Linux Suggestion

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Elf_Boy

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Nov 16, 2007
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I have Win 11 Pro with its built in VM.

I periodically go on a learn Linux thing.

What kind of linux do people suggest, good gui, availability of apps and of course the ability to run well on my system inside a VM?

Maybe this time I will learn more than installing gpu drivers sucks. :)
 
Thanks

Installed Nobara into a VM on Hyper-V. We'll see if I manage to do anything with it :)
 
The way I finally ditched ms for good was just not giving myself another choice. Laptop, desktop, any homelab boxes, they all got manjaro kde or Ubuntu server.

I’d steer you towards endeavor these days. I tried nobara though and liked it. I’m just weary of the one guy or whoever maintaining it getting burnt out.
 
Rocky (RHEL), Ubuntu, Debian.

Learning on a Workstation distro is fine and all, but you should get comfortable with a command line only install too.

One of my pet peeves about Linux distro’s is distributions that are based on other distributions. Probably just me, but I can’t stand that. Ubuntu is the rare exception, because although it is/was based on Debian; they so different at this point it might as well be another core distro.
 
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If you’re looking for something that’s easy to navigate, has a selection of apps, and has stability - I’d go with something Debian based or Arch based. (Ubuntu is great because there’s a TON of searchable support on google since it’s been around forever - and Arch is good as well, since a little newer kernel that might be better for more modern hardware if you’re going bare metal installation).

If you’re using a VM, spin anything up - it should work. Personally, I’m more familiar with Debian CLI and commands just from using Ubuntu back in the day. For most of my servers, I run Debian server with próxmox with Ubuntu VMs. Quick and easy.
 
I tried Nobara for a little while, but ran into some issues. I went back to vanilla Fedora on both laptop and desktop. I've only ever had one minor upgrade issue which was easily resolved. My laptop was reverting to it's default resolution, but the workaround (till the issue was fixed which was quickly) to boot to prior kernel was easy to find and well documented. Everything I've ever needed to research online for Fedora easy to find and well documented. So far besides that single issue everything has just worked. I don't game much lately, but all of it has worked via Steam or Boxes.
 
phire said:
The way I finally ditched ms for good was just not giving myself another choice. Laptop, desktop, any homelab boxes, they all got manjaro kde or Ubuntu server.

I’d steer you towards endeavor these days. I tried nobara though and liked it. I’m just weary of the one guy or whoever maintaining it getting burnt out.
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Endeavor is my favorite at the moment. Takes like 5 minutes to go from zero to working Arch setup, comes with stuff like yay already installed.

Throw in KDE Plasma and Yakuake for the terminal and you're cooking with fire
 
phire said:
The way I finally ditched ms for good was just not giving myself another choice. Laptop, desktop, any homelab boxes, they all got manjaro kde or Ubuntu server.

I’d steer you towards endeavor these days. I tried nobara though and liked it. I’m just weary of the one guy or whoever maintaining it getting burnt out.
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Why Endeavor?
If you learn how Nobara is configured, hopefully (in time), you can just do the same or close to it - to Fedora, since it's built on Fedora.
My suggestion for beginner is to pick 2 different distros - two main ones - and see which one you like and then switch to one, full-time. E.g. Fedora and Ubuntu.
 
The ones that work vs the 10000000 other variants, now saying that, I bounce between Mint (i prefer it over Ubuntu, Ubuntu just feels bloated to me) and Manjaro when I am a sucker for punishment (99% of the time it works solid and is fine, but that once or twice they release a borked update...^%$^%$^%&)
 
For ease of use, you really can't beat Ubuntu.


I recently setup a Arch VM (also what SteamOS is built on) and I'm really liking it thus far. Whenever I finally ditch windows for good, I will likely go with that or Chimera unless Valve releases SteamOS to the masses first.
 
I’ve tried many of the distros and keep going back to Debian proper. If I ever activate my main desktop again I’ll probably try out Manjaro as it seems like an interesting foray into the Arch world.
 
Algrim said:
If I ever activate my main desktop again I’ll probably try out Manjaro as it seems like an interesting foray into the Arch world.
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I've been maining Manjaro (with KDE Plasma 5) for the past two years and it's been fantastic. Before I switched to Linux as my main OS, I had been f*cking around with Linux since the mid-2000s. I've tried Fedora, SUSE, Ubuntu, Mint (which my brother mained for years), and a whole buncha others, but I took a liking to Arch at some point after 2010. So distros I've tried since then have been Arch-based. I think for now I'm sticking with Manjaro. My brother also moved to Manjaro from Mint and has been using it as his main OS for a year now. So yeah definitely give it a whirl at some point.
 
For your information, Linux has no GUI. There are several GUI applications which run on Linux and *BSD and other UNIX-like platforms, but they are no part of Linux.
Most user-friendly Linux is Gentoo indeed. I started using it in 2004 and it was so wonderful I dropped everything else soon. Most newbie-friendly it is not ...
Master Foo about GUI. Wish you achieve enlightenment soon! :)
 
Segfault said:
For your information, Linux has no GUI. There are several GUI applications which run on Linux and *BSD and other UNIX-like platforms, but they are no part of Linux.
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Well yeah, if you want to be pedantic about it, Linux also has no CLI. It's just a kernel. Real-world, no one cares.


