Hello!
I'm interested in moving my personal computer to running Linux but I'm not sure where to even begin. As background, I am a casual user and have a desktop with hardware from around 2014 running Windows. I am hoping to setup a NAS drive as a media server in the next year or so, offloading all of the files currently on the Windows desktop and have been interested in open source software such as Jellyfin. I also mostly game on an Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but have used the desktop in the past for gaming such as with an Oculus Rift Headset and some Steam games so not huge on getting games working on the computer. But, I do sometimes torrent using the computer so don't want to lose that capability (especially with upkeep for the media server).
With all of that said, I didn't know how to get started with choosing what Linux OS to use, setting it up, backing up my files to make sure I can use them with the new OS, etc. Making the switch seems to have great options for customization and "choosing a distro that works for you", but I don't know what would work for me or what will be user friendly for a beginner.
Any tips or pointing me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
I've been using linux for over 30 years, from Linux from Scratch to Mint. Dont' pick a distro that makes you seem 1337 or anything. I must say, that for the not-so terminal-savvy user, linux Mint is a great pick, most stuff (if not all) can be done with the GUI, and the installer is a breeze.
Picking a distro is one thing, picking a desktop environment is, in my opinion, more important. With default Mint, you get Cinnamon, which is a great pick, a balance between saving resources and eye candy. You also have XFCE which is very light, but some integrations are lacking, and it's lightness shows in the basic appearance. Gnome is another beast, can almost look as slick as MacOS, but is very resource hungry. And then there's KDE. This is something your either love or hate, no inbetween.
And for every task you want to perform, you'll need to have a little selection process, since there's a lot of choices.
Steam works most of the time. I only know about NVidia cards, but with the right drivers (for which Mint has a nice tool) it works well.
As said, I've used a lot of different Linux flavours, from very hacky and compily ones to very UX oriented ones. In the end, the UX one did it for me, I just wanted something that worked. So I do recommend Mint with cinnamon.
Okay great! An interesting tea combination: Mint with Cinnamon :) do most desktop environments work with most distros, or is there a list per each distro?
I second the Mint recommendation, but with your older hardware, I suggest using the version with Xfce instead of Cinnamon, as it's lighter weight
Does a desktop environment really draw that much more resource than another?
Oh definitely. Though I'm not actually sure how heavy Cinnamon is. Xfce or LxQt are my preference, since my hardware isn't great.
https://itsfoss.com/linux-mint-cinnamon-mate-xfce/ is a good comparison Mint-wise
I've added it to the list for review! Thank you!
Most desktop enviornments work with most distros. There will be a selection of linux users that say it doesnt matter because though its true you can make any distro look like each other. The navigations can change depending on the distro you use. I agree with most of the comments here, since you are starting out, mint is a solid choice. You get the backings of ubuntu, + its very user frienldy. A gui for packages/drivers and good sweep of software for daily usage. Im using it now since my arc 380 gpu is supported on it to use as the host for my virtual machines. ( i virtualize other distros/BSD and windows [for those pesky windows only games/programs])
Thanks for the response!
is it possible? yeah, it's linux, you can do whatever you want. but as a newcomer, I'd pick a distro + DE combo that you can install all at once as switching may not be the most straightforward process. when you want more control so you can set things up exactly the way you like them, there's more DIY distros that make the process easier (because you don't first have to remove the configuration that made the existing DE work the way it's set up to work).
Okay that's good to know. That will come later as I get more comfortable in the environment.