I hope so. More Linux users mean more Linux support
We’ll have to start worrying about malware soon, exciting haha
Hopefully that’ll push for more investment in opensource and security. SELinux being the default with either containerised or sandboxed apps would be great.
So your signoff is interesting. Tell us more.
Can’t wait for the day lol
This means we need to keep being the best community we can be. Welcoming, helpful, and distro agnostic. I might occasionally Stan for the distros I love, or talk a little smack about ones that left a bad taste in my mouth, but when we’re helping new users, we need to meet them where they’re at, and give them the little boost they need to stick with it.
I’ve used Linux professionally and personally for about 12 years. Yesterday was the first time I tried Wine after nuking Windows on my gaming computer. Pretty impressed with it so far, even if it will need a bit of tuning.
Fuck Microsoft.
You can use Steam’s proton even on non Steam games. It might work better than wine.
Thanks for the tip!
further, heroic games launcher isn’t just for epic and gog games, you can install any exe. i use it for the ea games launcher because the lutris script was broken at the time. and in the wine manager in hgl settings you can choose either wine-ge latest or proton-ge latest (or whatever number version) as your default layer, which you can also change per game/app if you have trouble.
edit: and also you can set it to add to steam so you can still just use steam as your main launcher, for example on steam deck or using a media center rig in big picture mode.
Thanks!
Also to add, it’s not just for games but any application. Games are just the primary focus.
Yup, that’s something I never realized until now.
I’ve switched a few months ago mostly for gaming, and here are few tips and issues I ran into, in case you run into them too.
Not sure what distro you are using, but I’ve run mostly into issues when trying to get NVIDIA and Proton working on Fedora. Just getting the drivers to work took a few tries, and I never managed to get stuff like cutscenes to work properly.
However, I then switched to Nobara (I suppose PopOS may also work), and the experience was wastly better, with everything working out of the box (I did switch to KDE Plasma on X11, since Wayland kept freezing on me).
I’m not sure what of the many changes Nobara does helped solve my issues, but I guess it may be related to it including Proton GE by default, which I recommend getting, and a slightly streamlined installation of NVIDIA drivers.
I also recommend checking out Lutris, instead of using Wine directly. However, I never really managed to get it working, aside from WoW, so your mileage may wary. But I have most of my games on Steam, where everything is working out of the box, so it wasn’t that much of na issue. I only sometimes have to switch Proton version (by right clicking the game - properties - Force a specific version of compatibility tool).
Your issue with Fedora might have been missing the codec for the compression algo the video was using (smth like h.264 or h.265)
I’m running MX Linux. Thanks for the info, I’ll check this stuff out!
Managing Wine directly is pretty tideous job. Use Heroic for Epic/GOG games, Bottles for everything else. Lutris is also worth trying
I just installed gnome on my laptop because they kept spamming the copilot shit.
I use my os to get started on what im doing, not fuck around with all the repeating notifications that can’t be disabled.
Copilot being back on the taskbar after removalafter taking my show desktop button (also removed) was it for me as well. Already enjoying it. Some quirks, but I think I’m going to spend way less time configuring than I am trying to unfuck windows once a week.
They are in linux forums spruiking chatgpt/copilot as well. Mods deleted my comment the last time I told them to get lost. The rampant commercialism is so frustrating. The FOSS community has done so much to empower users/developers and give everyone the tools to learn, grow and customise their systems with amazing documentation and access to source code. And it is going to be Disneyfied within a generation with the fruits of our labor locked up behind billionaire controlled subscription services in flagrant disregard of our copyright and licences. Our kids won’t know how to tie their shoelaces without paying Nadella, Altman and their shareholders for instructions.
Welcome to Shoes as a ServiceTM!
with amazing documentation
Hah!
Microsoft GitHub injects Copilot ads in their source views. It’s another Microsoft service worth abandoning.
What distro is gnome?
Could be the actual GNOME distro or they just forgot to type the name of the distro, which they’re using the GNOME version of. Sometimes that happens to me too, where I just leave out a word.
both, i installed gnome os and kde neon to get a preview of latest.
im on my way to fedora 40.
Nice, I’m using Fedora too. Switched to it from EndeavourOS (arch-based) a while ago.
Gnome is a desktop environment, which you can install into virtually any distro. It’s the default for Fedora, which is a good enough place to try Linux for the first time.
Assuming they used the top link, Fedora?
I hope they’re experiencing less instability than I am then, F39 is the first release in years that’s given me any problem, and it’s doing that a lot.
no major issues so far on fedora 40 beta.
gnome 46 is looking very nice and gnome 47 even more better on gnome os. fedora gave me secure boot.
i gave kde neon a spin and loved it too. i’m hunting for the best touchscreen support.
both, i installed gnome os and kde neon to get a preview of latest.
im on my way to fedora 40.
i dont recommend it as a daily driver, im just testing out the latest between kde plasma and gnome desktop environments to see who handles touchscreens better.
im one of those people that like poking the monitor.
in-fact, I’m already omw to fedora 40.
