6 Things to Know When Switching to Linux from Windows

[@ChrisTitusTech]

Check out my entire Windows Tips and Tricks Playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PLc7fktTRMBox4cnUiShLPKg_-em5MJNP1

[@doyou4133]

stop making spam videos ( you think you are great and such but you are the same as the rest of them lowlifers that trick and spam )

[@h20k98]

im not sure cuz maybe i will kill my 4 tb hard drive

[@gregorydunks]

When I dual booted to Linux, I found my self in the console and accidentally deleted my windows partition. So I fell in love with Linux :)

[@CallSignJammer]

Happy Accident.

[@Rohit.SkycladObserver]

@@omkarsurve4287 Ok I'm scared now I have Arch on a VM and am thinking of dual booting. Let's hope there are no 'Accidents'.

[@hariranormal5584]

Rohit Sharma Gotta be careful to not delete your main partation. Scared? Buy a cheap second hand lappy or a PC and try this on there

[@Rohit.SkycladObserver]

@@hariranormal5584 I have a laptop somewhere guess I'll install Arch in there.

[@fawzanfawzi9993]

I once tried to dual boot linux on my old laptop and I accidentally deleted everything on the hard drive. Now, the hard drive is my portable hard drive.

[@FrDismasSayreOP]

Also, as a new user on forums, don't act like it's paid tech support. It's basically a lot of volunteers, doing it out of love and belief in the project, and want to help. Be grateful and thankful! :)

[@msfullroller]

LOVE this comment!!!

[@stromboli183]

And the best thing is: these forums and communities with volunteers offer MUCH better help and assistance than most paid tech support (especially Microsoft’s).

[@baruchben-david4196]

Right. Just common courtesy... Very important.

[@simonestarace5249]

If it's helping I'm happy about it. If it's to treat a person like shit then I prefer to avoid help.

[@microsf121]

@@stromboli183 That's just not true. I've never been mocked for my choice of distribution in a Microsoft help forum, nor directed to a wiki article and told to "read."

[@ufoludek]

There are not forced updates you have to do, this is enough to switch. Edit: Damn, I just noticed I have 200+ likes... thanks to everyone :) P.S. BTW I use Arch.

[@ChrisTitusTech]

This ×1000

[@naumsei6221]

@*Heretic They don't run with DXVK on Lutris?

[@ufoludek]

@*Heretic what games?

[@peterjansen4826]

Welcome to the better operating system. Seriously though, it is better than Windows in many ways and there is a lot of good FOSS software in the repositories and on Github. Often it performs better, if it doesn't then there is something wrong in that distro for your hardware, I had that happen and I solved it. You will like it and if you need to dual boot for gaming, no problem, use it for the rest for a few months and you don't want to go back to Windows. For Chris it only took a few weeks. But you might need some time to get used to it and find a distro and desktop (mostly the desktop) which fits with you.

[@peterjansen4826]

On the topic of gaming, anti-cheat and DRM are the problems, not the games themselves. Around 1/3 to 1/2 of my Steam library runs natively on Linux, the vast majority of all games can run fine on Linux with some work. For that you should dual-boot or run PCIe-passthrough. Most of the time that most of us use the computer we don't game so rebooting for when you have a 1-3 hour gaming session or whatever, is not a problem in my book. Even though the booting into Windows is painfully slow compared to the booting into Linux which makes me appreciate Linux more.

[@digitalsparky]

Rule #1: There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

[@kyliestaraway2492]

Well.. I have a question..... Proceeds to add no information whatsoever and doesn't react to anything. I don't get this code. No code whatsoever.

[@leysont]

@@kyliestaraway2492 Proceeds to mark your question as duplicate despite it clearly being unique.

[@seres1]

is mayonaise an instrument?

[@criostasis]

@@seres1 Mayonnaise can be an instrument of death 🥸😂

[@mistadude]

@@seres1 Short answer: yes

[@DStein22]

For those still hesitating to switch to Linux, just dual boot

[@9and7]

If you have both on your comp both W7 and Linux are you susceptible to viruses?

[@tonyme7426]

Jezus, welcome to 2001. Just use virtual machines.

[@DStein22]

@@9and7 of course not

[@9and7]

thank you

[@georgek4416]

V M

[@zeocamo]

New users get scare of the terminal .. i will talk do not .. in the start you do not need to use it .. after some time it will be your best friend

[@TechTimeWithEric]

I was not really afraid, but annoyed by the terminal at first. But now I use it all the time.

[@mitchelvalentino1569]

Donald Mickunas This is a really good point. Man pages are useless if you don’t understand the basics. And Linux man pages are very hit-or-miss. Unix (Solaris, OpenBSD, AIX, etc) man pages are usually spectacular. The knee-jerk reaction to study the man pages is a holdover from Unix. But Unix man pages are superior, and the people using Unix already have a foundational understanding of the OS. New Linux users can get easily confused by the man pages, and it’s not always their ignorance. Some Linux man pages are downright confusing, even for experienced Linux users.

[@amanangah7390]

True it is a nightmare for new users to use terminal

[@1pcfred]

pfred1@five:~$ aptitude show synaptic Package: synaptic Version: 0.84.2 State: not installed

[@tihomirrasperic]

I was thrilled when found that you can as root in terminal type "nautilus" and all become simple or even better then in Windows ;)

[@AUGUSTINEMINH]

0:21 1. Linux is different from windows 1:33 2. Don't focus on distribution 3:18 3. Misinformation in Old Linux Forum 4:03 4. Great communities on Linux 4:41 5. "Unique" Personalities 7:06 6. Free and open software

[@lady33357]

what does distribution mean?

[@Stalthdan]

@@lady33357 Do you know how Samsung and Huawei (for example) phones both run Android, but they feel very different, because the interface is slightly different and they have different apps preinstalled? That's kind of what Linux distributions are.

[@henriksegercrantz362]

Does Microsoft realize how many customers they are going to loose by ending the upgrades of Windows 7. No? Never mind. I will become a full time Linux user.

[@pw1187]

Honestly, some 7 users might switch to linux....but vast majority will just go to 10...... And business that are on 7 yes they are out there will go 10....

[@ChrisTitusTech]

They are even actively trying to sabotage Windows 7. Its just sad that Microsoft has fallen so far.

[@1pcfred]

That's what many say. Now let's see if you don't go running kicking and screaming.

[@Appalling68]

Chris Titus Tech Hey Chris. Wow, I wish you would elaborate a little on that post.

[@ChrisTitusTech]

@@Appalling68 oh that is something I need to make into a video

[@oftheotherside5661]

No joke. This guy should really do audiobooks. His voice is really nice and soothing.

[@victornikolov537]

You forgot to mention the file system. That there is no C: or D: drive and everrything is a file.

[@katech6020]

And also linux uses / because they think forward. But windows uses \ because they think backwards

[@einat1622]

That is something I dislike and to this day not very good at parting, and I've been using different Linux os since windows XP kicked the bucket.

[@leysont]

@@einat1622 It is confusing at the beginning no doubt, but the only problems I have with drives is that you have to edit /etc/fstab manually to mount drives at boot (except for Gnome; it has a tool. (So does KDE but this option doesn't work?)) I particularly like the mounting system. It's great to be able to just turn any directory into a different drive. On Windows you have to set the install path for every program and go into the deep settings to alter the location of you user data. On Linux you can just mount a drive at /home. Done. Also, remembering what drive has what letter has always been a problem for me, eapecially for removable media. I have my secondary drive mounted at /data so no weird letters to memorise.

[@einat1622]

@@leysont Not sure what you meant by "mount at boot" (I use the boot menu in the Bios). For mounting external hard drives \flash drives "plug & play" works the same as windows in most Linux OS . Kubuntu is KDE and it's the same. I guess it's just a matter of getting used to a different system at first.

