Hey guys. I’ve always been a windows user but since I’ve joined the forum I’ve become more interested in Linux, and messing around with VMs and the such. So what’s a good distro to get started in? Thanks
I was always recommend Linux mint.
But Ubuntu is a very popular one so that’s probably a good starting point
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What’s good?
Is a very subjective term. If you want something easy to get started on there are lot.
This is fine if you have an Nvidia GPU, if you have AMD then you want something more recent and closer to the mainline kernel.
Bellow is a great website that lists a lot of different distro’s to try out. The Ubuntu/Debian based distros are usually very easy for ‘noobs’ so to speak. But there are people who dive head first into Arch linux and think its the bees knees.
So I guess the question to ask is: do you want to have an experience learning how linux works under the hood or do you want to just give it a test drive?
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I’ve booted ubuntu up for a couple hours, not looking for another test drive, I wanna learn how it works under the hood. So, Arch linux?
Arch is a good one, but if you want a fun project I’d recommend you grab a basic copy of Debian and build X and your window manager of choice. There’s a lot there and not all of it is really straight-forward (ALSA, Nvidia drivers, etc), but if your google-fu is strong you’ll probably be fine.
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Look at something in ubuntu on distrowatch.com. Either kubuntu if you want that windows familiarity, xubuntu or ubuntu mate if you just wanna jump in to a different desktop environment altogether, or do main ubuntu and learn about all the tech that has been getting pimped in.
But as I say for everyone new: do yoir research first. Learn some of the terminal stuff lik ls, cd, and some other minor commands so you know how to navigate it. Learn about systemd and openrc and what the design differences are. Learn about amdgpu and the other open source drivers for gpu’s. And finally, learn how irc works. This way, no matter what os you choose to fuck around with, if you break it you have a brief understanding of how to gather information about what broke because you did your research.
The L1 linux channel is a good place to start with thin, but you’ll get a lot more out of going on distrowatch and choosing what os looks good then learning about it, then going to the archwiki and searching about stuff there. I know its exciting to jump in and get lost, but if I had learned stuff this way 10 years ago it would have saved me a lot of time. There are also lots of podcasts from Jupiter broadcasting that I highlyxrecommend.
I like this idea. Not many people recommend it enough.
It might be a bit lofty for your first Linux experience, but it’s definitely an option.
Arch is good for this as well because it takes you a tiny bit further than that.
If OP is looking for this sort of thing, I’d recommend Arch (or Gentoo, I guess). If you’re looking for something more plug and play that you can learn about, I’d give Fedora a go. It follows CentOS/RHEL relatively closely.
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I don’t get why people recommend this stuff honestly. Seems like its a bit too high for most unless they are really technical and can pick stuff up easy.
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Dont start with the Desktop, youll be dissapointed.
Start with something simple like “i want a network share”, and google ALOT.
and just work your way from there.
hell buy a raspbery pi, have it replace a whole computer in your home network.
once you get the hang of the console/SSH, and give it some time, im guessing you’ll
really start doubting wth you were using windows for besides gaming, but let it grow on you
You’re not going to reach Sensei on day 1, or even day 100.
If you’re trying to really learn how all the elements go together, the only thing better than Arch/Gentoo for this is LFS, but that gets tedious.
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It doesn’t matter which distro you choose, the core point if you want to learn how stuff works, get familiar with the terminal - everything in linux runs in the shell (also worth mentioning that the most important thing to realize in a *nix environment is that everything is a text file, even your hardware and drivers), even all GUI is simply running ontop of a terminal process.
Distro of choice doesn’t matter, it’s all the same content in a different jar, some just have sprinkles on top. Sure a couple things differ from distro to distro but nothing a new user needs to worry about.
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I don’t know why people claim that arch is this cryptic distro that only experienced people should try. I found the arch wiki to be straight forward and clear. I gave arch a try around July last year, after a failed go a year before that. This was the first time I had used a command line type interface since dos 6.22. What i like the most about it is that it forced me to learn some things that i might not have if i used something else.
What i tell people is to pick one and give it a try. Doesn’t matter what one just try it, if you don’t like it try another. do not give up on Linux just because you don’t like the first distro you try. That is what i did and i regret doing that. lucky for me i found Wendell and this place where i was convinced to give it another go. All the different ways to do things and the ability to switch from one to another easily is one of the great aspects of Linux that I love.
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This is true, but if you run into a problem (early on), you’re definitely going to be spending a lot of time figuring it out.
I’d start at the shallow end of the pool. Install Ubuntu. There will be plenty of things to figure out how to do, but it won’t piss you off so much you give up.
When I first tried Linux, I went and bought it. Yes, in 1998 I went to (Gamestop iirc) and bought a boxed version of RedHat. I didn’t even know it was free lol. All the gray beards on efnets #linux channel would constantly say stupid stuff like “Friends don’t let friends use RedHat” etc.
You don’t need to know how to build and engine to drive a car. You don’t need to know how to compile a kernel to enjoy Linux. Enjoy the ride. Slowly wade in. Trust me, you’ll thank me later. 
Learn the basic user shit first!
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Ubuntu is massively popular so google searching problems gets current answers and it is fairly stable.
That would be my recommendation to start learning.
When googling for problems make sure you check the date or use advanced search and set the time to the last year. Often Linux search results bring up answers from years ago and they do not apply to current Linux distro’s.
This is very true. Thank you for pointing my omission.
My install went smooth but after that things didn’t go so well. This was because of my personality and need to take things apart just to see how they work. Having problems that i have to learn how to fix is something i enjoy.
I should have put in my comment that this can happen and if that is something you don’t want to deal with best start with something else.
It really depends on what you want to do with Linux or your goals in general.
Do you want to be sysadmin?
Do you want to be a network admin?
Are you cheap and don’t want to pay for an OS or antivirus anymore?
Do you want to be a full stack web dev?
Do you want to hack?
Do you want to be the overall most badass IT Technician?
Any insight to your goals would be helpful, for me at least, to recommend a distro.
Not sure, I’ve just seen some of the stuff the level1 team has been doing on Linux and I think it’s real neat. So I guess the most badass IT technician, lol.
I think I’ll use ubuntu for a bit, maybe arch. Thanks for all the replies guys