Eh, just use a super really easy linux distro like ZorinOS or Mint and stick with it.
t. Currently 39 years old and been using Linux since around 10 years ago.
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 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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I personally finally made the fulltime switch in November 2021 after years of on again off again attempts. The one I was finally able to stick with was Endeavour OS with KDE desktop. It's basically just an arch distro with a good installer and som QoL apps. Easy to maintain and a good community if you need assistance.
And with the creation of Bottles running windows software has been surprisingly easy. I do some home studio recording and just got EZdrummer setup as a vst in Ardour, and it just works.
I just made the full time switch to pop os and I've been happy so far
Apparently ChatGPT is really good as a personal tutor. You can ask it specific questions and it will answer with detailed tutorials and step-by-step guides.
Get a pre-owned Thinkpad or Dell Latitude for cheap. Upgrade it if you want, especially with SSD & RAM. Get some Linux on it -- I recommend Linux Mint for ease of use.
Install Linux Mint in a virtualbox VM. It gets up and running so quickly, and works extremely well.
I have been focusing more on learning Linux at work, between some Fedora VMs we use for various things, and the Mint VM I spun up myself. It’s great because jumping between windows and Linux is a simple matter of moving the mouse cursor to a different monitor. I usually just leave Linux Mint running full screen on one of my monitors.
I’m not experienced with lots of distros, but Mint is damned impressive.
The best advice I can give is to just use Linux. Back in early 2006 when I started switching over to Linux I would dual boot, and any time I ran into something that was hard to do on Linux I would just boot into Windows to save time. Eventually I decided to stick with it and not reboot when that would happen. Linux back then was not as user friendly as it is now, so for the most part this should be the exception and not the rule. Obviously some software is going to be Windows specific, but the best thing you can do to learn is just stick with Linux and use it.
As for distros, whatever is the most used which is probably Ubuntu right now, will be best as people will have plenty of answers and questions that will cover what you are going through compared to a niche distro. When you get more experience with Linux, you will get a better sense for what you want out of a distro like rolling releases like Arch, functional package management like with NixOS or whatever else may be important to you. So just stick with Ubuntu or whatever is more popular right now and reevaluate after you get to the point your comfortable with command line tools.
Consider reading the content on Linuxjourney.com
Second this, really great site.
I use OpenSUSE, because it has YaST, which is basically the Control Panel in Windows. Without it, I'd have to use the terminal. It also installs on just about anything.
I have terrible distro ideas. I rock kubuntu or Fedora for basic server stuff. So I'd recommend dual booting Ubuntu or Kubuntu just cuz it's easy and you already have experince with it.
Mostly what I wanted to convey was a sense of excitement for you! No matter what option you end up doing there's so much to learn here. I remember when I was a very young lad learning how windows 95/98 worked. The jank.
FOSS Linux has that kinda jank. The unpolished functionality of OS' long forgotten. Idk. Makes me feel like a kid again.
I'm excited for you. Lmk what you end up doing, if you remember. Buying a laptop or dual booting or whatnot.