How do I switch to Linux?

Software & Operating Systems Linux
21

Correct pantato my first weeks in linux where on a live USB.

Then cause Im cheap I made a virtualbox VM in windows with NO HD and passed through a 32G USB stick and the ISO of linux to boot from.

Installed a full linux distro to the USB stick and used that for a while. It was SOOO slow but it was native and worked. I had 16GB of ram so over time linux had cached most of the OS and it was snappy.

I stand by the best experience is just get a cheap boot sized SSD and dual boot. Costs money and worst case you have a scratch disk or extra SSD games install location.

22

False. I make a lot of stuff in linux. Its just limited in tools.

Good DAWā€™s are between Ardour (which is a pro level tool anyways), a piece of software I canā€™t remember what its called but Iā€™ll look it up tomorrow (too tired), and REAPER but Clockos would just as soon deny there is a linux version than make the download not a pain in the ass to find on their site (its there, dig people!).

Good video editors? We literally have Davnci Resolve as the main release platform and test platform. At that, kdenlive is a nice little tool, along with shotcut. Though, shotcut is weird, and Iā€™m not sure who really uses it, I just hear nerds love it lol. OH, and lightworks!

We absolutely have tools that are competent and used industry wide.

23

Iā€™m actually thinking of installing Arch.

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24

If youā€™re willing to join the neckbeard-side of the force DXVK is making enormous strides. Its still a shame game publishing companies are pushing DX over VK though.

25

I distro hoped them all. Be a distro gigolo :slight_smile:

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26

You are free to do as you please.
But why in the name of all that is is free and open source would you go with arch?
To get a greater understanding of just how things work under the hood?
or to gain instant nerdcred? or something completely different?

I would strongly recommend starting with something a bit more complete out of the box as you get to know the system, but if you have the determination and discipline to throw yourself straight into arch than I salute you!

Mind you, I do recommend Slackware if you are still determined to jump to a more ā€œadvancedā€ distro :wink:

27

Ergoā€¦ it is not ā€œas goodā€ as something like Final Cut, Adobe Premiere or even sayā€¦ iMovie, for an end user.

I didnā€™t say it canā€™t be done. I said that it is not as good. It simply isnā€™t. Because of the tools.

Itā€™s OK to admit this as a Linux user/fan. It is the unfortunate reality.

28

Take my advice with a pinch of salt because I made my decision between Windows (a 286 running Windows 3.0) and Xenix (a serial terminal connected to a 386) way back in the early 1990s. Of course the serial terminal won.

If you dive straight in, thereā€™s a risk that youā€™ll get frustrated when you find it difficult or slow to do something. If you keep both around, you may find yourself using Windows more because itā€™s ā€œeasierā€.

Iā€™d cheat; keep both around but always try using Linux first. Keep a log of what forces you resort to Windows, and spend time finding out how to do it with Linux.

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29

Good advice . Personally Iā€™ve been on linux since '99 and the first 9 months I did use a dual boot PC (Win for gaming & Linux for everything else) . Now i just canā€™t consider Windows for anything at all (at least for me) ā€¦

As for differences between AMD and Intel CPUs , I have both Ryzen and Coffe lake and they both perform beautifully on Linux. The only thing for me is that for the life of me I canā€™t make my MSI B350 board to report accurate core temps and voltages , instead from my other PCā€™s Asrock Z370 which is cooperating seamlessly with linux (individual core temps , voltages , accurate core boost etc).

Weirdly enough both systems benchmark consistently better than other same windows10 systems ā€¦

30

I think its great. I donā€™t really see any negatives between davinci on osx and linux.

31

I did everything the GOOD LORD asked of me. I added triple buffer, tearfree, all kinds of configs and software installations. I went into the UEFI and changed some settings.

Not sure what DRI 3 is but if it was in any of the ā€œAMD Graphics screen tearing linuxā€ variants I entered into Google, DuckDuckGo, AND BING, I tried it. I spent, not exaggerating, probably a month trying to get it worked out. Best I could do was i3. If I wasnā€™t scrolling it looked great. Only 1/4 of the time when scrolling would the screen tear or ripple.

Most of my changes to X.org files would result in a black screen on reboot. I could flip over to console and change the file back, reboot, and everything be fine.

I just opted to use it as a passthrough card. It worked well enough for that.

Appended an entry to your list :grin:

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32

exactly many of the programs used in windows and mac for that matter have numerous equivalents in linux but you need actively look for them and install them
if you want a distro that has click and install there are many that have that in their software stores and managers, and what they dont have you can find with synaptic or other package managers.
feren os is one its dead easy to install and configure. but many linux users will find it boring as hell (too easy)

@VeryZ, @jkoyr I do have one windows machine because my glucometer software only communicates with windows and wont run in vm, but that will change soon as ive found one that will bluetooth to my smartphone (and will cost less) win-win!

and that win machine will evolve to a linux server. win-win-win (Yeah triple play!):rofl:

33

First thing to be ā€œaware ofā€ is ā€¦ Linux is not Windows or OS X. Especially not installing it.

Second thing is attitude. In my case, I REFUSE to be bested by inanimate objects.

Take a look at and decide what you want your desktop to look like. Gnome? KDE? Mate? or any of the many others. Then pick a distro. A mainstream one. Debian, Ubuntu, opensuse, whatever ā€œlooksā€ good to you. Download a ā€œliveā€ version and see it it works and if you like it. If not try another until you do.

