Switching to Linux (Some noob questions)

[Marius Voinescu]

Hi there.

After being a Windows user for most of my entire life, starting with a PC that was using Windows 95 I think in 97-98 I guess I felt used to how it looked and what to expect with my computer. I guess that is half a lie taking in consideration that in 97 I was only 6 years old, so the things I was interested about was to play games, was not knowing much about computers. But since 98 when I started reinstalling it a couple of times and since XP I started to get more in dept with the OS.

But recently Windows10 started to cringe my nerves with the latest Fall Update and their "amazing" support. Also doing some further thinking into this, there is not much still keeping me on Windows. I guess some games and the capability of streaming my Xbox on the laptop, but not having that much time to play either way so.

Now stopping with the rambling what I would like to get some tips so to say about setting my Linux as a developer environment. The distro I set my eyes on is Arch and mainly Archmerge for the beginning so it makes my learning curve a bit easier and later on learn how to set up an Arch from scratch (I'm actually following a guide on how to install Arch so I can learn and do it myself) or Red Hat. But what I have seen doing some digging is that Red Hat due to keeping their OS secure they might have a bit out of date packages. That is actually when I saw Arch and the rolling release part. To be honest I have ArchMerge on a virtual machine for a few weeks and Manjaro on another one for one month and did not see any issues with them. I know there might be a bug that might come later, but I'm not afraid of getting my hands dirty.

 

[atanere]

Hi Marius, and welcome! Sounds like you're on your way already. Using VM's is a great way to try out the different distros and see what appeals to you. The Arch-based stuff is easier for folks like me, but installing and configuring the full fledged Arch from scratch takes some time and patience.... but you get a great learning experience out of that.

RedHat works on a paid subscription model, one of the few distros with a price tag attached. You may can register with RedHat and get a trial, but it will probably be short term unless you subscribe. But if you want to go their direction, then Fedora is the go-to desktop, and probably CentOS for a server. Both are totally free and still part of the RedHat family.

It's a nice friendly community here, so enjoy your stay, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

Cheers

 

[Marius Voinescu]

Thanks. From what I have seen you can get a developer license from Red Hat that is free and use it on your machine, just that the support is self service so no paid support as you mentioned.
I am kinda on my way to switching to be honest just not sure what option to go. But I kinda go towards Arch based distro for the time being and not the fully fledged Arch as it might get stuck and I kinda need my laptop . What I do like about Arch is the easiness to install apps like Intellij or Webstorm with the help of AUR. I know it's the community repository but the apps I need for my laptop to be used for development are not many.
Testing the installs in VM have gone with 100% success no errors at this time. I like the low resources Arch uses as well and the fact that it's not full of bloatware like Windows. I hate uninstalling all the apps that are installed with Windows for no reason what so ever, except to use ~50 GB of space

 

[Lazydog]

Hi Marius, Welcome.

RedHat is free to download and install because it is Linux and it follows the GNU rules. What you get with the paid subscription is support and updates. If you are looking to use RedHat without the tax then look at Centos. Centos is RedHat re-branded and all updates from RedHat are available. RedHat and Centos are working together:

Open Source Community

 

[Livid]

Hello,
After all the files I created with my Office have been changed to office 2013 so that i cannot use them since i do not have that version of Office I would like to convert to Linux. My computer is a HP Notebook 15 which I bought in 2014 in Sweden. I use Google Chrome as browser. When I upgraded to windows10 my computer was even more unmanageable than windows8, something I did not imagine possible. So I reverted to windows8. Which Linux version will work with my computer? I am a complete dummy when it comes to computers and anything the slightest bit technical unfortunately. Thank you for helping.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Hello @Marius Voinescu and @Livid and welcome to linux.org both of you

First, @Marius Voinescu :

Just qualifying, but not particularly disagreeing with the thrust of what friend @arochester has said above ... Fedora is officially the open source, non-proprietary, branch of Red Hat, I have been using it since Workstation 22, currently entering its 27 phase, and I like it a lot. CentOS on the other hand, is also highly-favoured for its server capabilities, and we have a number of skilled users of it here (but I am not one).

Fedora might be easier on the learning curve, but each can have rewarding challenges.

On Arch and Arch-based - Manjaro is likely the best-supported, and as well as its own Repositories for software has access to the Arch User Repository (AUR) with which you are already familiar.

Be aware that if you use Manjaro, and then add another Linux (such as Ubuntu, Mint &c) which takes over the leaderboard, Manjaro will have a breakdown and suffer a kernel panic. It is not insurmountable, but it can be a PITA.

Bluestar Linux might present an alternative - http://bluestarlinux.sourceforge.net/ - Arch-based, and it has developer spins which start with "bluestar-linux-4.9.6-developer-2017.02.03" but for the life of me I go around in circles trying to find them, The Viewers might have more luck. There is a page here https://sourceforge.net/projects/bluestarlinux/files/distro/ where you can download the standard bluestar 4.13.7 - I have the 4.12.3 on one of my machines but have yet to get my teeth into it. It is a rolling release, so once I update I will be current.

Second, @Livid :

I can understand how you stumbled into this thread, because of its broad title, however as it turns out, Marius' questions ultimately were more focused, where yours is as broad as "how long is a piece of string?"



If you start your own thread, perhaps entitled something like "HP Notebook <model number> ... which Linux for me" and give us the specs, you will receive more detailed attention?

Let us know things like RAM, HDD capacity, Processor, Graphics card, the more the better. Whether you have a DVD burner, USB sticks, you get the picture.

Don't think I am giving you the brushoff. If I am wrong in saying this, Staff will bludgeon me to death in a dark alley.

See you soon

Wizard

 

[atanere]

Hello,
After all the files I created with my Office have been changed to office 2013 so that i cannot use them since i do not have that version of Office I would like to convert to Linux. My computer is a HP Notebook 15 which I bought in 2014 in Sweden. I use Google Chrome as browser. When I upgraded to windows10 my computer was even more unmanageable than windows8, something I did not imagine possible. So I reverted to windows8. Which Linux version will work with my computer? I am a complete dummy when it comes to computers and anything the slightest bit technical unfortunately. Thank you for helping.

Hi @Livid, and welcome! As The Wizard suggested, it will be best for you to open a new thread (Getting Started would be a good choice) and we'll all try to help get you going. The more info you can provide, the less we will have to pick your brain... so also let us know if you wish to keep WIndows 8 and dual boot with Linux, or if you are ready to delete Windows and go Linux-only.

Cheers