[@DeveshKhare89]

@@katech6020 aah that's such a good way to remember it!

[@todddelozier8172]

I feel like the Raspberry Pi helped bring more people to Linux. That's how I started.

[@owenlennon2668]

Me too

[@BaliHouseMafia]

I got really into the raspberry pi. Made a touch screen android tablet out of it. I want to try out linux after using the pi.

[@arfarfarf256]

Yup. Messing around with retropie and raspian was the gateway. Switching from windows 10 to linux mint soon.

[@sofasniperman]

Same here. I started with setting up a minecraft server on my pi, and configuring that introduced me to the command line. Now I have a web server running on the pi, and I gained so much knowledge from my pi, such as bash commands and stuff

[@CallSignJammer]

Same here! They're a bit underpowered but great first exposure. After my first Pi I went with a $65 eBay Dell Latitude 2100. It was previously a student laptop (pre-chromebook). The battery was in good shape, I just wiped ole Windows7 and installed Linux Mint. Its a sick little machine! My 6 year old daughter is learning to type on it. Next I'm gonna do something just as compact and cool and run Fedora for what I'm learning in my network engineering certs.

[@gaffclant]

#1: Linux is better. #2: there is no “admin” that stops you #3: sudo super user everything.

[@jezzermeii]

The one thing that I wish I knew before switching to Linux from Windows is that Linux existed in the first place. If I had always known that Linux existed, I would always have used it! Still, better late than never. :)

[@champfisk5613]

Windows is far superior to Linux for desktop use

[@jezzermeii]

@@champfisk5613 I don't know if it's really possible to quantify how superior one desktop environment is to another, when each desktop environment caters to the needs of very different people. I think the Windows desktop environment is great for: 1) those who have only ever experienced Windows, 2) those who want something that works out of the box and requires no tweaking, 3) eye candy. When it comes to Linux, there are many ways where you can get a desktop environment that is comparable or even supersedes the design of the Windows desktop environment, but this takes a lot of different applications and tweaking. All of the applications that I'd ever want, for me (not for everyone), is available on Linux and Linux as a base is rock solid and secure. For me, that made the trade off of having to tweak around a bit with the UI, to get it to my liking, much less of a drawback. :) Thanks for sharing your opinion! :D As is often said, to each their own. :)

[@champfisk5613]

@@jezzermeii I like your analysis, but tweaking equals time and time is finite. Need personally I like doing other things besides tweaking settings when it comes out of box on windows and Mac. I like to think I am more technical than the average user, but at the same time the opportunity cost is too much for me to spend time tweaking nowadays. Thanks for your thoughts

[@jezzermeii]

@@champfisk5613 I completely respect that opinion, most definitely. :) Take care and enjoy!

[@nigratruo]

@@champfisk5613 that is not my experience if the last 10 years of Linux use, so we disagree there, but I leave you your opinion.

[@RexAlfieLee]

Being older & having used Linux over 2 decades now, basically I'm pretty old, those belittlers of noobs are just wankers. I used to have to teach others to use Word & Excel so I'm used to noobs & remember when I started myself...

[@PoeLemic]

Rex: {Same comment as to above guy ...} Glad that there are more people like you in the Linux community now. I tried to enter it years ago, but I kept feeling like a big Noob. So, I gave up back then, but then (in my day), there wasn't Mint and similar distros that were so favorable to new entrants. It feels like to me that Linux has went mainstream now. Yeah, I've taught basic computer courses, and I do my best to make newbies feel welcomed. I want them to learn and build their skills. Like you said, we were all Noobs once.

[@ragnarok7976]

Good on you. No point in being a pro if you can't articulate the value of your skills to others!

[@RexAlfieLee]

@@ragnarok7976 just not into devaluing those who are new to something because at one stage we all were

[@themaggattack]

@@PoeLemic Same here. I gave up years ago bc of all the wankers. It seems like a much less wanker-ish environment now adays.

[@poelemic3642]

@@themaggattack Yeah, when I tried to learn in school, man, people really stomped on you for being a NOOB. And, it was so difficult to learn, because there just weren't good resources. Or, the ones that I found were overtly complicated and turned me off, because it seemed to take ten times the effort to do the simpliest things in Fedora as it did in Windows. So, I stick with Microsoft until recently, as I am considering jumping ship. Since Mint is so well-developed and looks so much easier to use now -- especially with great teachers like Chris Titus and Joe Collins.

[@yveslegault6825]

You can update the whole PC with one command... When you want it... Only what you want... Most often without having to cycle through a restart of the machine. And, generally, updates are done within few minutes. 4 things Windowas still can't do after over 40 years in the field of OS development.

[@dvorakmortonxd]

jeez I thought it was code because of those tab that im so used to lmao. youre right lol. I use linux because of customisation and because I just like how it works. but the update thing is good too. I remember when I had online classes while using windows I had to join with mobile to online classes and after 4 hours that the classes ended. It finished updating. like right after the teacher was saying goodbye to everyone lmfao.

[@HeyWiseGuy]

You bring a lot of calm and sense when explaining Linux to us Windows users. I'm inclined to install Linux Mint or PopOS in a partition of my laptop and give it a go.

[@soham7510]

How was your experience? Hope you liked it

[@HeyWiseGuy]

@@soham7510 Sorry it took so long to comment. I withdrew from the idea of installing Linux in the same partition with Windows. My retired IBM software engineer friend says both operating systems act in adversarial ways with the other. Even thought of adding a second NVMe stick to my laptop but gave up on that when it was never resolved that the BIOS would accept a second drive. So to compensate, I bought a Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook. When I'm able to install VM ware plus Windows 10 (and a Windows-only piece of software) on that Chromebook, I'll convert the older laptop to a Linux-based device. After exhaustive research, weighing the pros and cons, I came to the conclusion that Manjaro Cinnamon is the OS for me.

[@soham7510]

@@HeyWiseGuy that's great, hope you'll have a great experience

[@surfingnet6123]

@@HeyWiseGuyupdates please

[@linuxgoddess6753]

I have this computer game from 2000 that I could never get to run on windows 10 but works on wine on Ubuntu 19. And the game was design for windows only!

[@cha0s725]

what was the game? lol

[@CrazyCat229]

I found it funny mu linux box was acting funny... clamcked it it was all windows x86 viruses infecting the windows software I ported.... 🤣

[@Lestibournes]

The Ubuntu version numbers are the year and month of release. So you're either using Ubuntu 19.04 which was released in April 2019 or Ubuntu 19.10 which was released in October 2019. The next release is Ubuntu 20.04 which will be released in April 2020. Also, April releases on even-numbered years are LTS - Long Term Support, so they receive updates for 5 years instead of the usual 9 months.

[@mihxqvi7288]

You could have tried to run compatibility settings.

[@fosty.]

What game?

[@HarmonicaMustang]

One thing that has kept me away initially is that I thought it is a requirement to know how to program or learn Linux before switching. I was afraid that I'd have to compile the kernel from source and build a desktop environment myself when I first install it (basically build my operating system before I can use it). That is not the case at all; most distros have graphical installers that guide you through the process step by step, and for most technical options (such as disk partitioning) you can select the default/recommended settings and have a fully working system in less than 15 minutes. Although you can customise and tweak pretty much every aspect to your taste, it is not a requirement. As long as you're open to learn about your system, you can achieve anything in Linux. And don't be afraid of the terminal. It looks intimidating and complicated, but it's one of the most powerful tools you have at your disposal in a Linux system. Sure, you can screw your system up hard if you type in the right command, but by following a few basic rules and retaining common sense you can achieve anything and more through the terminal than you would through the graphical user interface.