Now is where the fun starts. I suggest one of two ways ā€¦

Way one ā€¦

Take some vacation. Lock yourself in a room by yourself. Bring your favorite caffeinated beverage. And install it. Break it. Re-install it, repeat until happy. Or you have pulled all your hair out. At this point, go to bed and get some sleep. Get up the next day and repeat, until you are happy. Or your wife threatens to divorce you.

Way two ā€¦

Search the internet for a local LUG ( Linux User Group }. The one near me meets once a month. During, before, each meeting they have ā€œhelpā€ time. And they are very willing to do just that, help you. If there is no lug ā€œnearā€ you, maybe they know someone near you that is willing to help.

Then go home ā€¦
And use it.

Oh and then ā€¦

Break it. Re-install it, repeat.

I used ā€œWay oneā€. My hair grew back. The wise divorced me ( for other reasons then Linux ). And 20 years later here I am. Not another OS in site.

Oh wait. I remembered a third thing to be aware of ā€¦

Linux is a thing that you can, will, always learn new things about. ALWAYS! New hardware? New things to learn. You will break things. New things to learn. Sharing files across the network. Streaming video through out the house to different devices. Always new things to learn.

But that the fun of Linux.

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34

and i should add RELAX to your list.
any distro you choose to try has a user forum dedicated to that distro
and thats actually the first thing you want to find and join.

35

Lots of good answers here already, but I would like to add a couple of points.

First, donā€™t install it just because. As bad as I think Windows and OSX isā€¦ The fact is, they do work, for a lot of people. Linux can be rock solid and stable, but it could also be a nightmare, depending on your particular machine. Make sure you have a solid reason to install it and do some real work on it, perhaps do a 30-day trial?

Second, the absolutely best way to switch to Linux is to buy it preinstalled from somewhere. Whether that be System76 in the U.S, a Linux laptop from Dell, Lenovo or HP, or a more local option, this is the best way to limit your hardware problems. It is also a pretty expensive option. If you are willing to gamble with your current hardware, buy a secondary hard drive and install Linux on that. A $40 harddrive with 120 GB of storage is more than enough space for most tasks, though 240 GB or beyond is even better. Do not dual-boot on the same harddrive (save that until you know how Linux works), and do not install Linux on your day-to-day system unless you are sure you want to kick Windows to the curb!

Third, any distribution is fine, but I recommend one of the main eight distributions, and personally I recommend Ubuntu. Here is a quick rundown on each. I use a scale of 1-5 with 1 being lowest to rate how newbie friendly they are, how updated the software is and how stable in general the distribution is. Ubuntu is my recommendation since it hits a sweet spot of all three criteria, but any of these 8 main distros are a good choice in general:

(Name - Newbie friendly - Updated packages - Stability)

  • Ubuntu - 4 - 4 - 3
  • Fedora - 3 - 5 - 2
  • Arch - 2 - 5 - 2
  • Gentoo - 1 - 5 - 2
  • OpenSuSE - 4 - 3 - 4
  • Debian - 2 - 1 - 5
  • Red Hat - 3 - 2 - 5
  • CentOS - 3 - 2 - 5

Fourth, do not fear the command line! The less newbie friendly a distro is, the more command line youā€™ll need, so keep that in mind. To do more advanced stuff, the command line is all but a must. That said, most regular tasks do not require a command line these days.

Good luck with your choice, and happy Linuxing! :slight_smile:

36

this one does not use trays
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W08EH5769&Description=hot%20swap%20hard%20drive%20bay&cm_re=hot_swap_hard_drive_bay--17-990-011--Product
neat way to have linux and windows without dual boot.
I also used hard drive switches with internal drives.

37

Why not the rolling one? Itā€™s supposedly very stable? The fixed one is very old as far as the kernel is concerned. Like the TS Iā€™m thinking about moving to a new Linux machine, but it will be Threadripper. Wonā€™t very old kernels like on Opensuseā€™s Leap (fixed one) be bad for that? The proper support for AMDā€™s latest CPUs and mainboards supposedly is only guaranteed in the very latest kernels.

So you either run very old hardware on stable versions of Linux, or you get current hardware, but then you have to live with potentially unstable rolling release versions?

This is what Iā€™m most concerned about.

38

Key word thatā€™s perpetuated by those that have used it for years and mastered the quirks.

To your other questions, there are modern kernels on distributions that are not rolling release, such as Ubuntu 18.04/18.10, Fedora 28/29, Linux Mintā€¦

It looks like openSUSE Leap is on 4.12, Iā€™m not sure how that equates to ThreadRipper. Just take the ā€œrolling releaseā€ hype with a grain of salt. Iā€™ve had a really pleasant experience with Solus but if you look around there are a few instances of people experiencing some difficulties.

39

Donā€™t know your level know how regarding linux.
But if youā€™re a day to day user of windows user, id start slowly by dipping my toe in the pool of linux, maybe buy a raspberry pi, and maybe make a nas.
I started that way ~3-4 years ago, and about 3-4 months ago i finally got rid of my last home windows pc, and now game etc on linux.
Either that or rip the bandage and just remove your windows machines all together, and be ready for a long frustrating(but fruitfull) haul learning.

40

Have you jumped in yet? Please let us know your experiences!

For me personally attempting to use Windows 8 made me switch to Linux. I was aware of it beforehand but it was like a background noise in my head.

I must say the last 6.5 years using it have been a great experience overall. Ups and downs of course but overall I have learned a ton and mostly taken control of my data from the tech giants.

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