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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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New to linux, would like some help setting up dual boot. (slrpnk.net)

submitted 5 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Got an old laptop from a friend I'd like to rejuvenate, the plan is to set up a light distro so it wouldn't be as slow as it is right now with windows 10.

Now, I'm aware windows updates can fuck up a dual boot system, so i have a few questions about how to minimize the threat of that happening.

What i think of doing is running a few scans to check the disk, then setting up Linux Mint, because it is beginner friendly, and (relatively) light weight.

What I'd need help with is trusted guides and also tips for setting up dual booting, I'm sure I'll need to do disk partitioning and I've done that before but I'd still want to make sure I'm doing it correctly.

Any help would be welcome.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I did that once and it wasn't a nice experience. Windows will always find ways to screw things up and you'll constantly be dealing with their shitfuckery. Outside of gaming there aren't really many reasons to stick with Windows and even gaming works great except on titles where it is explicitly sabotaged by the publishers. If you're dealing with an older laptop, this likely isn't a consideration anyway. If you're unsure whether Linux is for you, my advice would be to install it in a VM first and see if it works for you. Chances are, you won't miss Windows at all.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 hours ago

These days with UEFI it's much less likely to break things. Worse case though you just boot from a LIVE USB boot, chroot in and rerun grub/your bootloader installer. Often even if windows puts its own bootloader first, you can choose your bootloader from the bios boot menu and just rerun the bootloader installer.

It used to be a lot worse.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

Windows is the old OS i have a reason to keep, otherwise it would be all linux.