Maybe you wanna know more about Linux or try it out before switching. Also feel free to mention any concerns you might have.
This might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but I think it makes sense to dual boot Linux with Windows while you're learning IF you a complete novice with programming and tech (like if you're an elementary teacher). That was my level of expertise and so I tried Linux Mint Cinnamon and removed Windows. I genuinely struggled from the moment I tried it out. Yes there's help guides online but honestly I found them hard to understand. Ultimately I just couldn't get Plex to work and my partner was getting a bit annoyed by not being able to watch our media (this was before Jellyfin was a viable option or at least I wasn't aware of it). So I removed Mint and did got a pirated copy of Windows back. I'm going to dual boot Mint and Windows here soon and learn Mint that way.
I do look forward to the day the elementary teachers and firemen and social workers can just run Linux out of the box like they do Android on their phones. But... IMO we're not there yet.
I wouldn't say it's unpopular... we actually recommend trying a distro in a virtual machine or thru USB. I don't agree that anyone needs to know anything about programming thu, I sure don't.
Also now there are video tutorials out there so it's better than before and a lot of distros are aimed at elementary teachers, there's actually one called elementary lol.
Exclusively using Linux is the only way to learn Linux.
Take an analogy: If you live in Germany and are wanting to learn German but everyone just speaks English with you once they notice you struggling, how will you learn to speak German?
If you use Linux but instantly switch back to Windows every time you want to do something that you don't know how, how are you going to learn to use Linux?
Zorin is probably one of the best starter distros because the UI is designed to emulate Windows. Everything you can do in windows is available out of the box (at least userspace stuff). Then as you learn the terminal you can begin opening up more features and expanding and customizing it to your liking
@Wmill have you considered giving Linux a go in a virtual machine or via a USB?
Funny you mentioned this I ordered a usb this morning for this reason. Windows has been fine for a while but idk been noticing a steady increase of like ads slipping in.
In a similar thread I asked about general realtime audio and vst's that weren't made with linux in mind. I have a lot of projects already started and, in a similar thread on here, someone said using a daw in linux in general isn't the best at the moment. Is that true and, if it is, is it something that could realistically be improved someday? I also really like the way Win7 looks with the xp theme, how hard would it be to mimic that in linux? That last thing is about games but I that's the main thing I hear works surprisingly well.
idk anything about VSTs but IIRC JACK is what you want for realtime audio. you can definitely mimic xp, https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn/comments/le73mr/plasma_my_xp_clone_called_expose_drew_everything/ is an example but theres a lot on r/unixporn
What do you use your device for? If it's simple stuff then no terminal is needed at all
I want to ask you a few questions, comrade:
(1) Which distributions do you recommend for a beginner? Why?
(2) Which distribution are you using? Why?
(3) Linux distributions (especially the ones you are going recommend me) support Chinese language and keyboard language switching? This is something really important for me as I live in China, and mostly write in Chinese.
(4) Have you heard of Deepin (a Chinese distro)? Do you have any experience with it? Is it worth it?
(5) Has gaming really improved in Linux?
Long time ago I tried Ubuntu, it wasn't a bad experience, but I think because the lack of programs and games, I got tired of it quickly. I expect things have improved since then.
(6) What's the first thing I should do/install when I get my Linux distro running?
I hate windows with my guts and always wanted to get into Linux. In university I got taught how to do scripts and use the console, so I guess it shouldn't be that hard for me. I just worry I get tired of it like the last time. Has this any happen to you or any other chapo? Any advice on how to completely forget about window and never look back?
And last but not least: has anybody tried Qt for programming applications with graphic interfaces in C++? For Linux is better to use Qt or GTK? I heard Qt has some license or some shit that you have to buy, I don't like that.
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Kubuntu because it combines Ubuntu which is very stable and popular and KDE Plasma which is the best desktop environment imo
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Manjaro because I like to use cutting edge tech but installing Arch seems like a big thing
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Don't know much about this but you can make a separate post for it... it shouldn't really be a problem tho afaik
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No the only DEs I've tried are GNOME and KDE but Deepin sure seems very interesting... btw you can easily try distros in a virtual machine or thru a live USB
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Things have really improved on this side yeah! Actually all the programs I'm using rn aren't only Linux native but also open source. And compatibility with Windows games and programs has gone thru the rough and is still improving thanks to WINE
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Tough question because your distro is most likely gonna be ready out of the gate but if you end up going with a distro that uses KDE then check this post
I actually don't use any scripts and know zero programing. A good way to prepare for the switch is to replace your programs with open source cross platform ones so when you switch you already got your programs, you know? This post just keep in mind that you don't need much time or any at all before you switch especially given how much you hate that spyware.
You already know my opinion on this is useless but I hear Qt is better for cross platform support (or design?) and I'm pretty sure you don't buy a license but I'm gonna leave that question for someone else :) Actually you can chat with KDE contributors on telegram (or somewhere else) about Qt!
Hopefully I was able to answer some of your questions :)
I'm really grateful, comrade. Thank you. I think this weekend when I have some free time I will give Kubuntu a try, let's see how it goes :).
Hope it all goes well and we get a staunch linux advocate :sicko-yes: Let us know how it goes and feel free to ask any questions you might have in !libre
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I'm happy to hear it has improved so much. Looks like I might be able to finally completely dich windows. :meow-floppy:
You know I got my parents using linux (KDE) so that tells you how user friendly it's gotten... it's really exciting to be part of the linux community and of this great human achievement that isn't completely poisoned by capitalism
Aside from Deepin, there's Ubuntu Kylin that is a spin of Ubuntu specifically for China. Ubuntu itself is commonly recommened for beginners, so you can't really go wrong with it.
