Brickwizard
Well-Known Member
I want to try Linux, What is the best way?
There are several ways to try Linux on your machine, to get the complete experience, it is always best to install your chosen distribution direct to the hard-drive. But this may frighten some newbies.
Options
Install to Hard-drive either as a clean installation [this will remove all your existing OS and associated files]
Install to the Hard-drive, in a duel/multiboot system . You then choose which OS you wish to use at the boot stage, using multi boot Linux can be used to access your windows folders [pictures, documents, &etc.] BUT windows will never see your Linux files.
Install to an external drive [ I have several, which I use for testing various Linux distributions]
Install to a pen-drive with persistence [ you will need a pen-drive of at least 32GB] this has the great benefit that it becomes your personal portable computer drive, that you can carry around and use in almost any computer.
Install into a VM/VB [virtual machine/box] this has the advantage that if you mess up and cannot fix your Linux it is easy to delete and replace, also you can jump between VM’s and your main OS without having to re-boot each time.
WSL [Windows subsystem for Linux] If you have Windows 8,10,11 then you can install WLS from Microsoft [if its not already on your system] Personally I have not used Windows for many years, therefore I have little knowledge of WSL, except to say it is similar to using a VM and has the same benefits
There is one final option for those wishing to learn Linux, that is to do a full clean installation on a second computer [THIS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND], any old 64bit computer or most chromebooks can be used, if it has 4GB of ram then you can use any of the 500 or so desktop Linux builds, If it has 2GB of ram , then there are many medium/lightweight distributions that will work on it, and even if you have less than 2GB there is still a small selection of distributions that you can run.
And there you have the Brickwizards thoughts and advice, if you are a newbie please also read https://www.linux.org/threads/what-is-the-best-linux-distribution-which-should-i-use.43789/
There are several ways to try Linux on your machine, to get the complete experience, it is always best to install your chosen distribution direct to the hard-drive. But this may frighten some newbies.
Options
Install to Hard-drive either as a clean installation [this will remove all your existing OS and associated files]
Install to the Hard-drive, in a duel/multiboot system . You then choose which OS you wish to use at the boot stage, using multi boot Linux can be used to access your windows folders [pictures, documents, &etc.] BUT windows will never see your Linux files.
Install to an external drive [ I have several, which I use for testing various Linux distributions]
Install to a pen-drive with persistence [ you will need a pen-drive of at least 32GB] this has the great benefit that it becomes your personal portable computer drive, that you can carry around and use in almost any computer.
Install into a VM/VB [virtual machine/box] this has the advantage that if you mess up and cannot fix your Linux it is easy to delete and replace, also you can jump between VM’s and your main OS without having to re-boot each time.
WSL [Windows subsystem for Linux] If you have Windows 8,10,11 then you can install WLS from Microsoft [if its not already on your system] Personally I have not used Windows for many years, therefore I have little knowledge of WSL, except to say it is similar to using a VM and has the same benefits
There is one final option for those wishing to learn Linux, that is to do a full clean installation on a second computer [THIS I HIGHLY RECOMMEND], any old 64bit computer or most chromebooks can be used, if it has 4GB of ram then you can use any of the 500 or so desktop Linux builds, If it has 2GB of ram , then there are many medium/lightweight distributions that will work on it, and even if you have less than 2GB there is still a small selection of distributions that you can run.
And there you have the Brickwizards thoughts and advice, if you are a newbie please also read https://www.linux.org/threads/what-is-the-best-linux-distribution-which-should-i-use.43789/
