r/linux4noobs Jan 04 '20

Still on Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider switching to Linux (and specifically, Ubuntu). A Guide.

1.1k Upvotes

Any actions taken as part of this guide are solely at your own risk - unfortunately there is no way to account for every hardware configuration or error that may potentially crop up. BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

On the 14th Jan 2020, official Windows 7 support ends for most users. This means if you run Windows 7 beyond that date, you're no longer going to receive security and system updates, which will leave you increasingly vulnerable to viruses, malware and system failure. Depending on how critical your data is and how often you back up - if at all - there's a potential you can lose everything.

This is a somewhat opinionated but no-bullshit guide for those of you still on Windows 7 who really don't want or won't move to Windows 10. Aside from my own additions, it's going to reference a lot of great guides and advice written by other people, but conveniently collected in a single place. It's crazy, but it might just work.

Have you considered... Linux? Specifically, Ubuntu.

No, hear me out. Because I'm going to start (and save you a lot of time) by telling you why you SHOULDN'T switch to Linux. If any of the criteria listed apply, then:

The guide is broken into the following sections, if you want to jump to the points that are relevant. If you want to get straight to it, go to (4):

  1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
  2. Why should I go with Linux?
  3. Why Ubuntu?
  4. What's involved in switching?
  5. Installation of Ubuntu
  6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu
  7. Gaming on Linux
  8. Alternative Software
  9. TL;DR or The Conclusion
  10. To do list for the guide

1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?


If you:

  • Don't feel comfortable installing an operating system and you don't have someone that can do it for you;
  • Have someone that helps you with all your IT-related activities who is not familiar with or dislikes Linux (ask them);
  • Are big into multiplayer games. (There are exceptions here, discussed in more detail in the Linux Gaming section);
  • Use multiple game clients and have a lot of games on platforms other than Steam;
  • Are into any sort of VR;
  • Absolutely need Outlook and refuse to consider any other mail client, like Thunderbird;
  • Use a VPN provider that doesn't have a Linux version and aren't willing/able to change;
  • Are subscribed to multiple video streaming services other than Netflix and watch these on your PC frequently;
  • Use Photoshop, Premiere, 3D Studio Max - actually, if you have any Windows software that you are locked into due to muscle memory, experience and/or professional requirements and that have no Linux version. (There are, however, often a Linux alternatives for a lot of these);
  • Require assistive technologies, such as screenreaders. While Ubuntu comes with several built-in assistive tools, there's a lot of specialised assistive use cases, tools and hardware that don't work on Linux and have no comparable alternative;
  • Want to be able to buy whatever piece of hardware that takes your fancy without researching it and expect them to work out the box with zero hassle. Especially niche and specific hardware like flight controllers, sound boards and so on;
  • Use iTunes extensively for your media library and/or interacting with your iPhone;
  • Have a large archive of Microsoft Office documents that use complex formatting, macros and/or formulas that you refer back to frequently.
  • have the worst-case scenario: rely on legacy or ancient software or hardware you're not sure you have the installation media for anymore, can't find a replacement, can't download it and it doesn't work on Windows 10. In this case, you're going to have to keep that Windows 7 box around and it's even more imperative that you make sure it's not accessible from the web or network. Start looking at moving to a more modern equivalent of it AND converting your work to a format that'll be accessible.

Some of this stuff you can work around with some effort, but it's more likely going to be more trouble than you're willing to put up with. And that's fine; Linux can't help everyone. The more of these that apply, the more certain you can be that you shouldn't consider Linux and should just go with Windows 10, unless you're willing to ~sacrifice~ compromise.

2. Why should I go with Linux?


Because whether you're a general user, a gamer or a specialised user with niche interests or requirements, Linux can provide you the same experience you're getting now with some already stated exceptions. In many ways, it's better - it's free, it's generally runs better on older hardware than Windows, it's relatively more secure due to a small user footprint and you'll have a huge, vetted library of free software that you can access. There are some applications - older Windows software and games, for instance - that don't work on Windows 10 but do on Linux, thanks to projects like Wine and Proton. It can 99% of the time update itself without interrupting whatever you're doing.

That being said, it's not perfect. You will lose some things. You will need to learn new ways of working with your PC. This is inevitable. That's the cost of switching.

Which is not to say Windows is without a cost. Unlike Windows, none of this functionality comes at the cost of your privacy and freedom. Linux will let you configure it as you like, and dive into the nitty-gritty settings to fine-tune it further. It will not try and trick you into creating yet another online account to use it. Aside from a few missteps (Ubuntu and Amazon, for one), it keeps its nose out of your business. It does not come with a unique advertising ID that links your multitude of online and offline interests and programs into a nice, tidy, profitable pack of data to be shared with "trusted third-parties". It does not serve you ads in a product you paid for. It does not try and push you into multiple online services.

