is actually to get experience with the command line interface, because I figured it will be a good skill to have for my work. But I suppose that even if you don't have to use the command line in Ubuntu doesn't mean you can't ?

I think I'll start out with Ubuntu to see what's what. I can always switch to another distro later on, once I'm a bit more experienced.

One more question for you guys: Gnome or KDE ?

gnome
Liquipediaasante sana squash banana
olabaz
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States298 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-10-09 05:21:43
October 09 2016 05:21 GMT
#13
I would go with Linux Mint for the following reasons:

Linux Mint is based off of ubuntu and so you get a very similar experience (in terms of ease of use, package manager, etc.)
Ubuntu is falling out of flavor after they switched to Unity.
Large community (can even benefit from some of the information for ubuntu)
You can hop over to http://distrowatch.com/ and see the rankings/compare the distributions. You'll see Linux Mint has been the most popular for the passed few years.

[image loading]
HornyHerring
Profile Joined March 2011
Papua New Guinea1059 Posts
October 09 2016 14:07 GMT
#14
If you're all about command line, Windows 10 Anniversary Update added bash shell in dev mode, so really no need to switch unless you're really looking for an OS switch.
oh, hai
tofucake
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
Hyrule19189 Posts
October 09 2016 14:57 GMT
#15
windows bash is a steaming heap of shit
Liquipediaasante sana squash banana
beg
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
991 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-10-09 19:13:04
October 09 2016 18:29 GMT
#16
On October 08 2016 10:23 DickMcFanny wrote:
I'm honestly disappointed after using Ubuntu on my laptop for a while.

I figured it would be like on the Raspberry Pi, but only a laptop, it kills the battery time and has the fans running all the time. I have yet to find settings to change that and I think I will just give up and try to remove all the spyware from Win10.

The Windows 10 window management is just beautiful, I did not expect the window snapping to work this well.

Try a more lightweight distribution. Sorry, I don't have any specific recommendations here.

I recently formatted my Laptop and installed the newest Mint. The newer version runs abysmally slower on my (outdated) laptop, compared to the older Mint version I used. Luckily, the Linux world is very diverse and you can fix such things by choosing a more appropriate distribution

(Or maybe you are experiencing bad drivers or similar hardware incompatibilities. Turns out it's kinda hard to build a mainstream OS that supports every possible hardware configuration.)

(Linux is awesome. Loving it for programming, Dota2 and CSGO ))) )
FO-nTTaX
Profile Blog Joined January 2013
Johto4965 Posts
October 09 2016 20:46 GMT
#17
Well, if you want to learn a lot about how Linux works and want to be hands on, i would go with Archlinux (i am a big fan of it myself), but be aware that a raw Archlinux does not brong a graphical installer. The Archwiki is great though, so if you don't feel afraid to get ahnds on with your OS, Arch is a great choice. Another upside of Arch is that it always brings you the newest software, where Ubuntu/Mint/Fedora are long outdated, that is partially a preference though.
Administrator@FO_nTTaX | FO-nTTaX.de | 0xff0000.dev | Senior Lead Liquipedia Developer
"Nimm es. Es ist nicht viel, aber es kommt von Herzen. Vergiss mich nicht!"
olabaz
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States298 Posts
October 09 2016 21:12 GMT
#18
On October 08 2016 10:23 DickMcFanny wrote:
I'm honestly disappointed after using Ubuntu on my laptop for a while.

I figured it would be like on the Raspberry Pi, but only a laptop, it kills the battery time and has the fans running all the time. I have yet to find settings to change that and I think I will just give up and try to remove all the spyware from Win10.

The Windows 10 window management is just beautiful, I did not expect the window snapping to work this well.


That's a very common problem with laptops. You should be able to fix it with proper power management packages/settings (TLP). These things usually come preconfigured on windows but for linux they usually require some work.
Deleted User 3420
Profile Blog Joined May 2003
24492 Posts
October 10 2016 11:27 GMT
#19
On October 08 2016 03:35 tofucake wrote:
If you have an AMD video card in the R7 or R9 series, don't get Linux yet. There aren't drivers for it. If you have an nVidia card you'll be fine.

Anyway, I'd suggest Mint. Mint is based on Ubuntu which is in turn based on Debian. It's also the 3rd most used distro, and almost everything on Ubuntu will work in Mint. Cinnamon is closer to the Windows interface than Unity, so it's a bit easier to get used to, and it's also widely regarded as one of the best desktops out there currently.

Regardless of what you want to use, shrink the paritioning in Windows first.


lol really?
how long it take to get some drivers, damn
Endymion
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States3701 Posts
October 10 2016 11:36 GMT
#20
i have ubuntu on my laptop, it's pretty awesome although it can be difficult sometimes to get programs to work. For instance, i couldn't get SCBW and the associated launchers to run even with WINE. if i could figure that out I would leave windows and never look back, because windows 10 is quite possibly the worst/most intrusive BS of an OS that i have ever had the displeasure to use... thank god for pirated windows 7, because giving microsoft access to my system is apparently worse than going on TOR and asking them to me up
Have you considered the MMO-Champion forum? You are just as irrational and delusional with the right portion of nostalgic populism. By the way: The old Brood War was absolutely unplayable
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