this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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I use Arch btw
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As an avid user who has primarily used Windows and Linux only for recovery purposes when Windows goes tits up , I've been playing with Nobara and Linux mint on a small 180gb SSD and I'm intimidated by the terminal knowledge that is needed when things don't go right .
I also have a steam deck so technically I've been playing with arch btw
As opposed to the trial and error required when things don't go right on Windows? :)
Let's be honest to ourselves - for more complex problems, we'd be pretty much dead in the water without an internet search engine on either system. However, on Linux, at least you can do failure tree isolation relatively systematic: narrow the issue down, and eventually fix it (or find out it's not fixable, e.g. certain driver compatibility for specific hardware). For windows, it's mostly trial and error until you find "the right solution". Rarely is there any good resource for narrowing your problem down, mostly because of the absence of good advice for terminal commands, or because each windows version shuffles settings around to a new place / config file and holds duplicates and triplicates of settings god-knows-where.
I remember back in the 2000s when I tried to isolate a problem this never worked out. Too vague, too little understanding of what's what. If it wasn't for the help of one more experienced user in our campus, I would've given up pretty soon.
I hope things are better now, as I haven't been using Linux for quite some time and consider going back but this time there will be no one to ask
Things are MUCH better. You will still need the occasional help / web research, but at least you get a working system out of the box, with graphical desktop environment and - typically - network (even wifi) and 3d acceleration working right away. Disclaimer: Your best bet for a distribution to get started is one that includes non-GPL compatible firmware (Linux Mint I believe is best, ubuntu may also work). Also, not all graphics chipsets work quite as well out of the box. I believe right now AMD is best, however, nvidia provides drivers for linux (that "taint" the kernel), if you need that for gaming.
Steam works fine and gaming is only limited by the titles that don't run even on the proton (windows compatibility) tool. A respectable amount of titles are even released natively for Linux / SteamOS.
Now you have the internet and arch wiki.
The internet was already present then. The Arch wiki though…
Well, I'll just hope things are better now and give it a go
I don't feel like the Linux communities were really a friendly space in the early 2000s. And the Ubuntu forums felt like they became powerful in 2010. I played around with Linux briefly in 2005 and felt like there wasn't much support for solving certain issues.
And when in doubt, ask chatgpt. It may give you a wrong answer but it can point you in the right direction.
And you can always send me a question if you run up against something. I'm not an expert by any means but I've made it my daily driver for a couple years now.
What ever do you mean, isn't it obvious to just navigate here : "/HKEY/current_user/sytem/reg/software/currrent_version/microsoft/explorer/advanced/pleasedontfkmymom" and set that to 1?!? as well as the 3-4 other very similar looking places.
g
An now on a toilet break after trying to fix a permission problem with a local network NAS. I am so fed up with all the (u)mounting, users/groups, chmod/chown and so on, as I am now 3 hours in to it.
Yes, on windows its a trial and error with two ir three checkboxes, done in a few minutes or half an hour. The terminal-knowledge mentionned is definitely a big thing, even with modern distros like Linux Mint I am using right now
My experience was that I was done in a free minutes or half an hour, but, crucially, the problem wasn't fixed. I had very meager options, and I'd exhausted all of them. In a Linux system, it might take longer, but at least I have the confidence that it can be fixed.
Local Network NAS is not something that the typical user that just scrolls memes on a browser and occasionally edits a document has to face. Setting that up on a Windows machine is just as convoluted on the permission side, but instead of writing neat commands, you have to hunt for buttons on nested upon nested settings dialogs that make no sense and don't follow any logical structure anymore.
I'm pretty computer stupid. Been using Linux for 4 years now. Used the terminal to some extent, but I've only needed it for specific things and my day to day doesn't need it at all. Just dive in.