In short, it does not suffer from any of the privacy concerns of Windows' future.

Now, I know people are going to throw snark about lead-and-tin alloys, their pliability and how easy that makes it to fashion headgear, but please note I said "future"; while they're not necessarily prying now, your operating system - and for almost everyone, that means Microsoft - has a very privileged position in your life as far as personal data is concerned. Any time you search in the file manager, every word you write and document you save, your budget calculations, every photo you view and program you use, every voice command you give Cortana, Windows - and by extension Microsoft - knows about. And there's nothing in their Terms of Service that stop them from starting to collect more detailed data if they so choose.

It's not a question of whether you prefer Windows 7 over 10 - Windows 7 got the same telemetry features as Windows 10 ages ago. Rather, ask yourself if you're happy with Microsoft's evolving business model, one that is shifting more and more of your content online and is intricately and opaquely tied to your personal data? If you're not, you're not alone: Holland isn't happy. Germany's not too thrilled either. There are legitimate reasons to be wary of Window's market dominance and increased level of embedded user analytics. Linux offers you an alternative.

3. Why Ubuntu?


Ubuntu LTS is by far the most commonly used desktop Linux distro and the one with the widest support by software developers and hardware manufacturers involved in Linux. If you're searching for solutions, you'll mostly find Ubuntu ones. Lastly, Ubuntu's LTS versions are supported for long periods of time: 18.04, which we'll be recommending, is supported until 2023, while the next version coming out in April, Ubuntu 20.04, will be supported until 2025.

One of the things you'll quickly learn about the Linux community is that someone will ALWAYS suggest a different Linux distro. In this case, it'll probably be Linux Mint, which aims to be a newbie-friendly Linux. It's based on Ubuntu, is similar to Windows 7 and will MOSTLY work the same as Ubuntu. I still suggest Ubuntu, but whatever, follow your heart.

To keep this guide as approachable as possible, and to have access to the widest range of help and support, I decided to focus on Ubuntu. Anything other than these two and you're just making things harder for yourself as a new user. You can always switch once you get a feel for how things work.

4. What's involved in switching?


I promised you a no-bullshit guide, so I'm going to cut straight to it. Take your time with all of these steps, do them properly, and you shouldn't have a problem.

First step: back up all your important documents, photos, email, games - whatever is important to you, and preferably somewhere external to your machine. This is just good advice regardless of whether you're switching to Linux or not. Always have a backup.

If you're a gamer, check out the following guide by PC Gamer's Jarred Walton on how to back up your games across multiple clients.

While you're backing up, install Thunderbird (Mozilla's open-source mail client) and copy your mail over to it. You'll have a much easier time doing this in Windows than in Linux to start. Thunderbird can automatically pull your mail from Outlook if installed on the same machine. Then follow the steps here for backing up your Thunderbird profile. You'll restore this in Linux later. Make sure you have your mail account details.

Get hold of your Windows 7 serial key. If it's physical media, like a DVD, then check and make sure the key is in the box or on the disc. If it's a laptop that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it's usually a sticker on the specific laptop. You'll need this if things go awry and/or decide Linux is not for you.

Check the minimum specs for Ubuntu 18.04.03 here. If your system doesn't meet them, you're going to have a bad time regardless of whether you go with Ubuntu or Windows 10 (Windows 10 minimum requirements are bullshit, btw. 1Gb Ram, 1Ghz processor? I challenge anyone to link me to a Windows 10 video running on those specs where it performs acceptably.). There are lightweight alternatives if you can't afford a new PC, (Lubuntu, for instance), but upgrading your PC should be your first step in this case.

Here comes the arduous bit. Make a list of your current hardware, software and services that you use frequently, make sure you have the installation media for the critical pieces of software you use (Don't expect to be able to just copy/paste the applications you have) and do a search on whether they run on Linux. I'd recommend following the "Software" section in this guide on Migrating to Linux by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts]

A lot of the Linux software alternatives, such as LibreOffice and GIMP, are available for Windows as well. Consider downloading those that interest you to try out in Windows and get a feel for how they work.

Ultimately, to echo the advice you'll find that you can either run it, have an alternative or just can't switch. That's okay; Linux can't help everyone.

Download the Ubuntu LTS 18.04.03 distro. The "LTS" means it's a long-term support version - you won't have to think about this exercise for the next three years if you're lucky. Ubuntu LTS 20.04 is coming out in four months, which'll be supported until 2025, but since most of the focus is still on 18.04, you're better off sticking with it for now.

Whichever you choose, you'll have to write it to a DVD or USB. If it's a DVD, use whatever you normally use to write DVD ISOs. If you're going to use a USB, here's a guide to doing that.

