Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC
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Linux mint is a common recommendation but I think a bad one, I highly recommend bazzite with kde, I have 15 years of linux experience and am willing to do infinite troubleshooting if you add me on matrix (which is on my profile)
in short, linux mint is bad vs bazzite with kde for 3 reasons
kde is much more well supported and developed than cinnamon
immutable distros are much more forgiving for new people
and finally bazzite has more up to date software
don't do mint if you don't know what any of that means, go bazzite
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I was just going for a very high level explanation.
If you feel like offering a more in depth definition, feel free to do so here. -
But the required config changes can affect those as well.
Like last week I had to change repositories in
pacman.conf. It also affected endeavour, as it doesn't have separate repos: https://archlinux.org/news/cleaning-up-old-repositories/This mkinitcpio config change should have effected all Arch based distros: https://archlinux.org/news/mkinitcpio-hook-migration-and-early-microcode/
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what does immutable mean?
Strictly speaking, 'immutable' means unchanging. For Linux distros, this means that (at least some part of) the OS is read-only.
On any distro, you could invoke the
chattr +i path/to/file_or_directorycommand to make a file or directory of your choosing immutable. Thus preventing you or anyone else from changing that until it's revoked.The so-called 'immutable' distros employ this at the OS-level. However, their implementations (and the implications thereof) may vary significantly amongst them, unless they share some 'heritage'.
Going over the many different implementations and their implications is out of scope for what this comment intends. Especially as the 'immutable Linux landscape' is fast moving. Thus, potentially making it outdated the very next landscape-defining change.
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I was intending to, but it got very unwieldy real fast. I did provide some very basic pointers, but nothing earth-shattering. I suppose this is a decent read with the acknowledgement that the author has primarily read up on Fedora Atomic (and not the other 'immutable distros). Which ain't bad for our use as Bazzite is derived from Fedora Atomic anyways.
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Oh nice, so I just boot windows as normal then “run” the installer from a usb. As for whatever an iso image that makes no sense to me is that just the “program” that the installer is?
A lot of people have recommended bazzite so i might try that first but mint definitely sounds like a good “I have no idea what I’m doing just start working distro”
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So a lot of people have recommended bazzite so I might start with that and move to mint if that doesn’t work out for me, how does plasma and Debian fit in cus that stuff is ringing a bell. Like plasma being separate than a distro
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Yeah I was gonna check out bazzite first then Linux mint
Another comment said that mint will wipe the windows install if I “run” it from an external usb so would I just boot windows like normal
Also does bazzite do the same thing cus I’m probably gonna use that first
As for that Rufus tool is the demo mode something I would use on the new pc
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Ok cool so that’s probably a positive thing in my case since I don’t plan to tweak things and have no idea what I’m doing
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Alright good to hear. I was gonna try bazzite first then mint if I couldn’t get it going
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how does plasma and Debian fit in cus that stuff is ringing a bell.
Distributions like Ubuntu, PopOS, Linux Mint are actually based off of Debian. however, each distribution provides their own packages and typically have system files in different places, so packages made for Ubuntu may or may not work with Debian and vice-versa.
Like plasma being separate than a distro
KDE Plasma is a Desktop Environment (aka your desktop). When you install a Linux distro on your computer you’ll typically be given an option on which software you want to pre install. You’ll see software like GNOME, KDE Plasma, Xfce, Cinnamon, etc and by doing a little research into them you can pick the environment that suites you best.
GNOME gave me Mac book vibes while KDE is more windows.
Hope this explains things easily!
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I was gonna try bazzite first any words of wisdom on it?
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Yeah a few other comments were talking about the installation process but I just run windows like normal on the new PC then run the Linux installer
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So I think another comment talked about this but I’m having a brain fart so mint or bazzite (the distro) is like the os but how does plasma the desktop environment fit in?
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Yeah I think makes sense thanks!
Basically Linux mint or bazzite is the system and how it’s organized while plasma is how I’m seeing that system represented and interacting with it in other words?
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Sorry but what’s a flat pack? Is that like an installer?
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A whole bunch of software goes into making a distro a distro, and the desktop environment is a major component.
If you were to compare, say, Kubuntu to Fedora KDE edition, they would look fairly similar because both are using the KDE Plasma desktop environment. On Kubuntu you'd have the APT package manager, on Fedora you have the DNF package manager.
In a lot of cases, a distro will have their underlying tech, "We use this package manager and this feature and that feature, and we publish versions with the Gnome desktop, KDE desktop, xfce desktop and i3 window manager." Or some combination thereof. Linux Mint for example offers their own Cinnamon desktop, MATE, and xfce.
If you've ever used an Android phone and swapped out the launcher, it's kinda that.
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Ah well windows XP is before my time so I think I’ll look at mint and bazzite for now but at least you gave me another name to look into. The more the merrier!
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I made the mistake of trying Debian on a new system. While I will eventually transition to Debian for it's stability, it's glacial speed of change means that new hardware isn't very compatible. I tried the half-step that was LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) and even that was missing some support for my hardware. Not until I moved to Ubuntu-based Linux Mint did I finally have everything working, after some poking and prodding. I'm guessing once Debian Trixie comes out, I can test again.
You have to have more mature hardware if you go Debian. It's not something I'd tell anyone to install on a new build.
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As for you android analogy I’m locked on iPhone since I’m not the one paying the phone bill lol
As for the rest of the stuff I feel like that’s gonna make more sense once I actually use Linux cus I see the concept of ideas here lol
