this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2026
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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The answer to starting fresh is to format the entire drive and reparation the whole thing. All operating system installers ship with tools to do that. Some are easier to use than others, but they are all there. You’re looking for “custom install or custom partitioning or manual partitioning” or something like that. Usually during the “where do you want to install” questions.
It’s not hard to do, but it’s often hidden a little bit because formatting and/or repartitioning the wrong drive nukes the drive.
In your case, just go to town. Know how big your drive is, delete all existing partitions, and the new ones you create should total up to the size of the drive. Just make sure you’re doing it to the right drive if you have more than one :)
With Linux, you can get fancy making separate partitions for home and stuff, but you don’t really need to worry about that if you don’t want to. You can just nuke the drive, and then tell the os to “use the whole drive” and just let it do its thing.
If you want to understand it deeper and better, I’d suggest watching some videos for your distro.
Have fun!