[@stolensentience]

Can I get Winamp to work on it

[@OnlyHerculean]

I first read "to switch from Linux to Windows" 😂 And my first thought was: "why would anybody consider that, if not for gaming" 😂😂

[@rakib5756]

i sort of did that for some compatibility issues and the time when i installed linux (kde neon to be exact) i had only one device and not even a phone to check some problems i ran into .... but i am switching back again for incompitibility of windows now... wish me luck🤣🤣

[@gaffclant]

Yeah I have Linux, but I’m gonna get a windows pc for gaming so that I can keep my laptop on Linux for programming.

[@saminatariq4628]

I just switched from mint to win7. Because of game compatibility. P.S the terminal is conplicated

[@coltrop3038]

even for gaming you can either use dualboot or use a vm lmao

[@TSMSnation]

I like how you answered your own question as you where asking it 😅😅😅😃😅😃😛😛😅😛

[@bubblineyuri]

Another thing to mention: The major problem Linux has that 4chan memsters that shout "just use arch" are actually drawing many potential users away. People will try and use Arch or Gentoo, get confused, give up and end up with Windows again.

[@utai4571]

the funny thing for is i suck at linux, but after years and years of distro change, i never liked one enough to keep using linux until i found out about arch, and i loved it! It even seemed easier to use for me than any other distro, maybe i'm just weird but i really like arch.

[@khai96x]

​@John Smith Ironic, you could save others from elitism, but not yourself. BTW, I use Arch.

[@1pcfred]

Yeah they should say use Linux From Scratch! Arch is for rubes.

[@aprilnguyens]

I think the biggest hurdle is when a person buys a new PC, Windows comes installed and for many, it's like, "Meh, it works...." I would imagine if PCs came with no OS installed, you'd find Linux on a lot more of them.

[@aprilnguyens]

@@khai96x Arch is awesome.

[@extremelydave]

You've got the best Linux vlog out there Chris. Extremely user friendly.

[@LtSich]

Thx for all your work to bring and support new users on Linux :)

[@xnonsuchx]

"When I first came onto Linux..." C'mon! It's not THAT exciting. ;-)

[@ChrisTitusTech]

You obviously don't install the same programs as me 😀

[@Justthe2ofUs843]

I just switched to Linux Mint a few days ago. I feel Like I am driving my own car versus some one else. Thanks for your videos, they have been very helpful.

[@MultiUltimater]

For those considering dual-boot, I had a great experience with it at first but then I started noticing its shortcomings. As someone that goes back and forth between Ubuntu, Windows and Mac, let me point out a few things. First off, a dual-boot means you'd need to have a separate drive or create a partition on your existing drive for the new operating system to exist. Between Mac, Windows, and Linux, there's not an ideal format that works well between all three since Windows has specialized formats (NTFS) and Mac has specialized formats (HFS). If you need something that will work on all three, there's the ANCIENT format known as FAT32 (very old with with 4GB file size limits and MUCH slower) which is a terrible choice that would work cross-operating system, or there's the much better alternative exFAT (more modern, faster, and virtually unlimited file sizes: 16EB). The ideal disk format is probably exFAT as it's been gaining very good support in recent years on Windows, Linux, Mac, and even some iOS and android devices. If you have trouble with exFAT, you probably have an update/upgrade available. You should also question your need for multiple operating systems to begin with. If you want to move over to Linux entirely, and you're stuck on Windows for something like Microsoft Word which is only available to Mac and Windows, not Linux, keep in mind there's web-based alternatives for programs like Outlook, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint through Microsoft 365. If you're still considering a Windows/Linux dual-boot, you should also consider the following options: 1) Multiple physical desktops all connected to the same monitor(s), keyboard, and mouse and use a Switcher to switch between them with a keyboard command like ctrl+ctrl+1 and ctrl+ctrl+2. This set-up is pretty neat and worked for me many years ago, but it has its shortcomings like being able to access something on one computer through the other, and copy-pasting between them. It also can be bulky to have two physical computers side-by-side. It can also become confusing which computer you're using... 2) Much easier is a big duh, which is just have two separate computers entirely. 3) Another good alternative is embracing Mac instead of a either Windows or Linux. When you meet with big tech people, it's almost all Macs... With Mac you get support for almost all programs you'd expect to be available to Windows. And unlike Windows, Mac is Unix-based so you'd get a lot of the capabilities you'd expect from Linux. It's a win-win in many regards, although technically neither Windows nor Linux. 4) One of the best modern solutions is setting up a Virtual Machine. Choose either Windows or your Linux disto to be your main operating system. Then set up something like VirtualBox, and install the other operating system inside it. If you do this with WIndows, do make sure to copy-down your Windows Key so you're able to install it in your Virtual Machine. If you do decide on a Windows/Linux dual-boot, here's my experience with it: 1) It's a bit hacky to partition the hard drive allocate, taking away from the experience of both operating system, and in my case both OS got slower, and the hard drive much noisier. 2) Windows likes to update often. If you come back to Windows after being on Linux for a long time, you'll have a high chance of coming back to an update. If you're stuck updating, you'll also be locking down Linux. This is a terrible situation to fall into, especially if you have a deadline. There's no telling Windows "not now". Also there will be booting options, and you can boot into the less prefered operating system if you're not fast enough. This can happy if you you're updating either operating system and it reboots while you're in the other room... 3) Date/time. The two operating systems have different ways of keeping track of the date and time. You'll notice the time is wrong when switching operating systems, and when you switch back, it's wrong again. It requires some adjustments to get the two operating systems to track the date and time in the same manner to avoid this issue. 4) Disk formatting issues that prevent one OS from interacting with the other. Looking back, money-wise and space-wise, it was worth it. Since then, I've essentially moved onto a different computer entirely, and now embracing Mac. As much as I dislike it's Mac's interface compared to WIndows or Ubuntu, the OS isn't that bad once you get used to it and learn the Mac way of doing things. Since going Mac, I can feel like I don't have to go back and forth between operating systems anymore. I still use Ubuntu at work because I'm just that much more productive navigating around on Ubuntu than I am on Mac. My main issues with Mac comes down to: 1) Missing home and end keys for most? Macs, and inconsistent support for this functionality between programs. Command+left/right work well in some applications like Chrome but not Terminal. Then there's Control+A and Control+E which seems to be much more better supported and works in Terminal, but these keystrokes are very far apart and feels like a terrible replacement for Windows' simple Home/End keys. Kind in mind there's also FN+left/right for page up/down functionality, and FN Delete for the PC-like forward delete. (Mac's "delete" key is actually Windows' backspace.) 2) Alt+tab. On mac alt+tab switches between open windows, but they can't be maximized, and it doesn't let you switch between opened windows of the same program group like two different opened Chrome windows. On Window or Linux distros e.g. Ubuntu, the alt+tab works much more consistently for navigating between applications without getting stuck in states which prevent navigating around. 3) Brew commands can be slow and package maintainers can abandon your operating system version and cause a snowball effect I don't want to say I'm better on Windows than on Mac though. All those Windows updates, I need to be able to have the operating system respect me regarding how I want to update and when, not a surprise update or forced update as I boot which I can't get out of. The lack of Unix-like support and inability to compile stuff in a Unix-manner makes the installation process on Windows much wrose where an already-compiled program needs to be grabbed. There's no apt/yum package manager to easily install stuff. Windows has been getting better about this in recent years with chocolatey, which must be installed. But it's rather late to the party. There's also Windows Powershell but it's very different from Bash... Having to install something like GitBash on windows makes no sense that Windows doesn't come with Unix features pre-installed. Even running the CLI as Administrator vs Unix's sudo has its impact on scripting... Some closing advice for Linux: 1) Be VERY careful with ANY recursive command you run on terminal. Anything like recursively moving permissions, ownership, renaming, moving, or deleting can have CATASTROPHIC consequences. 2) The command ctrl+c is a MUST HAVE to know. This can abort a command and it can also minimize damage if you accidentally run a destructive command. 3) Another good terminal friend is tab. It can autocomplete your command and save you much time if you type part of a file name and it can autocomplete it for you. 4) Another word of caution is when you're installing, updating, and cleaning. Your choice of drivers affects the stability of your experience. There's settings where you can choose your driver preferences to help you tune for better performance or away from issues. 5) Also keep a USB flash drive around with your choice of Linux on it in case you need to be able to boot and access stuff in the event you can't boot properly following an update of some sort. Finally, be VERY careful with auto-cleaning. I've ran into issues with this where I frequently go back and forth between different configurations, and autoclean removed the ones I had disabled rather than keep both available. I had to reinstall it... 6) Also keep in mind you can have multiple drivers active at once. If a program supports Ubuntu 16, for example, but hasn't yet rolled out a release for Ubuntu 18, you can actually install the Ubuntu 16 driver and successfully install the program you need which doesn't yet support your operating system version. I'll leave you all with a closing quote about regarding Unix philosophy: "Do One Thing And Do It Well"

