this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2024
65 points (95.8% liked)

Linux

8323 readers
141 users here now

Welcome to c/linux!

Welcome to our thriving Linux community! Whether you're a seasoned Linux enthusiast or just starting your journey, we're excited to have you here. Explore, learn, and collaborate with like-minded individuals who share a passion for open-source software and the endless possibilities it offers. Together, let's dive into the world of Linux and embrace the power of freedom, customization, and innovation. Enjoy your stay and feel free to join the vibrant discussions that await you!

Rules:

  1. Stay on topic: Posts and discussions should be related to Linux, open source software, and related technologies.

  2. Be respectful: Treat fellow community members with respect and courtesy.

  3. Quality over quantity: Share informative and thought-provoking content.

  4. No spam or self-promotion: Avoid excessive self-promotion or spamming.

  5. No NSFW adult content

  6. Follow general lemmy guidelines.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hi there!

Seeing the enshittification of Windows unfold, I'm curious about trying out Linux.

I don't want to move over my main machine just yet, but I've got a 9 yo HP Pavilion 15-e001ed spare laptop I want to experiment with. Eventually I want a gaming laptop that can run steam games.

When I googled I found a plethora of pieces of advice, but seeing the proselytizing for Linux here, maybe I could get a bit more personal advice as a potential conscript.

So what advice would you give me to start my journey into Linux?


UPDATE: Ok my cherry is popped, writing this from a fresh Mint install. It's suprisingly smooth sailing. Only thing is somehow software gets installed on my root partition instead of the home partition I made because people told me so.

But overall not nearly as dounting as I thought it would be. Thanks for the help everybody!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] MagicShel@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Also, I know people love to hate on AI here, but ChatGPT has proven invaluable to me in troubleshooting any issues.

It's not always right, but it's far more responsive than forums and often does have good advice as long as it's a simple problem (and as a newbie user, most of their problems will be simple).

Examples of things it has guided me to fix:

  • boot drops me into a grub prompt instead of starting the OS
  • I enter my password on the lock screen and it thinks for a moment and then drops me back at the password prompt.

Not sure how long it would've taken on forums and documentation, or how much worse I'd have screwed up my system, but I fixed both of those in about 30 minutes without a lot of pertinent technical knowledge.