[SOLVED] Looking to master linux inside and out - looking for a beginner friendly distro to learn on

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 06:41 PM

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wpeckham · 07-23-2022, 07:02 PM

Arch, but friendlier and easier to install would be Manjaro.

Beginner friendly is one goal, and something you can use to learn Linux inside and out are conflicting requirements. Normally Manjaro Linux, *buntu (Ubuntu, Kbuntu, Lbuntu, etc), Mint (or MintDE) Linux, Elementary, Q4OS Linux, or MX might be my beginner recommendations.
Strip out *buntu for learning, and add in Debian and a few others. For the extreme case LFS (Linux From Scratch), which is less a distribution than instructions for creating your own, and other build-from-source distributions.

Frankly, if you have had the install problems you describe then #1 something may be wrong with your hardware platform choices, and #2 you should not be focused on learning internals until you have some externals mastered. Installation using the automated (gui) install tools is crazy easy!

Are you attempting to install UNDER Windows in a virtual machine, as a Windows replacement, or to dual boot with Windows? The answer makes a HUGE difference!

evo2 · 07-23-2022, 07:17 PM

I think it depends on the person and use case.

What are you wanting to do with this machine?

Are you willing to read and follow documentation?

Evo2.

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:17 PM

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sundialsvcs · 07-23-2022, 07:18 PM

My immediate recommendation is that you should use a virtual machine system ... and my very-specific recommendation is VirtualBox ... as your starting-point for "trying things out."

I will very frankly say that this strategy is much better than "dual booting."

With this approach, "you can crash-and-burn Linux as much as you like, and as many times as you like," yet the host will still be "alive and well." But also, "performance is almost as good!" Modern hardware has direct hardware support for "virtual machines." IMHO, "dual booting no longer makes the cut."

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Now then: you say that you "had numerous problems with drivers and things just breaking immediately after install." But, so far, you have not given us any details.

From our point of view, "details are everything." Please detail to us ... error-message by error-message ... "exactly what went wrong." We'll take it from there.

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:20 PM

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newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:22 PM

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shortarcflyer · 07-23-2022, 07:35 PM

For an arch based Linux, I recommend EndeavourOS as it has a lot of community support and help available for it. I have had better results using it than Manjarro even though Manjarro is not bad. For a Debian based distro, I have had good results with MXLinux, Sparky Linux and Bodhi. If you want something that basically works "out of the box" with little to no setup then LinuxMint may be just right for you. Good luck hope all goes well for you!

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:38 PM

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newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:42 PM

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evo2 · 07-23-2022, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

I want this running on modern hardware (if you consider i7-9700k modern, only a few years old) to replace my Windows desktop for all applications, to include gaming. I don't like not knowing how my own system runs, and want full control of the system.

Can you be specific about what software/applications you want to run? What versions?
"Gaming" is a very general term. Are there specific games that you expect to be
able to run?

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

I am willing to read any and all documentation. I'm ready to go the extra mile.

I just didn't know if there's different distros for different things, or if they are all sort of skinning the same cat.

There are some speciciliased distros, but I recommend keeping away from them
unless you really know that they provide something that you want/need
that a general purpose distro can not provide.

It is also important to read/follow the correct documentation. There is so
much utter rubbish online in the form of blogs and youtube vidoes by people
think they know what they are talking about but are really little more than
new users who are excited about something that they managed to install/configure.

If you really are willing read and follow (which implies comprehend) documentation
then I would suggest going with one of the well established distros. But again
I sill don't know what you actually want to use this system for.

Evo2.

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 07:58 PM

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newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 08:01 PM

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evo2 · 07-23-2022, 08:15 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

It's not just Linux it's in many aspects of life, lol! Most people haven't a clue.

I'm a C# developer. I'm a junior dev that recently graduated university (one year ago). I'm at my first job and currently use Visual Studio as my IDE. I've never been exposed to Linux, since my school used Windows Computers, issued Windows laptops, and taught on programs that ran on Windows.

Ok, this makes things a little clearer. If you like Visual Studio, you can keep using that on linux,
although I don't know how polished it is, never having used it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

I'm looking to use Linux as a programming environment mostly. My hobbies include retro game development, mostly on consoles that are currently out of date (N64, PS1, Dreamcast). I did a lot of assembly and C work to get programs to work, since most of these systems were made decades ago and on limited hardware compared to today. I love low-level dev. I think that's why I'm having a problem with Windows. I have no control over the system. As I get older I realize that operating systems aren't magic and that I want to be able to understand what's going on under the hood. Enter Linux.

I have no experience in this sort of work: I mostly do higher level stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

I've heard that Linux and its package management system is superior to windows. I've heard about command line being superior. It's supposed to be more secure and stable. It seems like a dream come true. People talk about it at work but no one dares use it because it's against our policy. I want to use this at home and in my free time.

It's different. I can't explain to you how it is different because other than occasionally
firing up a Windows VMs to run some POS software provided by a brain dead vendor
to talk to a random piece of hardware I don't use windows.

Quote:

Originally Posted by newtothescene

I would be looking to basically become a developer using Linux-based programs, scrap Visual Studio and reliance on Windows, and transition to this OS (assuming I like it and it's more productive), mostly because most of the SDKs and libraries I want to use on git use make and I don't want to have to deal with Cygwin on Windows and trying to hack things to work. I'd rather just git clone and 'make' on a Linux system. I'm honestly shocked I haven't tried Linux before. Limited time and exposure I guess.

Given what you have said so far I think Debian stable may work for you. However if
you want to try going that route and want to avoid one of the pitfalls that
many new users stumble on please see https://wiki.debian.org/DontBreakDebian
If you don't like what you see on that page, then maybe Arch might be a better fit.

In general I recommend using "upstream" distros, not derivatives (this goes hand in hand with
what I wrote earlier about not using specizalised distros). One exception to this may be,
Ubuntu which is derived from Debian. Ubuntu has been around for quite a while now, is widely
used and doesn't suffer the sort of man power issues that often seem to plague other
(smaller) derivatives.

HTH,

Evo2.

newtothescene · 07-23-2022, 08:42 PM

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