Segfault said:
Most user-friendly Linux is Gentoo indeed.
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There's an opinion I never thought I'd see.
 
DrezKill said:
I've been maining Manjaro (with KDE Plasma 5) for the past two years and it's been fantastic. Before I switched to Linux as my main OS, I had been f*cking around with Linux since the mid-2000s. I've tried Fedora, SUSE, Ubuntu, Mint (which my brother mained for years), and a whole buncha others, but I took a liking to Arch at some point after 2010. So distros I've tried since then have been Arch-based. I think for now I'm sticking with Manjaro. My brother also moved to Manjaro from Mint and has been using it as his main OS for a year now. So yeah definitely give it a whirl at some point.
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My hold up with Manjaro is when one attempts to install an AUR package & it yells that it can't find the right version of a dependency. I'd rather go with rolling Arch based distros over what's held back by Manjaro's weird semi-rolling release choices. I guess the other option is to stick with the untested channel for it & be as close to rolling as possible.
 
dr.stevil said:
I recently setup a Arch VM (also what SteamOS is built on) and I'm really liking it thus far. Whenever I finally ditch windows for good, I will likely go with that or Chimera unless Valve releases SteamOS to the masses first
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My hope for the PC world is Valve finding a reason to leverage the massive work that's gone into evolving the software stack for SteamOS on the Deck, and releasing a SteamOS for general desktop use. I know they've hinted at the possibility, but they don't do stuff unless they see a big upside, and they're not anti-Windows. Moving from supporting one handheld hardware configuration to supporting millions of hardware configurations has a support overhead.

People will point to the first SteamOS on Steam Machines years ago "didn't that flop", but obviously the software stack wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be. Today it's just about there.
 
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DPI said:
My hope for the PC world is Valve finding a reason to leverage the massive work that's gone into evolving the software stack for SteamOS on the Deck, and releasing a SteamOS for general desktop use. I know they've hinted at the possibility, but they don't do stuff unless they see a big upside, and they're not anti-Windows. Moving from supporting one handheld hardware configuration to supporting millions of hardware configurations has a support overhead.

People will point to the first SteamOS on Steam Machines years ago "didn't that flop", but obviously the software stack wasn't anywhere near where it needed to be. Today it's just about there.
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Valve definitely aren't anti Windows, but at the same time it makes financial sense for them to diversify. The advancements made by Valve regarding Linux gaming are literally beyond commendable. Having said that, Microsoft management weren't interest in PC gaming under Windows until Gabe made it happen - If anyone has the experience to promote Linux gaming, it's Gabe Newell.

He's like Linux Santa.
 
I use kubuntu. Upgrading version on Linux systems still seems like a risky undertaking to me though.
 
pedant said:
I use kubuntu. Upgrading version on Linux systems still seems like a risky undertaking to me though.
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I get it, but it's fine. I also get that feeling of "Is this the one that blows everything up?" every major update, regardless of Linux, Mac, or Windows (only Windows, of course, came close).

Anecdotal evidence, I've been running Kubuntu on this laptop since 19.10 and every release update through the current 23.10 has gone without issue.
 
Someone who wants to learn really should stay with major or base systems.
If you want easy - Ubuntu
If you want to learn for professional use - Fedora/RedHat (or SUSE if you live in Germany)
If you want to learn the inner workings of a Linux distribution - Slackware
If you want to learn how an OS works, how your computer works, and want complete, documented control over everything your system does - FreeBSD!
 
jardows said:
Someone who wants to learn really should stay with major or base systems.
If you want easy - Ubuntu
If you want to learn for professional use - Fedora/RedHat (or SUSE if you live in Germany)
If you want to learn the inner workings of a Linux distribution - Slackware
If you want to learn how an OS works, how your computer works, and want complete, documented control over everything your system does - FreeBSD!
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Arch & Gentoo can be very useful for the adventurous learners. The Arch Linux Wiki went above & beyond with teaching me a lot.
 
I just tried https://elementary.io/ elementary os last weekend on a virtual machine. You can "custom" buy it for $0 and just download it.

Its very user friendly --- much like an android or chrome os, but there isn't many apps for it. But if all you wanna do it email, web browser then it would be perfect.
 
Axman said:
A new player has entered the game.
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I've been following Bazzite - it probably warrants its own thread. So far it's looking like the closest thing to a SteamOS for general desktops unless and until Valve-time ever releases the actual thing. It includes the SteamDeck UI experience which is superior in many ways to booting Windows into Steam Big Picture mode.

https://bazzite.gg/
 
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I just noticed they're working on integrating Budgie as a DE. Very cool.
 
Could not get Bazzite to install and boot in VirtualBox. Tried twice with the same error - no bootable device
 
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