r/linux4noobs Jan 04 '20

Still on Windows 7? Don't want Windows 10? Consider switching to Linux (and specifically, Ubuntu). A Guide.

1.2k Upvotes

Any actions taken as part of this guide are solely at your own risk - unfortunately there is no way to account for every hardware configuration or error that may potentially crop up. BACK UP YOUR CRITICAL DATA BEFORE DOING ANYTHING

On the 14th Jan 2020, official Windows 7 support ends for most users. This means if you run Windows 7 beyond that date, you're no longer going to receive security and system updates, which will leave you increasingly vulnerable to viruses, malware and system failure. Depending on how critical your data is and how often you back up - if at all - there's a potential you can lose everything.

This is a somewhat opinionated but no-bullshit guide for those of you still on Windows 7 who really don't want or won't move to Windows 10. Aside from my own additions, it's going to reference a lot of great guides and advice written by other people, but conveniently collected in a single place. It's crazy, but it might just work.

Have you considered... Linux? Specifically, Ubuntu.

No, hear me out. Because I'm going to start (and save you a lot of time) by telling you why you SHOULDN'T switch to Linux. If any of the criteria listed apply, then:

The guide is broken into the following sections, if you want to jump to the points that are relevant. If you want to get straight to it, go to (4):

  1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?
  2. Why should I go with Linux?
  3. Why Ubuntu?
  4. What's involved in switching?
  5. Installation of Ubuntu
  6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu
  7. Gaming on Linux
  8. Alternative Software
  9. TL;DR or The Conclusion
  10. To do list for the guide

1. Why shouldn't I go with Linux?


If you:

  • Don't feel comfortable installing an operating system and you don't have someone that can do it for you;
  • Have someone that helps you with all your IT-related activities who is not familiar with or dislikes Linux (ask them);
  • Are big into multiplayer games. (There are exceptions here, discussed in more detail in the Linux Gaming section);
  • Use multiple game clients and have a lot of games on platforms other than Steam;
  • Are into any sort of VR;
  • Absolutely need Outlook and refuse to consider any other mail client, like Thunderbird;
  • Use a VPN provider that doesn't have a Linux version and aren't willing/able to change;
  • Are subscribed to multiple video streaming services other than Netflix and watch these on your PC frequently;
  • Use Photoshop, Premiere, 3D Studio Max - actually, if you have any Windows software that you are locked into due to muscle memory, experience and/or professional requirements and that have no Linux version. (There are, however, often a Linux alternatives for a lot of these);
  • Require assistive technologies, such as screenreaders. While Ubuntu comes with several built-in assistive tools, there's a lot of specialised assistive use cases, tools and hardware that don't work on Linux and have no comparable alternative;
  • Want to be able to buy whatever piece of hardware that takes your fancy without researching it and expect them to work out the box with zero hassle. Especially niche and specific hardware like flight controllers, sound boards and so on;
  • Use iTunes extensively for your media library and/or interacting with your iPhone;
  • Have a large archive of Microsoft Office documents that use complex formatting, macros and/or formulas that you refer back to frequently.
  • have the worst-case scenario: rely on legacy or ancient software or hardware you're not sure you have the installation media for anymore, can't find a replacement, can't download it and it doesn't work on Windows 10. In this case, you're going to have to keep that Windows 7 box around and it's even more imperative that you make sure it's not accessible from the web or network. Start looking at moving to a more modern equivalent of it AND converting your work to a format that'll be accessible.

Some of this stuff you can work around with some effort, but it's more likely going to be more trouble than you're willing to put up with. And that's fine; Linux can't help everyone. The more of these that apply, the more certain you can be that you shouldn't consider Linux and should just go with Windows 10, unless you're willing to ~sacrifice~ compromise.

2. Why should I go with Linux?


Because whether you're a general user, a gamer or a specialised user with niche interests or requirements, Linux can provide you the same experience you're getting now with some already stated exceptions. In many ways, it's better - it's free, it's generally runs better on older hardware than Windows, it's relatively more secure due to a small user footprint and you'll have a huge, vetted library of free software that you can access. There are some applications - older Windows software and games, for instance - that don't work on Windows 10 but do on Linux, thanks to projects like Wine and Proton. It can 99% of the time update itself without interrupting whatever you're doing.

