Solid advice

I use Arch btw
- No you don't. If you use any pre-packaged version of Arch, it's not Arch. If you use a GUI installer, it's not Arch. If you've followed a YouTube tutorial, it's not Arch. If you've opened up this support request, but did not update your system in the last 37 seconds, it's not Arch.
  Forum thread closed. User banned.
- Arch users: I updated grub and my computer won't boot. Wtf?!
  Other distros: thank you for finding the bug on latest version of grub. It's fixed now so our users don't have to experience it.
- In case anyone else was wondering, I use Arch.
You Linux users sure are a contentious people!
- You've just made an enemy for life!
- You! You are BANNED from this forum! You, and your children, and your children's children!
  For six months.
Nah, they are a loud internet minority. I have never found someone like that
- Don’t listen to this guy. He probably used Puppy Linux before.

I have been to some shady pubs and nightclubs in my life, non of them had so much violent people as a linux bugreport thread.

And people wonder why Linux has never gained large marketshare
- Oh, for sure. Windows marketshare never drops only because of its friendly community.
- But it's on your phone, it's powering most websites including this very lemmy instance, it's on Steam Decks. Linux is everywhere. But if you want to narrow it down to desktop computers then sure, it doesn't have anywhere near the marketshare windows has.
- A new adoptor doesnt have to deal with bug report hate comments though

First rule of Arch Linux is you defintely talk about Arch Linux

I use Arch by the way.
- I use Arch and only use Vim or Emacs for config files. That's Linux flex culture right there. 🙂
- I use Debian with the Linux-libre kernel and OpenRC, relatively the same experience but without the AUR.
Arch user, a cyclists and a vegetarian walk in to a bar
Btw
- I'm already sitting there, sipping beer while my Gentoo gently compiles. :-D

Queue any discussion of Wayland/Xorg, Systemd, flatpacks, snaps, distro choice, ~~Pipewire/Pulseaudio~~ (last one is easy, Pipewire ftw), Vim/Emacs, GPL/MIT, immutability, etc..

Cue in this case. English sucks.
- Thanks. Wrote cue first, but changed it because I got confused.
Hah yeah it's crazy. Anyway, zsh or death.
- Fish is obviously superior (:
Nvim > emacs
Apt is the superior package manager. Everyone else is wrong.
Lol
- but does your package manager show a video game animation when you download a package? (pacman for life)
- Pacman + yay is superior. pacman for most packages, and yay to use the AUR, where you can get pretty much anything that can be downloaded online, but as a package so that you can more easily manage what shit you've downloaded before but no longer need.
- xbps FTW
- Have you tried out our lord and saviour xbps ?
I think I only recognized like 5 words in that entire paragraph.
- Wayland and Xorg are responsible for display, Systemd is an init system, flatpaks and snaps are containerized, cross-distro packaging formats, you know what a distro is, Pipewire and Pulseaudio are responsible for audio, Vim and Emacs are editors, GPL and MIT are open-source code licenses, I can't explain immutability.
- Go watch some Brodie Robertson and Distrotube
- Y'know how they say its only the tip of the iceberg? Yeah this iceburg is probably larger than the entire planet
Since when is immutability controversial? Linus called out the Google patches as badly designed with massive code quality issues for good reason. Theo described OpenBSDs approach to it and it is truly a simply concept with good security ramifications.

We're not enemies as soon as a Windows user walks in. Or... Uuuugh.... A Mac user.

I'm actually switching to Mac at work (only two options) because I can't deal with the Windows environment anymore. Of locked down corporate environments, Windows is absolutely the worst.
- Macs run on Unix and are pretty sturdy. I was surprised, when i also had to choose and found their osx ux very unobtrusive, allowing me to code effectively. Also, using the terminal almost feels like home.
As someone who has Windows on the majority of their computers… OSX > Windows any day, easily, and by far. Windows is basically its own advertising spyware rootkit.
- Depends on your needs, I guess. I despise Microsoft with every fiber of my being, and OSX's certainly less openly annoying, but many of the things I hate about the current trajectory of windows are straight out of Apple's playbook.
  To put it simply, I won't accept any platform that doesn't respect that I'm the admin of the device. And I'm more than willing to suffer less "clean" experiences to retain this.
Mac is my favorite software development OS. Linux has too many issues with related software like Slack and doesn't have good Office software. Windows on the other hand is fucking dog shit for development.
- Someone else once said that macOS is basically Linux that actually has software developed for it.

I have close to no exposure and experience with Linux, but I love you guys.

