Use Linux Please. Or Don´t.

[mishkin]

A Linux distribution[a] (often abbreviated as distro) is an operating system made from a software collection that includes the Linux kernel and often a package management system.

Linux is not complicated at all. That's what windows (and many linux users who want to look cool or smart) want you to believe.

An idiot like me has been using it (sadly also without having learned much) for fifteen years without almost (I had a problem with the sound on my last laptop because the sound card was extremely rare and recent) any problem. The installation of any major distribution has been polished for decades to be as simple (and reliable) as possible and YouTube is full of tutorials in which you can see how to install the distribution you have chosen.

It's cool to use a terminal, but you can use almost any distribution without ever touching it. The distributions come with package/application/program managers (call them what you want), you just have to click a couple of times to install what you need on your computer, very simply, without any possibility of it containing viruses or any other type of junk. The same simplicity to update your operating system/applications when you want to do it, literally in seconds or minutes (it depends on the speed of your internet connection).

All the work you have to do to switch to Linux (I assume that everyone has backup copies of their files on external hard drives and in the cloud) is to choose what distribution and what type of desktop (kde, gnome, cinnamon...) you want to use. In half an hour you can have made a reasonable choice based on what you like and need. After installation you will have an operating system with, I repeat, your application manager, internet (firefox usually, if you need to use chrome you can also install it as an external package/flatpak, nothing super complicated), file manager, music and video player, libreoffice (if you don't want to use Microsoft 365/office on the internet as an application), etc. And if you don't like what comes pre-installed, you have a variety of applications to choose from. I repeat, free applications, free of viruses and any rubbish. You can also try most distributions on your computer without having to install them/touch anything in your operating system (live install images).

More and more games are naturally compatible with Steam, and there are options to play those that are not (wine, proton). Steam/playing games is not a big problem if you don't have very big specific needs, you can easily install Steam and play, I would say, hundreds of games without any problem (apart from having to pay for them).

I do not know what else to say. I switched to Linux because it was free, cool, simple and free of viruses and garbage that made my PC very slow. Ideologically, it also seemed wrong to use the default or imposed option, and if you are using windows you should know better than me about everything bad they do.

This page contains reviews and news of the distributions releases and has a ranking (on the right) with the distributions that receive the most clicks (not necessarily the most popular or used distros).

I am currently very happy using the Fedora distribution with the KDE desktop environment. Very stable and with the latest technology, although it may not have the absolute simplicity of distributions like Ubuntu or Linux Mint, the latter is a distribution that I would also recommend.

Last thought; You know how lazy I am, if I have made an effort to write this paragraph it is because I think Linux is really worth it.

Happy to answer any questions or comments and mega happy if anyone wants to clarify any concepts or provide more information.

Example of an application manager

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

Fedora is on the cutting edge and does not want to play well with things advanced in age (I mean newer than 32 bit though, just upgrade if that's your situation), and it is prone to introducing things for the sake of change which is great for people into that but makes it a rough distribution to hook your bags to at least imo. This makes it a tricky one for me to suggest although if you like cutting edge or stick to new stuff it's among the best you can do. Plasma 6 in particular is shaping up to be one of the best desktops you can get and it may be worth overriding my 2c on that basis alone, I've always had a soft spot for it even though what I ultimately recommend makes plasma difficult to conveniently slap in and go.

Linux Mint is a very strong balance of not being too cutting edge, having a very competent and stable desktop, and playing well with a huge range of devices out of the box while affording virtually anything you could need on linux. It's just down the road from Ubuntu which is huge for being one of the most cooperative out of the box experiences. You could try Ubuntu directly if you don't care about the politics and want slightly newer, and it offers a wider range of desktops - for example Kubuntu, which also has plasma though not 6 yet I think, but 5 does work. In all cases there are communities there to help. For example Mint is a seasoned newb helper community I'm reasonably familiar with and are easily reached on discord among other places.