[@mehakbatra6194]

It's a long and nice comment

[@servantofallah6734]

is this a comment ? or ...........

[@servantofallah6734]

@@blahblah5603 🤪LOL

[@peterjansen4826]

I also don't tolerate any Linux-snobism. You do that in my presence and I will open my mouth.

[@Gaming_Biker]

The snobism is exactly why I stopped looking into Linux as a possibility about 3 or 4 years ago too, like Chris mentioned in his own experience. I didn't believe most were like that, but it made it very difficult to get any type of reasonable answers, so I just bit the bullet & stuck w/ Windows. Probably would've saved me a few Windows licenses worth of $$, if that didn't happen. I'm so excited that Linux is moving into the gaming arena more so than before as well. This is literally the only reason I've stuck w/ Windows for so long, outside of snobism.

[@peterjansen4826]

@@Gaming_Biker I can understand that. I had the same experience (have been dipping my toes in Linux before Mint existed, at first Ubuntu), it still is a problem in a lot of Linux communities where the snobs are more concentrated and newcomers don't come but KZbin and possibly Reddit have opened it up a lot more. What distro and desktop do you use now?

[@Gaming_Biker]

@@peterjansen4826 I've been using Mint Cinnamon on my dated laptop, but I've been playing around w/ different distros using VirtualBox. So far I've played w/ Ubuntu, Mint, openSUSE, & Debian 9. Haven't done a whole lot since the Terminal is just strange to me, especially switching between distros. However, I feel that my limitation currently is mostly using Terminal & of how fundamentally different, logically speaking, Linux & Windows are from each other. Just so used to the Windows environment.

[@Gaming_Biker]

@John Smith At the time, I had absolutely no concept of programming & would prefer to stay away from having to write code/scripts if I don't have to. Sorry, more of a hardware than software guy. However, my issue wasn't because I wanted to morph Linux into a Windows like system, it was because I was asking to do basic things in Terminal & the snobs said I shouldn't be asking things like that because I should know it before coming over to Linux. Idk about anyone else, but that is completely counterintuitive to me, so I played around w/ the graphic interface & decided that it was easier to just stay w/ Windows than deal w/ crappy people at the time. Again, I didn't believe everyone was that way, but first impressions mean more than most people realize. It was an Ubuntu forum that I ran into this btw.

[@khai96x]

But what if I tell you that I use Arch BTW?

[@jmaxton]

Thank you Chris! Like you, I am an I.T. administrator in Windows (for 20 years). I looked into Linux about 15 to 20 years ago, but it was too confusing at the time, and there was not much help from the community. Now, with people like you and others on KZbin, it's a whole different ball game. With Windows 10 betraying their customer base and selling them out with things like bloatware, spyware, and telemetry and removing functionality, I'm fed up! Your videos have inspired me to switch my home system to Linux. It's good to have your explanations to lead the way.

[@MikeDragon]

After decades of using Windows and being happy with it, as the time I will be forced to abandon my beloved Windows 7 in favor of Windows 10 comes closer, I have become more and more open to the possibility of migrating to Linux, instead. Been toying with it on a VM for a few years now and even got Ubuntu installed on a separate hard drive on my second PC. I'm still a big newbie to this ecosystem and have a lot to learn, but even with all I have learned so far, I still run into one major issue that I fear could limit my choice of OS to migrate to: Compatibility. Linux has many alternatives to the programs I am used to on Windows, I still could not find the definitive alternatives to continue all the stuff I do on Windows, on Linux, as well as I do them on Windows, if at all. :( And I am not even going to mention gaming. That's less of a hassle on Linux nowadays, but it's still a bit of a chore in many cases. Honestly, the more I use and service Windows 10 (I'm a computer technician), the more I dislike it. I'm a point where I'd rather go back to Windows 2000 or migrate to ReactOS instead of Windows 10, when the time to abandon Windows 7 comes. The problem is that one is too outdated and the other is too incomplete and as I have just mentioned, Linux still doesn't support all my needs. :\ Windows 7, by all accounts, is still a fantastic OS and I dare say, that even though it is so much older than 10, it's still leaps ahead of it. If Microsoft had made Windows 10 be like 7, just adding in the new features, it would not be so bad, but what they have been doing with it is take everything that was good about 7, throw it away, replace with cumbersome alternatives while not replacing some at all and then adding some new half-assed features on top. Take Safe Mode as an example. What was the need to remove the easy access we had to it? What could possibly justify that choice? And that is, of course, just one of the way too many bad changes they have made to the system. And now they are forcibly killing Windows 7 to force users into 10. They *know* that Windows 10 still has large rejection and that if they don't do something, Windows 7 will become the new Windows XP. Which to me, it already is. On a side note... am I just being dumb with my lack of Linux knowledge or it (at least Ubuntu 18) really cannot handle two monitors nearly as well as Windows can?

[@user-or4ut2qi3q]

0:26 "when I first came on Linux"... Wtf man why would you do that?

[@louistournas120]

Some people come on Linux, some people come into Linux. Who's to say what is right or wrong, what is normal and not normal.

[@Lystr0saur]

Linuxsexual

[@incyder]

I came here as a non-Linux user, I need more definitions, IE. pros and cons, or at least tell me in detail the differences

[@SpectreTT]

@Happy Toxic on his behalf, I appreciate you taking your time to type this out, despite the fact that English isn't your native language. You went through all of that to help out this fellow, and that's amazing to see :D

[@marcthegodf186]

Joshua, you can run a VM to get those things!

[@marcthegodf186]

Joshua no running windows in a VM on Linux for best combination of both worlds

[@marcthegodf186]

Joshua for Microsoft Office

[@sandrafoxley735]

my tip for switching to Linux is have a spare machine to practice and test things on on because you will make mistakes and have to reload the operating system a few times - it saves so much frustration knowing you have your stable machine to go back to...........

[@johncampbell4389]

We use Linux heavily at home. My wife’s laptop is on Linux so I can ssh in to it and do maintenance work (and has a script tied to an icon she can double-click that will save all non-volatile files to the home server) which has protected the poetry she has written. Beyond that, there are times she cannot find a file so I can ssh in and do the find command for her... and drop the file(s) where she can easily find them. With Windows she often had multiple tabs editing the same file... and I couldn’t help her without tak8ng the machine from her.

[@HaroldCrews]

I wish that I'd found Aptitude sooner. I used it to install missing packages in the desktop environment and so far it's making a difference in stability.