Whispers: It is time. You join us today.
Join us. One of us! One of us!
- I swear to God I hate Microsoft so much I'm going to seriously look into it.
Here's a pro tip for a newbie. Debian unstable. You'll hate your life, but you'll know more about how Linux really works than the rest of us.
- Nah. Spend the 8-12 hours it takes to build lfs. That's what taught me the most.
psst hey, popOS. it’s so easy you’re gonna love it trust me

advice #1; never type v-i-m in succession. it summons demons.

I do that so much at work I must be a warlock.
I hear you're sent to the Shadow Realm where you need input a satanic passphrase to escape, only known to those who have signed the deal with the Devil himself! He's also known as Joe from IT, so just ask him.

The "RTFM" linux users.

And then the man page is just a verbose unformatted paragraph written in 2007 by some guy on a lethal dose of ritalin
- "The source code is the real manual" 🧘
  The source code: 🍝
- a lethal dose of ritalin
  How much is that though?
- I've always found it's easier to use Stack Overflow or Google than a man page.

I bust out kali linux when I need to get into weird places for my clients but usually just windows as that is most of what I have to support.

i miss you linux

I'm so glad I can mostly just ask my Linux questions to AI now instead of hoping I can find someone who will tell me how to do what I want instead of berating my choices and attitude.

Want to fuck the thread up? Just ask "What is the G.O.A.T. Distro?"

Hannah Montana Linux
- This is the only right answer.
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2
- Not a distro. You can run Ubuntu and Arch on WSL (and many others)
AmogOS
GoatOS, obvs
The one you make yourself
Red Star OS
or TempleOS
Microsoft Azure Linux obviously
- with powershell
Hotdog linux
Apartheid Linux (it really exists, apparently)
MacOS! It's just linux under the hood
🍿🍿😏🍿🍿
edit: aw i thought we were playing "who can stir up the most shit" but now everyone just thinks i'm a big dummy.. i use arch guys.. :(
- Lol no

I was deep into linux once, in the 2000s, but then I got out.

And yet, the void still calls to me.

Certified Void Linux user moment

Well, in case Someone didn't Noted

I'm Use Arch, th'is the Way

I'm on Linux bitch I thought you gnu

Best ERB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njos57IJf-0
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  https://www.piped.video/watch?v=njos57IJf-0
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
- I had GPT write and perform this too a while back. I guess I remember-stole that line when I had the AI write the song

This may not be the place to ask, but is there a guide you’d recommend for a lifelong windows user to try out Linux?

I’ve had a Steam Deck for a while now and love it and feel I could probably make the leap.

I have no idea why this comic in particular motivated me to finally ask.

Edit: I just want to say an incredible thank you to everyone and your advice. I was just looking for a link to a guide and ya’ll wrote them yourselves.

I think the prevailing advice of creating a virtual machine to play around in seems like a very good place to start.

