The avalanche has just began.

  • Omnifarious
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    42 years ago

    I’ve been considering making the move to Linux for a few months now. If this comes to pass that will more than likely be the final nail in the coffin. Based on what I’ve seen, Linux has become a lot more user friendly since I messed with it when I had it on a mini laptop back in the day.

  • Bappity
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    1692 years ago

    if this is true I might actually stop being lazy and mess with Linux for my personal systems

    • @[email protected]
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      122 years ago

      Just start by dual booting one of the “easy” distros and doing stuff that doesn’t require Windows. Eventually you’ll start spending more and more time on it out of comfort, then one day you may realise that you haven’t needed your Windows partition in months, and can skip out on it entirely.

      • Franzia
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        52 years ago

        Another alternative is to use FOSS software this is available on Linux and Windows. Get used to the software before the desktop itself. For me, dual booting was a lot of work and wasn’t fun. Maybe live booting for a session or two could be a way to go? I never tried that.

    • Dynamo
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      102 years ago

      It’s easy if you know how to manage your anger

    • @[email protected]
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      2 years ago

      I made the switch about a two months ago. I’m using my windows side of my dual boot a hell of a lot less than I thought I would, mostly thanks to steam’s proton.

      Started with zorin, but eventually landed on mint.

      • @[email protected]
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        02 years ago

        I’m trying to narrow down today’s distro choices, would you mind telling why you switched away from Zorin?

        • @[email protected]
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          22 years ago

          The file explorer has some pretty limited options, and not many features. Or at least, it doesn’t have some of the features I like by default.

          It does have zorin connect, which is really nice, but I later found it it is a re-skinned version of KDE connect, so not much is lost by moving to another distro on that front.

          It also seemed to not have as good windows support for certain things. BG3 kept on crashing on me for some unknown reason, with zero error messages to troubleshoot. On mint it worked first try, like it ought to.

          At the end of the day, zorin just isn’t as customizable as I want, whereas mint is.

          • @[email protected]
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            22 years ago

            Thank you! All the advertised built-in compatibility layers seemed too promising, so I’ve been wondering how often it breaks or doesn’t work as well as another distro. Also good to know the connect stuff can be added just by installing KDE. And Dolphin probably a better file manager.

            What’s your preferred file manager, if you don’t mind?

            • @[email protected]
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              2 years ago

              Yeah, I was a bit disappointed with the compatability as well. But luckily it hasn’t effected me too much on mint. So far only two programs I use haven’t been compatible, and even then they aren’t programs I use often.

              What’s your preferred file manager, if you don’t mind?

              Nemo, which is the default for mint.

              Also another reason I switched to mint now that i remember, I wanted to switch to a non-Ubuntu system. The whole point of switching to Linux is to get away from all the corpos getting their hands on your system/data. Unfortunately I only learned how shitty canonical is about it after I unstalled zorin.

              So I currently have mint debian edition installed.

              • @[email protected]
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                12 years ago

                have mint debian edition installed

                Oh that’s great, you’re exactly the one I need to talk to then, because I’ve been debating why even go with an Ubuntu-based distro at all when it’s based on Debian, and whether or not the Debian version would be a better choice. I’ve been running multiple VMs trying to work out the differences.

                Before I found Debian Mint, I wrote a script for base Debian 12.2 to auto-install wine, steam, and everything else I could think of based on what’s in Linux Mint and Garuda… then discovered Debian Mint and have been wondering if that’s my best choice, because I have no idea what I could be missing in the background on my Debian install, or didn’t set up correctly because I don’t know about it.

                I also noticed that Debian Mint currently uses a newer kernel than Ubuntu Mint… 6.1.0-13 vs 5.15.0. For a newer kernel than that you have to go with the Ubuntu Mint EDGE version (6.2.0) or Arch (6.1.57-lts or 6.5.7-zen).

                Has there been any particular thing you had to do to Debian Mint to make it work better for you?

                • @[email protected]
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                  22 years ago

                  I will say right off the bat, it sounds like you know a bit more about me, so whatever you decide will probably already be a pretty informed choice.

