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109

Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC (lemm.ee)

submitted 6 days ago by FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee to c/linux@lemmy.ml

78 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So all I know that the Linux mascot is a penguin and Arch users meme about using Arch. Jokes aside I’m planning on making to the jump to Linux as I’m planning on getting a tower PC. I recently got a steam deck and that kinda demystified the (unrealistic) expectation I had of Linux was all command line stuff and techno babble. This all very future oriented questions* as I haven’t even picked out hardware (probably gonna go prebuilt since I do not trust me) and there’s also the matter of saving up the money for a new PC.

As for my use case (cus I know some software is wonky on Linux compared to windows) it’s mostly between games running on steam, which most of my games play fine on the steam deck, and essays and note taking for my college classes, which I use libre office and obsidian (with excalidraw to hand write my notes) saved to my proton drive and also sync those documents between my surface laptop and home laptop

My ideal OS would be plug it in, let it do… things… and it’s ready to be a PC to install steam and stuff

But first question, as someone who isn’t tech inclined and tinkering is pretty much just a few VERY basic settings in the settings app on windows, so is there a Linux… idk what to call it, type? OS? Thing??? that runs out of the box without me having to install additional software manually or at least automatic setup wizards because like hardware, I do not trust me with setting it up. As for installing it after I wipe whatever computer I choose I assume I’m gonna have some OS installer on a USB and let it work its magic.

Second question, is there any specific hardware that works easier with Linux, I can’t really think of any examples cus with installers and updaters I just the computer handle it, like updating Nvidia stuff in the GeForce app for all I know it’s genuinely performing dark magic during the automated updates

Anyways I probably have way more questions that I have no idea I had, but to wrap up I’m not super tech inclined since I let automated stuff do its thang on windows (if the computer can manage and install it I’m gonna let it do that) and my pc mostly just plays games and do documents on libre office and obsidian

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[–] communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz 14 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (11 children)

Linux mint is a common recommendation but I think a bad one (for beginners anyway), I highly recommend bazzite with kde, I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to do infinite troubleshooting if you add me on matrix (which is on my profile) I've onboarded many people and this is my experience with beginners

in short, linux mint is bad vs bazzite with kde for 3 reasons

kde is much more well supported and developed than cinnamon, it's not even close especially if you care about security

immutable distros are much more forgiving for new people, immutable means that the core OS can't be modified.

and finally bazzite has more up to date software, linux mint is a "stable" distro, stable in the linux context means unchanging, not unbuggy

if you don't know what any of that means, go bazzite over mint, you'll have an easier time.

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[–] ocean@lemmy.selfhostcat.com 10 points 6 days ago (2 children)

I really like fedora out of the box but if you’re used to windows some will recommend Linux mint. In fedora there are a lot of packages installable via the software store as well as downloading app images and RPM files.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So I think I’ll look at mint then considering I have no idea what you mean by RPM files but app images ring a bell when I was getting yuzu set up on my steam deck

[–] meldrik@lemmy.wtf 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Definitely go Linux Mint. Especially if it's your first time with Linux.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago (4 children)

I was gonna try bazzite first any words of wisdom on it?

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[–] Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago

Agreed here. On CPU side, don’t go with Intel 13th or 14 th gen, mostly due to the manufacturing defects, check gamers nexus on YouTube if you want to catch back up to speed, the new Intel stuff is fine manufacturing wise, terrible performance, check if the prices are good. GPU, NVIDIA usually has kinkier/ more annoying drivers, but if you want to play with AI or anything like that, NVIDIA is still better.

[–] furrowsofar 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

You can just buy a system with Linux preinstalled. My laptop is from System76. I usually build desktops/towers from scratch but they sell those too.

Installing apps has always been easier on Linux then on Windows as Linux has had large free app stores back 30 years. The question is more are the apps you want in the app store. If not things get harder. I like Debian based distros like Ubuntu or Linux Mint as they have large app stores.

You might want to look at distrowatch.com. Mint is currently at the top.

[–] merthyr1831@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Pro tip is to install a virtual machine like virtualbox or something on your Windows system. They're super easy to set up with loads of tutorials on youtube.

From there you can install any number of linux distros (I recommend Mint or Pop!) and try them out without having to commit to real hardware. I would put the VM in fullscreen and pretend it was a real system, and use it as my dedicated machine for as long as possible. You can even install steam to get a feel of the setup process (bear in mind you'll need to set up stuff for graphics acceleration to play most games but the basic setup should be fine!)

As for setup. Most Linux distros are as easy to set up as Windows or MacOS: USB in, boot, select a few basic options and stick to defaults. Reboot. Install stuff. You don't even need to deal with drivers (even Nvidia is cared for by most installers) which was nicer than burrowing through NV/AMD's websites to get their driver installers set up.

