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thomq: The website for the GNU operating system is a good start for concepts, philosophy, and terminology. It also has a listing of GNU/Linux operating systems and where to get them.

In contrast, that website also has a listing of GNU/Linux operating systems they don't endorse and why they don't endorse them.
Though do take note that most of the "disqualified" distros are mostly down to semantic bleating and neckbearding over free software.

Things like Debian, Ubuntu, and others however, yeah. Perfectly valid.
Oh, and keeping any window on top without third party apps...props to Ubuntu for that to.
Linux, at least Debian based distros, are very easy. As an ex MS expert, I find working with Linux a lot easier today than working with Windows (7, 8 or 10). I am currently using Linux Mint 18.3 with Cinnamon desktop.

I got into Linux thanks to Adam's Guides here (he gave the link above) and installed Linux (Mostly Mint) on over 1000 Friend's computers. Their experiences are mostly very satisfying.

That said, there are a few problems with Linux.

1. Obviously, Not all programs work on Linux. But keep in mind that that's not Linux's fault. If a program is compiled for both Linux and Windows, 99 out of 100 it works better on Linux. The blame is on Developers here(market share etc). That's why I dual boot to windows 7 when I have to use some programs that won't work even with WINE.

WINE is a program that lets Windows programs work on Linux. For Example, I installed Never Winter Nights on my Windows partition. On Linux, all I have to do is double click the NWN.exe and it works (I told Linux to run .exe files with WINE). Both NWN (original) and NWN2 work better on Linux that way.

2. Linux community is toxic, evil, mean. When I first tried to get into the client side of Linux, I tried to ask questions on Linux forums. How many times I was insulted, humiliated, called Noob, retarded just because I asked some simple questions. That's why people like adamhm are so valuable. I call him the Guardian Angel of Linux. Read his guides.

3. Things work differently on Linux in the background. That makes things slightly difficult for people who are used to Windows OS. Note that this is not a downside of Linux itself but for people who get used to Windows. It is true that it takes some time to digest the differences if you are naughty like me :)

Now that BAD is out of the way, we can start the GOOD.

You can make Live USB's of any major Linux versions and try them without changing anything on your PC. I actually have several USBs like that. I always carry 1 of them with me because: 1. I can show my friends how cool Linux Mint is right there and 2. I can save a PC if it goes down. Saving windows machines with Linux is really cool :) There is an amazing program on Linux called multibootusb which not only lets you to install multiple Linux versions on the same USB, but also let's you add/share some space on Ubuntu based Linux (like Mint) so you can make permanent changes to the OS on the USB. Running Linux on Live USB also let's you test if your hardware is recognized by the Linux kernel.

Finally, my personal recommendation: If you are a beginner, definitely go for Linux Mint. Mint is based on Ubuntu which is based on Debian ( debian --> Ubuntu --> Mint). Most games on STEAM are supported for Ubuntu (that means also for Mint). STEAM even did something crazy for Linux community recently. I can now install ANY Windows game on Linux. It won't always work, or work as good as on Windows but you can try.

I also suggest to dual boot (run Linux alongside Windows). Good thing is, you can easily install Linux alongside Windows. It doesn't work the other way around tho. Windows must be installed first. (At Least that's what I know). This way, you can always switch to Windows if you need anything.

Sorry I wrote a lot longer than I had first anticipated. Feel free to ask any questions.
Post edited May 29, 2019 by Engerek01
I think this is a good guide for beginners. I'm not a Linux user myself, but I've watched out o curiosity several videos about Linux, and this one seemed well explained and easy to follow.
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Engerek01: I installed Linux on over 1000 Friend's computers. Their experiences are mostly very satisfying.
Wow...1000?...that's a lot of friends.
Honestly - I don't think I even know this many people at all...
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Yeshu: Linux - how easy is it to get into?
Oh, it's really easy, but this is the wrong question.

The question you should be asking is, "which distro should I use?" :)

Good luck, buddy. You're gonna need it.

EDIT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5kJCO9tgRM
Post edited May 29, 2019 by Dalthnock
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Engerek01: I installed Linux on over 1000 Friend's computers. Their experiences are mostly very satisfying.
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BreOl72: Wow...1000?...that's a lot of friends.
Honestly - I don't think I even know this many people at all...
Binary number :D
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BreOl72: Wow...1000?...that's a lot of friends.
Honestly - I don't think I even know this many people at all...
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FireBelliedToad: Binary number :D
...and little-endian order.
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Yeshu: How am I supposed to get into using Linux as my primary OS?
First of all - it strongly depends on your daily needs. Like - if you are using pc for netsurfing, linux will be more than enough for you. But if you cant live without some windows-exclusive niche software (will it be DAW or latest photoshop), you probably wont find this trip comfortable (since such things may work under wine, but not guaranteed to do so).
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Yeshu: I have been trying to get into it on several occasions and every time I came across hostility on Linux forums, where I was seen more as a intruder rather than potential new user.
Here comes the second problem, which built on top of linux'es original niche. Most of its lifetime, it was used primary as server os. Thus, linux community is full of sysadmins, programmers and other not-so-social people, amount of whom may vary from distro to distro.