As for specific programs, there is now an easy way to get most popular proprietary programs as "snaps" via the built-in store. An alternative, more techincal way of adding more software that's not in the repositories is by adding extra repositories called PPAs, manually.
Before installing anything you can create a "live USB" and run Ubuntu off a USB flash drive, poke around, and even install and try out some software. All without making any changes to your computer.
Understandable but a main reason why linux is important is privacy... linux is open source and doesn't have tracking like the spyware that's Windows
That may be your own main reason, but Linux on the desktop has a lot going for it, besides just privacy.
That being said, it's disingenious to say that Linux with provide your with privacy. This is only true if your particular install does not include any proprietary software and you yourself trust it to respect your privacy. As soon as you install Chrome, Steam, or Discord, for example, you immediately have a program on your computer that collects different kinds of telemetry and calls home, regardless whether it's running on Linux or not. And even if you installed a distro that is built on FOSS, remember how one version of Ubuntu used to send all your dash searches to Amazon through a Canonical proxy? Yeah.
The best tool to counteract spyware is to be mindful of what you're doing.
Tangential but GNOME 40 is slick as hell, way better than whatever Windows is doing these days
I'm a KDE fan myself but whatever gets people to switch is alright by me. Did you see the screenshot of Windows 11?
Hahaha I hadn't, it looks like they're just trying to knock off the dock scheme that OS X and GNOME have had going on for years, but doing a bad Microsoft-y job of it
This will make it even easier to convince my in-laws to switch so that I don't have to do Windows tech support anymore
:sicko-yes:
If they switch then you probably won't need to do any tech support so go for it!
hah yeah, I've been trying to talk them into it for a couple years, they're on the level of "how to I get photos from my phone to my computer" or "my printer disappeared from the options how do I get it back" and that sort of thing, where trying to talk them through it over the phone is pretty hard when I haven't touched windows in over a decade. I'm sure the basics will still come up but at least that way it would just be "open the 'Terminal' program — yes it looks like you're doing hacker shit, it's fine trust me — and type these four commands:"
wish me luck that they'll let me hook them up with Manjaro when their old ass laptop finally gets too slow for them to deal with 🤞
Are you sure Manjaro is the right option 😂 This thread is old now otherwise you'll get yelled at for introducing newbies to Manjaro lol Btw they might really appreciate KDE Connect!
Oh and getting them to use these cross platform programs first might really help, this way they'll be using the same stuff :) good luck 🤞
Thanks! I've had them on Firefox, LibreOffice, and VLC for awhile so I think they should be good there 🤞 I've got to see what else they use, I think it's mostly a glorified browser/spreadsheet/mahjong console
And lol yeah that's a fair point about Manjaro I just use Arch normally so selfishly I wanted to keep things kind of consistent. I'm not the most on top of what's newbie friendly in desktop Linux land — are Ubuntu/Mint still the go-tos for beginner-friendliness? Or anywhere I should look to start becoming more of a linux evangelist when talking to my nontechnical friends?
I really don't think GNOME is newbie friendly for Windows users so I go with Kubuntu but I hear Mint is also a good option. How to become a linux evangelist 🤔 that sure is an interesting question... personally I share cool screenshots from https://libredd.it/r/unixporn/ and try to get ppl to use cross platform apps while talking about how much of a spyware Windows is but this is a great question and you should make a post about it :) we wanna be ruthless and get better at propagandizing linux :sicko-laser:
btw we've a Matrix room for casual chatting about libre and sometimes we cooperate on posts like the ones I linked if you're interested.
I know windows is awful, but I've gotten used to the aesthetics
The only thing stopping me is gaming performance. I know Linux has gotten much better, but it's still not quite where Windows is.
I do a lot of gaming on Linux, I would say give it a shot! Some games run better on Linux and OpenGL than Windows in DirectX, it's really just a matter of the developer and their interest in doing the work. For compatibility, Valve has done a lot of work with Proton (their fork of WINE but focused on gaming performamce) and I've run some newer AAA titles on my desktop with little issues like doom eternal. I have a ~7 year old CPU/GPU so it's not anything top of the line.
Rule of thumb is just make sure your driver's and kernel are up to date. A new kernel release can make your gaming performance skyrocket sometimes in newer games. I remember one kernel update moved my CSGO performance a few years ago from barely playable to full 60FPS on high.
Maybe I'll try it out again. I did really like Pop!_OS when I played around with it awhile back.
@goatman93 if you ever got the time and feel like it maybe you can make a post about linux gaming on !games@hexbear.net
Have you considered dualbooting? Quite a lot of games work pretty well on Linux now and you can use Windows for the couple that don't
depends on what desktop you choose to use, but AFAIK the big ones (KDE Plasma and Gnome) support media keys out of the box.
Gnome, KDE, xfce, mate, cinnamon, etc will all work out of the box. You can also make your lenovo ® thinksupport ™ button do something actually useful.
So I asked around and got recommended the channel Linux for Everyone but no specific videos. What's it you are looking for? A guide on how to install or?
The space it takes depends on the distro but it's gonna take less than Windows 10 that's for sure
Booting from a USB to try it out first? yeah that's fine and recommended
Great! I recommend the distro Kubuntu. Let me know how it goes and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions :)
Is Linux Mint Cinnamon still the go-to version of Linux for people who have absolutely no clue what they're doing?
I hear a lot of good things about it but I'm more of a KDE Plasma fan and usually recommend Kubuntu .
You can watch a video review of KDE to get an idea or download both Linux Mint and Kubuntu and try them out in a virtual machine or via a live USB without installing them.
Hope this helps a bit and keep in mind that both of these distros are fine :)
Great! Don't pay attention to speed though because that isn't comparable to having it actually installed and keep us updated.
