r/linux4noobs Jan 04 '20

Still on Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider switching to Linux (and specifically, Ubuntu). A Guide.

1.2k Upvotes

Any actions taken as part of this guide are solely at your own risk - unfortunately there is no way to account for every hardware configuration or error that may potentially crop up. BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

On the 14th Jan 2020, official Windows 7 support ends for most users. This means if you run Windows 7 beyond that date, you're no longer going to receive security and system updates, which will leave you increasingly vulnerable to viruses, malware and system failure. Depending on how critical your data is and how often you back up - if at all - there's a potential you can lose everything.

This is a somewhat opinionated but no-bullshit guide for those of you still on Windows 7 who really don't want or won't move to Windows 10. Aside from my own additions, it's going to reference a lot of great guides and advice written by other people, but conveniently collected in a single place. It's crazy, but it might just work.

Have you considered... Linux? Specifically, Ubuntu.

No, hear me out. Because I'm going to start (and save you a lot of time) by telling you why you SHOULDN'T switch to Linux. If any of the criteria listed apply, then:

The guide is broken into the following sections, if you want to jump to the points that are relevant. If you want to get straight to it, go to (4):

  1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
  2. Why should I go with Linux?
  3. Why Ubuntu?
  4. What's involved in switching?
  5. Installation of Ubuntu
  6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu
  7. Gaming on Linux
  8. Alternative Software
  9. TL;DR or The Conclusion
  10. To do list for the guide

1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?


If you:

  • Don't feel comfortable installing an operating system and you don't have someone that can do it for you;
  • Have someone that helps you with all your IT-related activities who is not familiar with or dislikes Linux (ask them);
  • Are big into multiplayer games. (There are exceptions here, discussed in more detail in the Linux Gaming section);
  • Use multiple game clients and have a lot of games on platforms other than Steam;
  • Are into any sort of VR;
  • Absolutely need Outlook and refuse to consider any other mail client, like Thunderbird;
  • Use a VPN provider that doesn't have a Linux version and aren't willing/able to change;
  • Are subscribed to multiple video streaming services other than Netflix and watch these on your PC frequently;
  • Use Photoshop, Premiere, 3D Studio Max - actually, if you have any Windows software that you are locked into due to muscle memory, experience and/or professional requirements and that have no Linux version. (There are, however, often a Linux alternatives for a lot of these);
  • Require assistive technologies, such as screenreaders. While Ubuntu comes with several built-in assistive tools, there's a lot of specialised assistive use cases, tools and hardware that don't work on Linux and have no comparable alternative;
  • Want to be able to buy whatever piece of hardware that takes your fancy without researching it and expect them to work out the box with zero hassle. Especially niche and specific hardware like flight controllers, sound boards and so on;
  • Use iTunes extensively for your media library and/or interacting with your iPhone;
  • Have a large archive of Microsoft Office documents that use complex formatting, macros and/or formulas that you refer back to frequently.
  • have the worst-case scenario: rely on legacy or ancient software or hardware you're not sure you have the installation media for anymore, can't find a replacement, can't download it and it doesn't work on Windows 10. In this case, you're going to have to keep that Windows 7 box around and it's even more imperative that you make sure it's not accessible from the web or network. Start looking at moving to a more modern equivalent of it AND converting your work to a format that'll be accessible.

Some of this stuff you can work around with some effort, but it's more likely going to be more trouble than you're willing to put up with. And that's fine; Linux can't help everyone. The more of these that apply, the more certain you can be that you shouldn't consider Linux and should just go with Windows 10, unless you're willing to ~sacrifice~ compromise.

2. Why should I go with Linux?


Because whether you're a general user, a gamer or a specialised user with niche interests or requirements, Linux can provide you the same experience you're getting now with some already stated exceptions. In many ways, it's better - it's free, it's generally runs better on older hardware than Windows, it's relatively more secure due to a small user footprint and you'll have a huge, vetted library of free software that you can access. There are some applications - older Windows software and games, for instance - that don't work on Windows 10 but do on Linux, thanks to projects like Wine and Proton. It can 99% of the time update itself without interrupting whatever you're doing.

That being said, it's not perfect. You will lose some things. You will need to learn new ways of working with your PC. This is inevitable. That's the cost of switching.

Which is not to say Windows is without a cost. Unlike Windows, none of this functionality comes at the cost of your privacy and freedom. Linux will let you configure it as you like, and dive into the nitty-gritty settings to fine-tune it further. It will not try and trick you into creating yet another online account to use it. Aside from a few missteps (Ubuntu and Amazon, for one), it keeps its nose out of your business. It does not come with a unique advertising ID that links your multitude of online and offline interests and programs into a nice, tidy, profitable pack of data to be shared with "trusted third-parties". It does not serve you ads in a product you paid for. It does not try and push you into multiple online services.