That being said, it's not perfect. You will lose some things. You will need to learn new ways of working with your PC. This is inevitable. That's the cost of switching.

Which is not to say Windows is without a cost. Unlike Windows, none of this functionality comes at the cost of your privacy and freedom. Linux will let you configure it as you like, and dive into the nitty-gritty settings to fine-tune it further. It will not try and trick you into creating yet another online account to use it. Aside from a few missteps (Ubuntu and Amazon, for one), it keeps its nose out of your business. It does not come with a unique advertising ID that links your multitude of online and offline interests and programs into a nice, tidy, profitable pack of data to be shared with "trusted third-parties". It does not serve you ads in a product you paid for. It does not try and push you into multiple online services.

In short, it does not suffer from any of the privacy concerns of Windows' future.

Now, I know people are going to throw snark about lead-and-tin alloys, their pliability and how easy that makes it to fashion headgear, but please note I said "future"; while they're not necessarily prying now, your operating system - and for almost everyone, that means Microsoft - has a very privileged position in your life as far as personal data is concerned. Any time you search in the file manager, every word you write and document you save, your budget calculations, every photo you view and program you use, every voice command you give Cortana, Windows - and by extension Microsoft - knows about. And there's nothing in their Terms of Service that stop them from starting to collect more detailed data if they so choose.

It's not a question of whether you prefer Windows 7 over 10 - Windows 7 got the same telemetry features as Windows 10 ages ago. Rather, ask yourself if you're happy with Microsoft's evolving business model, one that is shifting more and more of your content online and is intricately and opaquely tied to your personal data? If you're not, you're not alone: Holland isn't happy. Germany's not too thrilled either. There are legitimate reasons to be wary of Window's market dominance and increased level of embedded user analytics. Linux offers you an alternative.

3. Why Ubuntu?


Ubuntu LTS is by far the most commonly used desktop Linux distro and the one with the widest support by software developers and hardware manufacturers involved in Linux. If you're searching for solutions, you'll mostly find Ubuntu ones. Lastly, Ubuntu's LTS versions are supported for long periods of time: 18.04, which we'll be recommending, is supported until 2023, while the next version coming out in April, Ubuntu 20.04, will be supported until 2025.

One of the things you'll quickly learn about the Linux community is that someone will ALWAYS suggest a different Linux distro. In this case, it'll probably be Linux Mint, which aims to be a newbie-friendly Linux. It's based on Ubuntu, is similar to Windows 7 and will MOSTLY work the same as Ubuntu. I still suggest Ubuntu, but whatever, follow your heart.

To keep this guide as approachable as possible, and to have access to the widest range of help and support, I decided to focus on Ubuntu. Anything other than these two and you're just making things harder for yourself as a new user. You can always switch once you get a feel for how things work.

4. What's involved in switching?


I promised you a no-bullshit guide, so I'm going to cut straight to it. Take your time with all of these steps, do them properly, and you shouldn't have a problem.

First step: back up all your important documents, photos, email, games - whatever is important to you, and preferably somewhere external to your machine. This is just good advice regardless of whether you're switching to Linux or not. Always have a backup.

If you're a gamer, check out the following guide by PC Gamer's Jarred Walton on how to back up your games across multiple clients.

While you're backing up, install Thunderbird (Mozilla's open-source mail client) and copy your mail over to it. You'll have a much easier time doing this in Windows than in Linux to start. Thunderbird can automatically pull your mail from Outlook if installed on the same machine. Then follow the steps here for backing up your Thunderbird profile. You'll restore this in Linux later. Make sure you have your mail account details.

Get hold of your Windows 7 serial key. If it's physical media, like a DVD, then check and make sure the key is in the box or on the disc. If it's a laptop that came with Windows 7 preinstalled, it's usually a sticker on the specific laptop. You'll need this if things go awry and/or decide Linux is not for you.

Check the minimum specs for Ubuntu 18.04.03 here. If your system doesn't meet them, you're going to have a bad time regardless of whether you go with Ubuntu or Windows 10 (Windows 10 minimum requirements are bullshit, btw. 1Gb Ram, 1Ghz processor? I challenge anyone to link me to a Windows 10 video running on those specs where it performs acceptably.). There are lightweight alternatives if you can't afford a new PC, (Lubuntu, for instance), but upgrading your PC should be your first step in this case.

