My mindset totally changed few years ago when I started being honest with myself and with others.
It’s true, I’m in that meme… I don’t know much about Windows anymore. Initially I admit I was ashamed about it because I imagined that I’d be judged for it.
What I did though, instead of trying to be better… was to be honest about it :
yes, it’s true, I don’t know Windows or MacOS as well I know Linux… but there is a reason WHY. Explain why, namely the consequence for my freedom, and theirs, totally changed the discussion.
One day I even told my friendly neighbors : “Look I could fix your Windows computer but… I’m a professional, and I don’t know Windows so much. So I would have to look solutions up and that will take time while going against my principle, so I would have to charge you for it, and it’s not cheap. Instead, if you switch to Linux I’ll help you, and for free.” Guess what, they not only tried but they didn’t even need my help! They even, back then so few years ago, install WiFi driver via the command line on their own.
So… yes, be in that picture, sure, just don’t be ashamed about it if you believe it’s for good reason. Do not be afraid of explaining others too and who knows, they might not only understand but even want to tag alone on this constant adventure for collective empowerment!
My Windows skills are slowly leaving me… and I work in a Windows environment. Thanks for the words of confidence, given how long I’ve been the computer guy I guess it’s a bit of a shot to the ego to be real about it at times!
Attaching less weight to the ego is the best thing that can happen to boost learning :D
It hurts confidence initially, especially as you land on your ass, but only until you learn something new and empowering, then get excited again! It’s one of the most enjoyable rollercoaster IMHO.
The Linux propaganda here got to me about 2 years ago and I switched to Linux mint. Pretty smooth sailing for day-to-day stuff. However, a few days ago I decided that I wanted to try modding fallout new vegas on my computer and that’s been a pain in the ass (still trying to figure it out). The problem is that a lot of the default packages in the mint repositories are outdated and cause a lot of more recently updated programs to malfunction. So I’ve had to figure out how to get updated packages by using the terminal (first time I’ve needed to open terminal this entire time) and update them one by one, figuring out which new thing is breaking one by one until everything is working.
For that reason, I’d recommend going with a distro that doesn’t have as much of a lag between updates if you’re planning on doing anything like what I described. There’s almost certainly ways to do what I’m trying to do that are less tedious/frustrating in mint, but I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, dont understand most of what I’m reading, and there just isn’t much out there for my specific issues.
Despite my gripes, I’m still enjoying Linux more than windows. If something didn’t work on windows, and it couldn’t be solved with updating drivers or something similar, I’d just give up. Since everything is wide open in Linux, I know that the solution to my problems are achievable if I just do it right. Instead of being told no by my OS, I’m given a list of reasons why something isn’t working, and then I can just go and fix it
Honestly I’d say it doesn’t matter much. What matters is that your data are safe and you can afford a bit of time at first when things are a bit different than what you are used to.
If you have a LOT of time or are very eager to learn, take something strange or not very popular. If you are in rush then start with a distribution that is popular, ideally that a friend, colleague or acquaintance also uses. Think of it as a team exercise.
I personally use Debian but others might prefer Ubuntu or Mint to start with.
But… yes, can be anything, just BACKUP your (and by that I mean data you have produced, e.g. documents, photos, saved games, etc) data then you should feel free to try!
My mindset totally changed few years ago when I started being honest with myself and with others.
It’s true, I’m in that meme… I don’t know much about Windows anymore. Initially I admit I was ashamed about it because I imagined that I’d be judged for it.
What I did though, instead of trying to be better… was to be honest about it :
One day I even told my friendly neighbors : “Look I could fix your Windows computer but… I’m a professional, and I don’t know Windows so much. So I would have to look solutions up and that will take time while going against my principle, so I would have to charge you for it, and it’s not cheap. Instead, if you switch to Linux I’ll help you, and for free.” Guess what, they not only tried but they didn’t even need my help! They even, back then so few years ago, install WiFi driver via the command line on their own.
So… yes, be in that picture, sure, just don’t be ashamed about it if you believe it’s for good reason. Do not be afraid of explaining others too and who knows, they might not only understand but even want to tag alone on this constant adventure for collective empowerment!
My Windows skills are slowly leaving me… and I work in a Windows environment. Thanks for the words of confidence, given how long I’ve been the computer guy I guess it’s a bit of a shot to the ego to be real about it at times!
Attaching less weight to the ego is the best thing that can happen to boost learning :D
It hurts confidence initially, especially as you land on your ass, but only until you learn something new and empowering, then get excited again! It’s one of the most enjoyable rollercoaster IMHO.
The funny thing is, that windows used to be a piece of piss. Once they started trying to make it fool proof, is when it became a fucking nightmare.
What distro do you recommend? I know Linux tangentially from my Steam Deck, and am looking to finally swap my PC.
The Linux propaganda here got to me about 2 years ago and I switched to Linux mint. Pretty smooth sailing for day-to-day stuff. However, a few days ago I decided that I wanted to try modding fallout new vegas on my computer and that’s been a pain in the ass (still trying to figure it out). The problem is that a lot of the default packages in the mint repositories are outdated and cause a lot of more recently updated programs to malfunction. So I’ve had to figure out how to get updated packages by using the terminal (first time I’ve needed to open terminal this entire time) and update them one by one, figuring out which new thing is breaking one by one until everything is working.
For that reason, I’d recommend going with a distro that doesn’t have as much of a lag between updates if you’re planning on doing anything like what I described. There’s almost certainly ways to do what I’m trying to do that are less tedious/frustrating in mint, but I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, dont understand most of what I’m reading, and there just isn’t much out there for my specific issues.
Despite my gripes, I’m still enjoying Linux more than windows. If something didn’t work on windows, and it couldn’t be solved with updating drivers or something similar, I’d just give up. Since everything is wide open in Linux, I know that the solution to my problems are achievable if I just do it right. Instead of being told no by my OS, I’m given a list of reasons why something isn’t working, and then I can just go and fix it
I usually recommend Pop_OS! (Though I havent tried that one myself) or the good old classic Linux Mint.
Honestly I’d say it doesn’t matter much. What matters is that your data are safe and you can afford a bit of time at first when things are a bit different than what you are used to.
If you have a LOT of time or are very eager to learn, take something strange or not very popular. If you are in rush then start with a distribution that is popular, ideally that a friend, colleague or acquaintance also uses. Think of it as a team exercise.
I personally use Debian but others might prefer Ubuntu or Mint to start with.
But… yes, can be anything, just BACKUP your (and by that I mean data you have produced, e.g. documents, photos, saved games, etc) data then you should feel free to try!
Debian with KDE. It’s just simple without any weird (anf hard to understand) extras like Ubuntu anf Mint.
Any distro with KDE will pretty much feel the same and debian is just a work horse.