Ok so my computer is a small thinkpad that runs windows 10 I mostly use it to write and use hexbear.

How do i change to linux?

Either a link to a good concise lay person worded article or some kind patient soul willing to help me in comments.

Thank you for your help!

  • ComradeBongwater [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago
    Choosing a distribution

    For Linux beginners, it's probably best to start with a distro that holds your hand a bit, especially with an installer.

    Some good beginner friendly distros:

    Ubuntu

    • based on debian
    • kinda shitty for FOSS & licensing reasons.
    • very beginner friendly
    • easy installer
    • good out of the box desktop experience

    Pop!_OS

    • based on Ubuntu, so has the same downsides
    • even better out of the box experience
    • their window tiling GNOME-shell extension is dope.

    Zorin OS

    • (I think) also based on Ubuntu, so same pros/cons
    • Most Windows 10-like experience.
    • Really nice desktop experience. (I use some of their GNOME-shell extensions)

    Debian

    • All of the above derive from Debian.
    • Better for FOSS & licensing.
    • Still pretty easy to install.
    • Stable version is stable but package updates are slow/old
    • Testing is less stable but package updates are typical
    • Unstable is unstable and package updates come quickly

    There are more beginner friendly distros, but I've listed some good ones. All the debian/Ubuntu-based distros are easy to find help for. All of these use the GNOME-Shell desktop environment, which is standard and user friendly with a lot of extensions.

    However, I prefer Arch or a distro based on Arch. Packages come super fast, and the Arch Wiki is one of the greatest resources for a Linux user. If you're willing to take the plunge, Arch now has an installer or checkout EndeavourOS. They're easy enough to install if your hardware isn't too weird and you can follow instructions.

    Installation
    1. Download Rufus
    2. Download distro iso
    3. Use Rufus to install distro iso to a USB stick
    4. You may need to enable booting from USB in your BIOS settings.
    5. Reboot into USB
    6. Run through the installer
    7. If you want to keep Windows and dual-boot, stop when you get to disk partitioning. Some installers have "install and overwrite [OS]" and "install alongside [OS]" options. If not, you're gonna want to find some help on the internet on how to configure disk partitions.
    8. Finish the installer
    9. Remove USB and reboot
    10. Choose your distro from the boot menu
    Post-Install tips

    Linux is addictive af. You will go down the rabbit hole of configuring lots of stuff you don't understand until you do understand it. I've made a lot of mistakes, so hopefully I can help you avoid some of them.

    • Install a backup solution like Timeshift or DejaDups. You will fuck a lot of shit up if you play around enough. Backing your shit up will save you a lot of time and stress.

    • Backup your "dotfiles" to a git repo. "Dotfiles" are hidden user configuration files that can control how a lot of software behaves. There are tons of tutorials online.

    • Install some software to run virtual machines. I use GNOME Boxes. This is nice to test big configuration changes on a test machine instead of fucking up your environment.

    • If you like bleeding edge software and don't like borking your system, install flatpak and install software from there or GNOME Software.

    • Don't run random sudo commands from the internet if you don't know what they do. If you run a script as root from the internet, check it before running. I see this way too often and is a huge security risk.

    Welcome aboard the Linux train comrade!

    If you have any additional questions, feel free to reply or DM me!

      • ComradeBongwater [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        If you have flatpak installed, run:

        flatpak install flathub im.riot.Riot

        and on most debian-based distros, you can install flatpak by running:

        sudo apt install flatpak

        There's also other Matrix clients you can use. I have Element, FluffyChat, NeoChat, and Fractal installed.

      • Pirate [none/use name]
        ·
        4 years ago

        On Linux you will usually be using the package manager that comes with your distro to install and update apps and the distro itself. A package manager is like a great app store basically and they usually support Flatpaks out of the box so all you'll need to do is open the package manager, search for Element and install the Flatpak version.

        Flatpaks are a way to package apps so that they work on any distro.