Ads in Windows Explorer was the final straw to make me switch to Linux a few years back. I would imagine that ads in the Start Menu could convince some others to do the same.
Ads in Windows 10 back in like 2017 were major contributing factors for me to switch back then. But then when I mentioned I got ads in Windows 10, people looked at me like I had two heads. Perhaps there was some kind of A/B testing going on, and I was the unlucky one. This followed a forced update from Windows 8 Professional to Windows 10 Home, so I lost some control over my PC in that transition, as they took Pro features away from me.
I did a brief Google search if it’s possible to downgrade Pro to Home and that doesn’t look possible without a clean install.
Home users experienced more ads than Pro users.
Again, Windows 8 Pro, forcibly upgraded against my will, with no ability to decline, to Windows 10 Home. It wasn’t the same version of Windows downgraded from Pro to Home.
Microsoft is seeking feedback on the changes, so it’s possible the company could decide to ditch these ads […]
are they really looking to see if people want to see more ads? i can’t imagine this is anything more than a meaningless corporate “we value your feedback” message. they already know what people think about ads in their operating system, they’ve tried it many times
They are not seeking feedback between “I like it” and “I hate it”, they want feedback between “I tolerate it because I still feel locked in” and “that’s it I’m moving to a competitor”.
Basically the same idea as “what the market will bear.”
That whole sentiment only works in a monopolistic / oligopolic market. In a free market, competition would make companies sell better products. Only if there is no decent competition does enshittification work.
No; in a free market without regulation. the bigger fish outcompetes the smaller ones, or buys them outright. Which then is exactly why enshittification works in the first place.
What you’re saying is true, but in my book, a market is not free because of the lack of regulations.
Free markets are not stable things, and without regulation, they fail. Regulation keeps markets free. My definition of a free market is the econ 101 one, which is many competing companies, who all are individually unable to affect market prices. Not the weird ancap one, where we throw the reins in between the horses and let companies consolidate into a fascist dictatorship.
It’s likely they’re looking for feedback from their shareholders, and their advertising partners rather than the users themselves. They know they’ve got a good portion of the market cornered and if it looks profitable to them; why wouldn’t they do it?
You wouldn’t enshittify an entire operating system
After dithering with dual boot for years I jumped ship to Linux only (LMDE) with their incessant reminders about moving to W11 from W10 popped up. Missing a few apps but fuk’ em.
small brain move: install windows on a seperate disk to linux and then let your BIOS decide what it wants to boot, instead of relying on a unified boot loader
VM is even better. It prevents Windows updates from fucking up your real OS.
Nah, I just install minimal Win10 distro with updates disabled to single drive, and then disable the internet. Easy peasy.
That’s what I do. Linux is primary, and I keep Windows around just in case. Haven’t booted Windows in over a year.
Small brain move: install Windows as a guest on a Linux host. Rip out so much of it’s guts it can’t show any ads and barely works at all. Declare victory over the desecrated husk of Microsoft Windows.
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they’ve been doing this since 10 and “featured apps”
8 had advisement tiles when they did the whole metro ui
Winbros: But it’s opt-out, you can disable it!
Gonna opt-out of Windows 11.
This is like one of the worst takes I’ve ever seen on this platform. Like yeah dude, the legions of users who sat through Windows 10 ads, Windows 8 ads, Windows Vista, EOL support for every OS, and forced packaged apps everywhere have finally had it with Windows 11 sir. The tidal wave of users embracing the glory of Linux is nigh.
Make sure to share your tips and tricks guys!!
“Works fine for me”
“Marked as duplicate”
If you find yourself running the same set of commands over and over, throw 'em in a shell script and keybind it! It may be obvious, but good to keep in mind.
One fun one is to pipe clipboard to qrencode — it’s a simple and (nearly) universally supported way of getting a URL, etc., from a laptop/desktop to a phone.
Another great one is to take a screenshot, upload to your server, and put the URL in the paste buffer. Bonus points to put the URL in the middle click buffer and the image itself in the ctrl-v buffer.
One fun one is to pipe clipboard to qrencode — it’s a simple and (nearly) universally supported way of getting a URL, etc., from a laptop/desktop to a phone.
Honestly creating your own binds is so big
Hyprland has permanently changed the way I use a computer, pretty much everything I need on speed dial and opens/closes almost instantly
Also wrote a script to cycle through my audio devices and bound that to a button because I used to forever be fucking around with the gui every time I wanted to show someone a video on speaker or something
Just wish I could so the same on android
And track this stuff in git so you don’t need to remember how you did it when you inevitably forget, lol.
I anticipate switching to a full Linux setup once I build my new PC, hopefully later this year. I can’t see myself even unwillingly
buyingpiratingbuying Windows.Any tips for when that day comes?
