#Is IT hard to learn Linux?

[juney-blues]

your quest for today (worth 500 points)

open up the Command Line on your operating system of choice and navigate from the root directory to any folder of your choosing (atleast 3 layers deep)

[claire-starsword]

i love tech. i love this era of information. i googled a bazillion different sources when i made my Windows/Linux dual boot last year because i've always been paranoid to change OS. Everyone said it worked fine. I open Windows for a couple hours today and it updates the BIOS against my will and breaks the dual boot. I look it up and now all of a sudden I find ten billion tech bros saying that yeah, actually, this happens all the time, and you should have installed the EFI (no explanation given, you know what an EFI is, of course you do) in different drives, and it could have been much worse because Windows could have just corrupted the ubuntu boot somehow yeah it does that of course, and you should have also turned off secure boot, that's something you knew how to do and had to do it, obviously, how do you not know all this.

[tchaikovskym]

im at this point in life where i cannot simply shrink my CV to one page. i have to leave out crucial information

[sl33py-g4m3r]

I feel like the hugest idiot~~

I feel like the stupidest person alive simply cause I can't make up my mind on things...

and somehow in my toying around with my computer, my main hard drive that I have the OS installed on, and my data drive somehow switched ??

the OS hard drive was dev/sda1 and the data drive was dev/sdb1... but in my current fore of "lets install windows again to play games, then immediately the next day say screw it and go back to linux" they swapped places somehow??

now I have the OS on dev/sdb1 and boot to it from there.... so what happened? I don't touch the other drive at all when I'm wiping and messing with stuff so my data is intact.... so ??? how???

also for some reason linux mint debian edition 6 doesn't boot or install with secure boot on. not at all..... why? idk.....

yet straight up debian (tho I'm using debian 12 now instead of 11 and idk if that would have anything to do with LMDE but idk which version of debian it was based on....) cause i forgot if debian 11 also had that problem or not....

and don't want to poke around anymore and find out....

stuck in a cycle of "I want to game so reinstall windows and all games I have, then immediately get bored and reinstall linux again after a day. cause that was literally this time. so I think I should just stay with linux and accept that I'm not ever going to play any of my steam games.

but ye why did my hard drives swap on me? why does debian 12 install perfectly fine with secure boot enabled? cause I didn't change anything in the BIOS and still had fast boot and secure boot turned on....

I always also just default to xfce and idk why.... i tried messing around with KDE and don't like it. cinnamon was nice but boring, hadn't tried GNOME yet again after a decade, lxqt idk if I like or not. it would save ram and space tho but again I'm on a gaming pc so that's not a problem....

and once again my function keys sort of don't work under windows but DO under linux~~~~ and as always idk why.....

WE BACK TO LINUX BABY~~~~~~ AND I HOPE I'M SMART ENOUGH TO STAY HERE~~~~~

also for some reason everything in my data hard drive has a little lock next to it but you have to input a password to even access it so maybe it's that?

I FEEL LIKE I'M RUNNING AROUND IN CIRCLES LIKE AN IDIOT~~~

STAY WITH LINUX YOU FOOL~~~~~

but ye long story short saw a game about digging a hole and bought it, tried it for like a minute, it wanted to do something w windows that I didn't trust so I uninstalled it, and got a refund cause "it doesn't work on my pc" and then tonight just nuked windows after just nuking linux just to play a game about digging a hole......

lol

but ye to make the questions easier to find;

why did my hard drives switch like that? tho nothing broke and everything still works so that's good.

which desktop environment is better? course that's probably subjective and I gravitate towards xfce

the running around in circles is me not being able to make up my mind about stuff but I should just stick w linux cause windows 10 is reaching end of life and windows 11 is spyware..... imo anyway...

one more question that hopefully I can figure out~~~ how do I install updates on Debian? linux mint has an update installer... or maybe that's a cinnamon desktop environment thing? is it "apt-get update"

right now I know next to nothing about the terminal aside from ls which lists which directory you're in.... and "whoami" which tells you whos logged in.....

got a feeling I'll get "read the manual" tho... hopefully people aren't that hostile and mean......

all of this for wanting to play the silly hole game and then not playing the silly hole game.....

