Questions about Linux

[Deleted-379826]

I have Windows 10 and am getting really interested in Linux although my only question is will it delete all my stuff and also I see there are many different versions what do you guys recommend and what makes them so unique and I know I can search a tutorial on this but I find it easier to ask you how and would I need anything to install Linux? Is it like a file I download orrrrr?

 

[FAST6191]

What are your specs? If you have more than a mid range dual core and 4 or more gigs of RAM then if you are wanting to learn Linux then using a virtual machine is pretty seamless these days.
https://www.virtualbox.org/ would be my suggested program for this. The main competitor to it in the free desktop focused virtualisation world is http://www.vmware.com/products/player/ and it does pretty well too.

It is possible to dual boot Linux, even with hardware aimed at windows 10, and many do just that so I will cover some of the options in the rest of this.

Different versions. If you are just starting out then any on http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major will do unless you know you have a specific need (there are some good ones aimed at various types of science or development), though I should note arch linux is a rather more complex affair. Worth doing once if you are going to get into linux and such but don't go in cold if this is your first go around. Similarly centos is kind of aimed more at servers, not that the likes of debian do not make fine servers if you want, but it can work as a desktop machine.

Installing it... technically Linux is a kernel but let us not be pedantic. If you are installing it on hardware you usually download an iso and either burn it to a CD or USB ( http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ ) and boot off that. Assuming it is one that installs (there are many that work from the disc/USB and do not have to be installed, these are so called liveCDs, then you should be given options to install things. Network install is an option if you have that capability but you probably do not.
There are some installers that work in Windows but I am not a great fan of those.

You might have to repartition hard drives or give it other hard drives to boot from to install Linux, some will allow you to keep a file on a windows drive and work from that. I am more a fan of these than I am the windows installers but not by much.
If you are having trouble with dual booting (Windows makes it a pain at times) then http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/ has sorted most problems I have ever had with it.

 

[Raylight]

If you have a good setup go to linux but if you dont then stay with windows wine wont cover you if you have extreamly outdated hw. Linux is fun and safe but requires allot of learning.

 

[tech3475]

For a windows user, I'd suggest trying Linux Mint first since the cinnamon interface is windows-like.

Although the UI can be installed on other distros including my alternative Linux distro Cent OS (I use this as well because certain software I need doesn't work /work well on Mint e.g. my tutors C programs).

The way I learned most of what I know is by needing to do something, then googling it.

But I definitely suggest trying it in a VM if you can first since that's the safest way to mess around with it, if not either buying a cheap 'test' system or a second HDD and unplugging the windows HDD when installing.

You can resize the windows drive and set up new partition but I wouldn't recommend this for a new user unless you have experience.

 

[Deleted-379826]

What are your specs? If you have more than a mid range dual core and 4 or more gigs of RAM then if you are wanting to learn Linux then using a virtual machine is pretty seamless these days.
https://www.virtualbox.org/ would be my suggested program for this. The main competitor to it in the free desktop focused virtualisation world is http://www.vmware.com/products/player/ and it does pretty well too.

It is possible to dual boot Linux, even with hardware aimed at windows 10, and many do just that so I will cover some of the options in the rest of this.

Different versions. If you are just starting out then any on http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major will do unless you know you have a specific need (there are some good ones aimed at various types of science or development), though I should note arch linux is a rather more complex affair. Worth doing once if you are going to get into linux and such but don't go in cold if this is your first go around. Similarly centos is kind of aimed more at servers, not that the likes of debian do not make fine servers if you want, but it can work as a desktop machine.

Installing it... technically Linux is a kernel but let us not be pedantic. If you are installing it on hardware you usually download an iso and either burn it to a CD or USB ( http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ ) and boot off that. Assuming it is one that installs (there are many that work from the disc/USB and do not have to be installed, these are so called liveCDs, then you should be given options to install things. Network install is an option if you have that capability but you probably do not.
There are some installers that work in Windows but I am not a great fan of those.

You might have to repartition hard drives or give it other hard drives to boot from to install Linux, some will allow you to keep a file on a windows drive and work from that. I am more a fan of these than I am the windows installers but not by much.
If you are having trouble with dual booting (Windows makes it a pain at times) then http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/ has sorted most problems I have ever had with it.

My specs aren't the greatest can't remember which but I know I have an i3 close to around 3.50 gh and I also have Intel r hd graphics not sure which one tho and 4 gb of ram and if you wanna know my limits its definitely emulating Mario sunshine

 

[FAST6191]

Sorry I should have really elaborated a bit there.

