this post was submitted on 01 Jul 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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So ive use windows pretty much for everything and ive kinda had a enough of windows. i was thinking of trying linux on an old laptop that i just upgraded to 8gb of ram and im not sure wha tos to put on it. i was thinking something lightweight maybe ubuntu mate? i need somethign like windows that will allow me to game and do other things liek gaming maybe even streaming or reading? idk. also what are some neede dsoftware, browser so rthigs needed for linux. i com efrom a family who has never trie dlinux and hates it because its "the smar advanced coders os" somethign liek that.

anyways im a noob so go easy on me please als i may have ben linux distro hopping but i still feel lost.

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[–] HolyFriedFish 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I know people have already said it, but Mint is very possibly what you want. I'm not super tech savvy (although I am surrounded by programmers in my personal life) and my husband recommended Mint with the Cinnamon desktop environment for me. It almost felt too much like Windows, at first! I was looking for a big change, and didn't find it there. With that said, I have grown quite attached to it.

Things are largely easy, even for me. For most programs, installing is as simple as downloading a .deb file and running it, much like running a .exe for installation on Windows. I very, very rarely have to touch my terminal, and when I do, it's because I'm doing some unnecessary nonsense, and I have a guide up to tell me exactly what to enter. The GUI has been great for me for navigating files, handling various settings, etc etc.

In terms of gaming, Steam will use Proton by default. It's their own creation, and frankly, it's very good. When it isn't good enough, there are custom versions of Proton, which is a little more complicated but still relatively easy. For games that aren't on Steam, I've used Lutris with largely good results. The only times I run into issues are with anti-cheat, which largely does not work well with Linux. If you want to find out how much of your Steam library would work, you can try protondb.com, which has a handy tool for figuring out how many things from your library will work, and to what degree. Lutris has something similar in their own website, lutris.net, as well.

This comment ended up being a lot longer than I expected, but I hope there's at least something helpful in here! Whether you end up with Mint and/or Cinnamon or not, I hope everything goes well in your search for the right distro and desktop environment!

[–] dethb0y 2 points 1 year ago

Can also back up Lutris being awesome.

Honestly i use linux as my gaming rig full time and i have had only a handful of problems, all with EAC, across 3 years.