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this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2024
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No Stupid Questions
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Hmm... I want to ask why you feel this way and if you have tried using a terminal at all, but it sounds like your mind is already made up on this. You can definitely use Linux without ever opening a terminal, by using modern desktop environments like KDE or GNOME (or many others). I think you'll have the best experience if you keep an open mind and accept that there could be times when the terminal might be the easiest way to go. Disclaimer: I am biased towards using the terminal and prefer to use it instead of GUIs.
I'd encourage you to try a LiveUSB. The way this works: you copy a full, working Linux system to a USB flashdrive (this will overwrite all data on the drive) and boot directly from it, so that you can play around with it a bit like a trial without modifying anything on your computer. If you don't know what distro to go with, personally I recommend starting here: https://fedoraproject.org/spins/kde/download This will have the KDE Plasma desktop environment which should feel pretty familiar to Windows. If you don't instantly fall in love but still are curious, you can always overwrite the USB again and try a different distro or even Fedora with a dfferent desktop environment (the official "default" desktop environment for Fedora is GNOME, but PERSONALLY I am not a GNOME fan, and its workflow will be slightly different than what you are used to from Windows). One caveat to this is that running from a USB drive will likely be pretty slow, so keep that in mind and try not to worry about the performance/speed during this trial. Linux can be extremely performant, and is used to power the world's fastest supercomputers. If you decide you want to stick with it and install Linux to your hard drive, it will be a lot snappier than running from USB.
There are a lot of distros out there, and that is understandably overwhelming. So basically what is going on here, with Linux there are many many options and choices for different software for everything from system tools, desktop environments, package managers, text editors, whatever. It's like how you can choose from Firefox, Edge, Chrome, Brave, etc for your web browser on Windows, except with Linux, there are potential choices for every single little piece of the system.
Each distro will have already made a lot of these choices for you, so that you can just get started using it out of the box. If you don't know much about Linux, then you probably really don't have an opinion or care about these choices yet, for example, which package manager the system is using. If you want to be making some choices now, I'd focus only on choosing a distro that comes with a desktop environment that appeals to you, as this will be the most visible difference between them to a new Linux user.
Some distros are geared for specific use-cases, like Kali Linux is for hacking/security testing, so comes pre-packaged with a lot of tools that hackers and security professionals would use. Some distros aim to be very stable and offer a system that you can rely on to JustWorkโข๏ธ. Others are cutting edge with the latest, brand new versions of software, but this is not as stable or reliable. Some require you to build much of your system and make most of these choices for yourself. More recently, there are some gaming focused distros. There is something for everyone and every use-case, from datacenter servers to embedded devices, personal desktop/laptop computers, mobile phone/tablet touch screen devices, gaming devices and handhelds, IoT and "smart" devices, routers/networking gear, virtual machines or containerized systems, the list goes on and on...
I linked Fedora Linux above, which is a good balance between stable and cutting edge IMO. Mint is another that is great for your first time trying Linux. A lot of people love Mint, but my personal opinion is that I do not like it as much as others, but I'd still take it over Windows.
Choice and freedom to do things in your own way is fundamental to Linux, and I'm sure you've noticed that with all these choices come strong opinions and heated arguments. Ignore it, most of it is trivial, and pretty much everyone arguing about this stuff would probably agree that its all better than Windows ๐
On most modern distros (like Mint) you can do basically as much with Linux GUIs as you can do in Windows or Mac. So normal users don't need the terminal. But if you want to do more, if you want the secret sauce, the terminal is there for you.
But fear not! Basically all of us have some level of autism or ADHD, and the best of us tend to be the most extreme. If anything the terminal was written by autistic nerds for themselves! If you'll be okay being a bit of a n00b for a bit, I think you'll find there's a lot of depth here to obsess over / hyper fixate / hyper focus on.
There's a reason people have been "fighting" for, like, 40 years over which terminal text editor is the superior one... The flames of war can run pretty deep, and there's a lot of opinions.
There is no contest or fight. The best is vim, obviously! ๐
You misspelled Neovim. An understandable mistake.
๐๐
Until you have an issue and then forget just downloading a file from a website, you go on searching and trust people saying "enter commands in terminal" even though you have no fucking idea what you're doing
You also have no idea what that file you downloaded from a website is doing, too. And we have AppImage now, so you CAN still download a file from a website on Linux!
I mean, if I download drivers from the manufacturer I'm pretty sure there's nothing to worry about compared to downloading home made drivers on GitHub, right? Or are we going to pretend that stuff being open source prevents people from inserting bad shit in their code?
Are we going to pretend that stuff being closed source prevents people from inserting bad shit in their code?
๐ lol wut. Who hurt you?
Open source isn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be because it is better than it's only alternative.
There are literally only 2 options: open source or closed source. One option offers you and anyone the ability to see the code that you are running for yourself, the other option is "trust me bro, nothing bad is in here". Which of those do you prefer? Which do you think ends up with more malware? You think computer viruses include a link to the code on GitHub? Lol
That's exactly what I had to do in order to make the wifi work properly on Mint, trust a guy who wrote a replacement driver, deactivate the one that's in the kernel and I mean, it works, but who the fuck knows what I just installed? I know you guys like to make yourselves believe that open source means more secure because people can check the code, but it doesn't change shit if no one does and I'm willing to bet a thousand that must open source project never get checked by anyone because who the fuck will bother going it if there's no incentive?
This is honestly a great question; you're on the right track here.
With closed source, the person that wrote the program decided that it should be impossible for you to answer that question.
With open source, the person that wrote the program wanted to make sure it is possible for you to answer that question.
Which of those 2 options is better and safer? I'll stick with open source, personally, but install whatever you like on your own machine.
Cus im stubborn and my brain wants to click on buttons rather than type command lines for whatever reason. idk- I can use a terminal, ive done it before, but I guess for like- ADHD reasons my brain is like "nah fuck this I wanna click some buttons n shit"