                  With that said, having used ubuntu occasionally in the past, it doesn’t feel all that different from Debian. They are roughly equally functional, performant, etc.

                  Before I found Debian Mint, I wrote a script for base Debian 12.2 to auto-install

                  I probably should do something similar, because down the line who knows, I might need a full re-install.

                  because I have no idea what I could be missing in the background on my Debian install, or didn’t set up correctly because I don’t know about it.

                  Very anecdotally, like I said there has only been two programs that I haven’t been able to get running that I really want. That’s fusion360 and dungeon draft. Both of which I could pretty easily get running in a VM.

                  Actually now that I think about it, there is a 3d program, and that’s fortnite. But that’s because their management doesn’t give a flying fuck about linux, and so their anti-cheat breaks the game. So no distro will be safe from that.

                  I also noticed that Debian Mint currently uses a newer kernel than Ubuntu Mint

                  Again, it sounds like you are much more informed about it than me. But personally, it hasn’t made a difference for me. I can run my games, the basic internet browsing apps that I like, etc.

                  Has there been any particular thing you had to do to Debian Mint to make it work better for you?

                  The most complex thing that needed set up was getting my drives auto mounted on startup. But debian mint has a pretty straightforward way of setting it up, so it took maybe 5 seconds.

                  Beyond that, it’s just been a small bit of effort setting up the programs I use. Steam, freetube, the prism minecraft launcher, my nvidia drivers, cura, KDE connect, gitkracken, vscode, vlc, etc. It is really low effort honestly, basically the same effort as windows. The software manager/library on debian has been pretty decent to me.

      • Bappity
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        292 years ago

        I’m not concerned with difficulty just that it’ll take a bit of my time

        yes I’m lazy

        • @[email protected]
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          122 years ago

          It’s very gradual and fun because it’s new. A lot of you being lazy is also just your safety mechanism kicking in so you don’t dive into every single urge all the time.

          Once you dip your toe, you’ll be at it for a long and good time.

      • mypasswordis1234
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        2 years ago

        There is no “us” or “them”. If Microsoft will maintain its streak of spoiling everything they touch, everyone will switch to Linux sooner or later 😉

        • @[email protected]
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          2 years ago

          Now, for an actual sane take, unless we do the actual marketing work in order to gather interest from people, no, not even close to everyone will switch to Linux, specially considering Microsoft has literal millions of dollars to spend in marketing and will likely spin this in a way that non-techy people specially will buy in due to not knowing any choice.

          This is a PSA begging people to contribute to their favorite distros not (only) with code but with marketing. Social media posts, videos, word of mouth recommendations, advocacy, events, etc. If your distro doesn’t have a marketing team, create one, as most projects should already have done two decades ago. If your distro has one (like we do in Fedora), join it. There’ll likely be something you can help with.

        • @[email protected]
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          2 years ago

          This is extreme copium, sorry to say. You have no idea how much shit the average person will eat to prevent having to learn something new. For someone who has never manually installed an OS before, even Windows, the idea of doing that with something like Linux and potentially deleting their existing OS is genuinely frightening. Never underestimate the fact that people will pay through the nose to ensure they don’t have to contend with the unknown.

        • @[email protected]
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          72 years ago

          I believe it when I see it. If the average Windows user is as dumb as the average Xitterer you’ll have to wait a century or two for the year of the Linux desktop.

          • @[email protected]
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            2 years ago

            Realistically, the year of the Linux desktop will come when Windows 12 enables WSL by default.
            Or when desktop PCs die out and Android/SteamOS/ChromeOS devices take over the laptop market.

        • @[email protected]
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          122 years ago

          That’s true. We’re just getting the window managers and drivers ready for everyone who will follow us.

      • Frost-752
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        2 years ago

        Setting up a functional Linux environment can be accomplished within a comparable timeframe to that required for a Windows installation. When opting for user-friendly distributions such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu, the installation process becomes equally accessible for users, presenting no significant challenges when compared to Windows, so while you are entitled to hold this opinion, its factually incorrect.

