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Beginner's Guides for Switching to Linux?
(lemmy.ml)
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this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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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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Thank you! I'll look into them. Why did you decide to choose Fedora over the others you mentioned?
I'm not them, but I'll give my reasons. Compared to Ubuntu or Linux Mint, Fedora is more up-to-date, I like the default desktop more, and it uses a method of installing applications called "Flatpak," which I like more than Ubuntu's "Snap." (Snap can be removed on Ubuntu, but Fedora's default setup is closer to what I want.) Compared to other distros, it is more polished and consistent, largely due to it being backed by a large company. Fedora is really good for both power users and beginners, but being up-to-date can sometimes lead to bugs or incompatibilities, and the default desktop (GNOME) can be hard to adjust to. As a result, I would recommend Linux Mint as a good option for you.
Thank you for the response!
By circumstance.
It was hard for me initially to switch over because i kept either creating or running into problems i couldn't figure out how to solve.
This overlapped with the Snowden leaks and i got really interested in privacy and security which lead to me running Qubes OS[1] for a short while. It was a slow and almost painful experience since i didn't actually have anything worth that effort to protect - but it got me over the edge and i wiped Qubes and reinstalled Fedora 23.
At the time i just liked the package manager better, for reasons that are no longer relevant.
Today i like it because it forces me into good habits of: figuring out what exactly is misbehaving > finding the official documentation or issue tracker for it > finding a solution or reporting the it to the developers.
Don't tire yourself out with that in the beginning. Just do stuff you need or stuff that seems fun.
Protip: Learn how to use Toolbx or Distrobox to create a "sandbox", (that's both the technical term and a very descriptive one) that will make it easier to get back to a working state if you mess something up. Learn about and understand what it can't get back to a working state. This will help keep you sane if you like to tinker.
1 A Linux-like operating system that only runs VMs and everything you do happens inside one of these. This way you can isolate you virtual "work computer" from your virtual "personal computer", making it harder for malicious programs to access the rest if your data.