[@alanlilly77]

Aptitude is great because it provides more information about packages in a basic graphical layout. I encourage new users to install it as it's less threatening than apt-get, but apt-get is a useful friend when they are more comfortable with Linux.

[@HaroldCrews]

@@alanlilly77 I never heard of it until Chris Titus posted a video about it on March 13th. Right now I'm about ten days since my last boot. Before the missing packages in KDE were installed the computer would hard freeze at about five to seven days.

[@oscwavcommentaccount]

"Distribution doesn't matter" I would rather just install a distro that is mostly set up like I want it out of the box so I could save some time.

[@rdvqc]

Things that drive me nuts with Linux: - variation between distributions - device management - version upgrade process I have done system management since the 1970's including many UNIX variants. Best are HP-UX and AIX. For Linux I prefer RHEL or CentOS - probably my IT background.

[@adafrost6276]

Most of the major distros now have a rolling release variant, if not just straight up a rolling release distro like Arch and it's more user friendly variants Manjaro and Antergos. The days of annoying version upgrades are pretty much gone now.

[@DevoutSoldierYT]

Before switching to Linux, make sure to update your bios. Some bios are exe files and will only work with Windows. Once it’s done, switch to Linux.

[@Ed-em6mf]

0:33 - Love the pic in top left corner, so true. Wanna try slowly migrating to Linux sometime soon.

[@johnclyde3385]

Lesson 1: if it works, DON'T PROCEED WITHOUT BACKING UP. You never know when an update is going to break your system, especially if you're using a rolling release distro. I can't say how many times I've unintentionally screwed up my main machine

[@ChrisTitusTech]

No one ever said... "I wish I didn't have all the backups." However I can't say the reverse is true.

[@tonebonetones]

hmm mm, it isn't a good sign that Linux updates break the damm PC?

[@johnclyde3385]

@@tonebonetones well I certainly couldn't say that a Windows update has never broken my pc, and neither would the people whose data Microsoft deleted in whatever Windows 10 update that was. It's a good policy no matter what.

[@rytisliaucys3444]

And yet some of the Linux snobs go around various forums and comment sections misleading people how "Linux never breaks unlike Windows breaks itself with updates" :). They set the expectations so high that people just leave and never come back after getting disappointed.

[@Architector_4]

Never had either Ubuntu nor Arch Linux break on me yet, after about half a year usage of both. I'd say backing up is a necessity regardless of what OS you have, as Windows updates broke down computers of my family a couple of times... Not sure if it was my fault or not, but I'd say that Windows 7 checking a 1TB HDD it was installed on and declaring every single file on it invalid effectively wiping itself and the entire drive full of backups only to be recovered by undelete tools was the most annoying one. ngrgh. And I'm pretty sure the HDD is fine, too. No idea why it decided to kamikaze my computer. ._.

[@projectionmapping]

this was a great movie Chris - great direction, very generous and useful - congratulations!

[@TennesseeFrank]

Things I really love about Linux are that it's a great operating system that costs Zero dollars. It's a Community and NOT a Corporation. You can customize and tweak things to make it just the way you want/need it to be. You can install or uninstall whatever you want without the OS forcing packages onto your system or deleting packages without your consent and the Number One thing I love about Linux is that IT'S NOT Windows.

[@1pcfred]

There's corporations involved with Linux. Including Microsoft. Heck Microsoft pays Linus' salary these days.

[@MultiBodmin]

Just wanted to take a beat and say 'Thank you' for your efforts and wisdom.

[@aprilnguyens]

So happy I found your channel. I've been using Linux off and on for years, and everything you say here is so true.

[@CPT101]

I first thought Linux is a computer savvy person thing until Gabe Newell says " Linux is the future of gaming speech" back at 2013. It made me curious. Took me 6-8 months of hell just to get a basic understanding of installing, updating and maintaining Ubuntu. Too afraid to ask anybody from the internet. It's all trial and errors just like you describe in your video Chris. The worst part I'm not a computer person in the first place. Fast forward today I consider myself a casual user of Linux Mint XFCE that cover all of my needs from E-mail , web browsing, CAD stuff, Digital Drawings and casual gaming. Nice video Chris.

[@1pcfred]

just copy paste stuff into Google. You don't need to ask anyone anything. If a Google search doesn't turn up a solution then you can think about asking someone. The odds of you having a unique problem in Linux are slim to none though. So it's probably already been asked multiple times.

[@CPT101]

Yeah buddy I did for the last 6 years. Thanks for pointing out

[@1pcfred]

@@CPT101 that's why people generally freak out. They've been asked and have answered the same question over and over. It may be new to you but they're tired of it before you ask. There's the replication of effort argument to be made too. If all we do is answer the first question over and over we can't make any progress. So Linux operates on the set a man on fire theory. Which is build a man a fire and keep him warm for a night. Set a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life!

[@travisretriever7473]

*Standing Ovation* Very well put. No-nonsense, straight talk, and to the point. You, sir, just earned another subscriber. :) And yeah, I think the elitism of some Linux users is probably what's stifling the OS from going completely mainstream. I mean, it's not the primary thing, but it's definitely a contributing factor.

[@JudasMugensson]

I made my new year's resolution to only use Linux on my main pc for at least 1 year as I've used it in the past but not long term and knowing that Windows 7 support will end soon. I only restrict myself to Linux on my main pc and not any of my laptops or secondary pc so in case I need to use windows only software or some other reason I can do that. It was hardest in the beginning as I hadn't configured anything to what I wanted it to be but now almost 4 months later I've gotten really comfortable with using Linux.

[@ChrisTitusTech]

Had the same experience Judas, thanks for sharing!

[@BlizzetaNet]

Windows is actually customizable. You have the ability to change the shell as they call it (Microsoft). Explorer is the window manager, but Cairo is an alternative that can be loaded.

[@davidlucas8824]

New mint user here myself got fed up with windows 10 after an update screwed my whole drivers settings had set up for older games like gothic and spell force. Been able to play all these old games flawlessly with wine and had more trouble getting them to work on windows 10. I'm having trouble running world of warcraft as classic is coming back but I'm glad I made the change I get so more out of my 5 year old gaming laptop now then what I did when I bought it brand new. On behalf of the linux community developers and coders I thank you for all you've done just wish I found this gold mine before now. Your all legends.

[@FunNFury]

Give Mx linux a try, you will never go back to windows, use wps office as a better alternative and mega alternative to gdrive, there are pretty good alternativis out there

[@maxhill504]

Are you talking about the micro stutters when you turn your camera in game? I have that too, I looked into it and it had something to do with rewriting the texture files as you play, but ultimately the problem will be solved overtime as less and less files are being edited. I rarely stutter anymore, the only time I do is in ghost form

[@arzoo82]

This channel is great, you explain everything so clearly and it's easily understood by a linux newbie, many thx!

[@fardaddanaeefard8247]

I've just switched to Linux, and it was soooo good and beneficial

[@Jaoheah]

I have been using Linux on my laptops for around 6 months, I went to Manjaro still have it installed on my t420, but I installed arch Linux on my x220t with Anarchy Linux, I really love the AUR.

[@The987654321andy]

for noobs like me, Linux Mint was pretty painless. Ubuntu was ok, but that was before Windows 7 went out of support, so I never pulled the trigger.

[@egoruderico3038]

6 things to know when switching to Linux: 1) Linux 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)

[@9and7]

LOL!!!

[@miniaturegard3n258]

The linux community was the main reason I rarely interacted in forums years ago. Since Linux has become a much bigger thing in my career I've found myself venturing the waters yet again, definitely not the same but still quite common.