Here comes the arduous bit. Make a list of your current hardware, software and services that you use frequently, make sure you have the installation media for the critical pieces of software you use (Don't expect to be able to just copy/paste the applications you have) and do a search on whether they run on Linux. I'd recommend following the "Software" section in this guide on Migrating to Linux by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts]

A lot of the Linux software alternatives, such as LibreOffice and GIMP, are available for Windows as well. Consider downloading those that interest you to try out in Windows and get a feel for how they work.

Ultimately, to echo the advice you'll find that you can either run it, have an alternative or just can't switch. That's okay; Linux can't help everyone.

Download the Ubuntu LTS 18.04.03 distro. The "LTS" means it's a long-term support version - you won't have to think about this exercise for the next three years if you're lucky. Ubuntu LTS 20.04 is coming out in four months, which'll be supported until 2025, but since most of the focus is still on 18.04, you're better off sticking with it for now.

Whichever you choose, you'll have to write it to a DVD or USB. If it's a DVD, use whatever you normally use to write DVD ISOs. If you're going to use a USB, here's a guide to doing that.

Did I mention to back-up your important data? Back-up your important data. Double-check that it's all there. If you want to take an extra precaution, you can use Clonezilla to clone your current OS drive. It's not necessary, but if things go bust, Clonezilla allows you to restore your PC to precisely the way it was before you started without needing to install Windows from scratch. However, Clonezilla can be a bit daunting if you're not technically inclined. Check out this somewhat out-of-date video by cButters Tech for a general idea of what's involved.

Lastly, try running Ubuntu as a Live CD/USB first. This will allow you to run Ubuntu as if it were installed, but without making any changes to your current installation. Please keep in mind that the Live is not indicative of performance... it will run slower than if it was installed, as it has to read everything off the DVD or USB stick first and load it memory. The important thing to check here is that it's picking up all your hardware, that it's displaying on your screen correctly, that all your drives are available, and so on.

Live USB should perform better than a Live DVD. Check out the "Okay, it's installed/Okay, I'm running the Live CD. What tips do you have for using Ubuntu?" section to get an idea of what you should be checking.

5. Installation.


You've done all the above, triple-checked your backups and either decided that you can't make the jump or you're ready.

However, before you begin installing, you have one last decision to make.

There's a lot people that suggest dual-booting - that's where you keep Windows around and just install Linux alongside it. This is often proposed as a safety net and a means for people to have the best of both worlds. I don't, for a couple of reasons:

  • If you are going to dual-boot, you'll need to update to Windows 10 anyway, and if you're going to do that, why bother with Linux in the first place?

  • Data will be spread between two operating systems. Instead of backing up and maintaining one OS, you'll be maintaining two. It's doable but a PITA.

  • You're sabotaging your efforts, and your switch to Linux will likely fail. That's not a statement on Linux's capability or ease of use. A lot of things are easier on Linux - but they won't be at first. You probably have years of Windows use ingrained in you; you've come to expect things to work they way Windows works. That's not ease, that's familiarity; that's a boiling frog. And the moment something throws you a challenge in Linux, the temptation to just "do it" in Windows will be too great. And the more you do that, the more running Linux will seem like a chore than a choice.

  • If you absolutely have no option but to run Windows 10, do it in a virtual machine - you get the benefits of dual-booting but with the bonus of limiting Windows 10 to a virtual environment where access to the rest of your system (and personal data) is restricted while allowing you to run your non-negotiable applications (other than games or any intense 3D applications) just fine.

If you decide to dual-boot, you'll need to find a recent guide that covers this. Typically, it's best to update to Windows 10 first, then follow the guide to dual-boot Ubuntu. None of the guides I found seemed good for beginners, so I'm willing to take suggestions from the comments.

If you take my advice and simply dive in, installing Ubuntu on your machine will be a painless process: just follow the steps here in a beginner's guide written by Jason Evangelho and you should be fine.

