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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Why did you move from Windows to Linux? (leminal.space)

submitted 2 months ago by umbrellacloud@leminal.space to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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Personally, I’m not brand loyal to any particular OS. There are good things about a lot of different operating systems, and I even have good things to say about ChromeOS. It just depends on what a user needs from an operating system.

Most Windows-only users I am acquainted with seem to want a device that mostly “just works” out of the box, whereas Linux requires a nonzero amount of tinkering for most distributions. I’ve never encountered a machine for sale with Linux pre-installed outside of niche small businesses selling pre-built PCs.

Windows users seem to want to just buy, have, and use a computer, whereas Linux users seem to enjoy problem solving and tinkering for fun. These two groups of people seem as if they’re very fundamentally different in what they want from a machine, so a user who solely uses Windows moving over to Linux never made much sense to me.

Why did you switch, and what was your process like? What made you choose Linux for your primary computing device, rather than macOS for example?

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[–] Mesophar@pawb.social 4 points 2 months ago

I also wanted an OS that "just worked", and Windows was no longer delivering that. I was constantly having driver issues (usually wireless and Bluetooth related), which required messing around in the registry to fix. I suppose I could have wiped everything and started with a fresh install, but how long would that have worked for?

If I was going to have to tinker and tweak things to get it to work anyway, I figured I might as well do it with an OS that I was in control of, that didn't shove ads in my face constantly, and that I didn't have to pay to unlock all the features. I already had a little experience with Linux in VMs, so I tried dual-booting. I found I didn't really need to boot into Windows except for the most niche cases, so I just stayed on Linux.

When I built a new computer a couple of years ago, I switched over from dual-booting to just Linux. I've been running EndeavorOS ever since.