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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Distro suggestions for a dumb-dumb who only knows linux through meme osmosis (dormi.zone)

submitted 1 day ago by HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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hey nerds, I'm getting myself a new personal laptop as a treat, but I very much do not want windows 11 shitting it up. Is there a linux distro with caveman-compatible instructions for installation and use? I want to think about my OS as little as possible while actually using it.

I've got one friend who uses mint, but I've also seen memes dunking on it so who knows. I actually really only know what I've seen from you all shitposting in other communities

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[–] dan@upvote.au 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Install a few and see which one you like the most. You can install several distros at the same time and they'll all appear in the boot menu. When I was deciding which distro to use on my laptop, I was dual booting Debian and Fedora, with one /home partition shared between both of them.

Mint and Fedora are good choices IMO. Everyone is different though :)

[–] walthervonstolzing@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Some caveats, though: To share the same home folder safely, it's best to use the same desktop environment on both distros. Debian paired with Fedora makes it difficult to match the release numbers of the desktops, though, and there might be discrepancies with respect to user config files in the home folder, when you're trying to configure features in Fedora that aren't yet available in Debian.

Also the system folder setup (locations of libraries and include files) is different between the two, so if there's anything in the home folder that's linked against libraries in one distro, it won't work in the other. Especially if you're going to compile anything in the home folder -- including stuff that package managers of scripting languages like lua and python themselves compile -- that could lead to major heaadaches.

[–] dan@upvote.au 2 points 1 day ago

Good points. I was using KDE with both and didn't have any issues (even though Debian's version of KDE was older) but that might not work in all scenarios.

I don't have compiled things in the home folder - they go in either /usr/local/bin or /opt.