[@Ballissle]

thanks for making me aware of that sudo RM -RF / meme before I switch to it. Might have saved me from a mistake some point in the future :P

[@owenwexler7214]

"ALT-F4" is the Windows equivalent. "How do I do [thing] in [game]?" "ALT-F4"

[@brentfisher902]

@@cloudpxl The Geico Lizard just saved 100% on his grocery bill by switching to starvation.

[@lamont6593]

Good clear concise to the point... I'm new to linux i want to switch but still doing my research...im a loyal watcher this just shows ne tho how much im missing out... i hope you make ah beginners videos on step by step booting linux for the first time... great job on this vid

[@einat1622]

There are many videos here on how to burn an image file (.iso) of an os onto a flash drive (running Linux from there without installing on computer hard drive. Get a 4GB one and hit the road 😃). I personaly find unbootine easy to use.

[@victor00123q]

I'm so glad I found your channel! I have found a lot of good explanations on this channel Im about to switch to Linux Manjaro , thanks for making these videos! =D

[@robch.2901]

Victor00123HD the best decision of your life regarding OS usage

[@espartaco2028]

I switched from Microsoft to "Linux" in a serious way: My career. As I sat my last exam for my third MCSE (2016), I just stood up, said, "I've had enough", closed the exam and walked out. At the same time, I had passed CCNA and CCNA Security. I made the decision to leave Microsoft as a career and got my first gig as a switch jockey. I'll be taking my final v3 CCNP exam, ENARSI, within the next two months. YOUR COMMENT on "old information \ bad information" is sound advice! If you think about the question, "How do I...on Windows"? People can get "bad information" if they are specific. It's not just "Windows 10" anymore. It's a VERSION number. Linux was release numbers, too. Always, always, always, note the time signature of the KB BEFORE you implement the fix! I'm watching your videos to make the final move away from Microsoft and their fascist brainwashing agenda. Thank you for making these videos.

[@willscott1171]

I'm not a power user by any means but I must say I've never had a negative experience when asking questions. Everything I have learned about linux has been on youtube and on your channel in particular . My current OS on my laptop is Zorin OS. I love it, it has increased my battery life, I actually really enjoy using my laptop again. I was apprehensive when using the terminal to install packages the first few times but even that is not a biggie anymore

[@madcat4301]

Had bad experiences with the Linux community when I tried to switch years ago. I identified myself as a newbie and politely asked for advice. The folks who responded to my questions acted like they were part of an elite club and they just couldn't be bothered. I learned my lesson. Went back to Windows 7, switched to Windows Ten and now I also have a Mac. Never again, Linux. The first time someone shows you who they really are, believe them.

[@JohnWeintraub]

Chris, it's "Free and Open Source Software"; that's what FOSS stands for. Not "Free and Open Software". Thanks.

[@1pcfred]

It's FLOSS. Free Libre Open Source Software.

[@JohnWeintraub]

@@1pcfred Yes, you're right, but since most Americans don't know French, and "libre" is a French word, I use the American version, as inaccurate as it is. I write for Quora (unpaid) on tech questions, and I always have to explain what FLOSS stands for, and why the "Libre" is in there. I got sick of doing so, so now I just use the shorter FOSS; just as we are supposed to say GNU/Linux, but who does? Few do, though we're supposed to. But at any rate, Chris Titus was misstating FOSS as being "Free and Open Software", thereby leaving one "S" unaccounted for. I hope that clears up what I was doing.

[@1pcfred]

@@JohnWeintraub GNU/Linux is a RMS meme. I've run Linux since before it was around so I'm sticking to just Linux to mean Linux + the GNU tools it comes with. Now where FLOSS came from I'm less sure about. I vaguely remember it being a clarification of what's going on to differentiate FLOSS from other forms of open source software. The whole GPL thing. Libertarianism is a big deal with the FLOSS community too. It's a big argument to explain why we make the effort required to run Linux. The whole freedom ain't free deal. Linux is more than just free beer. That's why the L is important.

[@1pcfred]

@MrChebet0 pedantics do well with Linux.

[@JohnWeintraub]

@MrChebet0 Well, that's what "Libre" translates to from the French. That's why it's "Free/Libre". Sorry, I thought that was obvious. Perhaps not.

[@natanieux]

I never really had a good pc for myself and wanted to get a fresh start with Linux once I get one, it was extremely helpful!

[@jochannan7379]

Having switched to Linux around 2001, I always felt that proper package management is one of the great selling points. Funny that lately the big commercial OS have adopted some type of package management, they call it "app store". Apple was the first one, now Windows does the same. Unfortunately not with the benign goal of making life easier for youwith the leading purpose of monopolizing access to the platform in order to maximise profits. In addition, Windows' app store remains an unholy mess (even worse that Ubuntu's snap store). Anyway, they are clearly moving in the direction of making self-installed software the exception. Whether the'll succeed is another question. On the Linux side, there has been quite some change as well, with the evolution of Flatpak, Snap, AppImage as three formats for distribution independent software deployment. I feel that (GNU/)Linux is still lightyears ahead (and of course, it continues to value your freedom, while Windows does everything to constrain it).

[@MatCendana]

"Empowering" - this is one of the key characteristics of Linux. For those on a very tight budget, but don't want to use a computer with pirated Windows software, Linux is more than good enough for their daily use. And then some. I've used computers since the DOS days and also have some experience with Mac and of course Windows over the years. However, it was only from last year that I finally installed Linux on a netbook. Mostly thanks to the guidance and encouragement at Joe Collins' channel. I'm pleasantly surprised by how easy installing Linux has become. This is due to the great work by thousands of contributors over the years who had come up with solutions to problems which newcomers tend to face. THANK YOU to all those who had played some part, big or small, in making Linux what it is now.

[@tuxinal5661]

I love how you just throw in some memes in the middle of the video

[@PoeLemic]

That was exact same feeling that I got when coming into the Linux Community many years ago ... 4:52 ... Felt terrible to be BUMBLING AROUND when I had to get assignments done for class.

[@55Quirll]

I like using Linux - Mint now - because it's speed reminds me of Windows XP and the software runs so smoothly compared to what Windows does. An added bonus is you can carry Mint with you on a flash drive and use it on any computer - just about any - that you come across, do your work and than leave. Another thing is you don't require any Antivirus software. Thank you for a very informative video, keep them coming.

[@xanderx555]

Linux is better , with every year. Reason why so much people don t use : gaming.

[@ArdeshirBanerjee]

How do you create a portable version?

[@matheusenrique9809]

@@ArdeshirBanerjee I think he is talking about flashing into a USB stick and using it on the live version.

[@Shome2049]

The best thing about Linux is terminal. It gives you sooo much convience you can't imagine.

[@xasmaniusvolk8416]

8:16 good thing gfie is also on Linux

[@coffeecat086]

I’m currently in the process of switching. Can’t wait to check out the screen reader

[@mrcrackerist]

The best point with GNU/Linux is its not windows ^^

[@rytisliaucys3444]

And you best summarize the attitudes that got me off Linux back onto Windows: "let's just ignore that this shit does not fucking work as it is intended to work in a 2019 OS, since this is Windows and this makes this OS inherently superior, despite being a complete mess."

[@Sithhy]

And the best point with Windows is its not Linux & just works as intended

[@ThoseAwkwardGamers]

I feel like this is also a play on the "GNU is not Unix" saying.

[@NeilRoy]

Poor answer. This will not cause anyone to switch but only makes you look like a Linux snob who hates Windows for no good reason. Give valid reasons, areas where Linux is better. I like Windows, always have. I also liked what I seen when I tried out Kubuntu a decade ago and almost switched to it, but back then I found it lacking when it came to multitasking, the annoying security on Linux and the directory structure as well as the fact that if i wanted a quality game, I had to figure out how to run the Windows game on Linux. It sounds like t hings have improved and I will be giving it another go but... "The best point with Linux is it's not Windows" is not a selling point.