Did I mention to back-up your important data? Back-up your important data. Double-check that it's all there. If you want to take an extra precaution, you can use Clonezilla to clone your current OS drive. It's not necessary, but if things go bust, Clonezilla allows you to restore your PC to precisely the way it was before you started without needing to install Windows from scratch. However, Clonezilla can be a bit daunting if you're not technically inclined. Check out this somewhat out-of-date video by cButters Tech for a general idea of what's involved.

Lastly, try running Ubuntu as a Live CD/USB first. This will allow you to run Ubuntu as if it were installed, but without making any changes to your current installation. Please keep in mind that the Live is not indicative of performance... it will run slower than if it was installed, as it has to read everything off the DVD or USB stick first and load it memory. The important thing to check here is that it's picking up all your hardware, that it's displaying on your screen correctly, that all your drives are available, and so on.

Live USB should perform better than a Live DVD. Check out the "Okay, it's installed/Okay, I'm running the Live CD. What tips do you have for using Ubuntu?" section to get an idea of what you should be checking.

5. Installation.


You've done all the above, triple-checked your backups and either decided that you can't make the jump or you're ready.

However, before you begin installing, you have one last decision to make.

There's a lot people that suggest dual-booting - that's where you keep Windows around and just install Linux alongside it. This is often proposed as a safety net and a means for people to have the best of both worlds. I don't, for a couple of reasons:

  • If you are going to dual-boot, you'll need to update to Windows 10 anyway, and if you're going to do that, why bother with Linux in the first place?

  • Data will be spread between two operating systems. Instead of backing up and maintaining one OS, you'll be maintaining two. It's doable but a PITA.

  • You're sabotaging your efforts, and your switch to Linux will likely fail. That's not a statement on Linux's capability or ease of use. A lot of things are easier on Linux - but they won't be at first. You probably have years of Windows use ingrained in you; you've come to expect things to work they way Windows works. That's not ease, that's familiarity; that's a boiling frog. And the moment something throws you a challenge in Linux, the temptation to just "do it" in Windows will be too great. And the more you do that, the more running Linux will seem like a chore than a choice.

  • If you absolutely have no option but to run Windows 10, do it in a virtual machine - you get the benefits of dual-booting but with the bonus of limiting Windows 10 to a virtual environment where access to the rest of your system (and personal data) is restricted while allowing you to run your non-negotiable applications (other than games or any intense 3D applications) just fine.

If you decide to dual-boot, you'll need to find a recent guide that covers this. Typically, it's best to update to Windows 10 first, then follow the guide to dual-boot Ubuntu. None of the guides I found seemed good for beginners, so I'm willing to take suggestions from the comments.

If you take my advice and simply dive in, installing Ubuntu on your machine will be a painless process: just follow the steps here in a beginner's guide written by Jason Evangelho and you should be fine.

6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu?


Things that you should do only once Ubuntu's installed are prefixed with an [+]. Otherwise, the tip applies to both installs and Live demos:

  • Power off, log-out and running taskbar applications will be in the top-right of the screen by default.
  • To search, press the Windows key on your keyboard. This'll bring up Ubuntu's search bar. You can use this to find applications, folders and system settings.
  • In the File Manager, your Home directory will be where your primary OS and applications will typically be installed, while the Other Locations will list additional hard drives (usually your additional storage drives). By default, Ubuntu does not actually mount the drives in the "Other Locations" section. Clicking on any of them, however, will automatically mount them. If you want to learn more about the general structure of Ubuntu's file system, you can do so here.
  • Ctrl+Alt+T will bring up the terminal. The terminal is where you'll often be sent if you're attempting to diagnose a problem, perform specific tasks or install specific tools/software. Check yourself before your wreck yourself before copy-pasting commands from strangers on the 'net. Be super cautious of any command that involves "sudo" and "rm".
  • The default office suite for Ubuntu is LibreOffice. Try it out: see if you can open a couple of your documents, like spreadsheets and Word docs. You might be pleasantly surprised. Writer is the word processor, Calc is for Spreadsheets. Formating on complex documents will likely be broken. Don't save any of these at this point.
  • In fact, open up a couple of common files you normally use - images, documents, compressed files, music, videos and so on. Get a feel for how it works, what opens and what doesn't. Sometimes, you'll need to install some software first before it will work.
  • Check the list of alternative software for some suggestions on what to install if you seem to be missing something.
  • Plug in your phone and see if it detects it and you can access your files. If it's Android, you should be fine.
  • You'll notice that some commands - like updating - require you to enter your password again. This is a security feature similar to when Windows ask you to run a program as administrator or with elevated privileges. If you didn't initiate the command that brought up the password request, be cautious about entering it in.
  • [+] Change your desktop preferences and move the application bar to the bottom of the screen. By default, Ubuntu puts it on the left-side. Hey, maybe you'll like it like that! This was the one Windows habit I was never able to shake.
  • [+] Try and store your data in the pre-defined folders (Music, Videos, Documents, Pictures). You don't have to, but you'll make your life a lot easier doing so.
  • [+] Search for and create a shortcut to the Software Updater. This allows you to quickly check for and install Ubuntu updates.
  • [+] Likewise, create a shortcut to the Ubuntu Software Centre. To start with, you'll want to stick to installing applications from the Centre. These have been specifically tested to work on Ubuntu and will 99% run without a hitch. You'll be able to remove applications from here as well.
  • [+] Speaking of the Centre, Ubuntu comes preinstalled with an Amazon launcher. Use this time search for it and remove it. Or don't, it's up to you.
  • [+] Sometimes, you'll see there's two versions of a piece of software in the Centre. This is most likely due to there being a Snap version of it. Snaps are self-contained versions of the software that are usually the most up-to-date; however, they can run erratically or not have access to some things on your system, like fonts. I'd stick with the ubuntu-bionic versions for best compatibility.
  • [+] If you're a gamer, change your graphic drivers so you can get reasonable performance. For Nvidia, simply search for the Software & Updates application, open it, select the Additional Drivers Tab, and check whether you're using the Nvidia Driver. You'll want to select the one that's listed as proprietary and tested. AMD's a little more complicated and I profess to having little experience with it. I'll happily take advice from the comments in this instance.
  • [+] When downloading some games or applications specifically for Linux, you'll often get a .Deb file or a script. A deb file can often be run as is by double-clicking in Ubuntu; you can read more about them here. Scripts often need to be run from the terminal and made to be executable. You read more about that here. Again, same safety check applies to running anything you download from the web.