That should be more than suitable to give something like Linux Mint a couple of gigs of RAM to play with and not worry about the CPU. Virtualisation is not a massively demanding process in and of itself, compared to say emulation of a game console where the CPU will be going more or less flat out until you shut it down. That said you are running an OS on top of an existing OS and things like virtualbox do not dynamically allocate resources very well (big boy server virtualisation stuff that you pay the big money for is all about that though) and windows does well enough on 2 gigs of RAM, at least until you try running hundreds of tabs in a browser, which is why I suggested 4 gigs -- 2 gigs for windows in the background and 2 gigs to give to the virtual machine while it is running. Processor wise then anything with i in the name should be fine to play about with, it is more that I did not want to see you try this on a single core (some around here still have them), most types of basic netbook/tablet or a cheapy celeron processor or something like that.

Once it is running then if you press full screen it will behave almost exactly like it would if you are running it on raw hardware -- you can even pipe USB devices into it if you wanted, I certainly do that for all sorts of things. Similarly if the virtual machine OS is not using full CPU then windows will have it available, you can even tell the virtual machine to never use more than 50% of a given core if you like. Getting it to use 3d graphics (not that it matters much if you are rocking intel graphics) is a bit trickier but doable too.

Bonus is you can clone the virtual machine, try out some stuff and if you hose it all up ( https://xkcd.com/349/ ) you can restore it as simply as you would a normal backup file, or just delete the clone and go back to the normal one. Oh and also copy virtual machines around as easily as you might copy files.

If nothing else if you are heading down this programming/computery path then while learning Linux is great and highly suggested having at least stuck your toe into the waters of virtualisation is all but mandatory for the coming years.

 

[ilman]

So, before you start using Linux(or any kernel/OS/whatever), you should do some research on it.
Here's a tl;dr tho:
Linux is a kernel, not an entire OS like Windows. A kernel does all the hardware-y low-level stuff(getting input from devices, interacting with hardware, etc.) while the OS does all the higher-level stuff(the GUI, running programs, etc). That means that if you're looking for an OS, you're not searching for the Linux kernel, but a Linux distro(distribution). Linux distros are like different OSes that use the Linux kernel at their core. There are several different distros targeted at different people, but I'll outline the most common ones:
- Ubuntu - This is the most popular one with the most support and one of the most user-friendly ones. I'd recommend you start with this one...
- Debian - Another user-friendly Linux distro, although this one is a tad more simplistic.
- Fedora - A bleeding-edge distro, that uses all the latest stuff.
- Arch Linux - One of the most hardcore distros, since you pretty much start up with a command line once you install it. I do not recommend you use this one, unless you know all the ins and outs of the Bash Command line. (Don't mind the last 3 words if you've never heard them.)

Next up, the benefits of using Linux over Windows:
- 99% of Linux software is open-source, which means that you can go on the respective project's GitHub/SVN/source control page and you can see how everything works. If you don't like something you can write a patch and ask the moderators to add it to the main project. It's an extremely interesting way to work on stuff together and I highly encourage any Linux user to get used to Git.
- Linux distros are free and there is absolutely no spying like in Windows for all the privacy freaks.
- Linux distros are fully customizable. That means that if you don't like something about your desktop(say, you want icons on your taskbar to pop up when you hover on them), you can either switch to another desktop client(say, KDE, Unity, GNOME) or edit your current client.
- The Linux kernel doesn't require a restart after 99% of all updates(unlike Windows), which is cool.
- Most Linux distros use a partitioning system that doesn't require defragmentation, resulting in faster load times and less wear on hard drives...
and a lot of other small things.

But there is one very glaring drawback of Linux and that is Windows software. The only way to run Windows software through Linux is through Wine(okay, VMs also work, but that's slower). Wine is an emulator of the Windows OS and as such, it is not perfect. For example, if you use Photoshop CS6 for drawing in Windows, you may have a problem with the Pen tool in Linux. Keep in mind that may games on Steam don't have Linux versions(although it is getting better) and running them through Wine will decrease your FPS drastically.

So, you will have to check if your programs have Linux versions, run fine on Wine or have decent enough alternatives(e.g. instead of Photoshop, GIMP).
If you find that you can't live without the programs that don't run properly, then, sadly, staying on Windows is your only option.
I personally tried to get in on the whole Linux fad, but I always came back to Windows, since I needed several Adobe programs, Visual Studio and some other stuff that doesn't work well with Linux. I still keep a Fedora install on my hard drive, but I almost don't use it...
That being said, it's relatively easy to dual-boot a Linux distro, even when you have Windows 10.

In the end, I think that you should just dual-boot an Ubuntu installation, try and live with it for a couple of days and if you notice that you constantly go back to Windows, then Linux is not the kernel for you...

Holy crap, that's a long post! Hope I didn't scare you off with this wall of text.

 

[Joom]

>Arch is hardcore

Hardly. Their Wiki is incredibly extensive and I refer to it for any distro since it's a lot more detailed than any other and will help even the most novice of users get Arch running. However, it's far from being hardcore.

pacstrap /dev/sda1 base base-devel grub gnome

Easiest system ever to install. Now, you have to manually create your users, groups, setup sudo, timezones, etc. This takes maybe 30 minutes though. Now, if you want a hardcore system, check out CRUX Linux. All it comes with is a kernel template and you go from there. From the get go you're compiling source code.