[@mrcrackerist]

@@NeilRoy I have used MsDos, 95, 2000, xp, vista, 7 and 10, never really disliked any of them. when I said that it is the best point, that was from a personal prescriptive and with the current version of windows, that also happens to be the "last version". *forced updates *resting my settings *less customization *slow(and i have a rather good PC) *bloated I mean no offense to any one and I hope that you can understand that. my comment is just what happens to cross my mind while watching nothing more or less.

[@alsolo1]

point 3 i agree with you, as a new user it's frustrated to find some guides that doesn't work because you have to use e.g. sudo or install packages before. Some guides doesn't work also, because they aren't up-to-date

[@stevemiller6766]

Thank you for your video. I have yet to figure out how to access hard drives on other computers on my home network using Linux Mint on all the computers. Can you suggest a how to video?

[@ChrisTitusTech]

Certainly, have you checked out my video over samba? It may answer your question. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYOrhKWkhtqYl80

[@shoemoxie127]

Thank you Chris, you are awesome and explain this so well. I will subscribe and check out more!

[@RobertGossCreator]

Linux is much easier to use them it was about 10 years ago. I think anyone that really wants to give Linux a try should not have any problems making the transition

[@TexpatOTG]

The only things that annoyed me after switcing to Linux Mint, is that Excel and Powerpoint presentations people would send to me wouldn't work right. For a while I ran a VM with Win7 and Office on it, so that on those rare occasions that I needed Win environment, it was there. Have since deleted all of the Win stuff, no one sends me those types of files anymore. Have been 100% Linux for about 4 years, and it works great for me. Good show, hope the user base grows so more apps will switch to Linux.

[@MrGFYne1337357]

/usr/share/thumbs_up

[@dpyte]

you forgot sudo.

[@maxoverridemax]

On a Smart A$$ scale of 1 to 10. I will give you a 7. Smart enough to be funny but not too smart to be a prick . 👍

[@blackcitadel37]

sudo like-get --give thumbs-up

[@jnorfleet3292]

If [ ! 👍 ] { mv -rf /home/${USER} /dev/null return 😂 } Sorry, couldn't resist :)

[@vishal_joshi24]

I just shifted from windows (have been using widows since windows 95)to manjaro kde plasma (linux) just a week ago. Was a "real pain" at the beginning, especially with the high cpu usage of systemd - journal. But the best part about linux is it support and community where you can troubleshoot most of the things. So far enjoying it... I always take my time to watch Chris Titus Tech videos. #lotsoflove

[@tommytomtomtomestini3894]

7. You WILL spend time on google and forums trying to do tasks that were trivial in Windows.

[@patologicznypiotrus5638]

i think you mean duckduckgo

[@kylespevak6781]

The funniest part about Lynette is everybody tells you that it's a good idea to try it, but then they make fun of you for not doing everything.

[@amiwatchesyt]

If I close my eyes I can still see the RTFM

[@eddieoconnor4466]

Understand: Not everyone who is in the forums thinks that a question is classified as a "newbie" question. We all have been in the same shoes when it comes to Linux, that's one of the things that makes using it so awesome. The fact that EVERYONE has been in the SAME SPOT at one point or another. So while there ARE those few "morons" who have some kind of superiority complex and like to try and embarrass or humiliate someone who's just starting out.....the majority of Linux users are willing to be as helpful as possible...the mindset is: "Where would I be had someone not shown ME the answers I was looking for". On the rest of your video...yes....you're absolutely right...Linux IS a different animal when compared to Windows. I've been using it since 2002 /'03 and have had my ups and downs, but I have finally found "home" when it comes to operating systems...[Fedora and ElementaryOS]. Both those distros have been very instrumental in my quest to become a programmer. And because of the ability to add/remove whatever I want?...I find I have a faster machine without all the bloatware that comes "standard" on Windows. To anyone who's "thinking" about making the switch, I would give this advice: 1st?...If you have a spare machine? then use THAT to install Linux on and don't bother with dual-booting. Being a new user you might end up damaging your main PC and lose data you wanted to keep. 2nd - Don't get hung up on just ONE distro, find what suits you best. Someone might THINK they're destined to use Debian or Ubuntu....and after much trial and error and struggling they might find that BunsenLabs Linux or Knoppix works better for them in every aspect (or gasp!...something like Arch or Gentoo!..LoL!). Explore, since its a spare machine, don't be bashful about wiping the machine and trying something else. 3rd - Don't buy into the hype. Just because someone makes a KZbin video (not a reference to you or this video Chris!) about the latest and greatest distro that no one has ever heard of, doesn't mean you have to jump ship and join the bandwagon. (had to live with the demise of Feduntu...and StellaOS!!) I've seen it happen where someone joins up with a certain distro, and after some time? due to whatever reason (new baby in the family, financial situations change, job moves them to another location, or even death in the family) a developer will cease to release updates or even kill off the distro altogether, which leaves you back at square one looking for a distro. 4th - Look for distros that have a "long track record" and that have a thriving community behind them. (see #3 above!)Those are the distros that will be around for the long haul and will continue to release updates, patches, and keep the distro alive. There's nothing worse than trying to find out why your Software Updater isn't finding updates only to go to the distro homepage and find out they're closing up shop. 5th - And this one is the most relevant one if you ask me. Try not to pigeon-hole yourself to just one distro or one camp (strictly '.DEB" based distros...or strictly ".RPM" based distros) mix it up..and find ones from both sides of the fence (or ALL sides...since Arch uses ".AUR" and some others use ".TGZ" that you can use and become proficient in. It will make it easier when it comes time to trouble shoot an issue you might be having. The commands might be different, the syntax might be different, but the end result will be the same, you'll figure out what's wrong, look up the solutions provided online or in forums, and execute them with successful results. 6th - Nevermind what others call it. If you want to call it Deebian, or Guh-Nome....open"Susie"....or Kuh-noppix..feel free. There's no strictions on language in Linux, and anyone who tries to correct you? Ignore. (Oh what?....they gonna send the Linux Language Police to your HOUSE!?) 7th - Don't limit yourself to "just" what comes with your system. Explore the repositories, you might find FireFox isn't your cup of tea and Chromium....Vivaldi....or Gnome Web might be more to your liking. The same applies with Thunderbird (email client...others are Claws Mail, Sylpheed, Geary etc))...Rhythmbox (as opposed to Parole or Audacity).... GEdit (LeafPad, NotePadQQ) The GNome Image Viewer (compared to Viewnior or Shotwell) even the LibreOffice suite (Calligra or K-Office) your world has now expanded exponentially when it comes to software, why limit yourself? And unlike Windows?...there's no rule that says you can't have TWO office suites or email programs (providing your machine can handle the disk space and overhead!) so go "crazy" and have fun making your system what YOU want it to be! 8 - Finally? Have FUN! This isn't a college course, you're not "required" to have a grasp of all the concepts, there's no Final Exam or Quiz......just install what appeals to you, make it your own with customizations, and then?..show it off to family and friends!...LoL! Just tips from an old school Linux-er!!

[@silasgenovese3572]

I keep wanting to switch to Linux (even tried out Linux Mint some years ago) but the gaming support was less than stellar so I never made the great leap. I'm hopeful with Proton etc that that will ease the situation. I'm uncertain though, is Proton somewhat like Wine, e.g - uses an abstraction layer which degrades performance?

[@homelessrobot]

the distribution matters a whole hell of a lot; it is responsible for the entire user experience (Both UI and system management), not just package management. It's just that distribution's /tend/ to just cobble together things like UI in a common way, or base themselves on other distributions, so there is a lot of overlap.

