everyone who talks about linux seems to be a programmer /coder, and uses jargon that i don’t even understand
I’ve been pointing that out for a while, but unfortunately there is a vocal subset of the community that thinks referring people to just read technical manuals is fine (if you can’t, just learn to read it, duh).
Some things are concepts you’ll learn easily, don’t worry, and for the rest, you’ll always find someone willing to break it down if you manage to look past the snobs. If you want, shoot me a DM if you just want to understand a specific term without someone making you feel like an idiot.
The problem is there are a billion versions of linux, idk what one to choose
There are plenty of suggestions here. Ubuntu is what got me started and I still think it’s a good start*. Mint is from the same family, “Pop! OS” too (the name sounds silly to me, but it’s legit and popular for a reason). Just look at pictures and see what seems prettiest to you, then go with that. The usage won’t be too different.
The grandpa of that family is Debian, but I’m not sure it’s quite as user-friendly out of the box. I’m mentioning it in case you come across the term.
The other big families are Fedora and Arch. I personally use a Fedora-Child, but to keep things narrow, I recommend the three mentioned above as starters.
* If you come across people hating Ubuntu - including myself - it’s usually for ideological reasons rather than usability ones. Don’t worry about that for now. Getting into the weeds of things is a skill you don’t have yet and that’s perfectly fine.
if i can play my steam games on linux
Steam, fortunately, is the one platform that works best with Linux. For their handheld, they decided to flip off MS and made their own Linux, along with a wrapper tool to make all the games run on it anyway.
You may hear the terms “compatibility layer”, “Proton” and “wine”, which is exactly that: A tool to make Windows stuff run on Linux. Again, don’t worry about the specifics, just believe me: I’m playing almost all of my steam games just as I used to.
If there is a specific game you care about, https://www.protondb.com/ has a large store of knowledge. Some things run out of the box, some may require a few extra settings that are usually easy to add, and if there ever is a thing you don’t understand, my offer stands.
The whole idea of moving to linux is overwhelming.
It’s a scary plunge, a leap of faith, but I assure you: There are people ready to catch you at the bottom. The reception wasn’t as warm when I jumped off of Win7, and the snobs are still around, but things have improved a lot over the past few years. Trust me, trust us: You won’t be left alone.
there is a vocal subset of the community that thinks referring people to just read technical manuals is fine
I mean, I agree, it’s not ideal. Just to point out though… Windows is also not really well documented, and if you have an issue that’s a bit on the unusual side? You can find yourself skimming forums for days, or just saying fuck it and reinstalling. There’s definitely more information out there on Windows troubleshooting, but it has market dominance and it would be insane if there wasn’t loads out there.
If you come across people hating Ubuntu - including myself - it’s usually for ideological reasons rather than usability ones.
Yeah, fuck canonical! Shame they make a fairly decent and stable distro…
A lot of Windows troubleshooting info, even on Microsoft forums, is frankly garbage responses to reboot this, regedit that without any real fixing involved. The Linux stuff I find much better, especially when one of the actual developers gets involved which isn’t that uncommon.
The fact that people HAD to learn to use Windows, too. It’s just in the past and appears easy because they already can. If a person used computers with Linux from the start, it would be as easy for them as for Windows users.
I’ve been pointing that out for a while, but unfortunately there is a vocal subset of the community that thinks referring people to just read technical manuals is fine (if you can’t, just learn to read it, duh).
Some things are concepts you’ll learn easily, don’t worry, and for the rest, you’ll always find someone willing to break it down if you manage to look past the snobs. If you want, shoot me a DM if you just want to understand a specific term without someone making you feel like an idiot.
There are plenty of suggestions here. Ubuntu is what got me started and I still think it’s a good start*. Mint is from the same family, “Pop! OS” too (the name sounds silly to me, but it’s legit and popular for a reason). Just look at pictures and see what seems prettiest to you, then go with that. The usage won’t be too different.
The grandpa of that family is Debian, but I’m not sure it’s quite as user-friendly out of the box. I’m mentioning it in case you come across the term.
The other big families are Fedora and Arch. I personally use a Fedora-Child, but to keep things narrow, I recommend the three mentioned above as starters.
* If you come across people hating Ubuntu - including myself - it’s usually for ideological reasons rather than usability ones. Don’t worry about that for now. Getting into the weeds of things is a skill you don’t have yet and that’s perfectly fine.
Steam, fortunately, is the one platform that works best with Linux. For their handheld, they decided to flip off MS and made their own Linux, along with a wrapper tool to make all the games run on it anyway.
You may hear the terms “compatibility layer”, “Proton” and “wine”, which is exactly that: A tool to make Windows stuff run on Linux. Again, don’t worry about the specifics, just believe me: I’m playing almost all of my steam games just as I used to.
If there is a specific game you care about, https://www.protondb.com/ has a large store of knowledge. Some things run out of the box, some may require a few extra settings that are usually easy to add, and if there ever is a thing you don’t understand, my offer stands.
It’s a scary plunge, a leap of faith, but I assure you: There are people ready to catch you at the bottom. The reception wasn’t as warm when I jumped off of Win7, and the snobs are still around, but things have improved a lot over the past few years. Trust me, trust us: You won’t be left alone.
I mean, I agree, it’s not ideal. Just to point out though… Windows is also not really well documented, and if you have an issue that’s a bit on the unusual side? You can find yourself skimming forums for days, or just saying fuck it and reinstalling. There’s definitely more information out there on Windows troubleshooting, but it has market dominance and it would be insane if there wasn’t loads out there.
Yeah, fuck canonical! Shame they make a fairly decent and stable distro…
A lot of Windows troubleshooting info, even on Microsoft forums, is frankly garbage responses to reboot this, regedit that without any real fixing involved. The Linux stuff I find much better, especially when one of the actual developers gets involved which isn’t that uncommon.
The fact that people HAD to learn to use Windows, too. It’s just in the past and appears easy because they already can. If a person used computers with Linux from the start, it would be as easy for them as for Windows users.