All I know is Windows and I want to switch to a Linux OS

[ill88eagle]

This is soulcity's thread not mine.  She asked about problems she was having.

She asked about help switching to linux. You offered NONE

[RobertX]

All right, ill88eagle, that's enough.

Sorry for my participation in this mess too, but I think we must go on and try to steer the thread back on topic. I'm not trying to mini-mod, by the way, just applying the most appropriate behaviour on my part.

All right, soulcity, the floor is yours.

[Fant0men]

All right, ill88eagle, that's enough.

Sorry for my participation in this mess too, but I think we must go on and try to steer the thread back on topic. I'm not trying to mini-mod, by the way, just applying the most appropriate behaviour on my part.

All right, soulcity, the floor is yours.

I would give soulcity Linux advice, but she doesn't want my advice. Nevermind that I've used Linux exclusively for the past 10 years.

Rodney isn't giving good advice and he isn't helping. ill88eagle is right to call him out, because he's shitting down the thread with nonsense. The only reason he's trying to steer soulcity away from Linux is to save his own ego from imploding. The only reason he's using Windows is that he doesn't understand how to use Linux, and that's why he has to pretend as if it's not a viable option. He's not a computer geek or a nerd, just a low IQ individual who has an inferiority complex about his low IQ.

[soulcity]

Guys,

I just want something simple that I can run my programs on and avoid the insanity.  My only concerns are the problems with Windows that it's glitchy and it's spying.  

I've got a kid and the world is gong bat shit crazy and I'm just trying to protect her.

[RobertX]

soulcity, to that end, I'll tell you these.

If you just want a quick recommendation, pick Linux Mint: www.linuxmint.com

However, for every GNU/Linux OS that you attempt to install, you will need to learn a few things, so draft a curriculum:

1. Partitioning your computer if you still plan to use Windows. Partition is just for devoting space whose system that an operating system can use. You see, each operating system uses a part of the hard drive called a partition. This partition will leave a signature that the OS can understand. For example, Windows uses a file system called NTFS, because that's what Windows is designed to do. Now, most GNU/Linux distributions use ext4. So, if you do continue to use Windows, You must take some space from the Windows partition and dedicate them to use it for GNU/Linux distributions. Now, if you don't want to use Windows and go full-fledged GNU/Linux, you must save all your precious data somewhere and wipe the hard drive clean to welcome a full GNU/Linux partition, and don't ever forget to save your data. In fact, make a habit of saving data from now on.

2. Downloading an ISO image of a GNU/Linux OS and putting it on a USB thumb drive. If you've been pirating Windows up until now, you will know what I mean. Every operating system is like an application that are used for it. You must learn how to download an ISO image that you can either burn to disc or put on a USB thumb drive. Below is a link of how you might want to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Q11rZV9Ww

Then, when you reboot, put the thumbdrive into the computer and boot from it just like putting in an optical disc in the computer like the olden days. Then, the OS starts and you can do all that setup crap including a way to make a partition.

3. Entering command line options. I know that you said you are not technically-seasons just yet. While most OSs out there use a graphical user interface, you should know how to do basic commands on the "terminal." If you're familiar with DOS, you will see that these commands don't differ too much from GNU/Linux/Unix commands. In fact you can call them "first cousins." It may not be required, but it can expedite certain problems faster.

4. Using root privilege power carefully. When you are given the option to configure certain administrator settings on setup, you will be required to customise a password. You'll get to that. Just remember, record the password somewhere so that you can remember it if you need it again (and again and again )

5. Using a package manager, software sources, and updates. Package managers install, uninstall, and keep track of whatever programs are installed in your computer. Software sources can expand the package manager programs list by entering URLs into the software source or limit the programs on your package manager by deleting URLs. Updates, well, you get the idea. The point is, you can use this to easily mass-install/remove programs on your computer. This is different from previous Windows methods to install programs. Here, you don't run programs one by one unless you're using a DEB installer file for Debian/Ubuntu. You'll encounter them later in your travels, and they're easy to use too, so it's yours to discover. It should be worth noting that Windows will implement a package manager in future Windows versions; that's how this method is getting to even the outside world.

6. Exploring the possibilities of your first GNU/Linux OS. You didn't specify too much of what you want to do except to "simplify," so I'll stop here. Remember, there is free help, and you can get it here, or the official sites (just don't say anything like "I illegally downloaded this and that..." but then again, you won't even pirate anything, so, never mind). If you want extra help on stuff not mentioned here, just ask. Maybe you should change the name of this thread the "GNU/Linux for beginners thread." You're a beginner and are going to explore the final frontier of GNU/Linux. Being a beginner is not something anyone should laugh at, in fact, it should be envied. There are many others I'm not mentioning here, because I don't know what you are intending to do with your computer, but there are other possibilities like:

- included applications; all applications bundled with the distribution are free and will not expire at any time.
- "illegal" goodies; there I go with the i word. It's not so much illegal as it is a grey matter. You see, distributions like Linux Mint can install codecs and region-free DVD decoders either at setup or the package manager. Codecs are included so that you don't need to use codec packs.
- Wine. If you still miss Windows or have to use it if the Windows OS can't be used by itself for some reason, you can use Wine. Of course, Wine is a work in progress (and don't call it an emulator or you will be punched in the mouth )
- Virtual machines. Same purpose as Wine, but this emulates the entire OS, so heavier CPU power is required
- Samba. Networks GNU/Linux machines with other computers with either the same or different operating system.

