• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 22:14
CET 03:14
KST 11:14
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT30Behind the Blue - Team Liquid History Book19Clem wins HomeStory Cup 289HomeStory Cup 28 - Info & Preview13Rongyi Cup S3 - Preview & Info8
Community News
2026 KongFu Cup Announcement3BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled11Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains15Weekly Cups (March 2-8): ByuN overcomes PvT block4GSL CK - New online series18
StarCraft 2
General
Blizzard Classic Cup - Tastosis announced as captains BGE Stara Zagora 2026 cancelled BGE Stara Zagora 2026 announced ByuL: The Forgotten Master of ZvT Terran AddOns placement
Tourneys
RSL Season 4 announced for March-April Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament 2026 KongFu Cup Announcement [GSL CK] Team Maru vs. Team herO StarCraft Evolution League (SC Evo Biweekly)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Publishing has been re-enabled! [Feb 24th 2026] Map Editor closed ?
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 516 Specter of Death Mutation # 515 Together Forever Mutation # 514 Ulnar New Year
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BSL 22 Map Contest — Submissions OPEN to March 10 ASL21 General Discussion Are you ready for ASL 21? Hype VIDEO Gypsy to Korea
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL22] Open Qualifiers & Ladder Tours IPSL Spring 2026 is here! ASL Season 21 Qualifiers March 7-8
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2 Fighting Spirit mining rates Zealot bombing is no longer popular?
Other Games
General Games
Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Nintendo Switch Thread PC Games Sales Thread No Man's Sky (PS4 and PC)
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion The Story of Wings Gaming
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Five o'clock TL Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Mexico's Drug War Russo-Ukrainian War Thread NASA and the Private Sector
Fan Clubs
The IdrA Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Movie Discussion! [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion General nutrition recommendations Cricket [SPORT] TL MMA Pick'em Pool 2013
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Laptop capable of using Photoshop Lightroom?
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Money Laundering In Video Ga…
TrAiDoS
Iranian anarchists: organize…
XenOsky
FS++
Kraekkling
Shocked by a laser…
Spydermine0240
Unintentional protectionism…
Uldridge
ASL S21 English Commentary…
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1472 users

Switching to Linux ...?

Blogs > LoneYoShi
Post a Reply
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
Hyrule19194 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
France12911 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
22219 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
Hyrule19194 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
Hyrule19194 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
Johto4977 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
1 2 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 7h 47m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
PiGStarcraft417
Nina 123
SpeCial 121
NeuroSwarm 66
Ketroc 50
RuFF_SC2 42
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 10713
NaDa 31
Noble 22
Dota 2
canceldota79
LuMiX1
League of Legends
JimRising 557
Counter-Strike
taco 957
Super Smash Bros
hungrybox744
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor201
Other Games
summit1g12257
ViBE115
PiLiPiLi4
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick7421
ComeBackTV 149
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Hupsaiya 39
• davetesta15
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• RayReign 21
• Azhi_Dahaki2
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Doublelift5756
• Scarra1226
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
7h 47m
RSL Revival
7h 47m
ByuN vs SHIN
Maru vs Krystianer
WardiTV Team League
9h 47m
Patches Events
14h 47m
BSL
17h 47m
GSL
1d 5h
Wardi Open
1d 9h
Monday Night Weeklies
1d 14h
OSC
1d 21h
WardiTV Team League
2 days
[ Show More ]
PiGosaur Cup
2 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
The PondCast
4 days
KCM Race Survival
4 days
WardiTV Team League
4 days
Replay Cast
4 days
KCM Race Survival
5 days
WardiTV Team League
5 days
Korean StarCraft League
6 days
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
6 days
BSL
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-03-13
WardiTV Winter 2026
Underdog Cup #3

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 1
Jeongseon Sooper Cup
BSL Season 22
RSL Revival: Season 4
Nations Cup 2026
ESL Pro League S23 Finals
ESL Pro League S23 Stage 1&2
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual

Upcoming

CSL Elite League 2026
ASL Season 21
Acropolis #4 - TS6
2026 Changsha Offline CUP
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
CSLAN 4
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
HSC XXIX
uThermal 2v2 2026 Main Event
NationLESS Cup
Stake Ranked Episode 2
CS Asia Championships 2026
IEM Atlanta 2026
Asian Champions League 2026
PGL Astana 2026
BLAST Rivals Spring 2026
CCT Season 3 Global Finals
IEM Rio 2026
PGL Bucharest 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 1
BLAST Open Spring 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.