Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC
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Since the other replies don't seem to beginner friendly I'll try another way:
The desktop environment determines how your taskbar looks and your start menu. Also the edges windows and the buttons to close and minimize windows. Also some basic programs like the system settings.
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1. Enter edit mode 2. Click on the panel, remove the panel from the panel popup menu 3. At the top menu “add new panel” → “default panel”^^bam you can easily reset the panel to default
I could blame it on nvidia
Plasma uses wayland, wayland was much much more problematic with nvidia until very recently, if you try the latest plasma, most of those issues will likely be gone
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last time I finally realized you could delete the panel and add new ones, but I remember the first time I just lost my shit and switched to another distro
and I agree it's better now, it was basically unusable a year ago. btw kubuntu uses x11, and it was still on plasma version 5.27. -
I feel it’s important to note for new people that, while an immutable OS is great at keeping you from breaking your system, the way it achieves this can make some things you would want to do more difficult. In Bazzite, installing software, for example, works differently than under a typical distribution.
I’ll give the example of two pieces of software that I use regularly: 1Password and Espanso. It took a fair bit of digging to figure out how to install 1Password in a way that would preserve its tight system integration… and it still doesn’t quite work — copying a password in particular contexts just doesn’t put that password on the clipboard, while it works fine in other contexts. Espanso on the other hand just won’t work under Bazzite best I can tell. I haven’t found a way to install it at all so I’m just doing without. Oh My ZSH was also quite tricky, and I got yelled at in the Bazzite Discord for doing it the wrong way.
Plenty of the software I use works fine and was easy to install: FreeTube, Kdenlive, VLC, Zen Browser… unless you count the fact that the 1Password browser integration just won’t work with Zen Browser, presumably because I haven’t found the exact right combination of Flatpak permissions plus settings that will allow it to.
All this to say, I love Bazzite for gaming and use it every day, but the moment you step outside that world and want your computer to do something a little bit differently, it’s a major headache. In the context of gaming, it’s much closer to “just works” than any other distro I’ve tried.
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Thanks for the info, I was probably gonna try bazzite with KDE first
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Ah that makes sense (i think)
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Ah nice, yeah I was thinking bazzite since it looks hard to break based on what you’ve all been saying and KDE so I have some vague sense of familiarity between windows and my steam deck
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Ooooooooo that sounds nice
I might just go from Amazon depending on hardware and price but I’m definitely gonna add this to my list
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I guess in case no one else mentioned anywhere, when you install Bazzite (or any distro) it will wipe everything and you will start from scratch, so make sure your important stuff is saved elsewhere before you begin. Same with steamdeck. But one nice thing about Bazzite is that since it's made by gamers for gamers, it has a lot of the things you'll need preinstalled, or like emudeck you can just click to install it through their portal, so it should be minimal hassle.
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I looked on the bazzite website and I’m assuming as long I select whatever hardware I’m using (or planning to use) I’ll get the correct version
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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.
