Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC
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Alright I’ll probably stick to whatever’s on my steam deck then since it ain’t broke
As for whatever new (prebuilt) PC I was gonna get I was gonna get Linux going first thing after I finish booting up the computer and speed running through the first time set up on windows (skip sign in, one drive all that)
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Yeah, there's nothing wrong with default SteamOS. It doesn't have updates as often as Bazzite, but if you're happy with it, it's fine to leave it. I had some trouble getting it to work with my dock when I wanted to use a monitor and keyboard, and since I was already using Bazzite's cousin on my laptop I switched over and it everything just worked. I'm a fan of the work they're doing.
Starting with a brand new computer is a good way to go because nothing to lose, and if you have trouble on install, nothing lost starting over.
One thing you can start figuring out now is how to boot from a USB drive in windows. This was just a quick google search, but getting the computer to boot from the USB drive and not where it normally boots will probably be the hardest part. After you boot into the USB drive, the rest is fairly straightforward. So maybe start looking into that while you wait
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Yeah currently my main concern is actually getting the process started when booting, cus it sounds like once things are rolling bazzite handles the rest
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Bit of warning about KDE:
It is very customizable, but as a by product is also really easy to completely fuck up. The first time I used it (eons ago) I ended up removing the task bar and couldn't figure out how to bring it back or launch programs.
Just spend a bit of time reading up on it and you'll be fine though.
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Good to know
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Depending on how you define immutable distros, you absolutely can.
For example with Fedora Atomic, which most peeps refer to when talking about immutable distros, you absolutely can do
rm -rf /*. At best, it might require you to include the--dont-preserve-rootflag (or something like that) to actually start the process. And, arguably, it ain't as satisfying as doing it on say Arch due to the many error messages. But you'll end up breaking your system.Immutable distros aren't indestructible by definition. Even a dumb user can break it without ill intent; I know cuz I have done so myself
. However, it does offer better protection. Furthermore, there are multiple issue trackers on GitHub that indicate that the developers want to iron out these things and perhaps convert them to features instead. Like, wouldn't it make sense for an immutable distro to 'factory-reset' whenever rm -rf /*is invoked? -
I'm actually going to go against the grain here and recommend that you NOT use Mint. I've been using a linux for a month now, so I'm new to it like you.
My first time trying Linux was Mint, and I didn't like it at all. There was too much crap downloaded on it, and it abstracted the underlying system too much, and I found it confusing. I suggest that you download the basis of Mint, and then install the actual stuff you want on it.
Mint is based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian. I decided to go with Debian as a total noob and it makes waaay more sense to me this time around. I enjoy customizing it to my liking rather than Mint doing it all for me—often in ways I don't like.
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Wow, I’m completely out of the loop as far as Linux on the desktop is concerned (run Debian on a bunch of servers, used to run Debian on a laptop as well), but Bazzite looks really cool!
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Thanks for the input, like I said though in my post I’m not really looking for something I can fiddle with but thanks for advice
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I think a lot of the problem is every tutorial expects Fedora/RedHat/Ubuntu/Debian and it’s easy to figure out which instructions are compatible with your distribution, but there isn’t a good knowledge base for Fedora Atomic or related OS. I have a Bazzite VM. Normally I use Ubuntu and am familiar with RHEL compatible, but am constantly lost with Bazzite, trying to use the wrong instructions.
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I'm going to agree with you, and I've been using Linux for over 25 years, and used to moderate the Mint subreddit.
Mint isn't ready for gaming without a lot of work that I don't think you want to put in, it's Wayland support is sadly lacking, and overall it's gotten a bit behind for anything more demanding than browsing and office work.
If you want a low-fiddle distro with good gaming support and graphics tweaks already in there, I'd say Nobara or Bazzite. Bazzite is very similiar to SteamOS in that it's an immutable distro, and it is very up to date without you having to do much beyond keeping it updated. But the immutable part might make installing things a little non-intuitive. In which case, Nobara is a normally installed distro with all the tweaks, and it's based on Fedora, uses Wayland, and has pretty much all the gaming software pre-installed.
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Well that’s quite the resume! Yeah idk if I mentioned it to you but I was planning on using bazzite first
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FWIW, if you decide to go with KDE and manage to delete your panel, it's
- right click on the desktop
- enter edit mode
- add panel
- default panel
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Good to know
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If you go with Amazon you might get a PC that works with Linux but it probrally wont be preinstalled or optimized for Linux
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Oh I highly doubt something has Linux which is why I wanna figure out installation and stuff
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Keep in mind by purchasing from Linux brands such as System76 you directly support the development of Linux. In addition Amazon is great for finding PC parts but awful for finding a decently priced prebuilt.
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Using Linux since 2008 ish.... (As non IT user), I recommend going and route, and using pop os (or bazzite which people say also works well but is personally haven't tried), I am currently using tuxedo os on my laptop but my pop os journey for your use case on the home machine has been the smoothest, and if you go do route which I did, I had never thought about any driver issues.... The only thing in pop (which I haven't updated for a year now, yeah life got crazy), was that always do apt get updates / upgrades as pop OS's package manager gui used to get stuck sometimes, once the terminal completes the updates then use the GUI to update the pop os things. Other than this small hiccup, never had to do anything else.
(Oh yeah when buying hardware some people told me that getting the latest and greatest cutting edge sometimes takes time for the kernel to catch up to the optimizations of drivers, but I always bought 1 or 2 gen behind the latest and never had any issues, I mostly play Indy games other than 1/or 2 like Tekken series at 2k monitor so I never cared about 4k 120 or above fps.) -
I second this. I installed bazzite on my basement pc and am very happy with it. As a total linux noob it was easy to use. I use that pc more now than my actual gaming pc, because win 11 is just so annoying and slow.
I’d like to add one thing: Don’t use Nvidia graphics, as they don’t play nice with linux. It saves you a lot of time in the future if you build your computer with amd stuff. -
Ah good to know, any recommended parts I don’t really keep up with hardware
