The scary world of Linux

Matthew on 7/9/2016 at 08:24

Hello fellow TTLGers,

Recently I've taken a bit of a mad notion to install Linux as a second OS on my current machine; I don't game as much as I used to, so Linux is more of a useful option for me. I would however like some advice about what distro might be best suited for a beginner; I've heard a lot of talk about Mint?

In addition, are there any dos/don'ts or caveats I should know about (apart from 'Don't get into a shouting match with Torvalds, you'll lose')?

mensch on 7/9/2016 at 12:13

A few years ago I used Linux (Debian) for quite a while as my primary OS. Various shenanigans with video drivers (I had an ATI card back then) and professional software forced me back to OS X in the end (with Windows as my secondary OS). I'm still an avid follower of new regarding the whole FLOSS OS ecosystem though, so here are my two cents.

I believe Linux Mint aims to provide a desktop environment (DE) similar to (classic) Windows, so that the transition is less of a problem. There's a start menu, for example. Ubuntu is of course another great option, but offers a desktop environment which is a bit different. In the end the thing that you're going to notice most is the desktop environment:

- Linux Mint uses its own DE called (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_(software)) Cinnamon;
- Ubuntu builds on (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME) GNOME and has its own flavour called Unity;
- There are also many distributions using a DE called (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE) KDE, which used to resemble Windows more closely, but has evolved drastically.

GNOME and KDE are the most popular desktop environments around. Historically KDE is enormously customisable, whereas GNOME favours simplicity over direct configurability. This has been the subject of many (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?HolyWar) Holy Wars, but in the end it comes down to what you prefer personally.

My recommendation would be to try Ubuntu (or a flavour like Kubuntu or Ubuntu GNOME). It has an app store, which makes installing software rather trivial, and is supported rather well both by its manufacturer and the community.

Renault on 7/9/2016 at 14:16

I say this honestly, not trolling at all - why do people use Linux? Strictly as a cost saving move, because it's free? It just seems like no matter how strong the community around it is, it's always going to be lacking in functionality or support compared to Windows or Mac. I've never really understood the hype around Linux.

Now as a geeky, technical project type thing, maybe I can see that. But as an everyday OS? Not as much. Maybe the real questions should be, is there anything you can do in Linux that you can't already do on a PC/Mac?

TannisRoot on 7/9/2016 at 15:40

@Brethren: Other than the difference in open source philosophy, it's light weight, stable, and runs great on old hardware. Windows 10 won't work on windows xp machine from '05. The new Mac OS would slow an equivalent machine to a crawl. There is no reason for operating systems to have as much bloat as they do. Updates are simply designed with planned obsolescence in mind. Why should I pay for the same software I used 10 years ago only for it to run slower and force me to learn a new, less efficient GUI? Why should I buy a new computer every n years when I'm not playing the latest and greatest games?

tl;dr: What can Linux do that windows / osx can't? Run on old hardware efficiently. Other than that, it doesn't force you to buy new hardware or the same software products every n years.

Renzatic on 7/9/2016 at 17:15

Quote Posted by Brethren

Support is far better for it now than it's ever been. Thanks to Valve solid, if not somewhat casual push, there are a surprising amount of games and software suites available for it now that you wouldn't imagine ever coming to the platform not even 3 years ago.

As for the hype surrounding it, Linux is free, easy to install, infinitely configurable, has widespread support for massive amounts of hardware configurations right out of the box, and does do some things better than Windows or OSX. There is a lot to love about it.

But that said, there are some things that will tick you off about it as well. Despite the fact it's now more user friendly than it's ever been, there are still times when it will go hairy on you. Having to sort through repo FUBARs is always a fun pain in the ass, and of course the everpresent threat of dependency issues are always lurking about. These are things that are easy to fix once you know what you're doing. But when you don't. Oh man. It can be like pulling teeth.

On the plus side, those two issues might become a thing of the past, thanks to the recently universally supported addition of Snap packages. Basically, they're installable executables. But unlike .deb or .rpm packages, they're distro agnostic, sandbox the applications, and come with everything they need to get up and running the moment they're done installing. This is something Linux has needed for YEARS now, and I'm glad to see that someone finally decided that user convenience is preferable to dogmatic adherence to ideologically based OS standards.

snobel on 7/9/2016 at 18:04

Ubuntu has been my primary OS for close to a decade. I only need Windows for hacking on Thief 3, and the occasional game.

I agree with what's been said, although be sure to try Mint (Cinnamon) - it comes with some stuff, like media codecs, that you have to install separately on Ubuntu. Boot some live CDs/DVDs so you can see what you like, and test your hardware.

Bits of advice:

* Stick with LTS (long term support) releases (Ubuntu 16.04, Mint 18)
* Having a separate disk partition for /home (think C:\Users...) makes it a lot easier to reinstall
* Avoid PPAs (personal package archives, often providing newer versions of software) - one of them will break your system. Hopefully snap packages will make them go away

Btw. if you consider yourself a Windows power user, then you're in for a culture shock. With Joe/Jane Windows, unless they need specific apps that are not available on Linux, you could probably install Mint, claim it was the New Windows, and they'd never know any better. :)

Renzatic on 7/9/2016 at 18:25

I wouldn't say you should avoid PPAs entirely. Just don't go around installing them willy nilly.

snobel on 7/9/2016 at 18:30

True - and I use a few myself. But I'd still say avoid them until you feel at home in 'the scary world of Linux'. :p

Renzatic on 7/9/2016 at 18:54

Yeah, that's probably for the best. Though then again, Linux has always been about learning through PAIN, so maybe he should go all out. :P

zoog on 7/9/2016 at 21:15

Quote Posted by Renzatic

As for the hype surrounding it, Linux is free, easy to install, infinitely configurable, has widespread support for massive amounts of hardware configurations right out of the box, and does do some things better than Windows or OSX. There is a lot to love about it.

..and still doesn't have a file manager) I just can't understand how itcan be - to use a computer without (two-panel) file manager.