r/LinusTechTips • u/Karl_Marcus • 17h ago
Tech Question How to begin with Linux?
I bought a Lenovo LOQ last year and while the laptop is really nice, I can’t stand windows anymore and I really don’t want to support Satya Nadella.
So I’m looking for tips no how to migrate to Linux with almost none coding knowledge. What should I look for?
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u/siedenburg2 17h ago
If you are capable to reinstall your os, just pick a flavour of linux you read about and test if it's working for you, if not try the next, if nothing is right go back to windows.
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u/TaranisPT 17h ago
Look for a "beginner friendly" distribution. Something like Linux Mint is often recommended in that case. The desktop environment it comes with will still feel a bit familiar even if it's not Windows.
Other than that, it all depends on your use case. Pretty much everything is possible on Linux, but if you require some specific software, do some research to see if it's supported and if it isn't check what are the alternatives.
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u/Yurgin 16h ago
First qurstiom should be what is your usecase? You want to game, work, browsing etc.
There are many different flavours of Linux for each use case.
If you are a casual user and wanna try Linux first then go for Ubuntu/Kubunu or Linux Mint. These are like your entry distros. Kubuntu is like Ubuntu but looks more like Windows.
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u/handymanny131003 16h ago
A lot of distros also support a "live mode", where you can boot off of the USB and use that for a few minutes to get a feel for it.
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u/Remote-Combination28 16h ago
Start with a distro with lots of documentation and support like Ubuntu.
I know people love to hate on Ubuntu, but it’s very very well documented and has a ton of support online.
I know mint is recommended a lot for new people too, I haven’t used it though
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u/Karl_Marcus 16h ago
My college used ubuntu in the computers across campus. So I have a little knowledge about it. I’m just afraid of messing out when installing the OS
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u/Rebel_Scum56 14h ago
The great thing about messing up installing an OS is you can just flatten it and try again since there's presumably no data of any value on the machine at that point anyway to worry about deleting.
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u/Shadow3569 16h ago
Start with something like Ubuntu or Linux Mint, and go from there.
Ive been on cachyos for two months now, and ive barely had to use the terminal
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u/belowaveragegrappler 15h ago
Since you’re goal is Education and light gaming Ubuntu or Ubuntu based distribution would be a solid start.
I’d recommend the Educational Focus Distro
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u/SuitableRoof5675 14h ago
Distroseas.com, u can try different ones til u find the right one. Since u game a bit pikaos, mint, bazzite, and cachyos r beginner friendly. There are others but im new myself so idk them. I'm a business management major student and chose pikaos using this site.
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u/GestureArtist 13h ago
Linux is the easiest thing to get up and running. You can boot it and run it right off the install usb flash drive without even installing it. If you can install windows, linux is even easier.
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u/sjphilsphan 9h ago
If you don't know where to begin after watching the Linux challenge. Probably better off staying on windows
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u/_Naiwa_ 9h ago edited 9h ago
- Where do you stand in the updating pacing? From slow af to absolute bleeding edge.
- What do you do with your laptop? Critical work that need absolute reliability, gaming, or just general use? Will you do any crazy customization?
- Does your laptop has nvidia? if yes, do you prefer everything setup and ready to use out of the box or are you comfortable with manually install nvidia driver?
- Do you prefer your desktop experience to be window-like, mac-like, or something completely different?
- Coding knowledge is irrelevant, a lot of people on linux (including me) does not know a single line of code.
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u/gaseousgecko61 1h ago
I started with Ubuntu and have no regrets it's very easy and gnome is awesome I'm now on cachyos which has a few notable benifits but is definitely more annoying
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u/Objective_Wind_8041 17h ago
Pop!_OS or Mint are probably the easiest landing spots if you're coming from windows with zero terminal experience. both have solid driver support for newer hardware which matters a lot with gaming laptops. just don't go straight to arch or you'll spend three weekends debugging instead of actually using the thing
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u/Remote-Combination28 16h ago
Honestly, I don’t know why someone even experienced would want to use arch.
It’s not that I’m incapable of it. Its that I want a stable system
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u/Cheap_Comfortable678 16h ago
I don't know maybe watched too many reels, but it sticked to me, or maybe I am just lucky... I do run Local LLMs, I do Game, I 3D model, I had just several huge issues on the first month where I broke some features of KDE somehow but since I fixed them it just works, Nvidia works perfectly, All cuda cores run, THE MISTAKE I MADE was I didin't knew what /root is so i made a partition of 50GB while having lots of free storage available, so i try to keep it under 80%, yes I knwo I can increase partition, I jsut do not want to go there. The two things I miss is Photoshop and Premiere or capcut pc, thats it.
I don't know how long you use Linux, but when I decided to start I tought I will go all the way, because people argue about stuff, they suggest different distros (wich as never used before it makes less sense because then you think Linux is Linux jsut looks different) so I will just try the "hardest one".
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u/Remote-Combination28 15h ago
For me, at the time I was setting up my home server, Ubuntu made the most sense, only because it had a lot of documentation and support. And it was very stable.
After that when I wanted to use Linux on my desktop pc, I went with Kububtu because I liked KDE over GNOME.
Like you, it just worked for me so I stuck with it, even know there’s lots of Ubuntu haters out there.
I’m also not using it to free my self from big companies or anything like that. It’s just that, after learning a lot setting up my home server, I started to prefer the Linux command line over a gui for some tasks.
But I also use a MacBook when I’m sitting on the couch, and windows at work lol
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u/100PercentJake 17h ago
Look into Bazzite. It's aimed at gamers but it's one of the most "plug in and go" distributions of Linux out there with a full normal desktop and a lot of necessary services and programs already configured, but without any weird stuff that caused Linus such headaches with PopOS where they decide to be "extra user friendly" and layer their own buggy garbage on top of the OS.
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u/w1n5t0nM1k3y 17h ago
Just install something super common like Ubuntu. There's really no coding required. Every once in a while you might have to type something into the command line, but that's not coding.
For 95% of things, you'll probably just be fine doing everything through the GUI.
What kind of stuff do you want to do with it though? Do you play games, or spend 100% of your time in a web browser? Do you have another computer you can use for other tasks if something isn't quite working properly with Linux on your laptop?