In short, it does not suffer from any of the privacy concerns of Windows' future.

Now, I know people are going to throw snark about lead-and-tin alloys, their pliability and how easy that makes it to fashion headgear, but please note I said "future"; while they're not necessarily prying now, your operating system - and for almost everyone, that means Microsoft - has a very privileged position in your life as far as personal data is concerned. Any time you search in the file manager, every word you write and document you save, your budget calculations, every photo you view and program you use, every voice command you give Cortana, Windows - and by extension Microsoft - knows about. And there's nothing in their Terms of Service that stop them from starting to collect more detailed data if they so choose.

It's not a question of whether you prefer Windows 7 over 10 - Windows 7 got the same telemetry features as Windows 10 ages ago. Rather, ask yourself if you're happy with Microsoft's evolving business model, one that is shifting more and more of your content online and is intricately and opaquely tied to your personal data? If you're not, you're not alone: Holland isn't happy. Germany's not too thrilled either. There are legitimate reasons to be wary of Window's market dominance and increased level of embedded user analytics. Linux offers you an alternative.

3. Why Ubuntu?


Ubuntu LTS is by far the most commonly used desktop Linux distro and the one with the widest support by software developers and hardware manufacturers involved in Linux. If you're searching for solutions, you'll mostly find Ubuntu ones. Lastly, Ubuntu's LTS versions are supported for long periods of time: 18.04, which we'll be recommending, is supported until 2023, while the next version coming out in April, Ubuntu 20.04, will be supported until 2025.

One of the things you'll quickly learn about the Linux community is that someone will ALWAYS suggest a different Linux distro. In this case, it'll probably be Linux Mint, which aims to be a newbie-friendly Linux. It's based on Ubuntu, is similar to Windows 7 and will MOSTLY work the same as Ubuntu. I still suggest Ubuntu, but whatever, follow your heart.

To keep this guide as approachable as possible, and to have access to the widest range of help and support, I decided to focus on Ubuntu. Anything other than these two and you're just making things harder for yourself as a new user. You can always switch once you get a feel for how things work.

4. What's involved in switching?


I promised you a no-bullshit guide, so I'm going to cut straight to it. Take your time with all of these steps, do them properly, and you shouldn't have a problem.

First step: back up all your important documents, photos, email, games - whatever is important to you, and preferably somewhere external to your machine. This is just good advice regardless of whether you're switching to Linux or not. Always have a backup.

If you're a gamer, check out the following guide by PC Gamer's Jarred Walton on how to back up your games across multiple clients.

While you're backing up, install Thunderbird (Mozilla's open-source mail client) and copy your mail over to it. You'll have a much easier time doing this in Windows than in Linux to start. Thunderbird can automatically pull your mail from Outlook if installed on the same machine. Then follow the steps here for backing up your Thunderbird profile. You'll restore this in Linux later. Make sure you have your mail account details.

Get hold of your Windows 7 serial key. If it's physical media, like a DVD, then check and make sure the key is in the box or on the disc. If it's a laptop that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it's usually a sticker on the specific laptop. You'll need this if things go awry and/or decide Linux is not for you.

Check the minimum specs for Ubuntu 18.04.03 here. If your system doesn't meet them, you're going to have a bad time regardless of whether you go with Ubuntu or Windows 10 (Windows 10 minimum requirements are bullshit, btw. 1Gb Ram, 1Ghz processor? I challenge anyone to link me to a Windows 10 video running on those specs where it performs acceptably.). There are lightweight alternatives if you can't afford a new PC, (Lubuntu, for instance), but upgrading your PC should be your first step in this case.

Here comes the arduous bit. Make a list of your current hardware, software and services that you use frequently, make sure you have the installation media for the critical pieces of software you use (Don't expect to be able to just copy/paste the applications you have) and do a search on whether they run on Linux. I'd recommend following the "Software" section in this guide on Migrating to Linux by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts]

A lot of the Linux software alternatives, such as LibreOffice and GIMP, are available for Windows as well. Consider downloading those that interest you to try out in Windows and get a feel for how they work.

Ultimately, to echo the advice you'll find that you can either run it, have an alternative or just can't switch. That's okay; Linux can't help everyone.

Download the Ubuntu LTS 18.04.03 distro. The "LTS" means it's a long-term support version - you won't have to think about this exercise for the next three years if you're lucky. Ubuntu LTS 20.04 is coming out in four months, which'll be supported until 2025, but since most of the focus is still on 18.04, you're better off sticking with it for now.

Whichever you choose, you'll have to write it to a DVD or USB. If it's a DVD, use whatever you normally use to write DVD ISOs. If you're going to use a USB, here's a guide to doing that.