At that point you won't be wondering if youve made the right choice when it comes to your next build, and you can get right down to actually using your PC instead of googling things. Good luck!

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[–] melroy@kbin.melroy.org 6 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I run Linux Mint for years and years, I think you will be happy with it.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 7 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Yeah mint and bazzite are gonna be the ones I check out and I was leaning towards bazzite at first but now I just need to do a bit more research and figure out what the heck it what but at least I have a starting point now

[–] themadcodger@kbin.earth 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Go with Bazzite (if you end up liking it, you can install it on your steam deck, which will be the same process you use to install it in your laptop… but that's for the future.)

Mint is okay, but it's a bit behind and you have a greater chance of something going wrong than with one of the atomic distros (Bazzite). With atomic distros all the important stuff you can't really touch and the only things you can change are your personal files that are important to you but don't affect the system at all.

As long as you reboot your computer from time to time, it'll always be the latest everything. And if something goes wrong with an update, you just choose to boot into the previous version you were just using and everything is back to how it was. Non-atomics you can affect files that are important and you have to stay on top of updating.

Between that and being built for gamers it'll have everything already installed for you, though if something is missing, just click to install from the "app store".

When you go to bazzite.gg to download it, you answer a few questions about your hardware, and pick a desktop environment. Some others have touched on Gnome and KDE for desktop environments, the choice is yours. Do you want a desktop that looks more like windows (or desktop mode on your steamdeck) or do you want it to look more like a Mac? Windows and highly customizable is KDE, Mac and just use it as is but still able to customize through extensions, is Gnome.

Really the hardest part is going to be installing it, but it's really not too bad. There are plenty of guides, but it's use a software to get the downloaded Bazzite file onto a flash drive, boot your laptop from that flash drive, follow the prompts and wait. Don't try to dual boot (keep part for windows part for Linux). It's possible, but from how you described yourself, not worth the headache.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Thanks for the write up, based on the information from all the comments and this I might go with bazzite then but I still have to do some research

I might make a follow up post eventually with a little more specifics now that I have some vague ideas

As for the survey thing is that something I do on my current windows laptop or is it during the install process?

As for constantly restarting I always press shutdown every night before I go to bed

[–] themadcodger@kbin.earth 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

You can do it right now and see what happens. Go to Bazzite.gg and go to the download section. It just wants to know where you're installing it so it knows what version to give you to download. Installing to a laptop will be a different file than installing to your steamdeck.

And since you shut down nightly you'd always have the most current version when you boot up the next day. But that only applies to atomic (formerly called immutable) distros like Bazzite. If you go Mint, which isn't atomic/immutable, that won't be the case and you'll have to stay on top of updating.

It's early still, so you have plenty of time to do some research and when you're ready ask the questions you still don't understand and generally we're pretty helpful around here. 😁

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 4 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Yeah I definitely have a lot of info here, feeling a little overwhelmed but I just need time to sift through the nitty gritty and digest this

But I’m super early in the process haven’t even thought about what hardware I’m gonna get get (at least from this post I know need something AMD probably so that’s a start lol)

Also if I swap out to bazzite on my steam deck will I have to reinstall stuff like emudeck (only thing I’ve installed in desktop mode)

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[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 4 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Practice in a VM. Go from the base install to setting up all the apps to customizing the look of everything (commonly called "ricing"). That should give you a sense of what to expect.

When you think you're ready, maybe give a few Live ISO's a demo to see if there's any immediate glaring issues when it's running on bare metal. If not, then proceed to install when you've picked the one you like the most!

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago (5 children)

Yeah once I got a bit more research I was gonna get some vms and play around a bit but that’s a thing for future me

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[–] The_Sasswagon 5 points 6 days ago (3 children)

I'd just recommend against NVIDIA GPUs if you don't want to tinker, I'm sure it's not as bad as it was back when I had NVIDIA cards, but faffing around trying to get NVIDIA drivers to play nice was the bane of my existence (and where I was forced to learn the most about Linux).

Oh and the screen tearing was a nuisance too that went away as soon as I got an AMD card.

Looks like you got lots of great advice on the OS. Good luck, and enjoy whatever you end up doing!

[–] j4yt33@feddit.org 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

NVIDIA is trash anyway so no reason to buy one regardless of OS

AMD gang!

In all honesty, I think it has gotten better over the last few years and it should be less of a headache now to use NVIDIA cards, I guess that depends on the OS though

[–] kusivittula@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 days ago

there still is a reason to buy nvidia and it's HDMI 2.1.