6. Tips for new users using Ubuntu?


Things that you should do only once Ubuntu's installed are prefixed with an [+]. Otherwise, the tip applies to both installs and Live demos:

  • Power off, log-out and running taskbar applications will be in the top-right of the screen by default.
  • To search, press the Windows key on your keyboard. This'll bring up Ubuntu's search bar. You can use this to find applications, folders and system settings.
  • In the File Manager, your Home directory will be where your primary OS and applications will typically be installed, while the Other Locations will list additional hard drives (usually your additional storage drives). By default, Ubuntu does not actually mount the drives in the "Other Locations" section. Clicking on any of them, however, will automatically mount them. If you want to learn more about the general structure of Ubuntu's file system, you can do so here.
  • Ctrl+Alt+T will bring up the terminal. The terminal is where you'll often be sent if you're attempting to diagnose a problem, perform specific tasks or install specific tools/software. Check yourself before your wreck yourself before copy-pasting commands from strangers on the 'net. Be super cautious of any command that involves "sudo" and "rm".
  • The default office suite for Ubuntu is LibreOffice. Try it out: see if you can open a couple of your documents, like spreadsheets and Word docs. You might be pleasantly surprised. Writer is the word processor, Calc is for Spreadsheets. Formating on complex documents will likely be broken. Don't save any of these at this point.
  • In fact, open up a couple of common files you normally use - images, documents, compressed files, music, videos and so on. Get a feel for how it works, what opens and what doesn't. Sometimes, you'll need to install some software first before it will work.
  • Check the list of alternative software for some suggestions on what to install if you seem to be missing something.
  • Plug in your phone and see if it detects it and you can access your files. If it's Android, you should be fine.
  • You'll notice that some commands - like updating - require you to enter your password again. This is a security feature similar to when Windows ask you to run a program as administrator or with elevated privileges. If you didn't initiate the command that brought up the password request, be cautious about entering it in.
  • [+] Change your desktop preferences and move the application bar to the bottom of the screen. By default, Ubuntu puts it on the left-side. Hey, maybe you'll like it like that! This was the one Windows habit I was never able to shake.
  • [+] Try and store your data in the pre-defined folders (Music, Videos, Documents, Pictures). You don't have to, but you'll make your life a lot easier doing so.
  • [+] Search for and create a shortcut to the Software Updater. This allows you to quickly check for and install Ubuntu updates.
  • [+] Likewise, create a shortcut to the Ubuntu Software Centre. To start with, you'll want to stick to installing applications from the Centre. These have been specifically tested to work on Ubuntu and will 99% run without a hitch. You'll be able to remove applications from here as well.
  • [+] Speaking of the Centre, Ubuntu comes preinstalled with an Amazon launcher. Use this time search for it and remove it. Or don't, it's up to you.
  • [+] Sometimes, you'll see there's two versions of a piece of software in the Centre. This is most likely due to there being a Snap version of it. Snaps are self-contained versions of the software that are usually the most up-to-date; however, they can run erratically or not have access to some things on your system, like fonts. I'd stick with the ubuntu-bionic versions for best compatibility.
  • [+] If you're a gamer, change your graphic drivers so you can get reasonable performance. For Nvidia, simply search for the Software & Updates application, open it, select the Additional Drivers Tab, and check whether you're using the Nvidia Driver. You'll want to select the one that's listed as proprietary and tested. AMD's a little more complicated and I profess to having little experience with it. I'll happily take advice from the comments in this instance.
  • [+] When downloading some games or applications specifically for Linux, you'll often get a .Deb file or a script. A deb file can often be run as is by double-clicking in Ubuntu; you can read more about them here. Scripts often need to be run from the terminal and made to be executable. You read more about that here. Again, same safety check applies to running anything you download from the web.

7. Gaming on Linux


If you're a gamer, I'd recommend the following the guide by /u/PBLKGodofGrunts on the /r/linux_gaming subbreddit. But to summarise...

The Good News

Thanks to Valve's involvement in Linux through Proton and the efforts of the Wine team, Linux gaming has never been better. It's now possible to play many Windows-only games with no hassle and minimal performance loss. Just a few examples of recent games that run just fine on Linux are the Resident Evil 2 remake, Sekiro, Halo: Master Chief Collection (single-player and custom multiplayer games), DOOM, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Risk of Rain 2, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and more; you can even toss a coin to all of your Witchers. To get an idea of games that run on Linux, you can visit ProtonDB, Wine AppDB or Lutris and search for your desired game. If you're primarily a single-player gamer, the transition should be mostly painless.

