Hello all,

I want to wipe out Windows and install Linux, but I'm a bit confused which distro will be suitable for me. I used ubuntu as it was in our course but I still feel myself a beginner for ubuntu, Should I stick to ubuntu?

Please advice

Regards,

What-Do-You-Need?
What-Do-You-Want?
Where-Do-You-Hope-To-Go-With-Linux?

In the end, we will recommend you a desktop-environment, not a distribution. And those who recommend a distribution will most probably talk about the default desktop-environment for that distribution.

So, to speed up the process a little. Which graphical desktop-environments do you know?

I know ubuntu only, I'm doing degree in Computer Networks & System Support. I want to stick to a 1 or 2 environments which will help me out in the future

From the little that you tell us, the best combination of distribution and desktop environment is the one that most of your acquaintances use.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi Ubuntu_jamal and welcome to LQ.

Ubuntu is one of the distributions favoured by linux beginners, given its ease-of-use. Another is Linux Mint.

As mentioned above by Michael_Uplawski, however, the difference you notice will mostly be a function of the desktop environment (the GUI) used by a given distro. Ubuntu defaults to Gnome (although several variants are available) and Mint gives you a choice of several pairings, but in reality, you can install whatever desktop environment you like on most linux distributions. The previously mentioned Gnome, along with Cinnamon are current examples of desktop environments that new users find easy to assimilate.

Hope this helps - let us know how you make out.

Cheers.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you, I would keep going with ubuntu than. Is there any online game? where you can test and learn the terminal commands?

I am not aware of any, but I am not a Ubuntu user. Perhaps other members can confirm.

A basic approach for learning terminal commands (which are common across distros ...) would be to simply read the manual (man) entries for each one. For example:

.... will give you the instructions for using the "ls" terminal command.

Cheers !

1 members found this post helpful.

For a list, see here
https://ss64.com/bash/

To test, open a shell and try what you learned from the man-pages.

1 members found this post helpful.

Hey,

Yeah, I agree.

You need to:
1/ choose a disto or distribution
2/ choose a dekstop environment

DISTRO
I would tend to agree with the previous posts, Ubuntu is a good choice. There are actually several Ubuntu's available: Lubuntu (light Ubuntu, fast and works on old or small computers, uses LXDE desktop environment), Edubuntu (education pack included, good for kids or even adults who want to improve their general knowlodege of the world), Kubuntu (Ubuntu with the KDE desktop environment (but which uses a lot of resources), etc. and others...

DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT
There are several available: Gnome, KDE, LXDE, XFCE (another simple; lightweight environment)... and many more... I agree with previous posters as well, this is almost more important that your distro choice.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO GET RID OF WINDOWS?
I absolutely hate Windows 10. However, what I would do is diminish your Windows partition size to a minimum and make a larger partition for your Linux distro. You might even make yet a third partition to share data between the two distros. (NTSF or FAT32)
Why conserve Windows? You might someday want to use a program that is not available on Linux. If you have both, you have more choice and freedom. Or imagine someone would like to use your computer (a visitor) and that the person is not familiar with Linux. Or... imagine something goes wrong when you're travelling and for some reason you cannot connect to the Internet (at a hotel in a foreign country, for example), you could fall back on Windows.

BE CAREFUL WHEN INSTALLING
The best computer scientists are very bad pedagogues and are a mess when it comes to explaining thing (in general). Likewise, often when installing an OS or distro, there are steps that are not explained properly and you can inadvertently and unknowningly delete your Windows partition. If in doubt, stop installation and consult a step-by-step website for installation.
When creating new partitions, never "Create a new partition table," which will wipe out everything from your harddisk, including OS's, that is, unless that is exactly what you want to do.

Good luck! And keep us posted on your choice and your end result!

RM

1 members found this post helpful.

The absolutely no regrets model:

Install virtualbox or vmware and try out a few before wiping your hard disk. Download the .iso and boot from them inside your Windows.

Create a backup if you can. Ideally if you can get VMWare then PtoV your existing installation i.e. create a virtual machine from your physical machine to refer back to later when you realize you missed something.

Assuming you are relatively inexperienced you will probably like something Debian based or Debian itself. Ubuntu which you are familiar with, Mint is pretty easy too, Kali Linux or Parrot OS if you fancy yourself a bit of hacker.

Once you are happy, burn a key using e.g. Rufus and reboot. Most distros allow you to choose dual boot but if you really want to wash those Windows choose Guided Installation, Entire Disk. Please be certain: you will be warned. There is no undo.

Remember also that the penalty for forgetting your password if you do choose disk encryption *could* be 'go to jail forever'.

1 members found this post helpful.

I'd keep your Windows. (1) You've paid for it and (2) you never know when you might need it. For example, I recently was unable to use an ebook because the reader is only available for Windows and can't be persuaded to run on Linux.

1 members found this post helpful.

You may want to have a look at this (if you haven't already): https://distrowatch.com/

1 members found this post helpful.

+1 for Virtualbox. I played with various distros in virtualbox for months before finally going full bare-metal and dumping Windows. Virtualbox is a wonderful piece of software that makes linux a breeze to learn at your own pace. Been running pure linux for 4-5 years now, and I wouldn't be where i am now without virtualbox.

You can run 'live' (no need to install) with most distros these days, so you can see what you like, just download & test them out yourself. Install to a pendrive, or run it entirely from ram.

However, Debian & Redhat are the main server distros, so it might be prudent to choose a distro based on one of them.

Edit: A good reference book for the command line is 'Linux in a Nutshell'.

Not quite. For companies who need or want support, the choice is usually SUSE Enterprise Linux (London Stock Exchange) or Red Hat (New York Stock Exchange). For those who want something free (most major internet companies), it's Debian or CentOS (roughly, a free Red Hat).

But most of the differences disappear on a server, where Linux is normally run without a GUI: whether it's Debian, Red Hat, or SUSE, the files are generally in the same places and the essential commands are identical. If you need blktrace or tcpdump, it doesn't matter which distro it came in.