because of the shinanigans with mirosoft basically adding "ai" to windows i am now switching to linux and i need a little help

[goatedpenguin]

Just now, Gat Pelsinger said:

No context?

Manjaro breaks easier then arch itself does. Ppl who don't know how to use it will 90% of the time have a unbootable system. EOS or garudaOS is something I would recommend a newbie to an arch based distro. 

[xAcid9]

20 hours ago, goatedpenguin said:

Manjaro breaks easier then arch itself does. Ppl who don't know how to use it will 90% of the time have a unbootable system. EOS or garudaOS is something I would recommend a newbie to an arch based distro. 

[goatedpenguin]

1 hour ago, xAcid9 said:

That sounds like a you problem, countless ppl have said that there install was broken after a few days on the manjaro forun and on reddit.

[Mark Kaine]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:39 AM, Shimejii said:

Goodluck. Linux is still far from being able to be used for mainstream use. You will begin your journey decided whether you want Arch, Debian, or one of their many forks.

 

Two that are generally used are Ubunutu, Linux Mint, but there are tons more and honestly its just a mess.

 

Could just use windows 10, wont have the AI crap. 

yeh. but 2025 around the corner. kinda hard to get your hands on a w10 enterprise edition if your neither a pirate nor billionaire! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[YellowJersey]

@Shadeamous I switched from Windows 10 to Linux in 2015 for very similar reasons. I highly recommend Mint. It's pretty complete out of the box. The only extra steps I had to do was to turn on the firewall (easy as there's a gui for that) and fix the crackling with the audio (sometimes happens with a new install, but there's an easy fix). PM me if you'd like help or reply here. I really hate how gatekeepery the linux community can be. I'm far from a terminal wizard, so I like to think that I speak for the layperson. Unlike a lot of the very unhelpful comments here, I'd like to actually help and make your linux journey as easy and enjoyable as possible. Let me know. I'm here to help.

 

[epiphani]

Disclaimer:  I have used Linux professionally for ~25 years. 

 

I've used Linux on the desktop on and off, but never as my main/gaming computer until the last 8 months.  I am a lazy bastard, and I have no interest in hacking around with my main desktop.  It needs to Just Work(tm).

 

I switched from Windows 10 to Linux Mint for the exact reasons you're referencing - security, privacy, advertising in my paid OS, etc.  I have intentionally kept my setup as "out of the box" as possible, because I am planning to move all other windows machines in my home (which are main/daily machines for others), and I have no interest in micro-managing or being technical support.

 

My experience as follows:  We're finally there.  95% of steam games work out of the box.  The other 5% require minor, quick tweaks from protondb.com.  This has included new releases for me.  Others in my family play WoW and other non-steam games, and I expect I'll fill that gap with Lutris, but I have not yet installed it on my system.

 

Otherwise, as a fairly simple at-home user, I'm perfectly happy with my experience.  Browser, discord, spotify, steam & steam games, zoom/teams/meet, etc.  Everything that I do is just fine.

 

Then again, I don't ignore "DONT DO THIS UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING" prompts.  I also never use the commandline on my desktop unless I'm opening up ssh to go to somewhere else.

 

My goal with this is to move away from closed operating systems.  Telemetry in windows 10 was bad, but I could block it and disable the ads.  It's just getting worse.  I expect I'll move the rest of the family's gaming machines to Mint later this year, after I let it bake a bit more for myself and play some of the big new games of the summer.

 

My next project is switching to GrapheneOS on phones, as the privacy problems there are starting to bother me too.

 

Edit:  I use flatpak for steam, and generally anything that has flatpak options.  The upgrade process can be a bit bumpy from time to time, but it's non-privileged and I like that.

 

Edit 2:  I realized I didn't exactly give advice.  Here's mine: 

 

(1)  Distro selection is less important than you think, but I tend towards recommending Mint.  I've heard Pop!OS is ok.  Beyond that, I would suggest staying away from Arch, Gentoo, Suse, Redhat, CentOS, and Debian.  They are for systems people or more advanced users.  (I've used most of that list, and then some - they're not for the lazy.)  Ubuntu ain't bad, but it comes with some strange baggage and I switched away from using it on my laptop when I switched to Mint.

 

(2) Don't overthink or over-analyze. Back up your stuff, pick a day when you're prepared to be without a fully functioning computer, and go.  Use all the defaults.  Install the system, get your browser tweaked out, install Steam from the software store, and play some games.  Honestly, after waiting 20+ years for linux on the desktop, I was shocked at how easy it is now.

 

(3) Before you start following random instructions from random githubs or stackoverflow posts to address your problems, try the standard windows steps first: uninstall and reinstall the problem app, make sure your updates are all installed (it's in the task tray, you'll see it), and then consider googling the problem.  Linux isn't black magic.  Don't assume the problem requires a complicated, command-line solution.  It rarely actually needs this.

[thegreenguy55]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:39 AM, Shimejii said:

Goodluck. Linux is still far from being able to be used for mainstream use. You will begin your journey decided whether you want Arch, Debian, or one of their many forks.

 

Two that are generally used are Ubunutu, Linux Mint, but there are tons more and honestly its just a mess.

 

Could just use windows 10, wont have the AI crap. 

Linux is definitely ready for mainstream use. Most users wouldn't have a clue how to install Windows from scratch either and if they can, they can most probably also install Linux with a bit of googling.

[MC.Morrado]

I generally recommend Linux Mint as a everyday desktop OS that just works. if you have something with 4GB or less of RAM, I'd recommend the MATE or XFCE version of Linux Mint. over time from my personal experience that Linux Mint is much easier to use than Windows 8, 10, or 11. Since a I was a kid most of my Windows experience is using Windows 7 at school computer labs.... Linux Mint gives me that familiar feel as someone whose favorite version of Windows is Windows 7.

 

I just love Mint for it's simplicity and ability to be a daily everyday operating system on your normal computer.