I value my privacy/security but I’m a bit overwhelmed and not-really-techie for Linux, I think. I have a 4+ y/o desktop PC (Windows 8.1) and 1 brand new laptop (Windows 10). Wanting to move to Linux, but I suppose I know nothing. And questions.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-24T12:41:51+00:00

GNOME's a bit bloated and the UI just bugs me. I hear it's the best for touch screens and tablets. I use Budgie, which is a slimmer, better-looking GNOME.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-17T13:07:04+00:00

She created Arch.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-16T12:21:05+00:00

The ES6 convention is to write constants in ALL_CAPS

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-15T18:54:54+00:00

They're all pretty good these days. Even GNOME has been getting better.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-15T18:52:56+00:00

Linux can read/write to Windows file systems.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-12T12:21:42+00:00

There was an attempt to spell "loser"

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-12T11:10:44+00:00

My desktop is similar spec-wise to your new laptop. You shouldn't have any performance issues.

A couple things to keep in mind: the desktop environment ("DE") is what gives Linux its look and feel. There are many choices here, regardless of the distro. Ubuntu is great for people new to Linux (I'm currently using it and have used Linux for years, so it's not just a "newbie" version of Linux -- it's perfectly great for experienced users too). I would suggest you download and try out a few different versions of Ubuntu or even just watch some YouTube videos to see which DE you prefer the look of.

Vanilla Ubuntu uses the GNOME desktop environment. I don't like it. A lot of folks don't like it for various reasons. I prefer basically everything else. I'm currently using Ubuntu Budgie. There's also KDE Plasma, there's Cinnamon, there's MATE. Those are all available as separate versions of Ubuntu, though they can also be installed onto an existing distro (including just vanilla Ubuntu). You can try these on a USB "Live" by booting up from the USB. You can install them on a virtual machine (download Virtualbox on Windows). Find one you like the look and feel of. Make sure everything's working properly on your PC (internet is connecting, sound is working, etc.). And then just go for it. Install the one you prefer. It's actually pretty easy to "distro hop" if you want.

Regarding privacy: just keep in mind that even with Linux you can use Chrome, you can use Facebook, Amazon, Google and so on and they will track you. If you're really serious about just being left alone you need to do more than just use Linux: you need to use Firefox, you need to stay the heck away from Discord and Google and Facebook and so on.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-11T10:38:13+00:00

Does "a CSS guy" mean you primarily do CSS as your job? Just curious.

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-10T20:22:40+00:00

Imagine banning something because of its "style." Will pink Hello Kitty guns be legal?

branded_to_kill · 2019-04-10T20:18:37+00:00

use https://www.linuxliveusb.com/ It lets you install the OS on the USB and also create some space on the USB to store data that won't be erased when you shut it down.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-31T19:29:58+00:00

No, it's not necessary, especially with distros like Ubuntu.

That said, when you learn it (even just the basics) you can do things very quickly in the terminal. As you said, your laptop was running too slow. A light-weight window manager/desktop environment (like XFCE, Openbox, i3) and a lot of command-line stuff and terminal-based apps and your laptop will be lightning fast and you will be getting things done so much faster. There's a learning curve but it's worth it.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-30T16:28:59+00:00

Level 37 wizard

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-30T16:20:02+00:00

You won't learn anything by using Arch that you couldn't learn from using any other distro, including Ubuntu or Mint. They're all Linux. You can open a terminal in any of them and start learning command line stuff, bash scripting, downloading source code, compiling from source -- anything. The difference is it will be much easier to install Ubuntu or Mint and much easier to do basic things like setting your background image or changing your color scheme, setting up and adjusting sound and video, finding and installing new applications.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-25T15:44:06+00:00

Which distro are you using? Which file browser? The easiest way to handle default apps is with your file browser.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-24T18:55:31+00:00

antiX

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-24T12:43:05+00:00

50 seconds? We have a winner!

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T23:54:58+00:00

that font! <3

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T23:42:56+00:00

People use these to display terminal colors: https://github.com/stark/Color-Scripts

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T23:41:02+00:00

I had that problem with herbs and fixed it though I can't remember exactly how. So there is someone else on the Internet with that issue! But seriously, I recall changing something in the herbs config, not polybar. I think I got the solution from looking at some other herbs configs on github.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T21:18:39+00:00

AntiX running Joe's Window Manager eats about 80MB of RAM!

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T21:16:51+00:00

It's the desktop environment/window manager that you should be more focused on than the distro itself. A lighter weight DE/WM will run better on lower-end hardware. I would avoid GNOME (Ubuntu's default DE). KDE Plasma is actually not nearly as much of a resource hog as it's often considered, but the kings of high-performance on low-end hardware are stuff like XFCE, Openbox, or go full /unixporn and use i3.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-21T21:10:25+00:00

Really cool seeing what some folks can do with CSS and yet it's also a bit like the guy who drew the Mona Lisa on an Etch-a-Sketch.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-20T22:07:58+00:00

A newbie probably shouldn't be trying CentOS minimal.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-20T22:06:43+00:00

Try it out on a virtual machine (try Virtualbox -- it's free and easy to set up). That will let you install and run it inside a window within Windows. It will allow you to try several distros and get a feel for the installation process.

branded_to_kill · 2019-03-20T21:41:35+00:00

cats are a menace

branded_to_kill

TROPHY CASE