wanna try LINUX

[nine mil thrill]

I have a laptop with WIN10 installed. I see a lot of people that talk good things about this system. I am curious and would like to install LINUX. is this something I can teach myself ? I am average on my computer skills , and do not have a problem with WINDOWS. the laptop I would be using is not my main computer so I am pretty fearless on how bad I could mess it up.

yes/no ?

[Fastattack]

Sounds fun. Depending on the distro you use results may very. I'm running Ubuntu. It is very out-of-the-box simple. I've had a linux rig of one sort or another for 15+ years. Then again, I was a developer in a Unix environment.

Sent from my SM-A505U using Tapatalk

[jager56]

Something

[stix213]

Mint or Ubuntu are good choices for beginners. I recommend Ubuntu not because it is necessarily the best, but because it is so popular that whenever you google a problem you will find an Ubuntu specific answer. The solution may be almost identical for other distros, but you need moderate Linux knowledge to figure out how to modify the solution to your environment (maybe files are in a different folder, or there's a different file to edit, etc).

If you want to get really good at Linux, I recommend learning the basics of the command line and the antiquated but ubiquitous vi or vim text editor.

[Snuffleupagus]

If you're wary, run the Linux distro from a USB drive. I think the major Debian derived distros, i.e. Ubuntu and Mint, can run from USB without screwing up your primary OS installation.

[ocabj]

Easiest way to try Linux is via virtualization. You can always nuke and start over quickly. If you want to try Linux as a server, same applies and you can even use VPS providers or even IaaS like AWS or GCP.

I am currently running Rocky Linux after Centos changed their release model.

[DaveInOroValley]

Wouldn't that make Lucy jealous?

[wilit]

I've used Linux quite a bit. Mostly Ubuntu and Raspbian. Definitely try it by a bootable USB. The newest Ubuntu distributions are pretty good, but they're still not Windows. They require constant tweaking to get software to work. Also, a lot of times, you can't just plug in a USB device and expect it to work. Sometimes those require hours of effort to get working.

[billofrights]

Definitely try it from a live CD or bootable USB first. I've been in IT for ~25 years and played with lots of different Linux distros. At the end of the day I just don't want to be bothered monkeying around with trying to command line load a wifi driver just to use the damn thing.

[SactoDoug]

I went through switching to Linux Mint on my laptop lat year. See thread below for details. Everything worked out of the box except the print driver. I had to change some settings before I could send a print job to my printer over the network. I was impressed that the touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth and additional display drivers worked right out of the box. No additional installations needed for me.

I started out dipping my toe in the water by booting from a USB. I eventually bought a new SSD and installed Mint on it with a fresh install. I still have the SSD with Windows on it but I don't think I will ever put it back in the laptop.

It is all working now and I am very happy with it. All of my new machines going forward are going to be Linux only.

https://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=1774882

[mshill]

Do it. I use Ubuntu exclusively for work (embedded development) and Raspbian (Raspberry Pi OS) another Debian distribution at home on a cluster of Raspberry Pi4 that I use for all my home computing needs including 3d printing.

The only Windows machine in the house is an old Core I5 that my wife uses for surfing the net and online banking. I keep thinking I should move her to a Linux system when she complains about the machine running slow. Windows sucks donkey dong.

[nine mil thrill]

update.....tried to install Ubuntu (download from web) ......failed to install. will try again after I do some research on install.

[Snuffleupagus]

update.....tried to install Ubuntu (download from web) ......failed to install. will try again after I do some research on install.

Can you describe step by step what you did?

Follow these instructions.

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/install-ubuntu-desktop#1-overview

[Snuffleupagus]

If you want to try running Ubuntu from a USB instead of installing.
From the live USB you can install Ubuntu on your PC.

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/try-ubuntu-before-you-install#1-getting-started

[Reno-Kid]

update.....tried to install Ubuntu (download from web) ......failed to install. will try again after I do some research on install.

Youtube has install instructions