Go slow, pick an easy distro like pop OS and take it easy.
If its for gaming, even https://nobaraproject.org/ is great as it has a lot of gaming optimisations.
Remember, Linux with a GUI is not more complicated than windows with a GUI, you have just spent your whole life learning the windows one.
Thank you for your reply and information!
Yes.
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Back up your files.
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When building the computer, go for generic middle of the road normal hardware. Fairly easy to do with off the shelf ATX PC hardware. Inside the case, this usually means look out for weird graphics cards or motherboards. I’ll warn you that Asrock RGB lighting doesn’t like to play with open source control software. Outside the case, pick a keyboard and mouse that don’t require (much) in the way of configuration because Razer and Corsair don’t publish their bullshitware for Linux yet.
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Back up your files.
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I recommend spending some time with whatever current hardware you have trying out a few distros in a virtual machine. Don’t just look around and go “ah that’s nice. ah that’s weird.” Actually use it to do your work. Even though you’re running Linux IN Windows, try to use Linux to do actual stuff.
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Back up your files.
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Choosing a distro. Isn’t really all that important, at least at first. Most of the meaningful differences are going to be in the Desktop Environment anyway. There’s about 18 different GUIs you can use, from weird tiling window managers the hardcore nerds tend to like, to more Windows like experiences in KDE and Cinnamon, to more Apple like experiences with Gnome and Pantheon. Try a few out in virtualbox.
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Back up your files.
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Learn a little bit about the terminal. A lot of people hate and fear that suggestion, but it can honestly be fun. Wait till you see what the command
fortune | cowsay | lolcatdoes. Learn how to edit files, run commands, install software via the terminal, even if you don’t plan on doing it that way routinely. Mainly, so that if you ask the community for help, you’re not completely in the dark when given a terminal command to run. Which is often the case; because “click here then here then there then tell us what it says” is harder to convey than “copy paste this command into the terminal, and then copy-paste what it says.” There’s a lot of cool stuff hidden in there. -
Back up your files.
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Have fun!
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For windows you dont need to buy it, you can activate it using microsofts own tools, its on github (dont remember its name right now.)
As for linux, i would recommend openSUSE Tumbleweed, it is fresh, and the best part about it is that whenever you update the system, it creates a snapshot, so if the update had some kind of undesired sideeffects, you can just startup the old version. (These snapshots only effect the system’s packages, your apps will keep their state iirc. My brother uses tumbleweed and he is very content with it.)
A very important one besides backing up your files is that you should more or less stop searching the web for applications to download and install. You should first try to use your package manager (read the wiki of your distribution to know which one it is and how to search for and install software with it). If you miss some applications from Windows, you could have a good chance to look for alternatives at sites like https://www.opensourcealternative.to/
Do not fear the terminal too much. I know, Windows tried to make it as dreadful as possible to use, but if you do not run
sudo rm -rf /(deletes your whole filesystem), there is not much that can go awfully wrong. And you should only execute commands you understand. If something does go wrong however, it is a good thing to have a backup ready (I would recommend Pika Backup or Vorta, both based on the great CLI application borg)For things that are not explained in the wiki of your distro, you have a pretty good chance to find a good explanation and even troubleshooting tips at the Arch Wiki (e.g. I use Void Linux and still search for most things at the Arch Wiki). It is also good to read some parts of the manual pages if you did not find enough information at the Arch Wiki (the command man is your friend) and the software’s wiki page if it exists.
If you ever find yourself in the editor vi or vim, type :q and press enter to quit until you feel the need to potentially invest a lot of time in learning vim movements to increase your editing speed and you never want to go back. Use nano, micro or a graphical app at first instead and keep using it if you are not someone who edits text a lot.
Hope they will not be confused with “i use arch btw” comments
Arch is going to be the new mint. Just wait.
They might go in direction of BSDs.
And stumble upon barely useble OSes? BSDs now are as niche as Linux distros were a decade ago
It’s more like how Linux was 25+ years ago. BSDs are great for servers and firewalls, but they aren’t really ready for desktop use yet.
The year of the BSD desktop is coming
BSD based operating systems work fine for a lot of things. A huge majority of people only use their computers to browse the web, write documents and read their e-mail.
Something like GhostBSD would work perfectly well for this, though afaik GhostBSD is just FreeBSD with a different default configuration.
Though you are not going to be able to do much that involves proprietary software, like playing video games. Unless you use Wine or a proprietary BSD based operating system like that of Sony’s or Nintendo’s game consoles, or Mac OS.
I’m actually thinking about installing OpenBSD on my laptop, though I would not recommend doing this to anyone who just wants to stop using Windows.Maybe this is a roundabout way of saying Mac which are based on BSD.
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why?
Well for one PlayStation OS uses FreeBSD and BSDs might be better suitable for Anti cheat DRM stuff game companies want.
Also many Gamers on GhostBSD , NetBSD (mostly retrogames), OpenBSD