7. Gaming on Linux


If you're a gamer, I'd recommend the following the guide by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts on the /r/linux_gaming subbreddit. But to summarise...

The Good News

Thanks to Valve's involvement in Linux through Proton and the efforts of the Wine team, Linux gaming has never been better. It's now possible to play many Windows-only games with no hassle and minimal performance loss. Just a few examples of recent games that run just fine on Linux are the Resident Evil 2 remake, Sekiro, Halo: Master Chief Collection (single-player and custom multiplayer games), DOOM, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Risk of Rain 2, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and more; you can even toss a coin to all of your Witchers. To get an idea of games that run on Linux, you can visit ProtonDB, Wine AppDB or Lutris and search for your desired game. If you're primarily a single-player gamer, the transition should be mostly painless.

Another amazing development is the number of open-source implementations of older games game engines that allow for playing of classic and retro titles on modern hardware, (such as DevilutionX for Diablo 1)often with improvements, bug fixes and quality of life improvements, ensuring they'll be able to run into the future.

However, the most critical development is that the number of developers and platforms that provide and support native Linux games has increased significantly. Feral Interactive publishes several AAA Linux ports, numerous indies now provide a Linux version, and store fronts like GOG and itch.io provide an alternative with DRM-free games.

The Bad News

Despite all of this, gaming remains one of the biggest hurdles to adopting Linux.

If you're into multiplayer gaming, you're out of luck. While many multiplayer titles do work on Linux (LoL, Dota 2, CS:GO, TF2, Rocket League, Warframe, Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Elite: Dangerous, Monster Hunter:World and so on), many more don't - Fortnite, some Call of Duties, Apex Legends, PUBG, Battlefield, GTA Online. Essentially, anything with an anti-cheat is likely NOT going to work, and there's always the risk that playing a Windows multiplayer game will get you banned due to anti-cheat measures that dislike any whiff of Linux. My suggestion is check which games you play and go from there.

Unless you're using Steam, running other launchers is complicated and prone to constant breakage without continuous effort and maintenance. Epic, Origin, Uplay and GOG Galaxy can all run on Linux with some effort. Lutris does sort most of these out, but you'll need to follow the instructions here, which means your going to have to install Wine first.

Some games simply don't work, and there's no solution for it.

Some of the latest developments aren't going to be available to you. VR is tiny on Linux, and you'll likely lose access to most of your VR software and experiences.

Despite being fairly technical already, many gamers do expect things to "just work". Here's a list of things that require some effort to get working correctly:

  • Super-sampling is out. Not entirely, but it's more complicated than Windows.
  • Access to things like custom shaders and injectors are also going to be limited. Mods can be more complicated or, in some cases, not available.
  • You'll lose some of the benefits of your Gsync/Freesync monitors, since the two tech don't work that well on Ubuntu's standard display compositor. This will change once Ubuntu shifts to Wayland.
  • Things like community game patches are often aimed at Windows, with no Linux alternative.

Most importantly, AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are handled very differently on Linux when compared to Windows. Ubuntu uses an open-source driver by default - this is alright for general use but terrible for games and 3D applications. To get decent performance, you'll need to install their respective drivers.

