Hi....

  • I don't know what to say in the introduction, but in brief I have some questions about Linux, which were formed after trying some distributions on DistroSea and observing Linux communities on the Internet. Can you help with the answer?

  1. I liked Gnome DE interface very much, but whenever I look at the empty workspace after closing an app , I feel that something is missing (sorry, I have been using Windows for almost 15 years). Is there an add on - or any other way - to install some apps on workspace? Or do I have to get used to it as it is ?

  2. I read that Linux is more problematic on laptops than on personal computers, is this true? If so...what are the usual problems and is there a way to avoid them?

  3. Are there any distributions that come with the minimum pre-installed apps ? ... I mean not even a video or music player

  4. If I want to delete a pre-installed app (let's say the default browser), can this be done easily or does it require root, like Android?

  5. Does rooting invalidate the system from obtaining updates?

  6. I read that switching DEs is easy... but how exactly is it done? Something in the settings, or downloading the interface independently, or customizing it to be similar to the other, or something else?

  7. Lazy question : What are wayland and docker? I see a lot of people mentioning them

  • Sorry for the many questions, and thanks in advance
  • variants@possumpat.io
    ·
    3 months ago
    1. The net install would that allow you to then install for example firefox and run the gui like normal?
    • Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
      ·
      3 months ago

      Sure. You install your DE first, and then start installing software like browsers, email, etc. The net install disk is just a barebones system to get you up and running and then you install whatever you need from there. If you're building a desktop them you might want a DE. If you're building a server then you might want web or email services. The basic installation can be expended to include everything you want for that particular machine.

      The advantage of using a pre-configured full setup is that you don't need to know the name of all the packages you want to install, and typically you can still remove the ones you don't like. Even with the DE you will probably find that the package also installs a number of common tools like task bar widgets or file managers. So in making a truly custom system you will have to hit google quite a bit to find the things you want to install, but then you learn what all those various packages actually do. Even the GUI login screen has multiple choices to select from which give you different ways of managing the logins. That's one of the things most people really enjoy about linux -- almost every type of software has multiple choices (like Firefox vs Chrome) so it's easy to build up a desktop that suits your particular needs.