If you're the nerdy type of person who likes experimenting with operating systems then Arch could work and for a very select few new people that's what they like straight up and stick to forever. I do not recommend it at all for brand new users who want a more windows like experience or don't like the idea of building their operating system as they know it, but it's on the table if that seems exciting to you.

Some research is required to do well with trying a new distribution, though don't get too hung up on the details because much of it is just squabbling about the best serving of apple or whatever side. Pick something that has a 'live cd' where you can play around with the environment and see how you like it. This is the key: try before you install, see how well your workflow matches, and be open to things feeling different. That is the price of being outside the walled windows garden where instead of adding things to get what you want, you're incentivized to remove garbage microsoft shoves onto you and sometimes you can't without a level of hackery that qualifies you to just try linux.

In the live environment try to do things you would do everyday, even try to get a favorite game or two of yours to run. Possibly do this a few times until you have it down pat and do not be afraid to ask questions for any uncertainty or to ensure you're not overcomplicating. You may need to use terminal (basically command prompt with different commands) from time to time and you'll use plenty of guides and googling but you should be able to get there. Do not install over your computer until you've made a proper choice. If you know anything about virtual machines, give it resources and try that. Or a side computer you're thinking about getting rid of because it's old and slow. Linux is as much about what feels right to you personally as anything else. I've come to be strongly in the Mint camp for introducing people to the linux experience and if you're totally indecisive just do it, but for all the flavors out there it's all linux configured a bit differently. Don't bog down in fights like systemd and the merits of snapd unless you actually know about them and have an ideological stake in it. Avoid more obscure names than already given unless you know what they are and why they matter. If you're that far you don't need this primer anyway.

Using linux there are a lot of things in mindset that need to be adjusted and that is where people come to believe it's too complicated. So don't jump in the deep end, sink your toes into the pool using the gradual approach and the resources you have available. You'll learn something even if you don't make the full switch today, next month or ever. Basically use the time of playing a bit of a game you've already played to try out something new.

[Narf]

I found all of this super informative and tempting, I'm just scared of.. Taking the jumb xD

[mishkin]

Yes, it's scary. I remember having used quite a few live images (and a double boot system Ubuntu had) before daring to delete Windows. And I don't know if I've said it before but it's fair to admit that at some point I almost regretted the change (problems/absence of games, printer installation, office... less problematic things now 15 years later, it must also be said).

[Alastor]

Linux is great. Unless you are primarily a gamer. Things are certainly better these days, proton in particular has surprised me very positively. But if you play a lot of games and you want it hassle-free Windows remains the only way.

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

A lot of games really are hassle free if you've got the right instructions. Steam, proton, lutris, a few more things and you're golden save for edge cases.

Stupid intrusive av or extremely obscure games however? Linux fails both in simplicity and just overall with chance of breakage or effort needed to get them proper, which they may never be. So there is cause on that. And while I don't deal with games that install rootkits I do have ones that fall into very specific obscure corners or have windows-specific tools without which they just don't perform right (think stuff like Med 2's EOP) that I do have to maintain a windows system for their sake.

[Alastor]

A lot of games really are hassle free if you've got the right instructions. Steam, proton, lutris, a few more things and you're golden save for edge cases.

I'm generally on the same page, but I would point that a need to have the right instructions is in itself "hassle". Minor difference in perspective.

[AqD]

It's not as scary as Windows, especially when things break and all those MVPs on help forum are bloody halfwits and users just tell you to reboot.


But I went back to Windows since the whole job of PC is to play games and games are best supported on Windows. When was the last time you did something else? 3ds? Also Windows. Photoshop? Windows too. Want command line tools? WSL give you those from Linux. You don't have to deal with old wifi or sound card lacking Linux driver because they change kernel architecture every year and break everything.

The open source community would have been a lot of better with a normal OS like *BSD, with sane communities who focus on real problems not made up religious issues - you know once there were very long heated discussions about whether OK and Cancel should be arranged from left to right or right to left? You might still see remains from GNOME apps today!