T_T;;;

[expressive-synapse]

Making my own posts aren't usually my thing but I wanted to talk about this. I use a overly elaborate setup that utilizes a combination of NixOS, a couple additional modules, and some bash to make everything on my computer not specifically declared otherwise in the config files to be removed on restart.

I fully understand it's crazy, and kinda impractical. Downright inconvenient at times. But I absolutely love it. I never need to worry about old trash files piling up over time, I know exactly what files stay on the computer, and I've learned a lot about the linux HFS in the process.

Anyway, follow your heart, do stupid shit on your computer, experiment, learn. It's not a smooth ride but it's rewarding.

It is so handy how on Unix you can just write files to /tmp and they will be cleared up automatically upon shutdown!

So if I want to write a disposable python script to test something - put it in /tmp!

Or if I want to view e.g. an MS Word document that my browser can't read, just save it in /tmp.

And of course if it's worth keeping, then move it to somewhere permanent.

[pomodoriyum]

i love bootcamp and i hate windows. 😞

[amalgamasreal]

SOURCE

Bit of a long video but worth a watch.

TL;DW though is that hidden in the Terms and Conditions for Google's AI Labs is a nice little poison pill that says they get access to your entire Google Drive if you opt in.

So if you're an author of some type and you keep your unpublished works in your G-Drive that means an AI will get to scrape all of it and by opting in you will have given them permission to it. The content creator goes on to predict that Google is going to let out their own streaming service where the scripts, and potentially the art if it's animated, will be almost or entirely AI generated using that scraped data as a baseline and the authors/artist's who's work was essentially stolen in its most raw form to crib from will have zero way of fighting Google on that in our current legal system.

This is of course right in the middle of the writers and actors strike where we're seeing just what lengths studios will go to in order to screw everyone but themselves.

They go on to recommend that if you keep any creative or personal works on Google Drive that you pull it off as soon as possible and delete your entire Drive. They acknowledge that of course this doesn't mean Google really deleted the data but if you do it before they start compulsory opting everyone in there's a chance your work might get overlooked. They also recommend several free editing programs that aren't run by corporations like Google with LibreOffice (the default office program of most Linux distros) being named.

Finally they go over methods of shaming Google which I feel like you just have to watch for comedies sake so I won't describe them in full.

Now this is from me: I know the majority of people don't have the ability to build and manage a big archive just for themselves, but if you're a creative NOW IS THE TIME to educate yourself on what you can do to protect your works. Cloud storage was always iffy at best, but with AI scraping entering the mix it's now downright malignant. Get a bunch of thumb drives, buy some external hard drives, if you have the money buy a pre-built NAS, and if you really want to get into learn how to build your own NAS. These are the old ways before cloud and they're coming back again, more important than ever.

[narastories]

on the topic of writing software

I want to ramble at you about some writing software options. 98% of the time I'm perfectly content with LibreOffice Writer (and previously I used Word, back when Microsoft products were less shitty). But every now and then when I have a new project (like now - more on that later) I start looking for something shiny and new to try. And I fell down into another research rabbit hole lol

I usually don't talk a lot about this bc my needs are very simple, and not sure how useful my opinion is to others, but I enjoy the topic. It's an intersection of creative writing and tech nerdiness and I like both of those things. Also what writing software you prefer really depends on the type of writer that you are, and everyone has a slightly different writing process and I find that fascinating.

Now, as I said, I'm coming at it from a slightly tech-nerd angle. I don't care if the installation is clunky, I'm happy to see the words open-source, and the need to create an account will already mildly piss me off (:

Don't worry, I'm not as intense as the guy writing his novel in Vim. Though fucking respect. And I can't say I'm not tempted to try it even with the steep learning curve lmao (Seriously, if you don't know Vim is notorious among software developers.)

Anyway, things I've tried so far:

Manuskript: this was listed as an open-source Scrivener alternative (though I haven't tried Scrivener. so.). I gave it a go when I was writing heart worth the trouble and it was pretty nice. It helped me when I had to move scenes and chapters around. But overall I think it was made with plotters in mind bc it wants you to enter a lot of information upfront. I'm not a planner/architect type of writer so this type of software is a bit overwhelming for me. Still, the fact that it's open source and works on Linux gets kudos from me.