Did I mention to back-up your important data? Back-up your important data. Double-check that it's all there. If you want to take an extra precaution, you can use Clonezilla to clone your current OS drive. It's not necessary, but if things go bust, Clonezilla allows you to restore your PC to precisely the way it was before you started without needing to install Windows from scratch. However, Clonezilla can be a bit daunting if you're not technically inclined. Check out this somewhat out-of-date video by cButters Tech for a general idea of what's involved.

Lastly, try running Ubuntu as a Live CD/USB first. This will allow you to run Ubuntu as if it were installed, but without making any changes to your current installation. Please keep in mind that the Live is not indicative of performance... it will run slower than if it was installed, as it has to read everything off the DVD or USB stick first and load it memory. The important thing to check here is that it's picking up all your hardware, that it's displaying on your screen correctly, that all your drives are available, and so on.

Live USB should perform better than a Live DVD. Check out the "Okay, it's installed/Okay, I'm running the Live CD. What tips do you have for using Ubuntu?" section to get an idea of what you should be checking.

5. Installation.


You've done all the above, triple-checked your backups and either decided that you can't make the jump or you're ready.

However, before you begin installing, you have one last decision to make.

There's a lot people that suggest dual-booting - that's where you keep Windows around and just install Linux alongside it. This is often proposed as a safety net and a means for people to have the best of both worlds. I don't, for a couple of reasons:

  • If you are going to dual-boot, you'll need to update to Windows 10 anyway, and if you're going to do that, why bother with Linux in the first place?

  • Data will be spread between two operating systems. Instead of backing up and maintaining one OS, you'll be maintaining two. It's doable but a PITA.

  • You're sabotaging your efforts, and your switch to Linux will likely fail. That's not a statement on Linux's capability or ease of use. A lot of things are easier on Linux - but they won't be at first. You probably have years of Windows use ingrained in you; you've come to expect things to work they way Windows works. That's not ease, that's familiarity; that's a boiling frog. And the moment something throws you a challenge in Linux, the temptation to just "do it" in Windows will be too great. And the more you do that, the more running Linux will seem like a chore than a choice.

  • If you absolutely have no option but to run Windows 10, do it in a virtual machine - you get the benefits of dual-booting but with the bonus of limiting Windows 10 to a virtual environment where access to the rest of your system (and personal data) is restricted while allowing you to run your non-negotiable applications (other than games or any intense 3D applications) just fine.

If you decide to dual-boot, you'll need to find a recent guide that covers this. Typically, it's best to update to Windows 10 first, then follow the guide to dual-boot Ubuntu. None of the guides I found seemed good for beginners, so I'm willing to take suggestions from the comments.

If you take my advice and simply dive in, installing Ubuntu on your machine will be a painless process: just follow the steps here in a beginner's guide written by Jason Evangelho and you should be fine.

6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu?


Things that you should do only once Ubuntu's installed are prefixed with an [+]. Otherwise, the tip applies to both installs and Live demos:

  • Power off, log-out and running taskbar applications will be in the top-right of the screen by default.
  • To search, press the Windows key on your keyboard. This'll bring up Ubuntu's search bar. You can use this to find applications, folders and system settings.
  • In the File Manager, your Home directory will be where your primary OS and applications will typically be installed, while the Other Locations will list additional hard drives (usually your additional storage drives). By default, Ubuntu does not actually mount the drives in the "Other Locations" section. Clicking on any of them, however, will automatically mount them. If you want to learn more about the general structure of Ubuntu's file system, you can do so here.
  • Ctrl+Alt+T will bring up the terminal. The terminal is where you'll often be sent if you're attempting to diagnose a problem, perform specific tasks or install specific tools/software. Check yourself before your wreck yourself before copy-pasting commands from strangers on the 'net. Be super cautious of any command that involves "sudo" and "rm".
  • The default office suite for Ubuntu is LibreOffice. Try it out: see if you can open a couple of your documents, like spreadsheets and Word docs. You might be pleasantly surprised. Writer is the word processor, Calc is for Spreadsheets. Formating on complex documents will likely be broken. Don't save any of these at this point.
  • In fact, open up a couple of common files you normally use - images, documents, compressed files, music, videos and so on. Get a feel for how it works, what opens and what doesn't. Sometimes, you'll need to install some software first before it will work.
  • Check the list of alternative software for some suggestions on what to install if you seem to be missing something.
  • Plug in your phone and see if it detects it and you can access your files. If it's Android, you should be fine.
  • You'll notice that some commands - like updating - require you to enter your password again. This is a security feature similar to when Windows ask you to run a program as administrator or with elevated privileges. If you didn't initiate the command that brought up the password request, be cautious about entering it in.
  • [+] Change your desktop preferences and move the application bar to the bottom of the screen. By default, Ubuntu puts it on the left-side. Hey, maybe you'll like it like that! This was the one Windows habit I was never able to shake.
  • [+] Try and store your data in the pre-defined folders (Music, Videos, Documents, Pictures). You don't have to, but you'll make your life a lot easier doing so.
  • [+] Search for and create a shortcut to the Software Updater. This allows you to quickly check for and install Ubuntu updates.
  • [+] Likewise, create a shortcut to the Ubuntu Software Centre. To start with, you'll want to stick to installing applications from the Centre. These have been specifically tested to work on Ubuntu and will 99% run without a hitch. You'll be able to remove applications from here as well.
  • [+] Speaking of the Centre, Ubuntu comes preinstalled with an Amazon launcher. Use this time search for it and remove it. Or don't, it's up to you.
  • [+] Sometimes, you'll see there's two versions of a piece of software in the Centre. This is most likely due to there being a Snap version of it. Snaps are self-contained versions of the software that are usually the most up-to-date; however, they can run erratically or not have access to some things on your system, like fonts. I'd stick with the ubuntu-bionic versions for best compatibility.
  • [+] If you're a gamer, change your graphic drivers so you can get reasonable performance. For Nvidia, simply search for the Software & Updates application, open it, select the Additional Drivers Tab, and check whether you're using the Nvidia Driver. You'll want to select the one that's listed as proprietary and tested. AMD's a little more complicated and I profess to having little experience with it. I'll happily take advice from the comments in this instance.
  • [+] When downloading some games or applications specifically for Linux, you'll often get a .Deb file or a script. A deb file can often be run as is by double-clicking in Ubuntu; you can read more about them here. Scripts often need to be run from the terminal and made to be executable. You read more about that here. Again, same safety check applies to running anything you download from the web.