    • @[email protected]
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      392 years ago

      https://www.windowslatest.com/2023/10/16/no-windows-12-is-a-free-upgrade-and-wont-require-a-subscription/

      As it turns out, the rumours discussed by some outlets are based on the “IoT Enterprise Subscription” of Windows 11, not Windows vNext. For those unaware, Windows 24H2 or Windows vNext is what Windows 12 is being called publicly. As you can see in the above screenshots, the “subscription” code strings found in the preview builds are associated with a new Enterprise version of Windows 11 loT and have nothing to do with Windows 12 or future versions of the OS.

      I’m not saying to use it or to not switch to linux, but maybe this isn’t that much of a concern.

      I’d be more concerned about

      the next version of Windows will be heavily integrated with AI and cloud capabilities.

      • @[email protected]
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        102 years ago

        Windows accounts for 12% of their profits, and I’m willing to bet that the consumer versions are a very small part of that. Most businesses are not buying OEM licenses. They are already using a subscription model for M365 which includes Windows licenses or a standard EA or SA agreement.

        They learned after the Windows Phone that they don’t need to win the client OS battle as long as they can get their other products on the devices. Since then Windows has really focused more on keeping you locked into the Microsoft ecosystem versus keeping locked into Windows itself. Hence why the upgrades have all been free where in the past you would have to repurchase each new edition of Windows.

        Of course I could be completely wrong. They have done some bonkers stuff in the past.

        • @[email protected]
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          92 years ago

          MS is completely focussed on the Enterprise market now. They need everyone to start using Office 365 early so they’ll keep using it at their job. They don’t really care what OS people run underneath, as long as it can connect to Azure/Entra.

        • @[email protected]
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          52 years ago

          Agreed. Also why they’re more and more fucking annoying about OneDrive and O365 subs. I would be extremely surprised at seeing anyone at MS thinking the best way to monetize Windows is to get consumers, who are notoriously more and more tired of subs in general, is to get them to pay a sub fee on the computer they bought. Let’s face it, virtually no one is buying a Windows license, it comes with the machine they buy. If you told people that they have to now pay a fee every month/year to keep using it.

        • @[email protected]
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          32 years ago

          Couldn’t tell you, I’m on 10 myself because my laptop is old and doesn’t meet the TPM requirement. Which, tbh, is probably best.

    • Jo Miran
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      192 years ago

      I’m an early adopter of Linux (early as in 96-97) but I also run MacOS and Windows so I’m I tell you this from an unbiased point of view. Linux has never been easier to run. My daily driver is a ThinkPad running Pop!_OS Linux and I never have to think about it. I just installed and everything ran.

      I don’t game on my daily driver, I use MacOS for music. At this point Windows is relegated to Adobe Creative Suite, GeForce Now, and the occasional game I can’t run on Linux or GeForce Now.

      • Franzia
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        52 years ago

        No doubt. LibreOffice is way better than the windows office sweet now. Seriously zippy fast and easy to use. And less stuff breaks.

    • 𝔼𝕩𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕒
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      22 years ago

      Hard agree. I got a friend trying to get me on linux, and I’ve just been on windows since my first pc.

      But fuck it. I’ll maintain 10 until eol and then whatever Linux supports will be the games I play on steam.

    • @[email protected]
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      12 years ago

      if you don’t use linux, why are you here?, not gate keeçing, but it’s linux memes, i didn’t know other people could find it funny

      • @[email protected]
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        12 years ago

        To be clear, it may be a linux meme, but it’s a post about a possible future with Windows, that may lead some to switch to linux. Windows users being in here, commenting and asking questions, isn’t weird.

      • Bappity
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        42 years ago

        I use Linux for work and on some virtual machines personally to mess around sometimes so I know my way around it

  • @[email protected]
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    142 years ago

    Was already looking to jump ship at the file explorers having ads as a “test” but boy howdy, do it Microsoft. This would push me to make the Linux switch outright.

      • @[email protected]
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        12 years ago

        I run everything but work and a gaming rig on some flavor of Linux.

        In the past, I ran all Linux except work, so even gaming.

        I just missed the ease of use of third party tools, mostly for modding sjbgke player games.

