none yet at the moment, mostly since i have no free usb anywhere in this house and other projects eating at my skull, but from reading everything around here, id probably end up trying out Mint on a USB to fiddle around when the opportunity comes up :D
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Generally if you’re just doing normal computer stuff on a big distro like Mint, Ubuntu, Fedora, ZorinOS, etc., you won’t really have to do too much command-wise unless you get into programmer stuff (Node.js, specific interpreters, etc.) that’s about the same as it is on other platforms. As others have said definitely try it out on a USB first, it’s also helpful in detecting hardware incompatibilities like sometimes I’ll have a wifi card that doesn’t work with Linux (though that’s much less common now). Mainly just look around and try a few things, and also keep in mind that even though it may look similar to Windows, it isn’t. Be open to learning slightly different ways of working and that. I started off with Kubuntu on my laptop, but now I’m full-time Arch on my desktop which is something I never imagined doing before so it’s all just a learning experience that I found pretty fun getting up to this level of understanding.
Also try a few distros out, since you’re trying it out on a USB without installing there’s no real commitment til you actually install it
I’m not a beginner anymore so it’s hard for me to say what’s best for beginners.
I used Windows and Mac for a while and had several false starts in trying to switch to Linux, where I would use it for a week or so until running into some problem that drove me back to Windows/Mac, but eventually I powered through.
I guess the main tip would be to be patient with yourself and don’t give up if you run into a problem, but set aside time to intentionally work on “learning” Linux and solving the problem rather than getting frustrated when some annoying config issue is standing between you and getting your actual work done.
I think choice of distro matters in the sense that you want to stay away from “advanced” distros like Arch, Gentoo that require a lot of command-line configuration up front, and you also want to stay away from obscure/highly customized distros where it will be hard to Google your problem. But that still leaves a lot of good options that are, for my money, interchangeable:
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Fedora
- OpenSUSE
- Mint
I am a bit of a maverick but I use and love Ubuntu. I would move to Debian in a pinch but I don’t like the release model of “functioning, latest version of packages, security updates: choose two.”
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I got my hands on some non-Nvidia hardware, solicited some outside help to navigate a couple days of troubleshooting, and finally got Linux Mint working for me! Now that it’s actually installed correctly, it’s been a delight. There are a few minor differences to get used to, but it feels great to use a computer that doesn’t feel like it’s spiritually at odds with me.*
(*I have to use a Windows 11 computer at work, and even with the Copilot chatbot uninstalled, it still has the logo plastered everywhere, as if my computer is trying to claw me into using it.)
On a more positive note, here are a few little things I’ve done to make Linux Mint feel more at home for me:
- Customized the “panel” (taskbar) to show the Window Name (ex. the browser tab text) when the program is open, to make it easier to see which programs are open and what’s just pinned.
- Turned on the Nightlight (color shift depending on time of day, so there’s less blue light at night).
- Changed the mouse cursor to a more traditional one. (The default one isn’t bad, just kinda rounded, and I like the familiar ones more.)
- Created a shortcut to bring up the System Monitor, which is like Windows Task Manager.
- Added my VPN to Startup Applications so that it appears first thing when I boot up the computer.
- Used Wine (the glove for handling Windows stuff with Linux) to install Notepad++.
- Installed some extra fonts.
- Changed clock away from 24-hour time.
- Created manual backups with Timeshift.
- Added an emoji picker.
- Edit: added a way to lower daytime screen brightness with QRedshift
Overall, Linux is still an adjustment, but I’m glad to get to experience it for myself! Definitely a relief to get acquainted with something besides Windows and iOS, and I’ve been having fun with it.
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this gives me some good ideas! All I’ve done is install Cinnamenu, make some font tweaks, and turn certain always-open tabs into web apps
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