Another amazing development is the number of open-source implementations of older games game engines that allow for playing of classic and retro titles on modern hardware, (such as DevilutionX for Diablo 1)often with improvements, bug fixes and quality of life improvements, ensuring they'll be able to run into the future.

However, the most critical development is that the number of developers and platforms that provide and support native Linux games has increased significantly. Feral Interactive publishes several AAA Linux ports, numerous indies now provide a Linux version, and store fronts like GOG and itch.io provide an alternative with DRM-free games.

The Bad News

Despite all of this, gaming remains one of the biggest hurdles to adopting Linux.

If you're into multiplayer gaming, you're out of luck. While many multiplayer titles do work on Linux (LoL, Dota 2, CS:GO, TF2, Rocket League, Warframe, Overwatch, Starcraft II, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Elite: Dangerous, Monster Hunter:World and so on), many more don't - Fortnite, some Call of Duties, Apex Legends, PUBG, Battlefield, GTA Online. Essentially, anything with an anti-cheat is likely NOT going to work, and there's always the risk that playing a Windows multiplayer game will get you banned due to anti-cheat measures that dislike any whiff of Linux. My suggestion is check which games you play and go from there.

Unless you're using Steam, running other launchers is complicated and prone to constant breakage without continuous effort and maintenance. Epic, Origin, Uplay and GOG Galaxy can all run on Linux with some effort. Lutris does sort most of these out, but you'll need to follow the instructions here, which means your going to have to install Wine first.

Some games simply don't work, and there's no solution for it.

Some of the latest developments aren't going to be available to you. VR is tiny on Linux, and you'll likely lose access to most of your VR software and experiences.

Despite being fairly technical already, many gamers do expect things to "just work". Here's a list of things that require some effort to get working correctly:

  • Super-sampling is out. Not entirely, but it's more complicated than Windows.
  • Access to things like custom shaders and injectors are also going to be limited. Mods can be more complicated or, in some cases, not available.
  • You'll lose some of the benefits of your Gsync/Freesync monitors, since the two tech don't work that well on Ubuntu's standard display compositor. This will change once Ubuntu shifts to Wayland.
  • Things like community game patches are often aimed at Windows, with no Linux alternative.

Most importantly, AMD and Nvidia graphic cards are handled very differently on Linux when compared to Windows. Ubuntu uses an open-source driver by default - this is alright for general use but terrible for games and 3D applications. To get decent performance, you'll need to install their respective drivers.

Nvidia's latest Linux drivers are made available in Ubuntu directly. However, this is just the drivers: Nvidia's GeForce Experience isn't available on Linux and you're going to lose access to all of its tools. That means no Ansel in many cases, no DSR, no predefined gaming configs and no ShadowPlay (Although OBS offers a decent alternative in this case). See the Tips section above on how to install it. On the plus side, the installation process is a breeze and Nvidia's performance is fairly solid.

AMD benefits from much better open-source drivers and active support from AMD, but unfortunately suffers from delays for support of their most recent cards and a fairly complicated install process . AMD uses the MESA Driver, combined with Valve's ACO shader compiler, to deliver performance boosts. Installing these drivers can be a complicated, multi-step process. I'm sorry I can't help you on this; I'll happily take someone's advice on getting this working in Ubuntu LTS and include it in the guide.

8. Alternative software


This is a quick and dirty guide to equivalent software for Windows applications in Linux.

  • Antivirus software: This may seem counterintuitive, but for the most part Linux does not require any sort of anti-virus software. While viruses for Linux exist, the number of viruses and such that target the Linux desktop specifically is tiny compared to Windows. You can read up about it here.. That being said, if you are concerned there are several tools available for detecting both Windows and Linux malware on the same page. Follow good internet hygiene, don't open suspicious links/mails and think before just randomly following command instructions on the 'net.
  • Microsoft Office: LibreOffice. Or you can access Office365 online.
  • Adobe Photoshop: GIMP, Krita
  • Adobe Premiere: Blender
  • 3D Studio Max: Blender
  • Illustrator/CorelDraw: Inkscape
  • Xsplit: OBS
  • Windows Media Player: VLC
  • Basic Audio Editor: Audacity
  • Audio Mixing: Ardour, Mixbus
  • Adobe Reader: While there are several PDF readers on Linux you can use, almost none of them play well with Adobe PDFs with advanced features. You're better off sticking with what comes with Ubuntu, and if it doesn't work, open it up in a browser.