Wavemaker: I recently played around with this, and I actually surprisingly like the features it has. You can put multiple books in a project, which is very nice if you like to work on different things, like fanfic, novels, etc. The mindmap is a feature I liked, though it's a bit clunky bc it collapses the text fields when you exit, and once I added an image field by accident that I could never remove lol I do like a bit of a snowflake method, so that feature is cool, and the cards are pretty straightforward too. Usually, my problem with these apps is that I don't even want to touch half of the features so they are pointless to me, but the features of Wavemaker were kind of nice. It's a web app that you can download and use offline but it's still working from your browser if that makes sense. That was what I didn't really appreciate. Also, it doesn't give you a lot of options to back it up. You either save the wavemaker file, export it into a document (which is fine, but it adds an extra step to the backup process) or you sync with Google Drive *shudders*

Things I want to try out:

Calmly Writer: now this is just purely a text editor that focuses on being very zen, streamlined, distraction-free, etc. It's pretty and it has typewriter sounds. (Yeah, I'm not immune to a pretty UI and harmless fun features alright? I can contain multitudes :P) It has an online version, but you can also download it, and works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. On paper, the desktop app requires a license, but the way they put it is that you can evaluate it for free and the evaluation doesn't have an enforced time limit... So. As good as free. (Though if I really like it, I would totally consider buying a license for 20usd that I can use on 3 computers, that seems fair. I appreciate a license over a subscription model for sure.) Honestly, I think this is the one I'm going to try next bc it just integrates perfectly into my writing process. That being: a multitude of messy, hand-written notes and notebooks + a document editor + backups on hard drive and GitHub (yes, really) ^^"

Shaxpir: This is on the opposite end of the spectrum basically, but out of the "fancy" ones, I kind of like the look of this the most. I like the statistics part in particular. But honestly, I probably won't try it bc it doesn't have a Linux version which would be a pain in the ass for me, and is cloud-based. I kind of don't really trust them, which is my biggest issue with these companies. (Although the creator's heart seems to be in the right place when it comes to AI. Basically, some of their features are based on machine learning and language models. For example, it will recognize passive voice, if it's an adverb with "-ly" or the emotion of a word. Which I think is all cool and fine and shouldn't be lumped in with generative AI. But he also had a website that did this analysis for already published works, and when people pointed out that it was sketchy, he took that down and I can respect that. I'm not sure how much it influenced the actual features of the app, maybe I'll just take a peek out of curiosity. The whole thing does make me have trust issues though lmao) If anyone has experience with it though, I'm interested to hear about it.

Obsidian: not a dedicated writing software, but rather an elaborate note-taking app. I heard good things about it from smart people lol If I really wanted to access my writing on my phone, I would probably use this bc it works on every platform and has end-to-end encrypted sync with version control. I heard you can also integrate it with GitHub which is always music to my ears lol But the setup probably takes a bit of time and I'm not particularly motivated to do that right now.

So yeah, those are the options that appeal to me right now. If anyone used these and has opinions, I'm all ears :D

[lesbianralzarek]

things ral would do if he were real part 2:

"honestly, linux isnt even that hard"

makes his assistants download slack just so he can ignore them there too

you may think his dramatic ass would have a real sick looking sports/muscle car, but youd be wrong. its a honda civic sleeper car hes tricked the fuck out over the course of several years. has done the cannonball run. single bumper sticker that says "my other car isnt a cybertruck"

thinks its neat how he can use his business card for whatever the fuck he wants without having to explain himself to niv. perks of the job, they just cover everything for him

its actually his own card, but his living expenses are so low that he hasnt really had to pay attention yet

he DOES have good healthcare tho, and the second he learns about it he gets a vasectomy for fun (and opioids). hes the hypothetical guy politicians are referring to when they say "people would abuse universal healthcare"

refers to something as being "kind of pog money" in front of hekara to deal critical psychic damage against a woman who has tried to teach him several tiktok dances

[commodorez]

Compaq LTE Elite 4/75CX

I had one of these in middleschool, a hand-me-down from my uncle, probably an old spare work laptop. It only lasted a year or so before the hard drive with Windows 95 bit it. He gave me a spare, but it contained something called "Linux" which I didn't understand at the time. I remember taking the laptop apart to learn how it was put together, but being a preteen at the time, I was unable to reassemble it properly. The trackball in the screen stuck with me as a favorite feature, I saved it with hopes of using it again in a future project... one day maybe.

