this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2023
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I'm super interested in running Linux, do you think it's okay to just dump windows at once and go full Linux, or it's better to dual boot for a while? I've read that dual-booting can be a bit finicky, but it's been a while since I looked into it
Dual booting isnt that finnicky. Just dual boot until youre certain that there's nothing you need in your life that you cant get running under Linux. I dont understand why everyone wants you to switch so quickly when there is no harm in going at your own pace.
When I switched to linux I originally intended to dualboot but I messed up the partitioning and completely obliterated windows. Decided to just go with it and I never looked back.
for me it was the opposite, I did a fresh install and -against all advice- installed linux before windows.
When a few months later a windows update dexided to fuck with and destroy grub again (and reinstall edge) I saw that as a sign to kick out windows.
From what I heard you have to use windows boot manager instead as windows just breaks grub whenever there's an update. It broke my Fedora before but I didn't get a chance to test it as I fully switched to nobara.
Edit: @[email protected] in case you want to try it out
I did that more than once hahaha. Hell, you guys are convincing me to jump the boat!
You're going to hear a lot of recommendations, but I strongly suggest going with Fedora for your first distro. It's the least pain to get up and running with a modern, performant, up to date distro.
Ubuntu these days is its own little corner of design choices, Arch is designed to need configuration, Debian is a (purposefully) a bit slow to keep up. A lot of people say good things about Linux Mint, haven't used it myself but have used Fedora for years (including at work) and it's rock solid without much faffing.
Mint is like if Ubuntu wasn't so... Ubuntuey.
I've tried Ubuntu before but never stuck with it, maybe Fedora will grab my interest! Is it easy to customize? I'm mostly focused in art, web development and gaming, do you think it's a good fit?
those requirements seem to specify the desktop environment, which sounds like you'd want KDE or Xfce, for the customizable taskbars and for the window management shenanigans associated with gaming. (games often force window dimensions or force full-screen, which screws with Gnome Desktop somewhat.)
I recommend Debian specifically because it's slow to keep up, and most people just don't need the latest features anyway. Especially if you're new to Linux, stability is important.
It's great for a server system but I find it less great for a desktop environment. Hardware support take longer to get to the kernel, UI improvements take longer to get to the desktop etc.
SSDs got so cheap, I just added another one for Linux.
You should dump windows as soon as possible, the list of reasons to keep using it are getting shorter and shorter as this meme implies.
I recommend using POP!_OS from System76 as they package the latest LTS kernel (6.2 as of writing) and graphics drivers. Obtaining applications (even proprietary clients like Steam) is made trivial through flatpaks and system76's own software repos which are all accessible through the POP! Shop.
POP!_OS seems promising! It seems to be very easy to setup! Is it customizable enough? I'd like to try things out a bit, without worrying about screwing the entire system. Thanks for the recs! 💜
POP!_OS is very customizable as it is built off of GNOME 42 with system76's own COSMIC patches built into the desktop. You can use GNOME extensions like "Just Perfection" which will give you direct control over GNOME's desktop UI components.
I recommended POP!_OS because it's the most out-of-the-box GNU/Linux system. You can use POP!_OS as a daily driver and as a learning tool for Linux. I currently use POP!_OS right now on my laptop and gaming pc (with a proprietary nvidia card) after a year of not using it and I'm still kicking myself over glossing over it.
I use dualboot because I still have to use Windows for some shit, and it works like a charm
I use Arch (btw) and I can't recommend this enough. But it might seem intimidating at first, so I recommend Manjaro, it's like Arch but a bit friendlier to beginners
Just partition off and install steamOS. Its Linux gaming but super easy to use.
If you're going to be playing games I use Nobara, which is a fork of Fedora meant for gaming.