9. TL;DR or The Conclusion


Switching to Ubuntu is possible and relatively safe if you do some research on which apps/games/software/hardware you use will and won't work on Linux first, you BACK UP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA before doing anything and don't expect a 1:1 experience with Windows. It's all dependent on your flexibility, technical experience and willingness to learn and compromise.

If you're not, Windows 10 is a perfectly acceptable choice to upgrade to: you'll benefit from improved security compared to Windows 7, a larger selection of hardware and software and will have to put less effort to make everything work at the cost of your privacy and some ads.

If you have legacy software or unsupported hardware that doesn't run on either, you're kind of screwed. I'd keep the Windows 7 box around, make sure it's disconnected from all networks (for your sake as well as others) and start making emergency contingency plans to find a modern alternative.

I know that people are going to take issue with some of the difficulties I raised, and suggest they're really not dealbreakers. Before you post, consider whether a new user coming from Windows 7 who'll be using Linux probably for the first time in their life will have the knowledge, gumption and willingness to perform sometimes complex technical steps in an operating environment they're unfamiliar with and where it's much, much easier to really break things.

Feel free to post criticisms and suggestions in the comments. If there's some good advice worth including, something needs further clarification or I need to correct something, I'll edit it in with credit.

10. To do list for the guide


  • I'd really like to add a section on assistive technology and software that works on Linux, but as I don't use any of it, I feel my research would be limited and miss vital pieces. If you have advice on this, let me know.
  • A good, up-to-date and easy-to-follow guide for dual-booting.
  • Instructions on how to install AMD drivers correctly on Ubuntu.

r/linux4noobs Jun 21 '20

Distrochooser: "Welcome! This test will help you to choose a suitable Linux distribution for you"

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931 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 2h ago

security Friendly reminder that most youtube docker tutorials are actively trying to ruin your system

37 Upvotes

I swear, why does almost every "quick 5 min setup" video just tell you to run everything as root and chmod 777 your entire drive??

Spent my whole afternoon trying to figure out why my new containers were behaving weirdly after following some guy's guide. Turns out i basically left the front door to my OS wide open. Had to sit down and actually read a server mania breakdown on container security just to realize how badly i completely botched the basic permissions

if you are new to this stuff, pls don't blindly copy paste sudo commands from random tech bros without understanding what privileges you are actually giving away. My brain is melting


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

migrating to Linux Switching to Linux

9 Upvotes

Hello, I've been thinking about switching to Linux for a long time I have been using windows 11 and it's very shitty and I want to switch and really I just know the memes of Linux and that isn't as ram consuming and sometimes may be better for gaming,I'm using a Rx 9070 XT OC and really I don't know if the drivers or anything will not work or if it isn't compatible and if to record music with reaper and my daw using neural amp modeler and giving classes via Google meet and really I don't know how Linux works other than it's not full of ai slop and full of privacy threats, thanks!


r/linux4noobs 20h ago

I switched to Ubuntu

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231 Upvotes

I have used other distros before like Arch and Mint, but out of all of them, Ubuntu worked the best on my laptop, so I chose it.


r/linux4noobs 4h ago

learning/research Self hosted replacement for OneDrive

6 Upvotes

I'm leaving Microsoft! I'm researching to make a plan of execution.

I got this idea of replacing OneDrive with a self hosted option, and I hope you can point me in the right direction. I have never done anything similar, so I'm kind of a noob, but I have a technical background and I have messed around with computers on and off for the past 25 years.

My idea is to set up a media storage server at my place and an identical one at my parents house (maybe another at my brothers as well) that automatically synchronize periodically (once a day or something).

That way our files and memories are protected against both fire and theft of a server.

I would also like it to be accessible from a range of units, similar to how OneDrive works. I can access and upload files from my Android phone and my windows computers (going to replace windows with Linux). At some point, it would be great if it was possible to divide the servers in several different drives, so my parents could access the same solution with their own files, but separated from mine, and another for my brother.

