I’ve wanted to go over to Linux for a long time but I have no idea how to go about it. I hear about incompatibility problems with hardware and all the different options for different Linux OS’s and that’s it, I forget about it for a while to avoid the headache.
So where do I start? I don’t even know how to choose hardware or what to look for. The number of options with Linux makes things a little confusing.
And although others here have answered the question before, I’m unsure what I have to do to stay ‘safe’ on Linux. Are there extra steps or is it just the standard, don’t open dodgy links and turn off Java script in the PDF viewer kind of thing? Does Linux come with a trustworthy firewall/antivirus/malware detection? Is there a chance of Linux e.g. sending my passwords, etc, to someone or just letting someone into my harddrive? I hear that ‘open source’ means people can check the code but how do I know if someone has checked the code—I wouldn’t know what to look for myself.
I followed the Linux subreddit but the users the can be rather… enthusiastic, which is great, but I need something far more basic to get started lol.
Is there a good step-by-step guide somewhere? Or can anyone give me some pointers/tips/advice?
I mainly browse, type, and read pdfs and other text files. No gaming, although I wouldn’t be opposed to it. No need to be mobile; laptops are terrible for my back so I always use an external monitor, anyway, so I won’t be using it ‘on the go’.
Edit: Thanks for all the advice. I got a machine up and running from a bootable USB.
Any others who read the comments here because they’re interested in trying out Linux – if you have Windows installed and want to keep it on your HDD/SSD, partition your drive within Windows. Then boot from the USB. You can partition your drive (and keep Windows) from the bootable USB but it’s a bit more complicated and it makes it harder to create a swap partition and a storage partition. I had to go back and forth a few times to figure this out.
for your use case almost any linux distro will work. Pick one of the bigger ones, so support is easier to find. Debian is my personal favorite.
To stay “safe” on linux just keep your software up to date and don’t click on any shady links online and you’ll be fine.
For hardware literally just google your hardware + linux and you’ll get an idea of what’s supported.
Is that vanilla Debian? (Do people say that?) Or a different distro that’s built on Debian?
If I did need a driver e.g. for the WiFi card, are they easy to install?
the honest answer re: any type of hardware and linux is to google it. I know that’s not a great answer, but it’s true.
Debian is an OS. The official release is Debian stable. You probably heard “vanilla” debian in reference to the fact that there are many linux distros based on it. The only updates are security updates. So some people that the software is older. But everything works.
I use a combo of stable and unstable (called sid). Sid is what the developers use. I don’t have a problem with it, but it’s not for first time users.
Here’s a little explainer:
https://www.debian.org/releases/
I would recommend using Debian stable at first. There’s a little learning curve, but once you get used to it you’ll be fine.
Linux is way safer than Windows because barely anyone targets it with malware. As far as safety goes, the main thing is to try and understand what each copy/pasted “sudo” command does before running it. Sudo means “super user do” which gives admin privileges to the commands you are running in command line.
I have never had any malware on any Linux machine I have run. If you’re worried because of your threat model (government, hackers, etc), staying within the main built-in repositories will keep you safer.
Things that are community or user-run (RPMfusion, Ubuntu PPA’s/Personal Package Archives, AUR/Arch User Repository) are slightly more vulnerable to malicious activity of the kind you’re describing, although I have never had a problem trusting them.
Thanks for these details.
So the sudo line is another potential opening for malicious activity. That’s useful to know as I had thought the terminal was more ‘internal’ from what I knew about it. Is this the equivalent of opening unknown executables or ‘worse’?
sudo is just running things as root, which is an account on every Linux system that has permission to do everything. The dangerous part is running a sudo command if you don’t know what it’s doing, because using the extra permissions, a command can do things like delete your files, break your system, install malware, etc. sudo itself isn’t going to do anything bad, but the command it runs could.
Thanks for explaining this, Elara. Are there any common dangerous commands that I should be wary of? Or any command line databases that are known to be dodgy?
Linux Introduction
Hardware Support
The situation regarding hardware support has improved massively in the last decade. The only components you may find don’t work on a regular basis in a device are the WiFi, Bluetooth, and RGB controls (though these circumstances have also improved massively). I’d recommend installing it on an old computer instead of buying new hardware, as it will most likely work out of the box without you needlessly spending more money. Anything with more than 2GB of ram will likely run fine.