[@einat1622]

Not to mention there are lighter or heavier distros- not all can run well on older/weaker machines.

[@homelessrobot]

@@einat1622 Right. And the distribution can target your hardware in a way to make all of the portability centric machinery less demanding on resources too. You do not actually need quite a lot of common space/resource hogging stuff if the distribution is hardware/purpose/environment specific.

[@quadkidd]

FOSS - Free and Open Source Software. The greatest part of being a penguin! :D

[@AbhishekSingh-ws5rz]

Great video man👍

[@kwemo4276]

One of the major draws to Linux is the free (freedom) and open source software but we shouldn't take this for granted. We need to contribute any way we can. While not everyone can do everything for a project, each individual should try to find out what they can bring to the table and do that. If we want this culture to succeed, we should try our best to avoid leeching off of the community.

[@baruchben-david4196]

I think that this is a vital point. Many people come to Linux for the free (as in beer) software, overlooking the more important issue of freedom as in speech. There are many corporations and individuals who would like nothing more than to find some way to take control over software and start to limit it - licensing it, making sure no one can share it or improve it. It's fine t to enjoy the benefits of free, llibre, open-source software, but it's a good idea to contribute what you can. A few dollars, maybe, or improvements to a program, helping new users, creating tutorials, making helpful videos. It's a community effort. We can all do something to help.

[@winlen4731]

One of the big challenges for Windows users wanting to switch to Linux is setting up the BIOS so you can install it on your computer. This immediately becomes very technical and geeky and too hard for the average windows user. eg disable secure boot, use legacy BIOS, use UEFI, disable fast boot, enable CSM etc etc. Very technical. The second big challenge is installing software and getting the latest version of it. Just on Debian systems there are apt, apt-get, software manager, synaptic package manager, flatpaks, appimages, download deb files and there are probably a few other ways. Too geeky for the average windows user especially since a lot of these options require repositories setup correctly. In windows you just go to the website download the latest version and double click on the exe file and your good to go.

[@emjaycee]

Yeah, agree. Anything preloaded with Windows can be problematic. And, based on personal experiences lol, legacy installs still seem to be more stable for me than UEFI installs, so setting up BIOS to do legacy installs may end up being important.

[@1pcfred]

Unless you double click the exe and you're not good to go. Then your options become extremely limited. Now debugging binaries is extremely geeky. Recently I had a program that I compiled and was running in place but every time I ran it there was a message complaining it could not find its icon file. So eventually I got annoyed by that and ran strace on the program to see where it was looking for the file so I could copy it there.

[@arthemis1039]

Hey, I just got into Debian 9 testing :) It is very different form Ubuntu and Arch, thanks for your advices Chris

[@emperorciarabevis2068]

I use ubuntu since 2014. I don not find it difficult to get used to.

[@stephanesonneville]

Ubuntu is based on Debian.

[@WorstChicken]

I'm getting back onto linux fulltime. (Yeah windows 7 ending and I'm done. No invasive 10 for me.) And the first thing I did when I clicked on this video? Go to vlc and see if they have a linux version and hear you say that I don't need to do that. You have my full attention now Chris. I've got a lot of time over december to relearn everything. Going to be watching a lot of your content, so thank you for all the information, it is really appreciated. Subbed. Now I need to get out of the habit of laughing at alt+f4 and start laughing at sudo rm -rf /.

[@meneerjansen00]

Agree with you on everything except that you'll be ridiculed in some Linux forums. :-) P.S. Another difference is that you can copy/paste lines of text commands in a terminal from a forum or website and a lot will be done/solved automatically and instantly for you. No mouse clicks or diving into menu's! In the end, trouble shooting in Linux is much easier than in Windows, MacOS or Android.

[@mizhimo]

I just switch to Linux, first I tried Mint and now I'm using Manjaro. Imo, the package manager in Manjaro and their AUR thing is a much more user-friendly experience than the alternative on Ubuntu-based distros, also the Arch Wiki is great for a lot of newbie problems. btw, All the people I found helping in forums are very nice and helpful I haven't found toxicity so far.

[@dallasbeus2117]

Honestly Linux has screwed me over more times than I can count. I wish it was stable enough to take the place of windows or apple. I get thinking it will not take a dump and into the toilet it goes.

[@tray22]

I have installed linux for non technical family members and had it go 7 years before they needed help. Never had that with windows. I use all three and imo linux has proven to be far more stable than windows and far easier to support than mac.

[@dallasbeus2117]

@@tray22 That's good to know. What version did you install on what hardware? I have literally tried for years to get it to work, I have had a harddrive destroy itself. Numerous times I have lost my files and windows operating system when grub takes a dump or a ubuntu update decides to not work. I can't count the times linux has failed. I prefer redhat versions and clones.

[@dallasbeus2117]

@@tray22 How would you rate yourself in software ability?

[@tray22]

@@dallasbeus2117 I am very competent with all three operating systems. However my dad is not and I have made linux mint disks for him to dual boot his windows machines and had no problems. Linux in the last 5 years has gotten easier to install than windows. For sure today when I install windows I typically have more time spent than I do for linux.

[@dallasbeus2117]

@@tray22 Sounds good. I hear a lot about linux mint these days and even loaded a live version on a DVD within the last week. I have had terrible experiences dual booting. I am not a fan of windows, apple or chrome, I don't trust them but they work consistently.

[@---wl3bi]

Linux users who answer questions to the non technical on forums are really awesome and much appreciated 🤗😍🤩

[@wingandhog]

Linux has come a long way in the last few years. When I made the total switch over from Windows to Linux as my daily driver about 8 years ago, you really needed to be tech savvy. Nowadays, the learning curve is much shorter for a newbie. Yeah, using terminal takes a bit to feel comfortable with, but for the most part, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel as many command lines are posted. Case in point… my wife is a Mint user and has zero tech skills and doesn’t need them. She can navigate and operate at a level that suits her needs. She just loves the stability and speed on her old HP laptop.

[@HikingFeral]

For anybody reading the comments, ignore the advice to use a VM over dual booting. A VM slows both OS's because you have to share performance, even with 32GB ram and 11th gen 8 core intel Cpu my VM UBUNTU runs at less than half the speed as my dual boot. When you dual boot you just choose which OS to boot into and that OS is fast AF with no slowdown whatsoever and none of the restrictions of a virtual machine. Honestly telling a new user to VM is some of the worst advice i have ever heard in my life.

[@HickoryDickory86]

"Pronounciate." I see what you did there. LOL

[@johnboy6420]

😂

[@Peterplayingguitar]

I'm switching from Windows 10 to Linux mint today. Excited!

[@keshav3479]

How's it going so far? This weekend for me!

[@Peterplayingguitar]

@@keshav3479 So far so good but haven't had much time to check on the compatibility of my favourite software / games. Loving the way my old PC feels new though ; ) Even better is giving Windows10 the big finger.

[@shiptaro1915]

update? did you like it?

[@Peterplayingguitar]

@@shiptaro1915 No :( Many things were a step up but ultimately Windows 10 is more efficient and easier to use. I hate to say it. Mint was nice but a very long list of minor issues made me go back to Windows.

[@shiptaro1915]

@@Peterplayingguitar top 10 anime betrayals

[@greatcrosby8091]

"Update and Shutdown" got me here

Ever since i tried Linux on a VM, ive fallen in love with it. Its an amazing experience coming from Windows, i wasnt used to all that customizing and basically making it look the way i want it, the small little things you can do like create different colors for folders, really suck you in, and the fact that the Terminal plays a big role in Linux, is just even more inviting to someone like me. Only down side is the gaming. If Linux was compatible with games like Windows, honestly id probably have Windows as my secondary OS and Linux as my main for everything. Its impossible to not like Linux if youre a computer enthusiast.