This new to me example is running Windows 98 and runs way too slow for my taste. This will need a bit of work before it's running to my liking.

[errorid-mt7lt7k7unfr9ttfua5]

me when companies try to force you to use their proprietary software

anyway

Layperson resources:

firefox is an open source browser by Mozilla that makes privacy and software independence much easier. it is very easy to transfer all your chrome data to Firefox

ublock origin is The highest quality adblock atm. it is a free browser extension, and though last i checked it is available on Chrome google is trying very hard to crack down on its use

Thunderbird mail is an open source email client also by mozilla and shares many of the same advantages as firefox (it has some other cool features as well)

libreOffice is an open source office suite similar to microsoft office or Google Suite, simple enough

Risky:

VPNs (virtual private networks) essentially do a number of things, but most commonly they are used to prevent people from tracking your IP address. i would suggest doing more research. i use proton vpn, as it has a decent free version, and the paid version is powerful

note: some applications, websites, and other entities do not tolerate the use of VPNs. you may not be able to access certain secure sites while using a VPN, and logging into your personal account with some services while using a vpn *may* get you PERMANENTLY BLACKLISTED from the service on that account, ymmv

IF YOU HAVE A DECENT VPN, ANTIVIRUS, AND ADBLOCK, you can start learning about piracy, though i will not be providing any resources, as Loose Lips Sink Ships. if you want to be very safe, start with streaming sites and never download any files, though you Can learn how to discern between safe, unsafe, and risky content.

note: DO NOT SHARE LINKS TO OR NAMES OF PIRACY SITES IN PUBLIC PLACES, ESPECIALLY SOCAL MEDIA

the only time you should share these things are either in person or in (preferably peer-to-peer encrypted) PRIVATE messages

when pirated media becomes well-known and circulated on the wider, public internet, it gets taken down, because it is illegal to distribute pirated media and software

if you need an antivirus i like bitdefender. it has a free version, and is very good, though if youre using windows, windows defender is also very good and it comes with the OS

Advanced:

linux is great if you REALLY know what you're doing. you have to know a decent amount of computer science and be comfortable using the Terminal/Command Prompt to get/use linux. "Linux" refers to a large array of related open source Operating Systems. do research and pick one that suits your needs. im still experimenting with various dispos, but im leaning towards either Ubuntu Cinnamon or Debian.

[ahh-fxck]

Also please remember that Linux is NOT ACTUALLY A SOLUTION for most individuals. The amount of programming knowledge it requires is prohibitive. For many folks the refusal to switch to Linux isn't a case of laziness, it is an issue of *accessibility.*

I talked about the problem of Windows system requirements being too damn high before, and how the windows 10 to 11 jump is especially bad. Like the end of Windows 10 is coming october 2025, and it will be a massive problem. And this article gives us some concrete numbers for how many computers that can't update from win10 to 11.

And it's 240 million. damn. “If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600 km taller than the moon.” the tech analysis company quoted in the article explains.

So many functioning computers that will be wasted. And it's all because people don't wanna switch to a Linux distro with sane system requirements and instead buy a new computer.

Like if you own one of these 240 million windows 10 computers, Just be an environmentally responsible non-wasteful person and switch that computer to Linux instead of just scrapping it because Microsoft says it's not good enough.

[vergess]

Please, please explain how to install and use linux like I'm 5 years old. I'm so sick of windows adding AI and other bullshit to my already struggling elderly laptop but I'm really not good with computers at all so I have no idea where to start with Linux.

Okay, so, I'm going to break this down into steps I would give the average tumblr user first, and then if any of them are confusing or use words you don't understand, ask me and I'll explain that step in greater detail.

Step 0) BACK. UP. YOUR. SHIT.

NEVER EVER EVER CHANGE YOUR OPERATING SYSTEM WITHOUT A COMPLETE BACKUP OF ALL YOUR FILES.

Step 1) Learn your machine. You need to know:

How much RAM you have

If your processor is 32 or 64 bit

How big your hard drive is

On windows, you can find out all of this by going to the start menu, typing "about" and opening the first result on your system instead of the internet.

For additional instructions, visit this page.

Step 2) Pick your Linux.

There's like 10,000 kinds of Linux, each tailored to particular functions that the end-user (that is you!) might want to have. The sheer amount is very daunting, so first I'm going to give my suggestions, then I'll explain how to pick for yourself.