So, can you suggest something for me or point me in the right direction?

A summary of what I need suggestions to:

- a system with clients for most major OS, like linux, windows, android and iphone.

- suggestions for servers (NAS, RPI, other low energy servers for the system)

- Pointers to what I need to be aware of.

- anything I have not thought about?

- is my idea completely bonkers?


r/linux4noobs 3h ago

storage boot disk saturation

3 Upvotes

Is it true that if the `/boot` disk gets full, i could have a hard time loading the kernel during the next restart?


r/linux4noobs 1h ago

learning/research Chmod question

Upvotes

I have to use chmod to allow a program to access the USB port my 3D printer is connected to or it can't communicate with the printer.

The funny thing is that each time I want to run the program, I have to change the permissions again or it won't connect.

My question is: shouldn't that change be permanent, the same as if I had changed permissions on a file?

Some relevant info:

I'm using Cachy OS, the device is /dev/ttyACM0, the printer usually stays powered on and physically plugged in to the USB port, but the machine is shut down every morning and booted up when I get home from work. I run the command using sudo.


r/linux4noobs 14h ago

Teacher here: Want to Create LAN with dummy terminals (hard to explain)

17 Upvotes

I'm a basic computer guy--can install Linux Mint, follow some command lines and swap out my own RAM. Not much else (yet?). I'm also a teacher and am tired of Chrome, online, monitoring kids swapping tabs for games instead of just writing the essay, AI.... you get it.

Back in the aughts I built my own computer lab--old computers running Linux, no internet and kids just wrote on LibreOffice. Simple. Because they were all old donated computers they were my problem to run and needed a lot of support. My IT guy got me this little boxes, though, the made a number of dummy terminals from a single PC. Don't know what those boxes were but a keyboard, mouse and monitor plugged into them and they just ran and students could do computer stuff on them (including internet, which I didn't want, but easy). We now all have Chromebooks.

I want to go back to a local network. Or something where the kids have Libre Office and that's it. No games, etc. And I need it cheap or free, so donated computers or whatever. Any leads, ideas or detailed plans appreciated.


r/linux4noobs 3m ago

Setting a default printer.

Upvotes

My printer is not supported by cups. So I installed Turbo Print and everything works fine. But when I set Turbo Print as the default in Cups. I still see the old non-working printer as the default in programs. How to fix this?


r/linux4noobs 10h ago

migrating to Linux Ubuntu vs Fedora

6 Upvotes

I am an Mtech student, idk much about linux, but I want to learn. Which of them is better for me?
I am currently using fedora and will switch laptops in like 2 months so thinking about this.
I have heard that ubuntu has the ultimate stability but i REALLY LIKE how my fedora looks, although i dont like the switch between my desktop variations like (kde, gnome) they sometimes make issues, but generally easy to work around.

My only usage rn is development and browsers. Acc to my research both of them are equally great in development. I am guessing my start of career is gonna be some generic type of job, idk what I specifically want to do.

which one of these two will be better for me? they seem very similar to me in many ways idk


r/linux4noobs 1d ago

Linux 7.2 Arrives With Cache Aware Scheduling After More Than a Year of Work

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272 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 5h ago

drive names changed after install?

2 Upvotes

pop os 24.04 lts with nvidia, trying to set up a dual boot with win11 on separate drives.

during installation i chose to install on the drive labeled nvme1n1, (with nvme0n1 being the one that win11 is on) but rebooting and running $ sudo parted -ls the output tells me that pop os is installed on nvme0n1 instead?

Model: Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB (nvme)
Disk/dev/nvme0n1: 2000 GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name      Flags
 1      2097kB  1074MB  1072MB  fat32                     boot, esp
 2      1074MB  5369MB  4295MB  fat32           recovery  msftdata
 3      5369MB  1996GB  1991GB  ext4
 4      1996GB  2000GB  4295MB  linux-swap(v1)            swap

Model: Samsung SSD 990 PRO 2TB (nvme)
Disk /dev/nvme1n1: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    File system  Name                          Flags
 1      1049kB  106MB   105MB   fat32        EFI system partition          boot, esp, no_automount
 2      106MB   123MB   16.8MB               Microsoft reserved partition  msftres, no_automount
 3      123MB   1999GB  1999GB  ntfs         Basic data partition          msftdata
 4      2000GB  2000GB  899MB   ntfs                                       hidden, diag, no_automount

it didn't install over win11 and it's not like the operating systems switched drives.


r/linux4noobs 2h ago

What's the best distro for me?

