this post was submitted on 09 Oct 2023
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Looking to dip my toes into Linux for the first time. I have a 2016 Intel MacBook Pro with pretty solid specs collecting dust right now that I think I’m going to use. Research so far has indicated to me that the two best options for me are likely Mint or Elementary OS. Does anyone have any insight? Also open to other OS’s. I would consider myself decently tech savvy but I am not a programmer or anything. Comfortable dipping into the terminal when the need arises and all that.

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think mint and pop are generally the distros people recommend over Ubuntu nowadays

Documentation for Ubuntu generally works for anything Ubuntu based and they're specifically designed for newbies coming from Windows

That said they're coming from Mac so elementary might be better

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They never said they were coming from Mac. You are correct in regards to Mint and pop_OS! tho, I just think the recommending of other Ubuntu based or even other based distros nowadays is just so "political". Canonical isn't the darling it once was but it's still a good distros to cut teeth on especially because you can easily hope to another spin for a new DE and still be on "Ubuntu".

One of the things that makes Linux so great is the freedom of choice and the shear amount of options available so we can all use a distro from a person/community/company that shares in our values/ideals that we can then go on to tell everyone that they should be running it lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I've had numerous issues running Ubuntu and any Ubuntu based distros on my laptop, that's why I personally dislike it

The fact that they're starting to make questionable decisions around snap is just extra reason imo

Also op didn't say they were coming from Mac but did say they were planning to put Linux on one they already have, think it's a safe guess that they might be used to macos

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Laptops are always iffy when running Linux, so many proprietary things in them but I am surprised you had so much trouble with an Ubuntu based distro.

I'm not used to MacOS myself but I did have a MacBook and I currently have an iMac running Lubuntu. Multiple environments makes things interesting lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think the reason I ran into problems was mainly Nvidia drivers to be fair

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I had issues with them to on a laptop I had and built in webcam.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Out of all the distro hopping I've found NixOS is the most solid. That said, my built in microphone sounds atrocious for some reason on nix

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've been wanting to give Nix a try but I can't find a use case for it's best feature. The list is long of distros to try (Clear, Garuda, rhino, and so on) but I really do need to give Nix a go.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

It's quite good as an all rounder really, I'm using it on my gaming pc, laptop and raspberry pi for some self hosting stuff currently, all of which use a modular config file so I've got the same installed programs, hotkeys, user profile etc whatever machine I'm using

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's its best feature I'm talking about. I don't use the same OS on two different machines so I can't make use of the config file. I never thought about running it on a Pi so maybe I can just toss it on a SD card and give it a whirl (I like using actual hardware instead of VMs).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Absolutely same with the actual hardware thing you can't get a good feel for an os on a VM

Nix package manager and home manager runs on any distro and even Mac so you can use a home manager config cross machine

There are other benefits though like the fact that you can configure services, system components and other software with like 2 lines of code most the time and it just works

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I didn't even know the package manager and home manager could run on different operating systems, now I need to look into that. I really do think NixOS has a great idea and that more distros should have an option to use such a thing. Nix almost seems like the perfect OS (relatively speaking).

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You'll hear from most people who use NixOS, once you try it you won't want to use anything else

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I was just watching a video about setting up home manager and like the main config file it's a neat idea. Now it's got my brain thinking I need to wipe a computer and give it a spin lol.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeees come over to the dark side we have cookies

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Me like cookies.