        Maybe vortex works and I just don’t understand his to use it on Linux, buy I’ve also run into third party tools for other games (again, single player - not trying to cheat necessarily, though some questionable QoL mods end up creeping in after a few play through) and I’m not sure how to get them to run.

        I’ve always had trouble with wine, never set up lutris, but proton was a boon for gamers everywhere, Linux or otherwise.

        Anyone have a primer for a power user (sysadmin type duties on my own server, have been using Kali as an educational tool since back track) that’s pegged at gamers making the switch to Linux? I’ve mostly just figured it out looking to random guides and stack overflow, lol.

      • @[email protected]
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        22 years ago

        Still just a bit worried about everything I use not being compatible. Windows is the normie choice so chances are if it exists there’s a Windows version but with Linux I’d start from scratch.

        Tell you what, when I replace my motherboard in a couple weeks, I’ll slot this M.2 I’ve got and put a Linux partition on it. Any recommendations on what ‘version’ to start with for a heavy gamer? The different names of Linux ‘versions’ are kernels, right?

        • @[email protected]
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          22 years ago

          The different names of Linux ‘versions’ are kernels, right?

          Not really, the kernel is basically the only thing all distros share in common. The different Linux “distros” (as in distributions) are called that precisely because they have different ways of distributing the software they use to build the OS. They use different means to achieve the same goal.

          Any recommendations on what ‘version’ to start with for a heavy gamer?

          I am biased towards Fedora since I am a contributor of the project, but you can’t go wrong with Ubuntu either. It’s more popular so there’s a lot more content about it online if you need help.

          The only thing I recommend against is using small, niche distros or DIY distros (like Arch) as your first. Stick with big distros with big communities and don’t be afraid to ask questions in the forums if there’s any doubts or if you face any issues.

          It sounds daunting in the beginning, but it’s way easier than the internet make it seem.

          • @[email protected]
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            22 years ago

            Ah okay, thank you for clearing the terminology up a bit. So the distros are what have different names and have unique contributions from different people, the kernel is just the common ‘core’ they expand off? I think I got it.

            I hear a lot of people mention Arch to the point it’s a meme but I’ll take your advice and steer clear. Ubuntu is the one I’m probably most familiar with on a name basis to the point I thought it and ‘Linux’ meant the same thing. I might start with Ubuntu only for the sake of documentation and once I get a familiar idea of how to do basic commands and troubleshooting, I’ll give your Fedora a shot.

            The only thing that’s kept me from the switch is compatibility concerns. Lots and lots of people harp on about that and until Steam Deck I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to game with it. I’m ready to break my Microsoft chains though.

            • @[email protected]
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              22 years ago

              I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to game with it. I’m ready to break my Microsoft chains though.

              Oh, don’t worry, unless you are really into competitive multiplayer games with anti-cheat software, you’ll likely have a great experience gaming on Linux! Just don’t forget to tick the Proton compatibility layer option on Steam’s settings (if they haven’t yet made that the default, I’m not sure nowadays).

              In any case, if you’re wary if a certain game you want to play is playable or not, just check on ProtonDB.

  • @[email protected]
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    1492 years ago

    This was based on a report that was debunked almost immediately, y’all gotta stop reposting this every day.

    • FiveMacs
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      11 year ago

      It’s only free since they assume you’ll be paying for windows11 subscription.

    • R0cket_M00se
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      92 years ago

      But but but that’s not as fun as hearing a bunch of Linux users bitch about shit they heard once maybe.

      Really though this website seems to have more misinformation and just general stupidity than even reddit.

    • @[email protected]
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      22 years ago

      I simply just hate windows and dont care if its true or not. they sell you without subscription.

  • @[email protected]
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    112 years ago

    I’ve successfully banished all Microsoft trash from my home network but I also work at an MSP all day while having “God damn it Microsoft” tourette syndrome 8 hours a day so I think I might become an evil villain if/when that goes live.

    • @[email protected]
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      22 years ago

      My favorite quote from one of my coworkers this week: “Why did I expect that copying text from one Microsoft service to another would work?”