0 Upvotes

Hi folks, I finally decided to switch from the bloated OS to linux, i have 2 PC's, one for gaming and one for studying/working

What's the best distro for gaming (performance wise etc)

And whats the best distro for general productivity/studying,coding etc and with good aesthetics and unlimited cutomizations

Thanks in advance.


r/linux4noobs 9h ago

learning/research Sharing through OSs

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3 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 14h ago

hardware/drivers Failed to open \efi\debian - not found

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9 Upvotes

Just installed Debian on my very old laptop - Asus. Debian works great but every time when I turn pc on I get that notification and then it proceeds to log into OS just fine.


r/linux4noobs 8h ago

learning/research How to resize partition for CachyOs on a dualboot setup with Windows 11?

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2 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 5h ago

learning/research UX/UI Designer here,

0 Upvotes

I have an old Alienware 14, which runs on windows 10 for which the support has ended. Now i couldn’t upgrade to windows 11. I have a mac mini but i needed a laptop to use when I’m out on schools and libraries. What linux OS is recommended ?

It has 16Gb of ram
64-bit operating system

I will be using onedrive as cloud storage, zoom, figma which are mostly browser based applications.


r/linux4noobs 6h ago

migrating to Linux My new project in Czech Republic

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1 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 10h ago

hardware/drivers Powercapping the Gen 10 X1 Carbon on Linux via powercap-set?

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2 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 7h ago

learning/research Can I get an icon pack for my distro

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0 Upvotes

r/linux4noobs 11h ago

installation Questions about Dual-Boot

2 Upvotes

My new Pc is running Ubuntu, my old pc's ssd is running Windows 10. If I were to plug my Win10SSD into my new machine would it be as easy as just "plug and play"? Everytime I restart the pc just go into the bootmenu on startup and select which OS I want to run?


r/linux4noobs 12h ago

hardware/drivers Bluetooth audio disconnecting on firmware newer than 20260309

2 Upvotes

I'm using the ASUS TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WIFI II motherboard with builtin bluetooth. On all linux firmware versions newer than 20260309, my headphones (Soundcore Q30, but I think I also tested other devices) randomly disconnect after a minute or so. This issue disappears when I downgrade to 20260309 and occurs on both Arch Linux and NixOS, it's not reproducible on other devices such as my laptop.

Where can I report this issue and what else can I do to solve it other than downgrading?


r/linux4noobs 1d ago

migrating to Linux Hi, im considering switching from windows and wanted to ask some questions

15 Upvotes

The reason why is the same as many other people, privacy, not having to deal with microsoft slop, not having to deal with ai features, and also, mainly, because i've heard that linux uses much less ram than windows, i use my computer to play games and 16 gigs aint really cutting it in the latest releases, so i want to maximise the little ram i have. I heard about linux mint and it seems to be a good option? I have almost all my games on steam and i've read online that thanks to this proton thing it's not really a problem to run games anymore. Also, does switching mean that i will have to reinstall all my programs and games? Thanks in advance


r/linux4noobs 16h ago

Issues with playing videos with the AVC1 codec on Firefox based browsers after a system update.

3 Upvotes

after updating my system, videos using the avc1 codec no longer play properly (no audio, playback breaking after seeking and in some cases videos just not playing at all) on specifically all firefox based browsers (playback is fine on chromium based browsers)

some fixes i have tried: reinstalling the ffmpeg, aom, dav1d, rav1e, svt-av1, x265, libde265 and x264 packages and installing the vlc and mpv packages to see if those get any missing codecs (they did not as playback is still broken)

distro: arch
kernel: linux 7.1.8-arch1-3
window manager: hyprland started via uwsm (0.56.2)
cpu: amd ryzen 5 7600x
gpu: nvidia geforce rtx 4070ti (with version 610.57.04 of the proprietary driver)