 

[Deleted-379826]

thanks for all the help guys but one more question im highly confident ill install it properly so is it that nescasary for a backup?

 

[dankzegriefer]

>Arch is hardcore

Hardly. Their Wiki is incredibly extensive and I refer to it for any distro since it's a lot more detailed than any other and will help even the most novice of users get Arch running. However, it's far from being hardcore.

pacstrap /dev/sda1 base base-devel grub gnome

Easiest system ever to install. Now, you have to manually create your users, groups, setup sudo, timezones, etc. This takes maybe 30 minutes though. Now, if you want a hardcore system, check out CRUX Linux. All it comes with is a kernel template and you go from there. From the get go you're compiling source code.

Or Gentoo

 

[Deleted User]

thanks for all the help guys but one more question im highly confident ill install it properly so is it that nescasary for a backup?

Not really. I was half asleep whilst setting up Lubuntu 14.04, and resizing/creating partitions and installing went fine for me.

 

[Deleted-379826]

Not really. I was half asleep whilst setting up Lubuntu 14.04, and resizing/creating partitions and installing went fine for me.

alright ill just go without one although what would be the best version of ubuntu and would it support the guide

 

[Deleted User]

alright ill just go without one although what would be the best version of ubuntu and would it support the guide

It depends on what you want in an OS. One of the things I like is having low memory requirements so, just going off of that, I'd choose Arch Linux, Linux Mint or Lubuntu.

 

[Deleted-379826]

It depends on what you want in an OS. One of the things I like is having low memory requirements so, just going off of that, I'd choose Arch Linux, Linux Mint or Lubuntu.

could you quickly state the differences? thanks

 

[Deleted User]

could you quickly state the differences? thanks

Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based and uses the LXDE desktop environment. IIRC Mint is also Ubuntu-based, but I can't remember what desktop environment it uses. Arch is it's own Linux distro, and allows for lots of customization, which is another thing I really like having in an OS. AFAIK Arch also has the lowest memory requirement out of all the distros I mentioned.

 

[Deleted-379826]

Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based and uses the LXDE desktop environment. IIRC Mint is also Ubuntu-based, but I can't remember what desktop environment it uses. Arch is it's own Linux distro, and allows for lots of customization, which is another thing I really like having in an OS. AFAIK Arch also has the lowest memory requirement out of all the distros I mentioned.

I think im going with mint but does anyone know if this will be compatible with the guide @FAST6191 linked above??

 

[Joom]

Or Gentoo

Gentoo's ports system is a joke. Might as well go with FreeBSD.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based and uses the LXDE desktop environment. IIRC Mint is also Ubuntu-based, but I can't remember what desktop environment it uses. Arch is it's own Linux distro, and allows for lots of customization, which is another thing I really like having in an OS. AFAIK Arch also has the lowest memory requirement out of all the distros I mentioned.

Mint has three Variations: MATE, Cinnamon, and LXDE.

 

[TecXero]

Ubuntu or one of its derivatives is a good place to start. I recommend Mint myself. Just use a VM or load it up on a flashdrive to get a taste of it.

 

[The Catboy]

You can always run Linux Live through DVD/CD/USB without modifying your hard drive. There's also the option to dual-boot your drive and keep your Windows 10 with Linux.
I suggest for someone new to Linux and wants to keep the Windows Look and feel, Zorin OS or Linux Mint. I also suggest if you want a bit more of that Linux feel to it, but still be newbie friendly, Ubuntu or Manjaro are two amazing distros for that. For the OSX look, elementary OS.
If you are really stuck with Linux, I am the girl you should be hitting up for help.

 

[Deleted-379826]

You can always run Linux Live through DVD/CD/USB without modifying your hard drive. There's also the option to dual-boot your drive and keep your Windows 10 with Linux.
I suggest for someone new to Linux and wants to keep the Windows Look and feel, Zorin OS or Linux Mint. I also suggest if you want a bit more of that Linux feel to it, but still be newbie friendly, Ubuntu or Manjaro are two amazing distros for that. For the OSX look, elementary OS.
If you are really stuck with Linux, I am the girl you should be hitting up for help.

thanks but can you 100% confirm mint will work with the guide up above for regular ubuntu?? and thanks i'll be sure to come to you thanks

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Lubuntu is Ubuntu-based and uses the LXDE desktop environment. IIRC Mint is also Ubuntu-based, but I can't remember what desktop environment it uses. Arch is it's own Linux distro, and allows for lots of customization, which is another thing I really like having in an OS. AFAIK Arch also has the lowest memory requirement out of all the distros I mentioned.

ik its off topic but @Tomato Hentai since your in canada you may wanna check my latest thread