Planning to switch to Linux for my next PC
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So what does immutable mean?
But I’ve seen it’s similar to the decks desktop mode from some other comments as well so that seems nice
I haven’t really interacted with desktop mode outside setting up emudeck (mostly DS and switch games)
So what does immutable mean?
The easiest explanation is: You can't screw it up
That's the reason I use it. It means that the system areas are read-only, and as a user you can't "wreck" anything by mistake.
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So all I know that the Linux mascot is a penguin and Arch users meme about using Arch. Jokes aside I’m planning on making to the jump to Linux as I’m planning on getting a tower PC. I recently got a steam deck and that kinda demystified the (unrealistic) expectation I had of Linux was all command line stuff and techno babble. This all very future oriented questions* as I haven’t even picked out hardware (probably gonna go prebuilt since I do not trust me) and there’s also the matter of saving up the money for a new PC.
As for my use case (cus I know some software is wonky on Linux compared to windows) it’s mostly between games running on steam, which most of my games play fine on the steam deck, and essays and note taking for my college classes, which I use libre office and obsidian (with excalidraw to hand write my notes) saved to my proton drive and also sync those documents between my surface laptop and home laptop
My ideal OS would be plug it in, let it do… things… and it’s ready to be a PC to install steam and stuff
But first question, as someone who isn’t tech inclined and tinkering is pretty much just a few VERY basic settings in the settings app on windows, so is there a Linux… idk what to call it, type? OS? Thing??? that runs out of the box without me having to install additional software manually or at least automatic setup wizards because like hardware, I do not trust me with setting it up. As for installing it after I wipe whatever computer I choose I assume I’m gonna have some OS installer on a USB and let it work its magic.
Second question, is there any specific hardware that works easier with Linux, I can’t really think of any examples cus with installers and updaters I just the computer handle it, like updating Nvidia stuff in the GeForce app for all I know it’s genuinely performing dark magic during the automated updates
Anyways I probably have way more questions that I have no idea I had, but to wrap up I’m not super tech inclined since I let automated stuff do its thang on windows (if the computer can manage and install it I’m gonna let it do that) and my pc mostly just plays games and do documents on libre office and obsidian
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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While it could be functional as a cursory watch, it doesn't seem that Michael Horn has done a good job investigating the subject matter. So, no, I actually disagree with it offering a good explanation. Granted, I couldn't find any video that does this subject any justice; more often than not, they just tend to overgeneralize or oversimplify.
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. -
There are also "easy" Arch like endeavour or cachy, but yeah, for users like him is Arch based not the best choice
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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So what does immutable mean?
But I’ve seen it’s similar to the decks desktop mode from some other comments as well so that seems nice
I haven’t really interacted with desktop mode outside setting up emudeck (mostly DS and switch games)
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 just going for a very high level explanation.
If you feel like offering a more in depth definition, feel free to do so here.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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I also recommend Linux Mint. It's been hands down the best experience of all the Linux distros I've tried.
The installation is done with a USB stick. In short, you download the Linux iso image and create a bootable USB stick with a software. In Windows I have always used Rufus for that.
The Linux installer gives you a choise to wipe everything and install Linux. Installing Mint has always been very straight forward.
I can't comment on hardware since I've only used Linux on +5 year old laptops. They seem to work fine.
There most likely will be many new things that can feel confusing in the beginning, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. There also are tons of good tutorials of everything.
Best of luck to your Linux project!
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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I personally started out with Debian given that a vast majority of distributions are Debian based, typically paired with KDE Plasma 5, and learned from there.
Now Debian is really stable but does require command-line configuration quite often so it may feel complicated but if you’re capable of reading & following documentation then you should be all good.
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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Generally, Linuxmint is the go to distro if you want something that holds your hand, but due to your limited needs outside of gaming and already having a Steam deck you should take a look at Bazzite, which is basically the desktop mode of the Steam deck for PCs.
As for hardware, one thing that can be annoying is NVIDIA (drivers), but that shouldn’t be a major problem with these distros as mint has a built in manager that does everything for you and with Bazzite you just need to specify your GPU when downloading and don’t have to do anything.
My recommendation is download the distros you want to try, get Rufus put them on a USB and then play around with them in demo mode, make sure everything works (graphic card, printers) and you like the distro then start the installer. If you don’t like it you can just unplug the USB and reboot without anything persisting.
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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So what does immutable mean?
The easiest explanation is: You can't screw it up
That's the reason I use it. It means that the system areas are read-only, and as a user you can't "wreck" anything by mistake.
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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I completely agree, cannot recommend Bazzite enough. Installed it a year ago, first time linux, has been just smooth sailing
Alright good to hear. I was gonna try bazzite first then mint if I couldn’t get it going
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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
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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Definitely go Linux Mint. Especially if it's your first time with Linux.
I was gonna try bazzite first any words of wisdom on it?
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Pro tip is to install a virtual machine like virtualbox or something on your Windows system. They're super easy to set up with loads of tutorials on youtube.
From there you can install any number of linux distros (I recommend Mint or Pop!) and try them out without having to commit to real hardware. I would put the VM in fullscreen and pretend it was a real system, and use it as my dedicated machine for as long as possible. You can even install steam to get a feel of the setup process (bear in mind you'll need to set up stuff for graphics acceleration to play most games but the basic setup should be fine!)
At that point you won't be wondering if youve made the right choice when it comes to your next build, and you can get right down to actually using your PC instead of googling things. Good luck!
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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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
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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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!
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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On Mint, flatpaks is enabled in the Mint software center.
Sorry but what’s a flat pack? Is that like an 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?
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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if you liked the design of older style windows (think like windows XP), you could look into Q4OS. I use it for my laptop and it's Debian based so you will have pretty decent support applications wise and it has a pretty simple UI. I had never heard of it prior to a few months ago but I have had no issues with it.
Being said, I can't remember if it has UnattendedUpgrades by default, but that program can be configured on any debian based system to allow for automatic updates. It does take a little bit of configuration if it isn't pre-installed though.
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 personally started out with Debian given that a vast majority of distributions are Debian based, typically paired with KDE Plasma 5, and learned from there.
Now Debian is really stable but does require command-line configuration quite often so it may feel complicated but if you’re capable of reading & following documentation then you should be all good.
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.
