Linux (noob)

[zenek44]

Starting to get into linux.. anyone want to give recommendations on where to start? Links to where I can learn.. 

[Dutch_Master]

Here's a good start:

http://tldp.org/

 

The most important thing you need to remember is that "Linux is not Windows!" Things are done differently so you need to adjust your expectations and take (invest) time to learn the Linux way. Just as you did learning Win-OS. And just like Win-OS, Linux has a cli (command line interface, or terminal) but it's much more potent then DOS ever was. Here's a list/overview (not quite complete) of Linux commands, including a description of what it does and how you use it:

 

https://ss64.com/bash/

 

HTH!

[Fredd Green]

Try Kubuntu, a great distro with a great desktop enviroment (KDE)

[Kidplayer_1204]

Try Zorin OS. Has a windows like look and feel, based on ubuntu and pretty easy to use, with a light version for slightly older computers

[Pa1yn]

Expect to be reinstalling a bunch, grub bootloader is lethal if you mess up like i did at the start!

 

Note: I use ubuntu server on my home server lol

[MasterGeekMX]

If you want to know the system by it's guts, but don't want to be too technical, https://linuxjourney.com/.

 

ANy distro to begin will be fine. The ones recommended for beginners are so becasue they have a lot of stuff preconfigured, have neat installers that basically are just pressing next, and they put GUIs for things that usually will be made via the terminal.

 

The best thing to do is grab a spare old computer and tinker around on it, or if you don't have one, install a virtual machine and fool around on it. VirtualBox is your best bet because it is well balanced between being feature rich and simple to use.

[lal12]

On 3/30/2020 at 2:10 PM, GougedKirby522 said:

Expect to be reinstalling a bunch, grub bootloader is lethal if you mess up like i did at the start!

I mean you can do it, but I don't see how if you don't mess around at its config files or the partitions ^^.

[lal12]

I am a pretty advanced linux user (linux developer). But I still prefer an easy out of the box distribution, since it is just faster if you want to do something the quick way. So I personally prefer Ubuntu, since for every problem you find a tutorial pretty fast and it has the best software support if you want something not in found the Software center.

[-DevNull-]

Arch FTW! 

 

If you're still getting comfortable, I could go with something like Pop!_OS from System76.

 

As was mentioned above, Zorin OS may have a familiar look and feel to it as well.  You might also check out Deepin or Elementary OS or even Solus.

 

There's plenty to choose from and nobody has the same tastes.  Find what you like the most...then rip it's guts out and replace what you don't like.

 

Welcome to Linux! 

[sp331yi]

Intro to Linux

Linux in Easy Steps

Rute

Slackbook

[LauRoman]

On 3/30/2020 at 3:10 PM, GougedKirby522 said:

Expect to be reinstalling a bunch, grub bootloader is lethal if you mess up like i did at the start!

 

Note: I use ubuntu server on my home server lol

Well actually (:D), grub is far less distructive than any Windows bootloader, especially if you install it on a drive that has no Windows on it and set that as the primary boot device. It is easier to fix (if you mess it up) from most linux live cds, not necessarily the one you used to install the os from. Your kernel is more likely to panic from binary blob and some filesystems' drivers and stuff like that than a grub mishap. And even then, by default, grub helps you by having the option to boot an older kernel if you want to. It can easily be set to boot any OS it autodetects (i.e. Windows if you dualboot and want it to boot windows by default).

 

On the other hand, i haven't used it with any machine set to GPT or Secureboot and stuff like that.

 

As for a distribution to start with? It is really hard to go wrong with anything based on ubuntu and has a decently large community and user base. Some more niche flavors of ubuntu might have some bugs (almost always visual interface bugs than functional ones) because there are less people to fix them, so start with the main official one. If you don't like how it works, after spending some considerable time with it, or because the machine is a little to low powered for it, then think about changing to a less demanding distribution.

 

Moving from Ubuntu to Fedora or Manjaro etc. (if you use their default interfaces) is less likely to have an impact on performance than moving to less demanding desktop environment.

[Jason1163]

try zorin os  as a beginner

[TheFlyingSquirrel]

Ubuntu 20.04, newly released and is the most supported desktop Linux distribution in the world by application developers.   https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

 

As said earlier Linux requires a bit of invest however Ubuntu 20.04 has the most guides, most applications, snaps, and It is also used heavily by students, so people in forums are the most comfortable asking questions around it.

 

Zorin, Linux Mint all build on Ubuntu, if I am being honest, staying closest to source is the best option.  The worse thing is when your distribution suddenly goes under, and you need to distro hop out of necessity.

 

My Opinion is based on using:

Ubuntu (Uni)

Fedora, Redhat (Work)

Linux Mint, Mx Linux, Antegros, Manjaro, Ubuntu, Debian (Home)

 

[Worstcaster]

Join the forum of whichever distro you choose.  The community is usually helpful and since they are using (or at least have experience) with your distro they can be very useful if you run into a problem.  Whichever distro your choose try to stick with it for a little while to learn Linux.  A lot of features are customizable, so if there is something your don't like it is usually pretty easy to change it.  Your likes are subjective and not necessarily wrong just because someone likes something else about a system.  For example, Kubuntu was suggested above for the KDE desktop.  Out of all the desktops I've tried so far, I like Cinnamon the best.  If you were to try Kubuntu and didn't like the layout or look of KDE, you could switch it to Cinnamon, Gnome, XFCE, MATE, or any other desktop you liked rather than going through a full install with another distro to get the same default desktop.  ie. Instead of switching to Mint (the distro I currently like best) for Cinnamon, Ubuntu for Gnome, Manjaro for XFCE, etc.  If you don't like the picture on the start menu in the GUI, change it!  Don't like the sound when the system powers on, change it!  Don't like the color scheme for the Windows, change it!  Messing around with stuff like that is half the fun of Linux and you will learn alot doing it.

 

Here are some links to help you.

 

40 commonly used Linux commands:  https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/most-used-linux-terminal-commands/

 

9 Lethal terminal commands you should never run:  https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/9-lethal-linux-commands-never-run/  Not everyone on the internet is helpful, consider all the people on Windows forums who tell you to delete the System 32 Folder.  A very useful Linux terminal command is "man".  This will let you look up what another command does.  You should never blindly paste commands from a forum or other source directly into the Linux terminal.  If there is a command you are not sure of look it up before you use it.

 

Chris Titus Tech: Does a lot with Linux customization.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6gPGh8HU2U01vaFCAsvmQ

 

Learn Linux TV:  Has a lot of useful information.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxQKHvKbmSzGMvUrVtJYnUA

 

Look into what features you may want and pick your distro.  As for me my favorite is:

 

Linux Mint:  https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

Linux Mint Forums:   https://forums.linuxmint.com/

[vorticalbox]

On 4/5/2020 at 2:22 AM, lal12 said:

I am a pretty advanced linux user (linux developer). But I still prefer an easy out of the box distribution, since it is just faster if you want to do something the quick way. So I personally prefer Ubuntu, since for every problem you find a tutorial pretty fast and it has the best software support if you want something not in found the Software center.

Totally agree, I and a few others at my work have linux machines and having a bash script that will install all our development tools is great. 

 

You can go from a blank ssd to a workable machine in 30 ish mins. 

[smug_lisp_weenie]

I recommend the Unix Power Tools book.  As for distros I'd go with ubuntu, since that seems to have the most support for non-free packages, which might be useful for drivers.