I want to keep using an OLED TV as my monitor, 4k and 120hz. TVs still don't have displayport for some reason... and there aren't any >50" OLED monitors in 16:9 available, at least where I live. and AMD didn't get permission to use HDMI 2.1 driver in their open source driver. there is a dp > HDMI 2.1 converter, which sucks according to reviews.

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[–] j4yt33@feddit.org 4 points 6 days ago

I recently made the switch back to Linux, to Pop! OS, and I've never had such a smooth experience before. It's currently using GNOME as its desktop environment, which I find a bit shit in general, but they've modified it enough so that it's user friendly and intuitive. It has an "app store" as well that you can use to check for and run updates, search software etc. If you have a big screen, the window tiling function is awesome. Highly recommend you have a look at it!

[–] towelie@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I'm going to go against the grain here and recommend that you NOT use Mint. I've been using a linux for a month now, so I'm new to it like you.

My first time trying Linux was Mint, and I didn't like it at all. There was too much crap downloaded on it, and it abstracted the underlying systems too much, so I found it all very confusing. I suggest that you download a distro that Mint is based on, and then install the actual stuff you want on it.

Mint is based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian. I decided to go with Debian as a total noob and it makes waaay more sense to me this time around. I enjoy customizing it to my liking rather than Mint doing it all for me—often in ways I don't like.

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[–] daytonah@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 days ago

Using Linux since 2008 ish.... (As non IT user), I recommend going and route, and using pop os (or bazzite which people say also works well but is personally haven't tried), I am currently using tuxedo os on my laptop but my pop os journey for your use case on the home machine has been the smoothest, and if you go do route which I did, I had never thought about any driver issues.... The only thing in pop (which I haven't updated for a year now, yeah life got crazy), was that always do apt get updates / upgrades as pop OS's package manager gui used to get stuck sometimes, once the terminal completes the updates then use the GUI to update the pop os things. Other than this small hiccup, never had to do anything else. (Oh yeah when buying hardware some people told me that getting the latest and greatest cutting edge sometimes takes time for the kernel to catch up to the optimizations of drivers, but I always bought 1 or 2 gen behind the latest and never had any issues, I mostly play Indy games other than 1/or 2 like Tekken series at 2k monitor so I never cared about 4k 120 or above fps.)

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 6 days ago (3 children)

Imo you should get a System76 computer, it comes with a gaming focused Distro and its the most well respected Linux brand (in the US, for EU I would reccomend Tuxedo). Their mini PCs cost $799 and for a decent full sized PC (with a GPU) prepare to pay over $1.5k.

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

So kinda standard PC prices

[–] kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Slightly higher but yeah, also you get a premium PC with no RGB and a wooden finish

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago (6 children)

Ooooooooo that sounds nice

I might just go from Amazon depending on hardware and price but I’m definitely gonna add this to my list

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[–] Fanmion@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 6 days ago (4 children)

If you have time to learn how your distro works: Archlinux. If you just want to easily install a distro and everything just works: Linux Mint.

[–] infeeeee@lemm.ee 10 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

From the post:

But first question, as someone who isn’t tech inclined and tinkering [...] that runs out of the box without me having to install additional software manually or at least automatic setup wizards because like hardware

Don't recommend Arch to users who doesn't want to tinker please. I know, I use Arch. Arch regularly requires user intervention, you should see them on the news: https://archlinux.org/news/ You can see, 3-4 times a year you have to fiddle with some settings, otherwise you can get an unbootable system.

And that's how we get "the (unrealistic) expectation I had of Linux was all command line stuff and techno babble."

[–] Fanmion@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)

There are also "easy" Arch like endeavour or cachy, but yeah, for users like him is Arch based not the best choice

[–] infeeeee@lemm.ee 2 points 6 days ago

But the required config changes can affect those as well.

Like last week I had to change repositories in pacman.conf. It also affected endeavour, as it doesn't have separate repos: https://archlinux.org/news/cleaning-up-old-repositories/

This mkinitcpio config change should have effected all Arch based distros: https://archlinux.org/news/mkinitcpio-hook-migration-and-early-microcode/

[–] FlihpFlorp@lemm.ee 3 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Yeah I’m kinda looking for a “it just works” since I’m not big on tweaking every little thing and I just really wanna play games and work on my documents

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[–] Dil@is.hardlywork.ing 2 points 6 days ago

Just deleted my windows parition and grew my cachyos one, im never going back after a week with it, I like cachyos/arch since I can use gnome and plasma at the same time easily (i like swapping looks a lot), idk if its as easy with others since they reccomend you rebase for different des like bazzite, aurora, bluefin. cachyos is straightforward with a gui installer, easier and much faster than windows to install and use, I used ventoy so I can keep using my usb for data.

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