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Getting Started

Here I will yap about how to use linux from 0 background knowledge as best as I can (probably will fail).

Choosing what Linux "Distro" to use​

  • Distro or Distribution is usually just a collection of pre-installed programs in your system
  • Usually contains the Linux kernel, GNU Utils, systemd, and other "bloat"
  • To see my recommendations click here

Things to Search for in a Distro​

  • Ordered from most important to least

Desktop Environment​

  • This will be your main user interface, the main look of your computer.
  • Choose any DE that you want the look of

Here are some DEs that I know of:

KDE ⭐​

  • KDE's design philosophy is "being powerful but simple"
  • Extremely custimizable
  • Supports latest technologies like HDR and VRR
  • I recommend to use KDE because it supports all the features that you might need and then more

GNOME​

  • GNOME is very simple in design and features
  • It just works
  • Many applications follow it's design language
  • If it lacks any features that you might want, like a toolbar, you will need to install extensions that will break every time you update GNOME

Others​

  • Cosmic
    • System76's own DE
    • Default in PopOS
    • Very early in development, expect bugs
  • Cinnamon
    • Similar to GNOME
    • Default in Linux Mint

Window Managers​

note

Don't really recommend using these if you just want to use a computer.

  • Not really a "DE" as it only manages windows, hence the name
  • Very configurable and lightweight
  • Hard to use for a new user since it will require editing a lot of text files
    • can use "Dotfiles" to get a preconfigured WM to use
  • Examples:

GUI vs Terminal​

GUI​

  • You're probably using one right now to see this
  • Visual, you can see what you can interact with
  • Example distros would be Mint and Bazzite

Terminal​

note

Most distros offer GUI to do most things you will do, like installing applications.

Atomic vs Immutable​

Atomic ⭐​

  • Updates are "version controlled", if any issues occurs you can rollback to a usable system
  • System is "snapshotted" every updates, or even on-demand

Immutable​

  • System files are read-only
  • Think of window's System32 folder but now you can't delete or interact with it

Recommendation​

  • If you are not a tinkerer just uses a browser, communication, and gaming use Immutable systems
  • If you want to customize like installing extensions or system level application then use Atomic systems
  • Always use Atomic distros to have a way to rollback your computer to a usable state

Release Cycles​

Rolling​

  • System always updates continously
  • Think of Windows 10/11 constantly wanting to update

Standard ⭐​

  • Releases updates in "bundles"
  • Releases as major updates
  • Think of Windows 10 to Windows 11

LTS​

  • Basically standard but updates even slower
  • Very stable

Recommendation​

  • Standard
  • If you want to suffer and fix stuff as you go rolling release is good
    • Your system would also be always at bleeding edge, having latest updates as soon as it releases

Bootloaders​

  • The thing used to boot your system

GRUB​

  • It just works
  • Works even with very old computers
  • Old
  • Stable
  • Bloated
  • Slow

Limine ⭐​

  • Works
  • Modern
  • Stable
  • Lightweight
  • UEFI only
    • Basically modern computers have this, if your motherboard has a fany GUI as a configurator then its UEFI
note

Use GRUB if you want more resources to fix things as it's been here since the era of dinosaurs. Limine is just a faster modern alternative that has a better snapshots/atomic integrations

Extra Information​

  • These information are not really tied to distributions

Dual Booting​

  • When installing a Linux Distro, the installer usually detects if a windows is present
    • You can choose to nuke it and only have linux
    • or, have them both
  • Don't really recommend this as a Windows update could nuke your Linux bootloader
  • Window's EFI partition (technical thing), by default is small and would probably not fit
    • Very edge case

Filesystem​

  • The thing that is used to store your files

EXT4​

BTRFS ⭐​

NTFS​

  • Windows thing
  • Will probably break under linux, requiring a Windows install to fix
  • Under Linux this runs under FUSE
    • Which can make your system very slow in a hybrid (SSD+HDD) setup
NTFS to BTRFS converter

https://github.com/maharmstone/ntfs2btrfs

Do NOT use for very important files
  • Convenient to use when switching from Windows to linux
NTFS in Linux

Packaging​

Native​

  • Distro specific
  • Usually maintained by the distro
  • Dependency hell
  • I recommend to use this for things that needs system level
    • These things include but not limited to:
      • VPNs
      • DE customization (Calendar support in KDE's widget)
      • Syncthing

Flatpak​

  • Sandboxed application
  • Works in any distro
  • No dependency hell
  • Restrictive permission wise
    • This will be very annoting fast, as linux does not have the same popups in phones where you can just give access to application permssions
    • Use Flatseal or KDE's settings (requires flatpak-kcm) to configure permissions
  • Has bazaar which is a very good store front

AppImage​

  • Works in any distro
  • Usually distributed by the devs themselves
  • Sometimes dependency hell
  • Does not have any stores
  • Does not integrate well with the system

snaps​

  • Flatpak but worse
  • Proprietary store front only controllable by Canonical (Ubuntu maintainers)
  • Requires AppArmor for sandboxing, inherently incompatible with SELinux
  • More focused for Ubuntu

Tar Balls​

  • Usually distributed by the devs themselves
  • Basically like portable applications in Windows
  • Sometimes dependency hell
  • Not integreted to you system in any ways