Just a few things I can get off my head. If you still need help, you know where to go. I wish you good luck and I hope this write-up helps a lot.

Remember, RTFM!

[Fant0men]

soulcity, to that end, I'll tell you these.

If you just want a quick recommendation, pick Linux Mint: www.linuxmint.com

However, for every GNU/Linux OS that you attempt to install, you will need to learn a few things, so draft a curriculum:

1. Partitioning your computer if you still plan to use Windows. Partition is just for devoting space whose system that an operating system can use. You see, each operating system  uses a part of the hard drive called a partition. This partition will leave a signature that the OS can understand. For example, Windows uses a file system called NTFS, because that's what Windows is designed to do. Now, most GNU/Linux distributions use ext4. So, if you do continue to use Windows, You must take some space from the Windows partition and dedicate them to use it for GNU/Linux distributions. Now, if you don't want to use Windows and go full-fledged GNU/Linux, you must save all your precious data somewhere and wipe the hard drive clean to welcome a full GNU/Linux partition, and don't ever forget to save your data. In fact, make a habit of saving data from now on.

2. Downloading an ISO image of a GNU/Linux OS and putting it on a USB thumb drive. If you've been pirating Windows up until now, you will know what I mean. Every operating system is like an application that are used for it. You must learn how to download an ISO image that you can either burn to disc or put on a USB thumb drive. Below is a link of how you might want to do this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Q11rZV9Ww

Then, when you reboot, put the thumbdrive into the computer and boot from it just like putting in an optical disc in the computer like the olden days. Then, the OS starts and you can do all that setup crap including a way to make a partition.

3. Entering command line options. I know that you said you are not technically-seasons just yet. While most OSs out there use a graphical user interface, you should know how to do basic commands on the "terminal." If you're familiar with DOS, you will see that these commands don't differ too much from GNU/Linux/Unix commands. In fact you can call them "first cousins." It may not be required, but it can expedite certain problems faster.

4. Using root privilege power carefully. When you are given the option to configure certain administrator settings on setup, you will be required to customise a password. You'll get to that. Just remember, record the password somewhere so that you can remember it if you need it again (and again and again )

5. Using a package manager, software sources, and updates. Package managers install, uninstall, and keep track of whatever programs are installed in your computer. Software sources can expand the package manager programs list by entering URLs into the software source or limit the programs on your package manager by deleting URLs. Updates, well, you get the idea. The point is, you can use this to easily mass-install/remove programs on your computer. This is different from previous Windows methods to install programs. Here, you don't run programs one by one unless you're using a DEB installer file for Debian/Ubuntu. You'll encounter them later in your travels, and they're easy to use too, so it's yours to discover. It should be worth noting that Windows will implement a package manager in future Windows versions; that's how this method is getting to even the outside world.

6. Exploring the possibilities of your first GNU/Linux OS. You didn't specify too much of what you want to do except to "simplify," so I'll stop here. Remember, there is free help, and you can get it here, or the official sites (just don't say anything like "I illegally downloaded this and that..." but then again, you won't even pirate anything, so, never mind). If you want extra help on stuff not mentioned here, just ask. Maybe you should change the name of this thread the "GNU/Linux for beginners thread." You're a beginner and are going to explore the final frontier of GNU/Linux. Being a beginner is not something anyone should laugh at, in fact, it should be envied. There are many others I'm not mentioning here, because I don't know what you are intending to do with your computer, but there are other possibilities like:

- included applications; all applications bundled with the distribution are free and will not expire at any time.
- "illegal" goodies; there I go with the i word. It's not so much illegal as it is a grey matter. You see, distributions like Linux Mint can install codecs and region-free DVD decoders either at setup or the package manager. Codecs are included so that you don't need to use codec packs.
- Wine. If you still miss Windows or have to use it if the Windows OS can't be used by itself for some reason, you can use Wine. Of course, Wine is a work in progress (and don't call it an emulator or you will be punched in the mouth )
- Virtual machines. Same purpose as Wine, but this emulates the entire OS, so heavier CPU power is required
- Samba. Networks GNU/Linux machines with other computers with either the same or different operating system.

Just a few things I can get off my head. If you still need help, you know where to go. I wish you good luck and I hope this write-up helps a lot.