Security and Privacy
There is relatively little to due regarding security. It goes according to the standard don’t open dodgy links and the like you previously stated. Furthermore, not only do you not need to install an anti-virus, I don’t think any exist for desktop use. Most Linux distributions come with a decent built-in firewall. There is little to no chance of a Linux distribution sending passwords or other credentials anywhere, or granting access to your HDD contents. Most mainstream Linux distributions are regularly checked by various auditing teams, so that is of little concern.
Distributions
A distribution is mostly just the array of software installed around the base system. Some may be better suited to certain needs than others, though (almost) all may be modified to meet a given need. For those not familiar with Linux, I usually recommend Linux Mint for its Windows-like interface, abundance of pre-installed tools/applications, stability, and ease of use.
Applications
Browsing the web:
- Firefox - Often installed by default, it is compatible with all major web standards (existing and planned.)
- Chromium - The base for google chrome, for those unable to give it up.
Document Editing:
- LibreOffice - Supports all major document formats, is preinstalled, and powerful in what it does. May mangle complex formatting on Microsoft Office documents.
- Google Office - If your already in the ecosystem, it’s one less thing to change.
PDFs:
- Whatever is preinstalled - They are all fine.
Modifying Text Files:
- Whatever is preinstalled - They are all fine.
Installation
A decent YouTube Guide on it’s installation.
I’d say Linux Mint feels more familiar to navigate than Ubuntu to newcomers.
Tl;dr: when you get into it, you will change distros like you change clothes, so it doesn’t really matter.
Theres no much to go wrong by picking popular choices (Ubuntu) and figuring out how to change it later.
I was going to continue, but I explicitly wanted to write the shortest post in the thread.
I went from an arch based distro to arch, in like 5 years.
Seeing as I’ve only changed my clothes once in that time span, checks out.
Can you turn the distro inside out at two and a half years to get a bit more use out of it?
There are distros made specifically for older hardware. They have simpler interfaces and use much less ram.
https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/top-best-lightweight-linux-distros for example.
You can often revive older laptops with that’s stuff. :)
I’m getting the impression that it’s quite easy to switch distros. If I do switch distros, do I need to start again every time or is there a way of saving my files?
That’s “partitioning” for you.
Most people split their hard/solid drives into, say, 10% core Linux, 10% Windows, 60% actual storage, 20% system stuff, like swap files, bootloader, etc
So when we decide to change, you only format the core Linux partition. You can also have multiple installations at the same time and alternate between them by restarting the computer. That’s usually under the umbrella of “dual-boot”.
It’s a beautiful rabbit hole, isn’t it?
Depending on how much of your windows parititon you use, the Ubuntu Live USB can move all the files to the same section of your hdd/ssd and create a small partition for Ubuntu (I think it needs 50gb), the swap memory(equal or slightly higher than your ram) and the bootloader (1 or 2gb is more than enough).
It’s a beautiful rabbit hole, isn’t it?
It does sound fun, I’ve got to admit.
Depending on how much of your windows parititon you use, the Ubuntu Live USB can move all the files to the same section of your hdd/ssd and create a small partition for Ubuntu (I think it needs 50gb), the swap memory(equal or slightly higher than your ram) and the bootloader (1 or 2gb is more than enough).
Is it possible to do this without disturbing the Windows currently installed on the HDD, even if it’s not partitioned? I’m now thinking it might be possible to boot to USB, partition the drive, twice, move personal files to the storage one (labelled ‘/home’), install a distro to the other, then reboot to the drive and unplug the USB.
And just to be clear because the numbers are small enough to be both: are you talking storage rather than memory/ram? So swap memory and bootloader get their own small partitions as well?
Is bootloader only needed to set up a dual boot system? Or is the bootloader and swap memory to go on the distro partition?
Or, do I have this wrong and the swap memory does refer to ram? In this case, am I just reserving some ram to allow both OS’s to be ‘on’ at the same time?
Feel free to tell me I’ve completely misunderstood something!
