Linux

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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.

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I had a dream about windows and have decided to setup Linux on my laptop. What distro should I use? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I used Ubuntu once a few years ago but had compatability issues so I went back to windows. Not a great programmer but I'd like to learn. I'm not looking to do much gaming beyond DOOM2 and factorio. Mostly looking for privacy and a way to get back into programming (I have this pipe dream of learning Assembly). I'm not to particular on UI, I can use whatever.

Edit: https://distrochooser.de for anyone who stumbles upon this post with the same question

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

Linux Mint

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

If you're a power user, I'd actually recommend installing Arch Linux. It will take a while, and definitely much longer then just pressing "install" on a fancy UI, but the advantages it brings are priceless.

Generally, you'll have to build the OS yourself, but you get a manual doing most of the job if you simply follow it, kinda like Lego. Given that you ultimately build it all yourself, you know how things work if anything might break. You also know how to adjust things if you wish to change something. And for everything you want to do, there's an up-to-date manual in the arch wiki.

On top of that, the distro is running the newest software, which means that almost everything is compatible and runs in the best possible way. It will be tested 2-3 weeks in advance in order to ensure it won't break your system immediately. But even if it does, guess what, there's a manual on how to fix your system.

In case you're overwhelmed at any point, there's a great community. Not sure if they managed to move to lemmy, but they're definitely over on reddit.

Good luck :)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Debian Testing branch.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

nixOS , because it's a completely atomic distribution, like a docker container OS style. You define the state of the system in a configuration file, which can even control the kernel, and you can switch to an older configuration file in any reboot. It's more of a pain than the others, but it works ok out of the box and when you fix something it stays fixed so you'll never end up in a situation where something breaks and you can't fix it.

Also, all the packages bring their own versions of their own libraries and directly link to them so they'll never break during upgrades, but conversely a lot of Linux installers that try to link to system libraries won't work.

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[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Btw, I use Debian.

Linux is great but it isn't for everyone, damn perfect on servers but kinda of fails for most desktop use cases, have a read at this: https://lemmy.world/comment/4119679

[–] [email protected] -2 points 1 year ago (11 children)

IF you want Steam, THEN you want one of the Ubuntu family: Steam doesn't support any other kind of Linux distro.

openSUSE gave me compatibility-issues after I had it running properly, both Tumbleweed AND OpenLEAP versions, when they broke my wifi-driver, early in 2023, so I'm kinda leery of recommending them.

If you want the most Unix-like system, Slackware used to be that, haven't used it in years, though...

Funtoo should probably be the go-to distro for compute-oriented machines, like Blender renderers, or such... optimize to use ALL the hardware-advantage you can...