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.
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
I feel like I've been gaslit into running FOSS but every success only brings me closer to fighting god
Congrats! Your laptop will be even happier with a lighter but still nice-looking desktop environment like Xfce and you even have an Ubuntu flavor around it: Xubuntu.
it really is comforting to know you can do 99% of stuff you want with PCs without a license from Microsoft. FOSS has its own headaches but at least you don't have to wade through a PR swamp to fix stupid bugs
I started using Linux more last year due to work, so the exodus from Reddit to FOSS land has been perfectly timed for me. I think I have 4 different distros in VMs right now.
It's a good reminder of how influenced we are by our surroundings, even when we try to be aware of the effect. Or maybe especially when we try to be aware.
I was staying strong until I saw they were already sundowning windows 10. 10! They just came out with that shit. I have no intention of upgrading to the latest advertising package.
Welcome. I just started using linux recently myself and have been loving it. I would Definitely recommend checking out all the desktop environments to see what works best for you! I've done a bit of shopping and I think I've landed on KDE, myself.
Good luck with the transition!
It happened to me too.
same here - downloaded Pop_OS yesterday, just have to make space on my overflowing harddrives
now to get a chromebook with coreboot to really stick it to the anti FOSS demons
I also started with LTS assuming they would be more usable, but the extremely outdated package have later driven me away from linux for a while.
Now I realize I can just run normal Ubuntu to get reasonably up-to-date packages. But I like the latest (non-graphical) software that is offered by fedora.
Lol, saaaaaame! I've run plenty of Linux servers over the past 30 years with only occasional attempts at desktop Linux, but never got it to graduate past a secondary box or dual-boot. All of the happy Linux desktop users I've run across on Lemmy convinced me to give it another go. I tried Ubuntu for a month under the mistaken assumption that it was still a relevant, stable, easy distro (10-15 years ago, it was the distro to use if you just wanted a no-fuss Linux desktop). Snaps made me want to end myself, but not quite give up on Linux altogether, so I pivoted and now I'm on month 3 of happily maining Arch!
Success
Boy that escalated quickly
Welcome! Don't be surprised if you feel the need to try out all the distros!