For Mac users, I suggest Kubuntu. For windows users, I suggest Mint Cinnamon. If your laptop is really REALLY old, I recommend Sparky Stable, which is the lightest weight Linux I would ever suggest for a new user. In every case, download the version suited to your processor (32 bit can be labelled "x86" or "32 bit"; 64 bit is always labelled "64 bit").

If you want to try a different type of linux, you'll need to make sure your laptop meets the "minimum specs" or "system requirements." These numbers tell you how much RAM, processor and hard drive space the linux will use. (That's why you needed those numbers at the beginning.)

Step 3) Collect your supplies. You're going to need:

An ISO burning program compatible with your current system, like Balena Etcher.

A copy of the ISO file for the Linux you want to use.

Your laptop.

An 8gb or larger USB flash drive.

Step 3) Make a bootable USB drive

Install Balena Etcher, hitting "okay" and "next" when prompted. Last I checked, Etcher doesn't have adware attached, so you can just hit next every time.

Plug your USB drive into the laptop.

Open Etcher.

Click "flash from file" and open the ISO file with your Linux on it.

Click "Select target" and open the USB drive location. Hit the "flash" button. This will start writing all the linux installer data to your flash drive. Depending on the speed of your machine, this could take as long as 10 minutes, but shouldn't be much longer.

Step 4) Boot to the USB drive

This is, in my opinion, the trickiest step for a lot of people who don't do "computer stuff." Fortunately, in a rare act of good will, Windows 10 made this process a lot easier.

All you'll need to do is go to settings, then recovery, then advanced startup and pick the button labelled "use a device."

This tutorial has images showing where each of those is located. It's considered an "advanced setting" so you may get a spooky popup warning you that you could "harm your system by making changes" but we're not doing anything potentially harmful so you can ignore that if you get it.

Step 5) Try out linux on the flash drive first.

Linux installs using a cool little test version of itself that you can play around in. You won't be able to make changes or save settings, but you can explore a bit and see if the interface is to your liking. If it's hideous or hard to navigate, simply pick a new linux version to download, and repeat the "make a bootable USB" step for it.

Step 6) Actually install that sucker

This step varies from version to version, but the first part should be the same across the board: on the desktop, there should be a shortcut that says something like "install now." Double click it.

Follow the instructions your specific linux version gives you. When in doubt, pick the default, with one exception:

If it asks you to encrypt your drive say no. That's a more advanced feature that can really fuck your shit up down the road if you don't know how to handle it.

At some point you're going to get a scary looking warning that says 1 of 2 things. Either:

Install Linux alongside Windows, or

Format harddrive to delete all data

That first option will let you do what is called "dual booting." From then on, your computer will ask every time you turn it on whether you want Windows or Linux.

The second option will nuke Windows from orbit, leaving only linux behind.

The install process is slower the larger your chosen version is, but I've never seen it take more than half an hour. During that time, most linux versions will have a little slideshow of the features and layout of common settings that you can read or ignore as you prefer.

Step 7) Boot to your sexy new Linux device.

If you're dual booting, use the arrow keys and enter key to select your linux version from the new boot menu, called GRUB.

If you've only got linux, turn the computer on as normal and linux will boot up immediately.

Bonus Step: Copy Pasting some code

In your new start menu, look for an application called "terminal" or "terminal emulator." Open that up, and you will be presented with an intense looking (but actually very harmless) text command area.

Now, open up your web browser (firefox comes pre-installed on most!), and search the phrase "what to do after installing [linux version you picked]"

You're looking for a website called "It's FOSS." Here's a link to their page on Mint. This site has lots and lots of snippets of little text commands you can experiment with to learn how that functionality works!

Or, if you don't want to fuck with the terminal at all (fair enough!) then instead of "terminal" look for something called "software manager."

This is sort of like an app store for linux; you can install all kinds of programs directly from there without needing to go to the website of the program itself!