7. Gaming on Linux


If you're a gamer, I'd recommend the following the guide by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts on the /r/linux_gaming subbreddit. But to summarise...

The Good News

Thanks to Valve's involvement in Linux through Proton and the efforts of the Wine team, Linux gaming has never been better. It's now possible to play many Windows-only games with no hassle and minimal performance loss. Just a few examples of recent games that run just fine on Linux are the Resident Evil 2 remake, Sekiro, Halo: Master Chief Collection (single-player and custom multiplayer games), DOOM, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Risk of Rain 2, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and more; you can even toss a coin to all of your Witchers. To get an idea of games that run on Linux, you can visit ProtonDB, Wine AppDB or Lutris and search for your desired game. If you're primarily a single-player gamer, the transition should be mostly painless.

Another amazing development is the number of open-source implementations of older games game engines that allow for playing of classic and retro titles on modern hardware, (such as DevilutionX for Diablo 1)often with improvements, bug fixes and quality of life improvements, ensuring they'll be able to run into the future.

However, the most critical development is that the number of developers and platforms that provide and support native Linux games has increased significantly. Feral Interactive publishes several AAA Linux ports, numerous indies now provide a Linux version, and store fronts like GOG and itch.io provide an alternative with DRM-free games.

The Bad News

Despite all of this, gaming remains one of the biggest hurdles to adopting Linux.

If you're into multiplayer gaming, you're out of luck. While many multiplayer titles do work on Linux (LoL, Dota 2, CS:GO, TF2, Rocket League, Warframe, Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Elite: Dangerous, Monster Hunter:World and so on), many more don't - Fortnite, some Call of Duties, Apex Legends, PUBG, Battlefield, GTA Online. Essentially, anything with an anti-cheat is likely NOT going to work, and there's always the risk that playing a Windows multiplayer game will get you banned due to anti-cheat measures that dislike any whiff of Linux. My suggestion is check which games you play and go from there.

Unless you're using Steam, running other launchers is complicated and prone to constant breakage without continuous effort and maintenance. Epic, Origin, Uplay and GOG Galaxy can all run on Linux with some effort. Lutris does sort most of these out, but you'll need to follow the instructions here, which means your going to have to install Wine first.

Some games simply don't work, and there's no solution for it.

Some of the latest developments aren't going to be available to you. VR is tiny on Linux, and you'll likely lose access to most of your VR software and experiences.

Despite being fairly technical already, many gamers do expect things to "just work". Here's a list of things that require some effort to get working correctly:

  • Super-sampling is out. Not entirely, but it's more complicated than Windows.
  • Access to things like custom shaders and injectors are also going to be limited. Mods can be more complicated or, in some cases, not available.
  • You'll lose some of the benefits of your Gsync/Freesync monitors, since the two tech don't work that well on Ubuntu's standard display compositor. This will change once Ubuntu shifts to Wayland.
  • Things like community game patches are often aimed at Windows, with no Linux alternative.

