I have a home built PC that I want to get off Windows 11.
Specs:
- Ryzen 3700X, upgrading to a 5800X3D soon
- RTX 2080 Super
- 500GB NVME for OS, 2TB SATA SSD for files, programs, etc.
- 1440p Ultrawide monitor
- an 8bitdo Ultimate controller
Usage:
- I usually play indie games, emulators, and occasional AAA games. Most of my library is on Steam, with some games on GOG, e.g. Cyberpunk.
- I have an original Steam Link in my living room, and I use it to play games from my PC on the couch. Does Steam on Linux even support this?
- I also write game mods, so I need a distro that is a good fit for software development (C++, Python, and Lisp).
- Random miscellany: I use mullvad VPN, stream movies from a friend’s plex server, and use an SFTP client to back up photos and videos from my phone.
I’ve been an on/off Linux user in the past, so I know my way around basic/intermediate terminal usage and configuration. Buuuut every previous attempt to move to Linux ended in disaster, so I have little patience for asterisks, strings attached, etc. If you’re offering a distro I’ve never heard of before, you’re probably gonna be hard pressed to convince me.
Thanks for the help!
Without meaning to offend, I think your experience in both using an immutable distro as well as your general knowledge of how to use Linux from the commandline may be clouding your perception of how intimidating that would look to an inexperienced user.
As an example, despite using Linux for many years, I have never had need to interact with systemd, and thus I wouldn’t have known to start it with systemctl or to use -daemon. I could learn that if needed without any hesitation, but to someone way less experienced in Linux? That would more than likely just reinforce the perception of Linux having a high learning curve or only being good for people who like to tinker and fiddle in the command line.
In contrast on a normal Fedora install, the user can just copy and paste the commands on the Mullvad website without having to research or look through a specific distro’s manual, and at the end the app will be added to their launcher for them to use as normal. That method is likely to give a better impression, especially if they feel like their previous Linux attempts were janky or didn’t go well, as the OP has mentioned.
This is bad advice.
That said, I’m having a hard time figuring out why it’s any different than just pasting what the commenter above wrote? It’s like 3 commands, and two of them are for starting a daemon.
It’s not rocket science. I feel like it’s the same as when people convince themselves at a young age that they’re just not good at math, and never will be. So any time they see math as an adult, even the most basic arithmetic, they shut down and instead of even like reading the actual math equation, they just say “oh I’m bad at math” and don’t even bother.
It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Stop being intimidated by the command line and maybe try reading the words before just copy and pasting them. If you don’t know what a daemon is, that can be answered in 3 seconds with a google search.
I dunno, it’s just frustrating to see I guess.
In general, yes, but that’s usually considered bad advice to do from untrusted sources, where as the main Mullvad page would be considered a trusted source, IMO. I understand the sentiment in general isn’t a good idea, though.
I think sometimes, depending on what is going on in someone’s life, you simply do not have the energy, time, or inclination to learn the intricacies of how to use a new technology.
As an example, if someone has kids and is fairly stressed out from their job, and thus has limited free time, it would likely not be at all appealing to have to dive through a manual to learn the intricacies of a still niche distro to learn how to install their VPN (as someone would have to do if they were using it on their own, and not just following the commands of an internet stranger without researching it).
While I do think it’s generally good to challenge yourself and be willing to learn new things to avoid learned helplessness, realistically all of us have limited time, and depending on someone’s goals and inclination, learning more in-depth sysadmin skills may not be desirable, and different people have different tolerance levels for troubleshooting; some find it fun, other may find it infuriating.
As an example, a professional musician who wants to switch to linux likely would prefer not to have learn the intricacies of Jack, how it’s replaced by Pipewire, how to configure the kernel to perform best for low-latency tasks, ensuring their user profile in the correct admin group to access the correct permissions, etc. They very likely instead just want to get back to making music so they can do their job without having to divert from their main task just to learn how to go back to doing their main task.
I think it’s quite reasonable that some people may prefer the most direct path to the tasks they normally perform, and may become frustrated at having to learn a totally new skill set to go back to performing their original task.
Far from it tbh, I’m mostly a newb in Linux wizardry too. Everything I learned from linux is by making mistakes and learning from those. If you go in with the expectation to never making any compromise or touching anything its not realistic imo. I thought this is the perfect opportunity to show how it’s done in case someone is looking for the way.
I had multiple failed attempts with non immutable/ rolling releases before, they do break from my experience and the frustration that comes from those broken promises might lead to the frustrating Linux experience you described more so than stating realistic expectations. I’m not trying to trying to show that Linux is bad or complicated, I’m just trying to say, you learned windows for decades to make it yours, you have to learn a couple of things for Linux to do the same. Thinking different is not realistic.
I agree, but I would argue it doesn’t really make sense for someone to recommend a distro that is more likely to need tinkering and research over one that is more likely to not need much intervention, especially to someone who is averse to needing too much tinkering.
Immutable distros have great promise, and I believe in the future they will become the standard, but right now their potential benefits aren’t likely to be realized by most average users yet, as the ecosystem isn’t quite ready for them to be as easy as a normal distro is currently, IMHO.
It’s kind of the opposite. Bazzite pretty much just works. It doesn’t need tinkering, and in fact many people who consider themselves “power users” seem to take issue with this because they want to tinker.
The reality, of course, is that it’s absolutely possible to tinker, it’s just done slightly different sometimes.
But you 100% do not need to tinker with anything.
From what I understand It doesn’t generally need tinkering as long as everything you need is a flatpak. I also read that it can require tinkering to install 3rd party printer drivers.
I mean we are kinda splitting hairs at this point, would you rather check, how to install something on a system that doesn’t break, or check how to restore your system that broke from you installing something once the next major update came along. This happened to me before and from my experience that’s exactly where the stability of immutable Distros shine.
Both can be argued for and against, I’m not saying one is better than the other.
If I were op I’d probably go cachyOS keep my eyes out on major e.g. fedora release updates and make at least manually important backups of the home folder. Just learn the feeling of Linux for a while. Given that OP stated they have little patience for fiddeling I’m sure they will come around to stable Debian or immutable releases eventually.