I’m looking to finally use Linux properly and I’m planning to dual boot my laptop. There’s enough storage to go around, and while I’m comfortable messing around I’d rather not have to run and buy a new device before school while fixing my current one.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VaIgbTOvAd0
This was the general guide I was planning to follow, just with KDE Plasma (or another KDE). I was going to keep windows the default, and boot into Linux as needed when I had time to learn and practice.
I assume it should be the near similar process for KDE Plasma?
I’m ok with things going wrong with the Linux install, but I’d like to keep the Windows install as safe as possible.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/watch?v=VaIgbTOvAd0
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Turn off secure boot and just check if anyone has ever run your device with linux before. And kde plasma is a de not a distro.
You can leave on secure boot nowadays if you install and configure the sbctl package. It can use the Windows secure boot method, and you’ll have a successful dual boot deployment.
Do I need to turn it off initially and re-enable it after?
I’m a little unsure of when secure boot becomes a problem
For a distribution like Fedora, it’s usually not required to turn off secure boot. You’ll know if it’s needed when booting the install USB, as it’ll give a “security policy” (or similar) warning.
Other things of note when dual booting are Windows “Fast Boot” and “Hibernation” features, which can put hardware in a state where it is unusable from Linux. Turning those off in Windows can fix things like your network interface not working. Windows also stores the time in a different way than Linux, if you are in a non-utc timezone, setting up NTP (automatically syncing date and time) on both Windows and Linux can help.
kde plasma is a de not a distro
Whoops, I think what I meant was Kubuntu. I’ve been watching videos on what each thing is like and after many “GNOME vs. KDE Plasma”, that’s all I remember
edit: either that or Manjaro. Was going to try one while keeping the other in mind for when I eventually decide to start all over again
Please avoid Manjaro. I’ve had my Manjaro install break more than any other distro. If you want something arch based, you’re better off installing Arch from scratch, using the arch install script, or using EndeavorOS. All three of these options use the normal arch repositories which are far more stable than the Manjaro ones, and also offer much better compatibility with the AUR
Just incase you’re unaware, if you’re looking to learn Linux but keep the windows until you’re familiar enough with Linux, there is a way to install Linux in windows as a container, it’s called WSL 2.0
Might be easier for you to learn with, and if you brick it then you can just wipe the container and start again, takes minutes to do
This is probably better than dual booting. You’re learning the command line, which is the happiness foundation needed to enjoy linux.*
I don’t recommend wsl because it bodges the worst part of windows (windows terminal) onto linux. Also, it’s much nicer to learn in a vm where you are learning actual linux, instead of MS’ interpretation of linux.
It’s like playing with clay in a bag, versus playing with clay with your bare hands.
First the powershell is a very good terminal and some even consider it better than bash. And if you’re talking about the actual terminal emulator it also became really good with the new windows terminal(which is also open source) it bas many good features and customization options. Also wsl2 IS a VM running on hyper-v. It simply uses a custom kernel optimised for it and the cherry on top of the sunday : you can run gui apps natively (windows 11) with WSLg which uses wayland/xwayland
Wsl is truly awful.
Why msft couldn’t have adopted bash and python, we will never know.
The simplest and the most windows like in looks distro would be Linux mint, it’s probably better than trying Ubuntu or other distros for your first experience with Linux.
If you want a challenge then go for it but just letting you know it’s better start off with a few wins under your belt then getting freaked out by complex systems like fedora made for advanced users.
tbh I like mint, but for people that want to learn linux I think ubuntu is better.
There’s more people using it, so you get better support, and there’s other flavpurs available so things like kde and xfce are supported well right out the box
In that case you’d be better off installing and learning Debian. It’s what Linux Mint and Ubuntu are based on, as well as many other distros such as Knoppix, Raspberry Pi OS, Kali, and many more. What you learn about Debian will be transferable to many other systems.
Whatever you do, don’t cross the streams!