[zadle]

How to replace Microsoft and support the BDS boycott

reach out to your tech friends about replacing windows with an alternative operating system, such as linux or a *BSD OS. if you decide to do this on your own, make sure to back up your hard drive first. windows profits off your usage data (even if you never paid for it) and can use it to train their AI, which is arming israel.

if your work or school requires you to acquire windows, look up massgrave (it's very simple to activate windows).

duckduckgo is just microsoft's bing in a trench coat. they have made a secret exception for microsoft's tracking services in the past. check out Searx instances, or try alternative indie web search engines such as Marginalia or Wiby.

if you're using microsoft's outlook for email, consider Tuta or Disroot (avoid proton; it's all privacy theatre that's only somewhat better than other email providers, and the CEO has voiced support for trump).

don't pay to watch the minecraft movie that's coming out. i've heard it's incredibly underwhelming anyway.

insist on playing minecraft but don't want to give microsoft money? avoid bedrock edition. check out UltimMC if you need a way to acquire java edition and you don't own it. if you're a server operator, you can set your server to offline mode in server.properties which allows people who acquire minecraft the cool way to connect, but this should be paired with a server-side authentication plugin/mod for safety reasons (in offline mode, anyone can log in with any username, including a whitelisted or operator username, and there are bots scanning for servers to grief). don't use realms. disable telemetry with mods if you can.

get a vpn (i recommend airvpn for p2p connections) and download qBittorrent. in case you're interested in media published by microsoft. or just in general. learn to torrent, and make sure all your torrent traffic goes through your vpn service.

if you're using microsoft edge, consider switching to an alternative browser such as LibreWolf (basically firefox with better privacy and security out of the box; mozilla is not the innocent robin hood figure they're made out to be) or Ungoogled-Chromium (chromium without the google spyware; unfortunately lacks auto-update in most cases).

if you're using microsoft's AI for anything, consider getting a library card instead.

[jingerpi]

I think the thing with Linux is it is more difficult, but a lot of that comes from it being different more so than innately harder. Windows is not a magical operating system that we're all born with innate knowledge of, we grow up learning it and getting used to it's quirks, so much so that they begin to disappear and we forgot we had to learn them in the first place. Linux might require "more" knowledge, but it's knowledge that is absolutely learnable if you're willing to go back to the headspace of being a kid again and trying to figure out how stuff works. it's okay to not know how to do everything immediately, it doesn't mean you're stupid or doing something wrong.

In response to seeing calls to switch to Linux I've seen a lot of people cry that it's too complicated and we can't expect people to all jump ship on windows/mac, and I get it, I really do, but so much of it is an experience problem, a problem of community knowledge, more so than it is an actual problem with Linux itself. at this point Windows is tradition and it's so engrained in people it's hard to switch. and that's not a moral judgement! it is hard! I'm not someone who pretends Linux is secretly super easy and everyone and their mother should use it. but... i do think we should recognize why it's hard, and not pretend it's impossible to overcome that difficulty for the sake of more independence in our lives

[machine-saint]

Eka, do you have any beginner tips for learning Linux? Or recommendations? 🪡

hello mysterious sewing needle anon! I'm not sure what the "beginner" distro is these days, maybe Mint?

in no particular order:

definitely make sure you have a "backup" machine.

get comfortable using a terminal. you'll want to do this sooner or later. if you have a command called foobar, "man foobar" and "foobar --help" (that's two hyphens) will generally show you help.

fish is a good shell, imo more newbie friendly than sh or bash or zsh or whatever.

get comfortable with your distribution's package manager of choice, and prefer installing stuff from it if you can. it's a vastly better experience than windows's "download random shit and let it install itself".

for other things, flatpak is a reasonable alternative.

if you're editing config files by hand, make a backup copy of them. there are some fancy tools for managing config files but I'm not aware of any that are beginner-friendly.

if you fuck up your system so bad you can't get a graphical environment, you can use ctrl-alt-f2 to switch to a virtual terminal

if you fuck it up so bad you can't even boot, you can boot off a USB stick, mount your hard drive, and fix it that way. the installer you use for your distro will work for this.

when it comes to desktop environments, I have no particular opinions on gnome vs plasma vs. whatever else is out there because I use sway because I'm cool. anything that describes itself as being based on "Wayland" is newer, and some things might not work as well (screensharing), but will have better support for HiDPI displays

many Steam games that are not officially supported on Linux can be made to run anyway, and will run just as well. I don't remember the setting for this. for non-Steam games, not sure.

overall, have fun! it has its quirks but I'm happy knowing that my computer isn't going to try to force telemetry and AI nonsense onto me