this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
894 points (98.1% liked)

Linux

48375 readers
1002 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Sorry if this is dumb, but does booting to Linux overwrite the current operating system, or can you just choose to boot to one or the other?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

No , it doesnt touch your boot drive

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@Lazylazycat
You can do what's called "dual boot" where both (or even more than 2) OSes are available and you pick which to use at boot.
@Anarch157a

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is a trap. I dual booted and just never went back to windows. Wasted disk space for years

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Pahaha I could see this happening to me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@luthis
I used it for gaming for years, but eventually I realized I was never switching back. I'd found games that ran native.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Cool, thank you!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

@Lazylazycat @Anarch157a
Dual booting is an option
If you go with Ubuntu (best starting distro in my opinion) you will be able to install Linux alongside windows but there is a need for repartioning the drive.

Tutorial:
https://itsfoss.com/install-ubuntu-1404-dual-boot-mode-windows-8-81-uefi/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks, I'll look into this.