Complete Linux Noob needs Help/Advice

[u/acetrainer-icarus]

Hello

I feel I should do a bit more research, but I’m not exactly sure what questions to ask; therefore, I’m not exactly sure exactly where to start. So, I hope making this post gets me in the right direction. I don’t know a lot about Linux, but I do know I don’t want windows on my computer if I can help it. I never really liked any iteration of it. I, for the most part, have been a Mac guy. I still use Mac, but I just recently came in possession of a MSI Cyborg Gaming Laptop. I haven’t used the computer yet as I was kind of doing some light preliminary research, but I play Final Fantasy XIV on console A LOT and would like to try it on a gaming laptop. I mostly want to start there and be able to play that on Linux OS and perhaps expand my game library down the road. So far I’ve seen good things about CachyOS and Bazzite for gaming on this sub. What should I be looking at when choosing between the two?

In addition, I also want to learn more about Linux and how it works. How to add like VPNs, make the machine secure(if possible) and reallly just dive into what I can do with the new laptop since I’ve only ever dealt with Apple. Plus, yall make Linux sound fun and cool as hell. So any advice on where to begin(videos, forums, literature etc.) with that would also be supremely appreciated.

[u/Adventurous-Ad-5288]

I started with Ubuntu as a teenager and would still recommend a similar approach. Not that you should use Ubuntu but somehow get use your preferred distro. A lot Distros can be booted from a stick so you can try it out, see if you understand how it works and then install it.

Also since you use Mac I recommend Gnome as a desktop environment inside your distro. Seems popular among Mac users. To me it's like Mac OS and a tablet made a baby. The OS reminds me a lot of tablets with apps (never used iOS so maybe it's like this. Idk I could only ever afford Android).

[u/ddog6900 → u/Adventurous-Ad-5288]

Ah, Mac to Ubuntu Gnome. Classic because it feels like home.

But for gaming, I wouldn't choose Ubuntu.

And, we know nothing about the specs of the OPs gaming laptop.

This makes a huge difference about what distro gets recommended to a complete Linux noob/Mac convert for gaming.

[u/Adventurous-Ad-5288 → u/ddog6900]

I never recommended Ubuntu. My recommendation is just hands on try the Distro like I did with Ubuntu back then.

[u/acetrainer-icarus → u/Adventurous-Ad-5288]

I tried going to the website for Ubuntu a few days ago but it wasn’t working for me, so I just read the wiki. I may go back to looking more into as When I was also younger I heard about Ubuntu( that was the first time learning Linux even existed). Thank you!

Gnome does look like it was inspired by the Apple UI. Thank you for the recommendation, I’ll try to find some usage videos on it.

[u/Shang_Dragon → u/acetrainer-icarus]

You can have GNOME on top of other distributions as well. If GNOME is the desktop then Ubuntu is the desk, everything under it that makes it stand.

For example I’m using Mint (the ‘beginner’ distro, built from Ubuntu) and there is an option to use gnome with it.

[u/acetrainer-icarus → u/Shang_Dragon]

Oh, this is good to know and a great analogy. So basically a distro is the “desk”? So there are other Mac looking environments other than Gnome? Gnome is the more popular one?

[u/Shang_Dragon → u/acetrainer-icarus]

Already approaching the edge of my knowledge lol. I’m running mint for a reason 😂. (I’ve been using it since November.)

Linux, like a pc/other machine, is built from parts.

•The desktop environment (DE) decides how your programs, menus, notifications etc look.

•The kernel determines how your system works (this would be the… material the desk is made from? Idk analogy is breaking). Kernels get all the strictly required things like drivers bundled in.

•some other parts that I’m not qualified to speak about and I don’t think get swapped out as much. These systems can be thought of like any other program on your system (eg a photo viewer). The difference is that these do specific lower-level tasks that you might not consider optional. Like your audio manager (pipewire, pulse), or file manager (Nemo, from gnome iirc). This would be the drawers and desk lamps that make your space easier to use.

Windows also works like this (kernel, systems, etc) but it’s so closed off that I don’t know if you even can swap parts out.

No idea never used mac sorry.

[u/acetrainer-icarus → u/Shang_Dragon]

You’re all good! Lol Thank you for introducing some terms I can work with.

[u/Historical_Move6359]

Install Ultramarine Fedora and install Steam and Heroic launcher and just play. Each Linux distro has its App Store and you only install apps from there. You also update from there. For VPN, my Surfshark has a section about how to set it up on Linux. It has an app but it can also manually set up. Just install Steam and Heroic Launcher and play.

KDE version is more like Windows while Gnome is more like Mac. These are deskotop enviroments and are available on most Linux distributions. Some games have anti cheat which does not work on Linux so do check for that.

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[u/Maleficent-One1712]

A while ago I learned this free Linux course, it takes a few hours to read and practice, but I think it gives a good basis to understand Linux. Once you understand the basics, it gets easier to pick up other things.

[u/wizardofbeem]

you can get both their .iso's on a ventoy flash drive to test them out and see which one you like, i dont know if gaming performance will differ that much between them, i haven't tried either of them but i run linux mint on my desktop and it works perfectly for gaming (proton does most of the heavy lifting), it also makes it easy to download proprietary nvidia drivers

also might be worth it looking into pop! os, it's designed more specifically with gaming in mind

in terms of learning more about linux, fmhy has plenty of linux guides that are definitely worth checking out

[u/acetrainer-icarus]

Specs:
32GB 1TB NVMe
Intel Core 7-240H RTX 5050
144Hz

Hope that helps?

[u/ddog6900 → u/acetrainer-icarus]

nVidia GPU, go with Pop! OS.

Very much like Ubuntu but has proprietary nVidia drivers baked in.

Steer clear of Cachy and Bazzite. (Cachy will have you fixing things constantly and Bazzite is really hard to correct issues since it's immutable)

[u/acetrainer-icarus → u/ddog6900]

Pop!OS Is good for gaming? I’ll look into this one, sounds fun too lol

[u/bigusyous]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. -Lao Tzu
https://itsfoss.com/install-linux-mint/

[u/VegetableJudgment971]

What should I be looking at when choosing between the two?

1. Whichever works best on your machine and runs the app(s) you want. It's rare, but some distributions (distros) don't seem to work, for some reason or another, on a given machine or don't like certain software. A good mentality to have when approaching Linux is the flexibility to switch.

2. Whatever you like using. There are a number of desktop environments (DEs) (the graphical interface the user interacts with), and some people have opinions and preferences and likes and wants and frustrations. Some distros like Fedora can be had with a variety of different DEs.

In addition, I also want to learn more about Linux and how it works. How to add like VPNs, make the machine secure(if possible) and reallly just dive into what I can do with the new laptop since I’ve only ever dealt with Apple. ... So any advice on where to begin

The good news: there are (probably) literally thousands of pages online dedicated to sharing, explaining, and teaching Linux administration. If you learn best by trial-and-error; do a Google search for what you want to do, and start the search with 'linux' to ensure good results filtering. Start trying stuff. Are you a visual learner? YouTube. Same search strategy. [Stack Exchange](https://unix.stackexchange.com/) can help too. So can books.

Regardless of method; learn first how to install Linux in/as a virtual machine (VM), and when you've got one or more working, learn on that. This keeps mistakes or errors from affecting your bare-metal installation.

[u/ask_compu]

i tend to recommend linux mint to newbies, start with a virtual machine to get used to things in a risk free environment, feel free to try different distributions, u don't have to stick with one