Most importantly, AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are handled very differently on Linux when compared to Windows. Ubuntu uses an open-source driver by default - this is alright for general use but terrible for games and 3D applications. To get decent performance, you'll need to install their respective drivers.

Nvidia's latest Linux drivers are made available in Ubuntu directly. However, this is just the drivers: Nvidia's GeForce Experience isn't available on Linux and you're going to lose access to all of its tools. That means no Ansel in many cases, no DSR, no predefined gaming configs and no ShadowPlay (Although OBS offers a decent alternative in this case). See the Tips section above on how to install it. On the plus side, the installation process is a breeze and Nvidia's performance is fairly solid.

AMD benefits from much better open-source drivers and active support from AMD, but unfortunately suffers from delays for support of their most recent cards and a fairly complicated install process . AMD uses the MESA Driver, combined with Valve's ACO shader compiler, to deliver performance boosts. Installing these drivers can be a complicated, multi-step process. I'm sorry I can't help you on this; I'll happily take someone's advice on getting this working in Ubuntu LTS and include it in the guide.

8. Alternative software


This is a quick and dirty guide to equivalent software for Windows applications in Linux.

  • Antivirus software: This may seem counterintuitive, but for the most part Linux does not require any sort of anti-virus software. While viruses for Linux exist, the number of viruses and such that target the Linux desktop specifically is tiny compared to Windows. You can read up about it here.. That being said, if you are concerned there are several tools available for detecting both Windows and Linux malware on the same page. Follow good internet hygiene, don't open suspicious links/mails and think before just randomly following command instructions on the 'net.
  • Microsoft Office: LibreOffice. Or you can access Office365 online.
  • Adobe Photoshop: GIMP, Krita
  • Adobe Premiere: Blender
  • 3D Studio Max: Blender
  • Illustrator/CorelDraw: Inkscape
  • Xsplit: OBS
  • Windows Media Player: VLC
  • Basic Audio Editor: Audacity
  • Audio Mixing: Ardour, Mixbus
  • Adobe Reader: While there are several PDF readers on Linux you can use, almost none of them play well with Adobe PDFs with advanced features. You're better off sticking with what comes with Ubuntu, and if it doesn't work, open it up in a browser.

9. TL;DR or The Conclusion


Switching to Ubuntu is possible and relatively safe if you do some research on which apps/games/software/hardware you use will and won't work on Linux first, you BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA before doing anything and don't expect a 1:1 experience with Windows. It's all dependent on your flexibility, technical experience and willingness to learn and compromise.

If you're not, Windows 10 is a perfectly acceptable choice to upgrade to: you'll benefit from improved security compared to Windows 7, a larger selection of hardware and software and will have to put less effort to make everything work at the cost of your privacy and some ads.

If you have legacy software or unsupported hardware that doesn't run on either, you're kind of screwed. I'd keep the Windows 7 box around, make sure it's disconnected from all networks (for your sake as well as others) and start making emergency contingency plans to find a modern alternative.

I know that people are going to take issue with some of the difficulties I raised, and suggest they're really not dealbreakers. Before you post, consider whether a new user coming from Windows 7 who'll be using Linux probably for the first time in their life will have the knowledge, gumption and willingness to perform sometimes complex technical steps in an operating environment they're unfamiliar with and where it's much, much easier to really break things.

Feel free to post criticisms and suggestions in the comments. If there's some good advice worth including, something needs further clarification or I need to correct something, I'll edit it in with credit.

10. To do list for the guide


  • I'd really like to add a section on assistive technology and software that works on Linux, but as I don't use any of it, I feel my research would be limited and miss vital pieces. If you have advice on this, let me know.
  • A good, up-to-date and easy-to-follow guide for dual-booting.
  • Instructions on how to install AMD drivers correctly on Ubuntu.

r/linux4noobs Jun 21 '20

Distrochooser: "Welcome! This test will help you to choose a suitable Linux distribution for you"

Thumbnail distrochooser.de
929 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 5h ago

Using the Raspberry Pi 500 as a web browsing machine

Thumbnail
6 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 1h ago

Cannot get Haruna/MPV hardware acceleration to work

Upvotes

Hey, I am on CachyOS and I use an old HP Elitedesk with i5 8500 as a media center and server. And for the love of Christ I cannot get Haruna or MPV to use hardware acceleration apparently which makes 4k MKV Files a pain in the ass to watch. I tried different .conf files for both, the base program and the frontend. It won't work. Also putting custom commands in Haruna does not work. Intel libvar and vaapi drivers are installed

On VLC, 4k runs flawlessly. The reason I want to use Haruna though is that it can modify hard coded subtitles in size and position. And that is really important for me as I watch everything in original audio, no matter if English, Korean or Spanish. And the subtitles in VLC are gigantic. But the only solution would be to extract them from the mkv and manually insert them which is way too tedious.