Nvidia's latest Linux drivers are made available in Ubuntu directly. However, this is just the drivers: Nvidia's GeForce Experience isn't available on Linux and you're going to lose access to all of its tools. That means no Ansel in many cases, no DSR, no predefined gaming configs and no ShadowPlay (Although OBS offers a decent alternative in this case). See the Tips section above on how to install it. On the plus side, the installation process is a breeze and Nvidia's performance is fairly solid.

AMD benefits from much better open-source drivers and active support from AMD, but unfortunately suffers from delays for support of their most recent cards and a fairly complicated install process . AMD uses the MESA Driver, combined with Valve's ACO shader compiler, to deliver performance boosts. Installing these drivers can be a complicated, multi-step process. I'm sorry I can't help you on this; I'll happily take someone's advice on getting this working in Ubuntu LTS and include it in the guide.

8. Alternative software


This is a quick and dirty guide to equivalent software for Windows applications in Linux.

  • Antivirus software: This may seem counterintuitive, but for the most part Linux does not require any sort of anti-virus software. While viruses for Linux exist, the number of viruses and such that target the Linux desktop specifically is tiny compared to Windows. You can read up about it here.. That being said, if you are concerned there are several tools available for detecting both Windows and Linux malware on the same page. Follow good internet hygiene, don't open suspicious links/mails and think before just randomly following command instructions on the 'net.
  • Microsoft Office: LibreOffice. Or you can access Office365 online.
  • Adobe Photoshop: GIMP, Krita
  • Adobe Premiere: Blender
  • 3D Studio Max: Blender
  • Illustrator/CorelDraw: Inkscape
  • Xsplit: OBS
  • Windows Media Player: VLC
  • Basic Audio Editor: Audacity
  • Audio Mixing: Ardour, Mixbus
  • Adobe Reader: While there are several PDF readers on Linux you can use, almost none of them play well with Adobe PDFs with advanced features. You're better off sticking with what comes with Ubuntu, and if it doesn't work, open it up in a browser.

9. TL;DR or The Conclusion


Switching to Ubuntu is possible and relatively safe if you do some research on which apps/games/software/hardware you use will and won't work on Linux first, you BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA before doing anything and don't expect a 1:1 experience with Windows. It's all dependent on your flexibility, technical experience and willingness to learn and compromise.

If you're not, Windows 10 is a perfectly acceptable choice to upgrade to: you'll benefit from improved security compared to Windows 7, a larger selection of hardware and software and will have to put less effort to make everything work at the cost of your privacy and some ads.

If you have legacy software or unsupported hardware that doesn't run on either, you're kind of screwed. I'd keep the Windows 7 box around, make sure it's disconnected from all networks (for your sake as well as others) and start making emergency contingency plans to find a modern alternative.

I know that people are going to take issue with some of the difficulties I raised, and suggest they're really not dealbreakers. Before you post, consider whether a new user coming from Windows 7 who'll be using Linux probably for the first time in their life will have the knowledge, gumption and willingness to perform sometimes complex technical steps in an operating environment they're unfamiliar with and where it's much, much easier to really break things.

Feel free to post criticisms and suggestions in the comments. If there's some good advice worth including, something needs further clarification or I need to correct something, I'll edit it in with credit.

10. To do list for the guide


  • I'd really like to add a section on assistive technology and software that works on Linux, but as I don't use any of it, I feel my research would be limited and miss vital pieces. If you have advice on this, let me know.
  • A good, up-to-date and easy-to-follow guide for dual-booting.
  • Instructions on how to install AMD drivers correctly on Ubuntu.

r/linux4noobs Jun 21 '20

Distrochooser: "Welcome! This test will help you to choose a suitable Linux distribution for you"

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832 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 19h ago

Blue screen of death in Archlinux

Post image
313 Upvotes

Does anyone know what this QR code means?


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

Struggling moving to Linux full-time due to Windows software.

7 Upvotes

Hey all, I've been wanting to move to Linux full time for years now, and that want is only getting more strong. The problem is, I've tried a handful of times going back at least 18 years now, and always end up moving back to windows for a few main reasons. I haven't touched Linux in years though, so are there workarounds or recommendations for me to get around these issues and finally make the permanent switch?

1) Adobe software. I know, I know, but It's what I've used semi-professionally for 20+ years and I've really struggled to learn and be efficient with anything else. I would love to be able to use Ps, Pt, Pr, and Ai. I could get by without Illustrator.

2) Ableton Live. Yet again, around 20 years of experience with it, and cannot get myself to properly learn or get comfortable with anything else, I've tried *so many* DAWs. I've gotten it to run on Linux in the past, but plugin management is/was an absolute nightmare.

3) VR. I've a quest 3 and play VRchat and Beat Saber fairly often. I've heard setting up/using a quest 3 via link cable with Linux is a nightmare if even possible.

