this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Linux
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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Just wanted to share my experience as a new Linux user. I recently started getting much more serious about privacy and open source over the past year but I didn't make the leap to Linux until Reddit killed all the 3rd party apps; probably because of all the Linux posts I began reading on Lemmy. I was searching up all posts similar to yours seeing which distro is "best" or go to start out with. I decided to take the route of researching what I'm looking for and just trying out different distros and desktop environments.
Fast forward to today and after much trial and error, internet searching for troubleshooting answers, how-to videos, and testing about 7 different distros, I landed on OpenSUSE Tumbleweed and couldn't be happier.
Linux is fast, customizable, and I no longer have to worry about windows spying on me. It definitely was a challenging switch, even though I'm very tech savvy, mainly because you're learning a new language essentially. It was also extra challenging because I have a Samsung GalaxyBook3 Pro 360 and for some reason audio is shot on all the distros I tried. Thankfully, some very smart folk on the internet had a guide on how to get audio working (not perfectly though) using a command script and HDA verbs (like wtf are HDA verbs??? Lol). I also had to find a workaround for being able to use my laptop for work as well which heavily relies on Microsoft's suite of apps. My solution? Install edge alongside my default browser of choice, to be used only for work, and operate entirely from office 365 web apps.
At the end of the day, I've found that everything you can do on windows, you can do on Linux (literally even run windows apps) and you can sometimes do things better on Linux. It takes patience, troubleshooting, and you may have to format a partition or two along the way but it's so worth it. Just dive in and have fun with it. Everyone can give you their opinion on a distro to run or desktop environment to choose but remember they are just opinions at the end of the day and very much subjective.
Have fun! :)