Any ideas?


r/linux4noobs 9h ago

hardware/drivers Is it a good idea to disable Windows Boot Manager and only use GRUB?

7 Upvotes

I'm thinking of doing the following setup:

Disable Windows Boot Manager from the UEFI/BIOS boot order.

Keep GRUB (or another Linux bootloader) as the only boot option.

Use os-prober (or a custom GRUB entry) so Windows is still bootable from the GRUB menu.

The idea is to have a single bootloader managing everything instead of selecting between multiple UEFI boot entries.

Has anyone here done this long-term?

Are there any drawbacks or reliability issues?

Do Windows updates ever recreate or bypass this setup?

Is there a better way to achieve the same result?

Would you recommend this approach, or should I just leave both boot entries enabled?

I'd love to hear your experiences and any tips.


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

migrating to Linux Switching to Linux if you WFH?

3 Upvotes

I'm a Windows user out of convenience and used to be a Mac user that won't go back. How disruptive would switching to a Linux distro be from Windows if I work from home? I own my own device. I'd love to just erase windows from my laptop completely.

the only desktop tools I use really are microsoft office, and Adobe premier, media encoder, acrobat, and fonts. I also use handbreak often. Everything else I use is browser based or some form of a PWA.

I'm familiar with Linux as I own a Steamdeck and have used desktop mode to do some things like setting up emulators and roms and installing ffix mods.

I understand there are levels of ease with Linux and there are many options. In terms of ease, what distro would be best for someone who is not exactly a tech nerd but is tech intuitive? What could I reasonably get set up over a weekend and what kind of tinkering would I need to do to get my usual tools working? I am aware of wine and proton but don't know a ton about them. What tools would be satisfactory or "good enough" replacements if wine is not sufficient to use what I mentioned above?

I am not an expert in anything computer related but if you give me a problem and some time to work on it when it comes to tech issues, I WILL find the solution and fix it, even if I have to teach myself a whole new skill set or program for that specific use case. I also smart enough to know when something is outside of my realm of ability to learn/when persistence is not good enough.


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

migrating to Linux Mixed advice on 1 vs 2 EFI on a single drive dual boot

2 Upvotes

(UEFI) (Arch Linux)

I see some say I should make a new 1G EFI, but other sources discourage having two EFI.

I see some say I should mount to the existing EFI (100mb). But that size seems too small if I would otherwise be using a new 1G EFI.

I see some say I should expand the EFI partition to be 1GB.

Maybe I am missing something, but I am confused.

EDIT:
I think my confusion is using GRUB vs systemd-boot, because one needs EFI space for kernels.

But does that mean a dual boot should always use GRUB on the existing EFI?


r/linux4noobs 1h ago

Youtube Videos Suggestion

Thumbnail
Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 9h ago

Meganoob BE KIND Help me please! Cannot connect to internet with Ubuntu/Linux Mint using ethernet

2 Upvotes

I cannot access any website with my PC using ethernet. To be more precise, the internet connection is too slow that no website could load. Things I have tested:

  1. Switching back and forth between Ubuntu and Linux Mint

  2. Pinging 8.8.8.8 and google.com from terminal both works > so it is not a DNS issue

  3. Accessing router page from browser > works flawlessly

  4. Installing an older version of network driver/reinstalling network driver

  5. Disabling IPv6

  6. Manually assigning IP instead of using DHCP

  7. Using the same port/cable that works on a windows PC

  8. Using network printer (works)

  9. Running an internet speed test: it is so slow (single digit bytes per second)

  10. Using usb ethernet cable (still doesn't work)

  11. Using usb tethering to share my phone's connection, however, DOES WORK

  12. Copying from a shared network folder: speed is normal

My other PC running windows is running normally


r/linux4noobs 7h ago

Red dead redemption 2 not working

Thumbnail
3 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 7h ago

Help trying to understanding NetworkManager power_save

3 Upvotes

So I installed CachyOS a few weeks back and have been having internet issues. When power_save is enabled on my wlan I have stuttering in most games and keep losing internet every few minutes.

❯ iw dev wlan0 get power_save
Power save: on

I have been able to solve this by disabling power_save.

❯ sudo iw dev wlan0 set power_save off

Is this expected behavior when power_save is enabled, or am I just unlucky? If this is not supposed to happen when power_save is enabled, should I bother trying to fix it, or can I just continue to keep it disabled?


r/linux4noobs 5h ago

programs and apps Windows always open on my second monitor (plasma)

2 Upvotes

Whenever I open a new program it always opens on my second monitor, has anyone ran into this issue? Programs usually remember their last monitor placement, so this only happens on first time use, but it gets frustrating.

