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Trying to learn Linux, coming from windows (lemmy.zip)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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As someone who grew up using windows, is there a series of tutorials or videos y'all recommend to learn Linux? I find myself running into issues, trying to find solutions online, and not even understanding the instructions. I'm sure most of this comes from not knowing bash (which I've started to learn using https://labex.io/linuxjourney).

Background: I'm a very competent windows user. I've built my own PC, etc. I mostly use it for gaming and Internet now but want to start self hosting some things. Oh, and I'm running bazzite.

Anyway, just trying to get out from Microsoft's thumb.

Cheers.

Edit: thanks for the replies everyone. I haven't had a chance to read through them all yet; the whole family is suddenly sick.

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[–] [S] 2 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I'm using bazzite because I heard it is gaming focused. It runs fine but I keep running into little things. For instance, I couldn't get a game that was supposedly steam deck verified to run. I eventually got it working. Just had to tinker for a few hours.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

    Probably not a helpful suggestion, but CachyOS might be a better fit for you.

    Bazzite is an immutable distribution. This means that most things on the system are static between major Bazzite versions, at which time everything updates at once. This can be great; for someone who doesn't want to tinker, or for someone who's worried about breaking things—it's very hard to break.

    On the other hand, it also means that everything is running on an older version, with bugs that have been fixed in newer builds.

    CachyOS is Arch-based. You can configure everything in the system, and can update all your packages to the most recent versions as soon as updates are compiled in the CachyOS repo. The CachyOS repos are fairly extensive, but you can also install most other things from the Arch User Repository (AUR). The AUR is a bit of a "Wild West" where packages may not install or work dependably, but in most cases they work great... albeit sometimes with a bit of tinkering required.

    Your example of getting a "Deck Verified" game to run is what prompted this for me; CachyOS comes pre-installed with 2 versions of Steam (native and non-native), a bunch of versions of Proton (Valve's stable/experimental, GE, and I think more?), Heroic launcher, and Lutris launcher. So, you have like 8 different configurations to try just from toggling things that are pre-installed, lol. I haven't had a game not work for me yet.

    You also mention self hosting; in CachyOS you can install Docker or Podman from the CachyOS repos and then run a Docker image. They almost always "just work" without any tinkering needed, so you can jump right into setting up your configuration/settings. Or, if your prefer a more integrated solution, just about everything will be in the CachyOS repos or the AUR (but expect to put more work into it.)

    Bazzite might be holding you back a bit, and it sounds like you might not need the "safety" of an immutable distro, while its limitations might be getting in your way.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    That's literally why Bazzite is a better choice for a beginner: because it's harder to really break it. I'm sure CachyOS is great but not for someone coming straight from Windows, unless they're happy to reformat every other week.

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  • [–] 0 points 11 months ago

    Sure, but OP was specifically running into issues with Bazzite and needed to tinker to get things working. Ironically, CachyOS likely would not have needed any tinkering in OP's case because updates in CachyOS but absent from Bazzite likely contained the fixes.

    OP also mentioned elsewhere wanting to self-host some services—also a task likely to be easier in CachyOS than in Bazzite. Wanting to self-host also implies that OP can likely handle the light configuration that's needed in CachyOS.

    I think "unless they're happy to reformat every other week" is unnecessarily pessimistic, too. With brtfs (the CachyOS default), recovery is quick and relatively easy. It's also very unlikely to ever be an issue; CachyOS is very unlikely to break, unless OP really messes things up. Updates almost always "just work" in Arch Linux.

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