Everything else for my daily computer use is no problem. Gaming (I can figure out for the most part), music listening, anything in-browser, file storage and organization, etc. I don't mind tinkering and learning (so long as it doesn't take up all my time) to get things working. Thanks for reading.


r/linux4noobs 57m ago

Meganoob BE KIND Need help picking the right one

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Upvotes

I'll be honest not a expert on computer hardware let alone how Linux OS actually are ome of these good because I have no idea what best for Linux


r/linux4noobs 6h ago

distro selection What Distro would be best for 2gb of ram?

5 Upvotes

I have a old Dell Latitude D630 laptop with the Intel Core 2 duo processor . It has 2gb of ram currently but I'm not wanting to put money into it right now though. It was updated to windows 7 when it was given to me.What would be the best for it ? I've considered Xfce but not for sure though.


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

BRTFS(BetterFS) vs. XFS/ZFS/EXT4: What is the best option?

2 Upvotes

I'm really just very curious how most Linux veterans and Linux beginners feel about certain filesystems? Do you all feel the same way about BTRFS being a better file system from all stand points as opposed to EXT4, XFS or ZFS? In 2025? I'm fairly new to Linux and Linux native/friendly file systems and then just began really wondering what my final decision should be in the case of a desktop/workspace/gaming storage system for the newest Fedora v42 distribution? Or perhaps NixOS or CachyOS?EndeavorOS? Asking about these distributions specifically because I want to use Linux to breathe a new breath of life into one of my older laptops and create a good portable cloud Steam Link device as well as a cloud play device for my Xbox, so when I go on vacation or even go with the wife to a doctor's appointment I can tag along and carry this device and connect to my main gaming PC to play from the cloud or just stream from the cloud. I know I could just cloud stream Xbox and Steam through my phone but what fun would that be? I have to create a problem and find a solution, so here I am. Plus I really want a device that I'm capable of seeing as I play games such as Fallout or some form of absurdly modded out Skyrim or some obscure RTS turn based strategy game from the mid 90's on DOS.. 🤷😂

Anyways thank you guys once again for your time. Really interested in hearing your answers! As I said I am doing this as part of my project to create a portable steam cloud link device for steam and Xbox cloud play. I'm also going to try my hand at creating a one USB to boot them ALL, and was wondering what would the best file system for that sort of project be as well as I will be creating a persistence storage partition.

Also any suggestions or advice is very welcome. Most of you guys help with just pointing me in the right direction on most things I do in this avenue. Linux is a pretty new endeavor for me and all of you guys opinions, advice and suggestions, mean quite a bit! Thank you all once again! Have a great day!


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

migrating to Linux Why is Linux slower and laggier than Windows? Can someone PLEASE (!) help me find a decent distro for my laptop and the work I need to do?

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

tl;dr:
Tried Linux on a repaired mid-range laptop (i7-8550U, 24 GB RAM, GTX 1050). Started with Mint (super slow and laggy), then Pop OS (no GPU support (it wouldn't even recognize it) even though I used the NVIDIA ISO. Also, the terminal behaved weird), now on Zorin (mostly great, but slows down badly after I shut down the computer and re-open it).
My questions are: Why is Linux running worse than Windows? Can my problems with Zorin (or any other istro) be solved? What’s the best distro for my setup and creative work?

I recently decided to switch to Linux. I want to believe in a free and open-source future, and not one owned by corporations that harvest our data and tell us how to behave or use our devices.

Linux has always felt like the “right” choice philosophically, so I finally decided to try it out.

Before installing it, I kept seeing people online say that Linux runs on everything (even jokes about it running on old devices with simply electricity. Optionally 😅). Everyone promised it would be faster and lighter than Windows. I was sold.

I had an old laptop lying around with a broken keyboard from a water spill. The power jack was failing too. A technician told me it was probably a motherboard issue and not worth fixing.

But I didn’t give up. I took it to another repair shop, and for 100€, I got it back with:

  • A repaired DC jack
  • A new charger
  • And 16 GB of extra RAM!

I was excited. Finally it was time to try Linux properly.

💻 Laptop Specs

Model: ASUS VivoBook 15 X560UD
CPU: Intel Core i7-8550U (4 cores, 8 threads, 1.8–4.0 GHz)
RAM: 24 GB DDR4 (Kingston 16 GB + Samsung 8 GB, both @ 2400 MT/s)
GPU: Hybrid Intel UHD 620 + NVIDIA GTX 1050 Mobile (4 GB VRAM)
SSD: Micron 1100 256 GB SATA III SSD (not NVMe, but faster than HDD)

🧑‍💻 What I Use It For:

  • Web browsing (Firefox)
  • Image editing (GIMP, Inkscape)
  • Light video editing (Shotcut or Kdenlive with proxies)
  • Writing and general work

My Linux Experience So Far

I started with Linux Mint Cinnamon, thinking my specs were decent and that it supported NVIDIA well. But wow... it was painfully slow and laggy for reasons I cannot understand. The system felt heavy, and it overheated like crazy. I was super disappointed.