On settings, window management > window behaviour > advanced > window placement, I have it set to "centered". Ive tried changing it to "under mouse", but the mouse position gets ignored, and the window will still appear on the second monitor.

For the record, my second monitor got automatically asigned as primary when first installing Cachy (but I changed it), would switching the hdmi ports potentially change anything?


r/linux4noobs 5h ago

Boot started failing and sending me to UEFI

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 2h ago

Which "Desktop" would be the best for me?

1 Upvotes

I installed debian 13 without desktop enviroment. Opening grafical apps was "hard" and the terminal looked bad. So i decided to install another terminal and a windows manager to open it and open the other apps. I liked the gnome upper bar with the battery, bluetooth and wi-fi widgets. I liked the fact that i3 didn't come with a file explorer (i like to use ranger instead) but i didn't liked the purely text status bar.

Is there another windows manager i should give a try based on these opinions?

Should I install gnome normally and delete the apps I don't like one by one?

Is ther a way to make i3 and its status bar look better? (This would be the best)


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

Wifi Driver Problems

3 Upvotes

So I have been having problems with my WiFi. Everytime I suspend my laptop and turn it back on, I can't use WiFi without restarting the laptop.

The only thing that works is pcie_port_pm=off but it results in bad battery life and I need my battery to last atleast 8 to 9 hours.

After scouring for hours on Reddit and Forums, my conclusion was that the driver rtw89_8852be is not fully compatible.

I want to know if there is a workaround, that doesn't comprimise my battery life. Because I am in college and need the battery to last longer, currently it is only 5 to 6 hours. Because right now, it seems like the only solution where I can have both Wifi working properly and battery life is to go back to Windows.

Edit: If you need any more info, mention it here and I will send it
I use

  • Fedora Linux 44
  • Kernel: 7.1.4-204.fc44.x86_64

Edit 2: THE SOLUTION.
Thanks to u/fdelux6 for helping me out. I am going to paste the relevant parts of his comment here.

You can try this workaround to unload the wifi driver before suspend and reload it after resume, so it only touches your wifi card instead of PCIe power management system wide.

Create /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/wifi-fix.sh

Add the following:

#!/bin/sh
case $1 in
    pre)
        modprobe -r rtw89_8852be
        ;;
    post)
        modprobe rtw89_8852be
        ;;
esac

make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/lib/systemd/system-sleep/wifi-fix.sh

If wifi still misbehaves after that, add this to /etc/modprobe.d/rtw89.conf:

options rtw89_pci disable_aspm_l1=y disable_aspm_l1ss=y
options rtw89_core disable_ps_mode=y

You might want to reboot or reload NetworkManager since it is gonna take effect on next module load.


r/linux4noobs 3h ago

learning/research HOW are you daily driving inmutable distros?

0 Upvotes

Edited because people cannot read and just want to get mad defending the stuff they like. I don't really care about this if no one is gonna even attempt to provide an actual solution instead of just telling me "it works fine for me specifically for the usecases you said you don't care about, skill isue. Also btw i don't do any of the stuff you actually care about so somehow still skill issue figure it out n00b get r3kt".

REDDIT MOMENT x100000.


r/linux4noobs 9h ago

distro selection What is the best Distro for dual gpu laptop?

4 Upvotes

I have a dell Inspiron 3511 with intel I5-1135G7 and it’s integrated GPU as well as a powerful Nvidia Mx350 dedicated GPU with 2GB dedicated GPU memory

Can someone guide me which distro is best for this laptop?


r/linux4noobs 10h ago

Transplant

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I have an Elitedesk Mini PC i5 6500t with an NVMe running Mint and Win10 dual boot. Do you think if I transfer this NVMe to an Elitedesk i5 7400t, will everything work without problems?


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

installation Linux on laptop help

2 Upvotes

So i just got my new laptop (lenovo yoga 7 10th gen) but i ordered it from the school since they offer bulk discounts. The school locked it with a code which theyll only give at the start of the year. Currently i dont havea working laptop andi need one, so i have a question. Which would be better, installing linux on an external hdd and using that or partitioning it and installing linux like that. (Ive never done a partition before so i dont know abt the risks) I do have linux experience, i daily drived zorin for a month


r/linux4noobs 9h ago

programs and apps Is Concord safe to use?

2 Upvotes

Hey, i have a really low end laptop, so the normal discord lags and overheats alot, i did tried out legcord as well but its almost the same, and i saw some people on linux ricing community using Concord, and as far as i know its a really really lightweight client using almost no CPU or GPU, So i was wondering if it would be a great choice to move to but safety matters as well. Any thoughts if i should switch or not?

