I’m buying a Steam Deck specifically to train on linux with a second machine. Once i’m comfortable enough with it, i’ll be changing over my main pc to linux as well.
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The hardest part of a linux build is being aware of what peripheral devices will work as intended with it.
For instance, you can forget about using a Logitech G915TKL with any kind of linux build.
I will say though that I think it’s a little silly to not trust MSFT and use that as the sole justification for switching. I encourage non-technical users to try MacOS instead, if you really feel the need to get away from MSFT utilities.
However, keep in mind that MSFT is one of the largest business enterprises in the world and that many, many people use their cloud services, so you end up indirectly using them whether you’re aware or not. It’s like trying to avoid Google as an entity; you just can’t entirely disconnect without going way out of your way.
Also, when you start discussing corporate entities not to trust that becomes a deep, deep rabbit hole.
Do we ditch Apple cause of CSAM? What of chrome and google search engine cause of Google practices? Neither are better than MSFT, so than that basically means every off the shelf phone is a adevice you wont want to use, which leads to the whole having to flash your own OS on an Android device, which really comes with alot of compromises.
I’m not trying to discourage switching to Linux, but make sure it’s done for reasons other than a knee jerk “MSFT bad”
Any reason is great for switching to Linux, it’s free and open source, and built to learn and tinker with. Worse case they learn something.
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If I remember AMD cpu’s 939 and am3 are non-traceable. Or is it AM2. I cannot remember. If you looking to not be traced based on the hardware you used. The rabbit hole goes further than software these days.
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I prefer the rusty bucket. Where all trash goes back to the earth.
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I don’t think that holds true at all.
For instance, if someone is wanting to switch because they somehow feel it will be a better user experience…that would be a very bad reason as it’s widely acknowledge that the linux non-technical user experience still has plenty of growing pains. (Hell, even technical users and active developers have issues trying to switch to it)
FOSS and being built to tinker with are not inherently good reasons to push people towards it; the later point would actually make for compelling reasons to tell some to stay away.
Hell. I just got done listening to Linus on WAN talk about his experience trying to switch to linux as a noob. I look forward to his videos highlighting all his frustrations lol
There are plenty of good reasons to use one OS or another, but people should really think about their use case and why before making those kinds of commitments and be prepared for lots of growing pains
There’s nothing wrong with Linux. “switch to it” is the key point there. If you’re used to Windows and Windows-only programs, Linux is going to be very different. But then Windows is going to be very different from Linux, Mac, and Android. If you’re primarily used-to one of those, switching to Windows is an extremely unpleasant experience.
I’ll speak from personal experience as well. It’s wonderful being able to get a nice slick full-featured Linux system installed in a few minutes, and just check a few boxes to install all the Office, Productivity, Multimedia, Development, etc., tools you could want. Drivers for everything are just included, everything auto-configures itself, etc.
Installing Windows is hours of fighting with it to get it up and working like it should, then searching and trawling the internet to find software to install (because Windows is an absolute bare-bones desert, devoid of useful software), or shelling out cash at every turn, and often being locked-in to each company’s walled garden of incompatible file formats.
Once you’ve made the switch to Linux, you’ve got a world of new options open to you. You aren’t forced to learn the new Windows UI every time Microsoft decides to force one on you. Mint is one of the best example of the freedom available to users on Linux that doesn’t exist elsewhere. Multimedia playback is another good example. The difference between Windows Media Player and VLC (or ffmpeg / libavcodec) is very much the difference between the Windows and Linux worlds. Multimedia playback on Windows got a lot better when the developments in Linux started spilling over to Windows.
Just don’t expect your skills on Windows to translate, because it’s a very different world that you have to learn, anew. Many of the tasks you’ve become good at on Windows are just completely unnecessary on Linux, and that’s for the best.
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We’re getting off topic…
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1: you dont trust microsoft?, im not sure that’s actually relevant anymore since its google thats doing most of the fingerprinting.
as whether linux is more secure… to be honest after hacking on it for a few months.
windows is harder to get a foothold on simply because its a more restricted environment.
that might change with experience but for now, windows is more of a challenge to compromise.
yeah i know not what you wanted to hear. my point is yeah microsoft cant be trusted, but neither can anyone else and if someone is telling you other wise…
best take that advice and file it in the back under trash.
as for which distro. its a case of trying a few and seeing which works for you and does what you need it to. if windows already does that, then look into locking down windows rather than spending months testing a replacement o.s.
why?.. you can blackhole the telemetry with a raspi, and microsoft gets nothing.
you go on google and alphabet gets everything regardless of your o.s.
anyways good luck. 
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IMO another thread where OP was never to be seen again.
I think you’re falling foul of the old “perfect is the enemy of good” adage there. Like not using Linux because it’s difficult to exist in the modern world without a smartphone? Like yes I don’t like them either, but to not move away from anything you don’t like because you can’t move away from everything you don’t like is kind of missing the point.
OP just updated the top post an hour ago.
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Let me be frank. Most of the people who have posted in this thread are making an embarrassment of this forum and community. You’re all being pedantic and not actually helping the OP.
Are you responding sarcastically to a person who’s asking a question or for help? If so, stop.
Are you not answering the question the person asked but instead trying to ackshually your way to the intellectual high ground by telling OP why the premise is wrong? If so, stop.
Are you getting baited by any of the above? If so, stop.
This forum is supposed to be a place of higher knowledge, not Animal House.
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As it seems you have successfully managed to install Manjaro, you can always refer to the Arch Wiki. Manjaro is basically Arch Linux with an elaborate installer, a pre selection of packages and some custom visual styling applied. Most information there will be valid for Manjaro. The first time I visited there I was a little in over my head and intimidated by all the information, however it is a valuable resource, not only for Arch based distributions but often for any Linux out there. I however can only animate you to always look up what commands do and how they work instead of blindly applying instructions from the wiki!
Also I wanted to give you this advice on the way: Don’t be discouraged if something is not working as you like or things break. Linux can be customized in a million ways, but has a steep learning curve. I have been using Linux for years but still learn new things every other day. As long as you are not afraid to read a lot of documentation and ask for help if the former does not help you will be fine in the end. It will take time, but you’ll be fine!
P.S. Things will be FUBAR, at least from a beginners perspective, from time to time in the beginning so make sure to always back up your important data!
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good choice.
i ended up doing the same, as i couldn’t just drop windows.
at least now you can play around with different desktop environments and see which you prefer.
@SgtAwesomesauce
i couldn’t really recommend which to use as i only use kali and that’s no daily driver, so i didnt reply to most of his asks
i did find his first point intriguing enough to reply to though. so was trying to stay on topic.
anyhoo it looks like OP is sorted and on his way to testing alternatives…
sorry if that triggered you. it wasn’t meant to
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It wasn’t your post specifically. We had a bunch of responses similar and I was just catching up on it all. 
To me, this feels like a similar thing to Linux users coming into a Windows helpdesk thread going “why are you using IIS and MSSQL, just use RHEL, nginx and postgres. It’s much faster!”
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At some point @LinuxNoob could reformat with ext4 and use it as a back up that way. But for now it would be a bit of a parachute back-up.
I’ll also apologize. Didn’t mean to derail the thread that hard. Like I said, I didn’t want to discourage the OP; just wanted to encourage them to pause and look at their workflow and use case.
Happy OP managed to come to a satisfying conclusion; specifically, good choice in using a dedicated drive for each OS to avoid cross pollution.
Yeah, we did it, Reddit Level1!
/s
Just /thread and mark it [SOLVED], Sarge.
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