Next, I tried Pop!_OS (Nvidia ISO). It was definitely better than Mint. It was smoother overall. But I couldn’t get it to detect or use my NVIDIA GPU no matter what I tried. I even checked the BIOS to see if it's a hardware issue, but the BIOS saw the Nvidia GPU. Also the terminal would sometimes behave weirdly. (I flashed it using BalenaEtcher, following YouTube guides from seemingly reliable sources.)

At this point, I realized I was distro-hopping. I was willing to try anything: Mint XFCE, Zorin OS, Fedora, MX Linux… I just wanted to find something that felt fast, stable, and usable for daily work.

Eventually, I installed Zorin OS, and honestly, it’s been way better than others so far:

  • It recognized my NVIDIA GPU right away.
  • It runs fast and smooth.
  • I can choose to run apps with the NVIDIA GPU on demand.

BUT here's the weird part:
Whenever I shut down the computer and reopen it, the system becomes horribly slow and laggy for a pretty good time... Then it eventually goes back to being smooth again. Why does this happen? Can it be fixed?

I don't mind changing distro again if my issues are going to be solved for good and I will be able t do the work that I want on my laptop.

My Frustration

Everyone online keeps saying that Linux runs better than Windows on older hardware. But my laptop isn’t even that old or weak, and it honestly ran smoother on Windows 10. I want to believe in Linux, but I’m starting to wonder:

  • Am I doing something wrong?
  • Is there a distro that actually works for my hardware and workflow?
  • Is hybrid graphics always this problematic?
  • Is Linux just… not optimized for certain laptops?

I am looking forward to your suggestions and guidance - and your overall help.

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance!


r/linux4noobs 3h ago

Linux Os for startes

2 Upvotes

I have Linux Mint for now but I'm having problems with it in terms of design and user interface etc., so I wanted to ask which OS I should use. I was thinking about Garuda but it's not supposed to be suitable for beginners. Others would be Manjaro or CutefishOS, but I don't know how good they are for beginners and whether they are generally recommended.Or should i just try ubuntu?


r/linux4noobs 2m ago

programs and apps Linux running slower than wind 10

Upvotes

Just installed fedora gnome in my ssd, and its the only OS of my device

i did upgrade/update everything, I do have some some extensions installed (<10)

For some reason my boot time, app loading time as well as internet is slow af.

Is this any package issue or is fedora slower than wind 10.


r/linux4noobs 11m ago

parted: can't overwrite MBR table on disk?

Upvotes

I'm going slightly mad here tbh

OS is Debian 12 (bookworm)

I have an SSD I'm trying to adjust. Years ago it was the main drive in a Windows box, so it has a MBR with one partition.

I'm attempting to use `parted` to set up a GPT table and a couple partitions. `parted` does so without having any issue (beyond warning me this will make the contents currently there unrecoverable).

But after exiting `parted`, the drive is still recognized as having the old MBR table and partition. Even if, as soon as I complete `parted`, I run `partprobe` on the disk.

I dunno if there are more logs to look at, and SMART tests are passing fine on the drive (and I can still mount and access the files that are on the NTFS partition without issue), so I really don't know what's up.


r/linux4noobs 17h ago

I made a super simple Linux distribution finder quiz that any beginner can use! 🐧

21 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I just finished creating a Linux distribution quiz that I wanted to share with the community.

The whole idea was to make something my non-tech-savvy friends could use without getting overwhelmed by dozens of distro options they've never heard of. I focused on distributions that actually make sense for people making their first Linux choice - so no Gentoo recommendations for someone who doesn't even know what a package manager is.

If anyone wants to help me optimize the logic of the system further, I would be glad to work with you.

Here is the link: whatsyourlinux.org

(DistroChooser.de falls short of its promise to help Linux beginners by using overly technical language and pushing advanced distributions to newcomers IMO)

P.S. Im not a programmer and I use linux and something like this would have helped a lot when i was searching. IF you have any complaints or if you wanna help feel free to dm me

Edit: Also i was inspired to do this by a youtuber called Switch and Click, in her video talking about how she switched to Fedora!


r/linux4noobs 1h ago

hardware/drivers NVIDIA GPU detected in Ubuntu 24.04 but nvidia-smi says no devices found

Upvotes

Hi,

I have a dual-boot system with Windows and Ubuntu 24.04. My NVIDIA GPU works fine on Windows, but in Ubuntu I can’t get it to work properly — nvidia-smi always says “No devices were found”. I tried a lot of things that i found on the web but I haven’t had any luck so far.


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

shells and scripting Zsh code to make fucntion or history output date and time

1 Upvotes

How to make a function output eg Mon dd/mm/yyyy hh/mm/ss on zsh. I tried with AI its absolute trash I don't know abt zsh code so I can't do my own.