Remember, RTFM!

soulcity, the comment above is informative and good. Just thought I should mention that if you decide to dual-boot Linux and Windows, the best thing is to keep both systems on their own separate hard drives, because Windows updates have a tendency to overwrite the bootloader, which will make Linux unbootable, forcing you to reinstall Linux.

Like RobertX says, making backups of your data is critical when formatting your PC and playing around with other operating systems, because the file systems used in Linux are incompatible with Windows, so you won't be able to read files from your Linux partitions in Windows, although you will be able to read your Windows files from within Linux. If you want to share files between the systems you should use the Windows-native NTFS file system, so maybe you could make 2 partitions for Windows, one for the OS, and one for your data. You could share that data partition between Windows and Linux, allowing you to share your data between the OSes. When creating partitions, make sure that they're large enough to account for the OSes themselves and potential programs you'll install in the future.

There are many desktop environments in Linux, and most distros have multiple editions, one for each desktop environment. The Linux desktop that's the most like the Windows GUI is KDE. Might be easiest to start with that if you're a Linux beginner, although I'm sure Cinnamon (default in Linux Mint) is alright as well. That one also looks a lot like Windows.

Get comfortable with re-learning programs, because a lot of the programs you're used to in Windows aren't available in Linux, and many of them don't even work in Wine either. If you want to play video files, I recommend VLC. If you want to write documents, I recommend Libre Office. When it comes to web browsers you don't have to worry, both Firefox and Chrome are available in Linux. If you want to install Chrome you have to download it from the official Chrome site, tell it that you use Ubuntu / Debian 64-bit and get that .deb file, double-click it and install. From that point on, Chrome will automatically be updated along with your other system updates.

The main problem will be learning new programs. Doesn't necessarily mean the free Linux alternatives are any worse than programs in Windows, but they look and behave differently.

Another thing to consider is your graphics drivers. What kind of GPU / graphics card do you have? If you have Intel graphics, you don't have to worry about installing drivers as they're included in Linux by default. Same thing goes for AMD / ATI. If you have Nvidia graphics, you'll have to install their proprietary drivers but you can do that from the Ubuntu / Mint Software Center.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[soulcity]

Thanks everyone.

I've got Linux mint installed on an old laptop. I'm going to see what I can do with it.

[Fant0men]

Thanks everyone.

I've got Linux mint installed on an old laptop.  I'm going to see what I can do with it.

Good luck. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have about problems you run into. As a longtime user I've run into most of the problems you'd typically have, and made many dumb mistakes and learned from them. I don't mess around a whole lot with my actual Linux install anymore, because I don't want to break my system. I need it to work. The things I'll mess around with is programs, installing and removing them. I'll also change settings in KDE (my current desktop environment).

A thing to watch out for... Generally, you'd never have to directly make any changes yourself to the files in your root / system partition, for example. The only directory you need to deal with is your /home directory. Any time you have to type your password it's because you're trying to change some part of the root system. That's why you type your password when installing programs, for example. The reason such things are password-protected is for security. Never run programs with admin privileges unless you actually need it, as in the case of installing software / drivers and whatnot.

Linux has a very good system for file permissions, you can use that to your advantage. For example, if you want to write-protect a directory, to make sure it's never accidentally changed or deleted, you can recursively change the owner of that directory to the 'root' user. If you want to make a file or directory hidden, you put a dot ('.') in front of the file name. You can still access files like that from the terminal, and by changing a setting in your file manager so it shows hidden files.

It's a good idea to pick a major Linux distribution that has a lot of support, or is at least built on a solid foundation like Ubuntu, because you know Canonical is a relatively big company and will support Ubuntu, and by proxy all the other distros (like Mint) that are based on Ubuntu.

I run Fedora Linux myself, since a couple of years back. Same thing applies. I know Red Hat is behind Fedora and that I will have access to updated packages that are well tested. Red Hat is owned by IBM, is a big company and will support Fedora for years to come.

Also, you'll have access to the community behind the distro you're using, and a bigger distro equals a bigger community where you can go and ask for help. Linux Mint is a good distro in general, and usually recommended to beginners these days. Ubuntu used to be the go-to newbie distro, and it's still good for beginners.

[RobertX]

soulcity, if you can't follow my little curriculum, you can try to see if you can follow this:

https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php

Depending on what graphical utility you're using (MATE, Cinnamon, or XFCE), you can download manuals that talk about what I covered. in easier language. Just scroll down to the GUI that you're using and download the PDF.

The guides are lagging behind in version number, but it will simplify things for you, not saying that you suck, I'm saying it's beginner-friendly.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: If the list is too labyrinthine, I'll just provide direct links:

MATE: https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation/...h_17.3.pdf
Cinnamon: https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation/...h_18.0.pdf

Hope that dumbs down the clusterfuck that is the list on that page. Now, you should be able to easily download them. Again, the guides are outdated, but at least it will explain some things.