this post was submitted on 16 Dec 2025
44 points (94.0% liked)

Linux

60459 readers
435 users here now

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0

founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hey I’m cell and my bf of nearly 2 years asked me to switch to Linux because it’s “obv way better then windows” (his words xd) and until now I always said no. I didn’t wanna learn how to navigate through a new distro all over again. I gave it some thought and decided to make it his “Christmas” present that I’m installing Linux on my laptop :3 if any of you can give me advice on what type of Linux, like arch, I should install and what I should be aware of would really help!

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] VoxAliorum@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (2 children)

Heyho, maybe give us some more info. Right now I would say watch a video that showcases Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Mint and Fedora.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNr1BWilH4&pp=ygUjdWJ1bnR1IHZzIHh1YnVudHUgdnMgbWludCB2cyBmZWRvcmE%3D (covers Ubuntu, Mint and Fedora)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sKEb83VRGcE&pp=ygURdWJ1bnR1IHZzIHh1YnVudHU%3D (Covers Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu and Kubuntu)

Very short videos but I am sure they help getting an intuition of what suits you best :)

Be aware that you can try them out via a boot usb without installing them to have a closer look before committing.

As to the choice between gnome and KDE (desktop environments): Gnome is gonna have more of a ‘macOS’ vibe, while KDE is more of a ‘Windows’ vibe.

[–] cellolino@lemmy.zip 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Heyy sorry for my late response xd. I only use my laptop for school stuff but mostly for video editing. I read from a few other users that mint is probably the best option but I don’t know if the apps I use for my privat stuff are also available on Linux.. but thanks for the help :3

[–] VoxAliorum@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

No worries. While the distro matters and some distros have more support than others, whether your software runs on Linux will often be a distro-unrelated question. While some applications don't run natively, many (not all) are executable through a compatibility layer like Wine (which sounds fancy, but comes with little additional effort for you).

Don't be afraid to test a boot usb with liveboot (testing the OS without installing it) and see if you can make your software work - just don't be discouraged if it lags a little as larger liveboots are not intended for larger software installations, I think.