Third - do you know how to search information? Part of rage comes from people, who got tired answering same questions over and over. Popular distros has pretty detailed documentations/wikis, plus (most of the time) problems, you may encounter, has been already solved on stackoverflow and similar resources.

TLDR: decide if it will be enough for your needs, then pick something mainstream (ubuntu, debian, manjaro) to try
Post edited May 29, 2019 by Gekko_Dekko
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BreOl72: Wow...1000?...that's a lot of friends.
Honestly - I don't think I even know this many people at all...
I loosely used the word Friend there. Should have said "people's". I have worked as IT manager for 15 years and have been known as the computer guy even before that. So the word may refer to friends, friend's friends, Friend to the power of 10 etc :)


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ariaspi: I think this is a good guide for beginners. I'm not a Linux user myself, but I've watched out o curiosity several videos about Linux, and this one seemed well explained and easy to follow.
This is actually quite good. It gives brief info about installing Linux Mint 19 and the shows around the system a little bit. I watched till the end just incase I miss something.
I'm still waiting for Linux to fix a few things before I make the switch.

#1. Make it easier to install software. As it stands, it's extremely frustrating to install anything for beginners.
#2. Have more compatibility with emulation and gaming software. I'll admit that this is a tough problem to solve, since it seems to be circular. Most gamers won't switch to Linux due to the lack of gaming support, and most developers won't release clients for Linux due to a lack of gamers. Someone has to make the first move ...
#3. This one is probably more of a pet peeve than anything else, but why aren't there any good names for current Linux distributions? Windows is a great name. It's simple and to the point. The same can't be said about Linux. Here are a few examples of some ridiculous Linux names: Ubuntu, Knoppix, Debian, Frugalware, Mandriva, Mint, Morphix, Slackware, Xubuntu, Gentoo, Plamo, Lubuntu, Kwort, Kubuntu, Quantian, Red Hat, Kurumin, MNIS, Mops, Ututo, Chakra, Elastix, Pingo ...

I don't get why every Linux distribution has to have a stupid name. To be honest, I think that's why Linux has never really caught on with mainstream consumers. Linux suffers from an identity crisis. It's nice to have so many options, but it's starting to get a bit ridiculous. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Linux_Distribution_Timeline.svg
Post edited May 29, 2019 by joelandsonja
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joelandsonja: -snop-
1: How much easier can you get than this? (Or the Gnome Software store, perhaps even DNFdragora, and so many other graphical package installers.)

2. Wine. Lutris. Various emulators. All of them can be found in most repos, but you might need to enable Nonfree first. Also, Retroarch.

3. Did you look into why some these things have the names they do, such as Ubuntu's ideas towards unity and togetherness?
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joelandsonja: I'm still waiting for Linux to fix a few things before I make the switch.

#1. Make it easier to install software. As it stands, it's extremely frustrating to install anything for beginners.
You really can't get any easier than apt update && apt install $package

(Or the equivalent in the distro of choice)
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joelandsonja: I'm still waiting for Linux to fix a few things before I make the switch.

#1. Make it easier to install software. As it stands, it's extremely frustrating to install anything for beginners.
I go into more detail about this in my Linux Mint beginner's guide, but:

- A wide variety of software is available from the system repositories. On Linux Mint you can install software this way using the Software Manager (see attached screenshot). Repositories can be added for more software/more up to date versions of specific software.
- You can also install software via loose .deb packages or so (just double-click them in the file manager to start the install process on Mint)
- You can also install software much like you would on Windows, either via an executable installer (e.g. GOG installers) or simply extracted from archives. You may need to install any required dependencies if any are missing (if this is the case you'll need to check the documentation for the software and/or check what error message it produces to find out what needs to be installed), however I made a meta-package for installing the most commonly required dependencies on Mint 19.x/Ubuntu 18.04 that largely eliminates the need to do this.

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joelandsonja: #2. Have more compatibility with emulation and gaming software. I'll admit that this is a tough problem to solve, since it seems to be circular. Most gamers won't switch to Linux due to the lack of gaming support, and most developers won't release clients for Linux due to a lack of gamers. Someone has to make the first move ...
This situation has been improving a lot in the time I've been using Linux. Most of the major emulators are community developed and tend to support Linux natively.

As for proprietary games/other software, the only way to improve this is to increase demand for Linux versions both by using Linux and by choosing native Linux options wherever possible. For stuff that doesn't support Linux, either avoid buying it at all or wait until it's heavily discounted & use it with Wine.
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To the OP Linux is as easy to get into as quicksand. You can step into it just fine but once you start moving......

Dependencies. They are many and frequent.
Post edited May 30, 2019 by book99