this post was submitted on 22 Feb 2025
181 points (98.9% liked)

Linux

50502 readers
1284 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
AgreeableLandscape@lemmy.ml
nooter692@lemmy.ml
MarcellusDrum@lemmy.ml
cypherpunks@lemmy.ml
cyclohexane@lemmy.ml
d3Xt3r@lemmy.nz
181
Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC (lemm.ee)
submitted 3 days ago by FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee to c/linux@lemmy.ml
158 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

So all I know that the Linux mascot is a penguin and Arch users meme about using Arch. Jokes aside I’m planning on making to the jump to Linux as I’m planning on getting a tower PC. I recently got a steam deck and that kinda demystified the (unrealistic) expectation I had of Linux was all command line stuff and techno babble. This all very future oriented questions* as I haven’t even picked out hardware (probably gonna go prebuilt since I do not trust me) and there’s also the matter of saving up the money for a new PC.

As for my use case (cus I know some software is wonky on Linux compared to windows) it’s mostly between games running on steam, which most of my games play fine on the steam deck, and essays and note taking for my college classes, which I use libre office and obsidian (with excalidraw to hand write my notes) saved to my proton drive and also sync those documents between my surface laptop and home laptop

My ideal OS would be plug it in, let it do… things… and it’s ready to be a PC to install steam and stuff

But first question, as someone who isn’t tech inclined and tinkering is pretty much just a few VERY basic settings in the settings app on windows, so is there a Linux… idk what to call it, type? OS? Thing??? that runs out of the box without me having to install additional software manually or at least automatic setup wizards because like hardware, I do not trust me with setting it up. As for installing it after I wipe whatever computer I choose I assume I’m gonna have some OS installer on a USB and let it work its magic.

Second question, is there any specific hardware that works easier with Linux, I can’t really think of any examples cus with installers and updaters I just the computer handle it, like updating Nvidia stuff in the GeForce app for all I know it’s genuinely performing dark magic during the automated updates

Anyways I probably have way more questions that I have no idea I had, but to wrap up I’m not super tech inclined since I let automated stuff do its thang on windows (if the computer can manage and install it I’m gonna let it do that) and my pc mostly just plays games and do documents on libre office and obsidian

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] furrowsofar@beehaw.org 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You can just buy a system with Linux preinstalled. My laptop is from System76. I usually build desktops/towers from scratch but they sell those too.

Installing apps has always been easier on Linux then on Windows as Linux has had large free app stores back 30 years. The question is more are the apps you want in the app store. If not things get harder. I like Debian based distros like Ubuntu or Linux Mint as they have large app stores.

You might want to look at distrowatch.com. Mint is currently at the top.

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Imo you should get a System76 computer, it comes with a gaming focused Distro and its the most well respected Linux brand (in the US, for EU I would reccomend Tuxedo). Their mini PCs cost $799 and for a decent full sized PC (with a GPU) prepare to pay over $1.5k.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So kinda standard PC prices

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 2 days ago (7 children)

Slightly higher but yeah, also you get a premium PC with no RGB and a wooden finish

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] ChaoticNeutralCzech@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If you really want a prebuilt one, of course.

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago

It was explicitly specified that no tinkering should be required, also even if you custom build a PC you wont have several advantages of just going with system76. For example the mini PC uses their fork of coreboot and intigrates with Pop_OS, meanwhile on other systems you would need to manually install coreboot (if its even supported) and bios updates are still an absolute mess (even if you dont care about the privacy benefits of coreboot the extremely fast start up speed alone makes it valuable).

[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 2 points 2 days ago

Just deleted my windows parition and grew my cachyos one, im never going back after a week with it, I like cachyos/arch since I can use gnome and plasma at the same time easily (i like swapping looks a lot), idk if its as easy with others since they reccomend you rebase for different des like bazzite, aurora, bluefin. cachyos is straightforward with a gui installer, easier and much faster than windows to install and use, I used ventoy so I can keep using my usb for data.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

  1. The various versions or flavors of Linux are called "distributions" or "distros." There are several that are intended to be ready to go out of the box. Linux Mint is a pretty good one for general desktop use though they're kinda behind the times with Wayland and such. I see a lot of folks recommend Bazzite but I personally know nothing about it. I'm using Fedora KDE, Fedora is meh, KDE is pretty good.

  2. If you're building a gaming desktop specifically for Linux, I recommend going with AMD GPU and an Intel wi-fi adapter. There are some Wi-Fi adapters that don't play nice with Linux but Intel's drivers are pretty good. AMD releases their drivers right into the kernel, there's nothing you need to do at all to get AMD GPUs working on Linux, Nvidia is a bit more of a pain. Also, with desktop peripherals, avoid anything that needs one of those configuration utilities, they tend not to be available for Linux. I use a Coolermaster MasterKeys Pro M keyboard which all configuration happens on the board, they don't offer any software for it. Highly recommended.

Oh also: Asrock's RGB lighting weird and non-standard. If you want to use open source stuff to control your RGB lighting and that's important to you, I recommend against Asrock. Just so happens my build's RGB is controlled via a controller built into my case.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] catboat@sopuli.xyz 5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I also recommend Linux Mint. It's been hands down the best experience of all the Linux distros I've tried.

The installation is done with a USB stick. In short, you download the Linux iso image and create a bootable USB stick with a software. In Windows I have always used Rufus for that.

The Linux installer gives you a choise to wipe everything and install Linux. Installing Mint has always been very straight forward.

I can't comment on hardware since I've only used Linux on +5 year old laptops. They seem to work fine.

There most likely will be many new things that can feel confusing in the beginning, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. There also are tons of good tutorials of everything.

Best of luck to your Linux project!

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›