this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I've been using linux for over 30 years, from Linux from Scratch to Mint. Dont' pick a distro that makes you seem 1337 or anything. I must say, that for the not-so terminal-savvy user, linux Mint is a great pick, most stuff (if not all) can be done with the GUI, and the installer is a breeze.
Picking a distro is one thing, picking a desktop environment is, in my opinion, more important. With default Mint, you get Cinnamon, which is a great pick, a balance between saving resources and eye candy. You also have XFCE which is very light, but some integrations are lacking, and it's lightness shows in the basic appearance. Gnome is another beast, can almost look as slick as MacOS, but is very resource hungry. And then there's KDE. This is something your either love or hate, no inbetween.
And for every task you want to perform, you'll need to have a little selection process, since there's a lot of choices.
Steam works most of the time. I only know about NVidia cards, but with the right drivers (for which Mint has a nice tool) it works well.
As said, I've used a lot of different Linux flavours, from very hacky and compily ones to very UX oriented ones. In the end, the UX one did it for me, I just wanted something that worked. So I do recommend Mint with cinnamon.
Okay great! An interesting tea combination: Mint with Cinnamon :) do most desktop environments work with most distros, or is there a list per each distro?
Yes, most desktop environments work with most distros. And it is quite easy to switch between them.
Something I didn't think about when my Linux journey started: A new desktop environment is exactly that. By installing a second environment you will end up with two different programs to open pictures, two different programs to open your files,.. Not a problem, just very bloaty. So chosing the prefered desktop environment in the beginning is the easiest way.
More experienced users don't choose a distro based on the desktop environments they come with but because of other factors.. For me release cycle, package manager, stability and software philosophy were important and I installed Debian.
Would the programs I install while using one desktop environment not be accessible from the other desktop environment? Akin to installing software in a Windows computer and each user logging into that computer can access that software?
All programs you install while using one desktop environment are also accessible from the other desktop environment.
As with windows: you can have different users using different programs. -If user A installs a programm it is not automatically accessible for user B- (His/her configs are not accessible) User A can install two desktop environments, from both he/she can access every programm he/she has installed.
So if I wanted two users for instance, then I'd have to download an extra copy of each piece of software (one per user) to be able to access (if I wanted tk store them on the drive and not on the network?)
Sorry, I have to correct/specify myself: By installing a programm it is by default installed on every user account. The only things that are user specific are the config and personal files. So you can make the programm look and behave in every way you want, indipendent from other users.
So the program files are only once on the system, independent from the number of users. There are ways to make a program accessible for only one specific user, but I never tried that.
Okay I see. Thanks for the clarification!