recommend for a lifelong windows user to try out Linux?
Try out, what of Linux?
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 - you get the full command line 🔧, and can kind of run some desktops. Thanks to HyperX, it runs in a "sister" VM to Windows, so zero performance penalty (compared to Windows). Easiest, fastest, not necessarily the best.
Cygwin - no Linux kernel, just userland software, that is command line, some desktop, some software. Quick to start 🐇, but somewhat limited.
OSBoxes - pick any distro, download a preinstalled image, fire it up in either VirtualBox or VMware. Great for a quick first contact. Great to mess things up and not care 💥, including if you try to manually rebuild the kernel and it refuses to boot. Hardware is partially emulated, so not 100% like the real thing, but it comes really close. But look at the beautiful desktops! Pretty pictures! 🤩 (this is what most people think they want, judging by most distro reviews and comparisons).
Android - it's Linux, it lacks most of the userland but it can be added (see Termux), and you're likely to find a cheap smartphone/tablet to mess with.
Cloud virtual private server / Bare hardware hosting - if you're going to mess up a system, why mess up your own? Rent a cheap option, and mess it up.
THE MAXIMUM GAMING PERFORMANCE 🚀 - ...try some of the previous ones first, you'll need the experience. Then look into how to dual-boot, or better yet, get a second PC and install your favorite Linux distro (which you'll know which one it is by now) as the only OS. Tweak, fix, patch, etc. until your eyes bleed out, and you get those extra 2 fps you never knew you needed to make your life complete!
ROCK SOLID WORKHORSE 💪 - try all the above, then pick two distros: dual boot, mess the partitions, recover them, go into one distro, login as root and delete half the files at random, shut down the computer, power it up and recover the messed up distro from the second working one without reinstalling, reboot again into the first distro, "upgrade" it to the second one without reinstalling, clean it up so it looks like it was freshly installed... then delete it, reinstall, and see what you should have backed up in order not to lose stuff, make your backup, delete the distro, recover from backup. Practice until you lose zero data in the process, now automate the process. Finally, install and fully customize Gentoo. After that... whatever you pick, you'll be fine 🙂
If you want to check out some linux distributions, I would suggest you use Ventoy. You can then copy the ISO's to your USB drive and boot from them without having to reformat your usb drive all the time. It's a really cool tool and I can highly recommend it. I always carry ventoy with me for work with rescue disks, clonezilla, etc.
Personally I would recommend either Ubuntu or Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE - it's what I use). It's a one of the most popular distributions and well-documented and supported.
If you want to have a look at what's available, check out https://distrowatch.com/
Edit: If you're not ready to install on your own hardware, try playing around with Virtual Machines - like Virtualbox.
I've been on Linux for about a year and a half. So just passing the newbie phase I guess.
My advice is to dive right in. Don't know what that file does? Delete it. Punch in cd /; rm -rf, try to us ethe find command, think you understand the find command. Then avoid the find command like your creepy uncle. Open up vim, have no idea what vim is, and restart your computer because there's a snowballs chance in hell of figuring it out once you're already in vim. Fuck the install of your first distro beyond recognition, download a new one and do it again. That last one isn't advice, it's going to happen so you might as well embrace it.
Just try shit. Say: I wonder how I.... And then figure it out. Look into what all the symbols on the bash scripts do. Be curious and brave and remember that as long as you back up the important shit you may fuck something badly enough that it's not worth fixing but a reinstall doesn't take very long and it gives you a chance to try another distro anyway.
I'm telling you when the terminal "clicks" it's such a good feeling. When you write a short bash script that works the first time without looking for help it feels GOOD. But nothing as good as peeling back layer after layer of abstraction and seeing there right in front of you all the shit Microsoft keeps from you. Sure most of an s trace is total fucking jibberish and probably always will be because I don't have myself enough to learn C but just look at all the stuff my computer does! Boy, look at it go.
Bottom Line is that you can read all the books and how to guides in the world but none of them will do more to carry you forward into the perplexing and frustrating world of computers like a wild-eyed sense of curiosity and a bottle full of Xanax
Honestly, depends what helps you learn the best. I would recommend at first use Linux Mint, it's ubuntu without the bullshit, will look familiar to you and use that as a way to learn more. Or Pop_OS if you want something a little bit more different from the windows interface. I would also recommend YT channels like The Linux Experiment, DistroTube and Chris Tech Tips. I will also recommend the Arch wiki (even though Linux Mint is not based on Arch it can still be helpful), install tldr for short descriptions of terminal commands, use man for long descriptions, and so on.
In general the best way is fuck around and find out (keep regular backups). Don't be scared of messing around or fixing stuff, it can be easy and of it isn't an OS reinstall will take about 15 minutes anyways so you're good.
Also depends on what you wanna do. If you justbwant to browse the web and use a few common programs you can just install Linux Mint and remember to install programs via the package manager (app store) and you're generally good. Gaming? Use Steam (enable the proton compatibility mode) whenever possible, lutris should be able to handle the rest. And lastly also look at AlternativeTo when you find programs that aren't available or you don't like.
Just start with a beginner distro and work from there. Check guides and get in the habit to read documentation, you'll be fine.
I'd run some linux on a live USB. Try some of the FOSS software we use like Libre Office, Krita, Kdenlive. Check out the software app. Im a big KDE fan if it isnt obvious enough. Make your windows stuff more portable or interoperable. Get passwords into a database like KeePass, check out Markdown document making. Find out what Linux has for you and your computer interests.
Approach it more like a hobby than like anything else. Test out true waters with a virtual machine (Google is your friend) and YouTube/any other guides. If it's not for you, so be it.
If it piques your interest, keep going on down the rabbit hole, and continue exploring. And even then, if you get the feeling you know enough, or are satisfied, you will at least have a workable environment to your liking or have the knowledge to change it so.

Debian unstable is the only real way to run Linux

And so it's been since the dawn of computing, when the Colossus engineers told the ENIAC engineers to "RTFM newbs"

Welcome to the endless civil war between Linux distros.

This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, issue with switching to Linux.

The biggest isuue is people socializing. Linux users DO NOT SOCIALIZE.
- Niche introvert thing attracts niche introverts.
- Some people use Linux because they don't socialize, Some people don't socialize because they use Linux. What difference does it make?
If this is the biggest issue with switching to Linux then it's all good my dude
I mean, none of yall have given me shit for singing the praises of Valves supported version giving me the bridge to switch with yet, so at least the gate keeping isnt happening at the gate!

This is why I just use ChatGPT to tell me how to fix my linux

This can be true. But then there are communities like the EndeavourOS Forum. It's one of the few online places I genuinely enjoy hanging out in.

Arch? Pfft!
https://youtu.be/S8s9uzPIqQ4: Yuki installs Gentoo

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
Yuki installs Gentoo
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

Boy, is this accurate 🥲