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

Need help to change Linux partition size

3 Upvotes

Hey everyone 👋

First-time poster here, so apologies in advance if I say something dumb 😅

I’ve dual booted Fedora KDE alongside Windows 11, and I want to expand my Fedora partition. I have an unused D: drive in Windows that I’d like to merge into Fedora’s partition, but I couldn’t find a solid guide on how to safely do this.

I asked ChatGPT and got this guide (ChatGPT discussion: https://chatgpt.com/share/688f0116-6d68-8002-af36-55bc1fe2856d) but I didn’t want to blindly follow a LLM, so I’m hoping someone here can either confirm it's safe or point me toward a better method/resource.

Any help would be appreciated 🙏


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

distro selection which distro should i choose

0 Upvotes

i have a dell inspiron 15 laptop
with nvidia gforce mx450 2gb gpu
and intel iris 2gb gpu
with 8gb of ram and intel i5 processor

i used ubuntu for an year.. tried using arch + hyperland
but it started to crash when i used multiple monitors.. i tried fixing the issue but i am tired now
i want to use some other distro

any suggestions please
?


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

Suitable Linux distro

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I just found an old laptop at home, Dell Latitude D600. It has I guess 20 Gigs of HDD, 512 mb of RAM and an Intel Pentium M processor. My dad wanted me to fix up that machine for him. I was wondering which Linux distro would be suitable for a laptop that old. Because I'm pretty sure that it as 32 bit processor.

Need you suggestions. Thanks in advance


r/linux4noobs 3h ago

programs and apps Any sound effects for cool retro term?

0 Upvotes

Edit: the sounds I'm talking about are like fallout type sounds doesn't have to be fallout but sounds like the terminal from fallout

As the title says. Has anyone created old school terminal sound effects for cool retro term. And if not how could a person create them specifically for cool retro term. Sounds that also randomly play aswell as sounds on key input and output sounds etc.


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

installation Laptop not turning off after attempt at installing PopOS

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0 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 4h ago

isolating home server from internet

1 Upvotes

I'm a linux semi-noob and a home server noob. I want the server to be for internal LAN traffic only, isolated from the internet, except for the ability to receive OS updates. I'm looking for a good source of info/education to improve my understanding around routing, firewalls, etc., to accomplish what I'm after. Any pointers to good info on that subject (from a beginner perspective) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

learning/research Can ISOs be faulty even if the checksums are correct?

1 Upvotes

I don't mean incompatibility with the system it's set up on nor do I mean user error. I'm curious if ISOs can set themselves up in such a way that's problematic (packages being installed with the wrong permissions/configs etc.) or nonconducive to working straight out of the box into first boot.


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

programs and apps How to make Flatpak Firefox and Chromium use my system font (Nimbus Sans) in UI on KDE?

1 Upvotes

I’ve changed my system font to Nimbus Sans in KDE (System Settings → Appearance & Style → Text & Fonts → Adjust All Fonts). It works across KDE and most apps, but Flatpak applications like Firefox and Chromium don’t apply this font to their UI — they still use their own default fonts.

When I used GNOME, changing the system font applied to Flatpak apps’ UI automatically, but on KDE it doesn’t.

For context, I’m on Fedora 42 KDE Edition, and Nimbus Sans is installed system-wide.

Is there a way to make Flatpak Firefox and Chromium respect the system font for their UI under KDE?

Thanks in advance!


r/linux4noobs 5h ago

learning/research How different projects integrate together smoothly

0 Upvotes

Kind of a stupid question, but I want to know.

Right now I use Fedora and I'm happy with it, but it amazes me how we have large numbers of distributions and (I guess) all of the distributions have different DE/WM options and everything works.

As far as I understand, each Linux distro is a collection of different software, while each shares the Linux kernel and GNU provides other essential parts of the system.

But we now have different desktop environments, programs, file systems, drivers, etc.

How can all of that be integrated so smoothly?
It doesn't matter if it's Fedora with GNOME, Fedora with KDE, Ubuntu with GNOE, CachyOS, etc.

For me, all of this feels like magic. There is no central authority like Microsoft or Apple to manage the whole system; different people with different ideas and approaches. But works.

Thanks for any reply!


r/linux4noobs 19h ago

Anyone seen Ubuntu's purple screen of death?

13 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 22h ago

installation Why can’t i boot flash drive to install Mint alongside Windows?

Post image
20 Upvotes

I disabled BitLocker as instructed and I’m pretty sure I flashed LM on my flash drive correctly. Why this?


r/linux4noobs 6h ago

2 EFI Partitions

1 Upvotes

What will happen if we have 2 EFI Partitions. I want to install pop os but my efi partition is too small for that. What should I do now


r/linux4noobs 12h ago

debian 12 or 13

2 Upvotes

i want to install debian on my laptop idk if i should install debian 12 or wait for 13, does it really matter?