this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Thanks for dumbing it down for me. I just built a computer so I'm not a complete bust on knowing or figuring this stuff out, but I don't want an OS where customizing and making sense of it becomes a second job, you know? I'm just a blue collar guy that likes gaming. Think it's worth getting another hard drive and having a dual boot just so I could practice with Linux before going all in? Or is that a stupid idea because I don't know what I'm talking about?
Having built your own computer says to me you've got the smarts, interest and patience to learn about your computer. The hardest part for building my computer was finding all the parts that would fit together, this CPU is compatible with this motherboard and this RAM, etc. Plus, building a computer yourself means you've done #1, you've installed an OS on it. You're no stranger to the BIOS, partitioning a drive, etc.
I can really get wanting an OS that doesn't take all your time tweaking. This is why I use Linux Mint; it comes pretty complete and usable out of the box. The "customizing" I've done to my Mint system included changing the wallpaper, installing a new theme from gnomelook.org, dragging a few things around, and such. What I've found over the time I've used Mint, it doesn't change so drastically with each release the way Windows does, so I don't have to spend time re-learning where they've hidden the Save button this time. I can learn new things.
I do strongly recommend keeping a Windows machine around while you learn and transition to Linux. I started using Linux on a Raspberry Pi back in 2014 or so because I was tinkering with electronics and ham radio, and wanted a little computer to attach to my radio to run FLDIGI that wasn't my big expensive laptop. Then that laptop died, and I bought a new one that came with Windows 8.1, and I hated it, so I tried desktop Linux. That laptop still has Windows 8.1 on it to this day. That machine only had one hard drive bay so I was able to dual boot by partitioning the drive. If you have room in your case for a separate drive, I would recommend doing that, and keeping Linux on a separate drive to Windows. If you have an old computer you're not using lying around, like your old machine or something, it can be worth using that to tinker with. Try out several versions of Linux on hardware you "don't care" about. It can be freeing to not have to worry about borking your Windows install. Using a separate drive is a great idea and you definitely know what you're talking about.
I really appreciate you making it sound so much more manageable than my first impression led me to believe. You've got me looking forward to trying Linux rather than just being full of trepidation about it since programming and the technical stuff isn't my wheelhouse, so thanks for that!
Tell you a really easy way to get your feet wet in Linux, download a Linux ISO or two, and try them out in VirtualBox. Right from the comfort of your Windows machine without doing anything to your hardware you can try it out, see if you like the feel, follow some tutorials and learn some stuff, see if it's a place you want to go.