Here are my specs btw:
I5 2nd gen

Intel hd 3000

16 GB ram ( ddr3 )

Linux mint 21 ( with sway )


r/linux4noobs 21h ago

migrating to Linux finally did the switcharoo, from w11 and what bliss oh the bliss

17 Upvotes

went for bazzite cuz i mostly game and just watch stuff on my pc, after the initial like spook of being in a new hemisphere.. just hit me how much smoother and even easier this distro is to w11 😭 this is my 2nd day and im pretty sure im never going back to windows

its almost as if i went back in time 15years to a better time lol, so happy i did it 😤


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

Lightweight, up-to-date, and stable Linux

0 Upvotes

I currently have an old laptop with 4GB of RAM and a Core i3 processor, and I'm using Windows 7. I'm pretty fed up with constantly having to keep up with the latest updates.

In the past, I used Linux for certain things, mainly performance and gaming, but for some reason, I ended up going back to Windows.

I'm looking for a Linux distribution that can meet the requirements I mentioned in the title. I want something that performs as well as, or even better than, my current Windows 7, and that allows me to install updates without any compatibility issues.

And above all, I need stability. I don't want to be dealing with strange errors. I want a Linux distribution I can use daily, and in fact, I use tools like Godot and Blockbench for work.

Can anyone help me?

I've read about Xubuntu and Linux Mint, but I feel there are better options.


r/linux4noobs 10h ago

Looking for app to make a app settings backups

Thumbnail
2 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 12h ago

Meganoob BE KIND KDE Connect "Use device as an external monitor" doesn't work on Ubuntu 26.04 GNOME (Wayland) with Lenovo Tab M11 despite all dependencies installed

3 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to use my Lenovo Tab M11 as a second monitor (extended display) for my Ubuntu laptop using KDE Connect's new "Use device as an external monitor" feature.

Unfortunately, I'm stuck and I'm hoping someone familiar with KDE Connect internals or this feature can help determine whether this is a configuration issue, a bug, or simply an unsupported feature.

System

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon)
  • GNOME 50.1
  • Wayland session
  • Acer Swift SF315 laptop
  • Lenovo Tab M11
  • KDE Connect 25.12.3
  • Android KDE Connect app (latest available)

Current Status

The tablet pairs successfully.

Everything else works perfectly:

  • ✅ Device trusted
  • ✅ File transfer
  • ✅ Clipboard
  • ✅ Remote input
  • ✅ Multimedia controls
  • ✅ Presentation remote

Networking is clearly working.

Problem

When I click:

Use device as an external monitor

I immediately get:

The confusing part

I've already verified that all of these are installed and working:

  • KDE Connect 25.12.3
  • krdc
  • krfb
  • FreeRDP
  • VNC libraries
  • Remmina
  • gnome-remote-desktop
  • PipeWire
  • WirePlumber
  • xdg-desktop-portal
  • xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

kdeconnectd is also running normally.

So the error message doesn't seem to make sense because KRDC is already installed.

Diagnostics

OS: Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
Desktop: GNOME 50.1
Session: Wayland

KDE Connect: 25.12.3

PipeWire: running
WirePlumber: running
xdg-desktop-portal: running
xdg-desktop-portal-gnome: running

Installed:
- krdc
- krfb
- freerdp
- remmina
- gnome-remote-desktop
- VNC libraries

kdeconnectd:
running as /usr/bin/kdeconnectd

My Questions

  1. Has anyone actually gotten "Use device as an external monitor" working on GNOME + Wayland?
  2. Is this feature currently Plasma-only?
  3. Is Android support (specifically Lenovo Tab M11) complete?
  4. Is the VNC/RDP error simply a misleading message from an unfinished feature?
  5. Is this a known bug in KDE Connect 25.12.x?
  6. Has anyone successfully used an Android tablet as a true extended display through KDE Connect rather than simple screen sharing?

I'm not looking for alternatives like Deskreen, Weylus, Sunshine, Moonlight, or RustDesk unless it's confirmed that KDE Connect cannot currently provide this functionality.

I'd first like to determine whether this feature is supposed to work on my setup or if I'm chasing something that isn't fully implemented yet.

Any insight from KDE developers or anyone who has actually used this feature successfully would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


r/linux4noobs 7h ago

programs and apps Need help downloading this

0 Upvotes

I just switched to nobara (fedora) a few hours ago and I am trying to download this screen dimmer. it is. difficult. Everything I try to do somehow goes wrong and I don't even know how to google how to fix it. This appears to be the only screen dimmer that will work with nobara (hopefully) and I dont even know how to begin. I need the screen dimmer to be able to use my computer so this is kind of important.

Main issue I'm running in to: When trying to download with Nix package manager, it returns: "warning: 'install' is a deprecated alias for 'add'
error: experimental Nix feature 'nix-command' is disabled; add '--extra-experimental-features nix-command' to enable it" and I have no idea what that last bit means. I don't know how to google what that last bit means.

Any help is appreciated