Install Linux on Laptop

Hi Every one.

I am want to try out Linux to see what it's all about.

Now there are a lot of packages to choose from , which should I choose , to prevent any pitfalls?

For example this link.
https://www.linux.org/pages/download/

Start by installing a Linux distro and work/play with it.

Packages depend on what you want to do; most Linux distros come with a package manager. Pick what you need as you go along; e.g. you might want to use terminal programs for communication with Arduino or you might want to install some development tools that are not yet installed.

Thanks but what is a "distros"?

All I know at this moment is that I can choose between Ubuntu , CentOS , Debian ,Fedora and a lot more ....

Is there something specific you want to do with it or just try it out?

Are you interested in using a Raspberry Pi in a PC-like experience (Raspberry Pi OS/Debian) or converting a current computer for web surfing and general Microsoft office-like tasks (Fedora or Ubuntu)?

If you choose Ubuntu, you will want to open a terminal in Linux and install something like Synaptic as a package manager, as @sterretje indicates. It makes installing, updating and uninstalling software as well as finding their dependencies a lot easier.

For Microsoft Office type tasks like spreadsheets and documents, a good option is the LibreOffice suite of programs (I use this on my Windows machine, too - LibreOffice is free, MS Office isn't).

For web browsing, Chromium is a popular choice I believe (the basis of Google Chrome - as I understand it, Google wrote their own version of Chromium and released it to the public as "theirs" in Google Chrome).

Regardless what distro you choose, check the default software packages it installs with as the ones I mentioned may already be there.

That's great if you know what a terminal is, how to open it and how to install Synaptic.

You will be "in a maze of twisty passages" for some time when starting to use Linux and soon wonder what the advantage of using it is

Try it out and also use Linux for everything to replace Windows.

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You already named a few :smiley: Ubuntu etc.

As far as I know they come pre-installed. It's ages ago that I used Ubuntu but as far as I remember it came with synaptic.

Just start with what is installed and (as said) as you go along and miss things install them.

Be aware of system requirements and try to check which hardware is supported; live CD/USB is useful from that perspective. The last 6 months or so I have been using antiX on a very old laptop (Core2 Duo with 1GB RAM) and it worked out of the box but although usable I basically had to close the browser before starting IDE 1.8.19; I now have a new laptop and I can't connect to my WiFi (Realtek 8821CE adapter) for older hardware that will not likely be the case).

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Download a Live CD/DVD ISO file onto a memory stick. Play with it or install it on your Laptop. For testing purposes you can create a Virtual Machine on your laptop and install the Linux in it.

That's nasty , something you will not know until you get there.

Thanks , I will sort of go with the flow and see were I end up and use a different SSD drive so I can always revert back to Windows when I hit a wall.

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I downloaded this below .

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Lots of easy guides if you Google it (from a second device as you work your way through, ideally). Matter of fact, just last night my kids and I were killing time in the mall before seeing Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (chef's kiss, btw) so we browsed the magazine rack at Indigo Books and they had a couple of magazines about using Linux, complete with a DVD Rom to try whatever distro they were featuring that month (I can't recollect which one).
My son thought including a disc was funny. We haven't had a DVD drive in years. Installing off a portable USB drive works just as well, if not better.

If I can do it, anyone can. Takes about an hour or so to make the swap and maybe another hour to look up and do what I indicated.

Maybe that's what OP is after, doing it just for the sake of doing it. Only one way to find out if it's for you. I say go for it if you're curious enough to post here, asking if it's worth doing. I think it's a fun way to blow an afternoon if nothing else, even for this alone:

What do you recommend outside of my suggestions?

I have been in that maze but managed to find my way out, thank goodness :grinning:

For my use I can see no reason to move to Linux on my main PC. I have tried a live CD on an older PC and an installation on a Raspberry Pi to run a particular application and found it very frustrating in both cases. Maybe I will try again one day, but probably not soon

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The best Linux Distribution (Distro) site:

How to have LINUX and WINDOWS on the same computer:

[edit]
My favorite distro is Linux Mint LTS (the odd-numbered releases Long Term Service)

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Likewise. I have a 64 bit quad core Windows 7 machine that was great in 2009 but after it was so tired that a fresh OS install was the only option left, I opted for a couple different distros a couple of times (Ubuntu and another that was all about a home brew music studio, I forget what it was called) but I can't say i stuck with it as my daily driver, either.

Samesies with Rasp Pi (it's Linux by default, as you know) and it's still used on a couple of props I have since these Arduino based props rely on a Serial Monitor type interface for players and Rasp Pi is small, inexpensive and good enough for that. I certainly wouldn't try to replace my PC with a Rasp Pi as my main computer, either, but the Rasp Pi is certainly great in the accessibility to computers in general that it brought to so many people who may not have access to a pricier rig.

Ha .... Well done , took me a hour to find out I should have made a Bootable disk and not just copy and past.

Now the original iso download is at work and my experiment will only continue in 24hours. :sob:

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They let you download at work?

Different rules for Africa.

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Another option is "live" Linux on a USB drive, where you create a bootable USB drive, then install Linux on the bootable partition, leaving the "user" partition for your files. This allows you to use all the hardware (wifi, dialup, printer, et c.) but not disturb the host computer data.

Wish we had that kind of freedom in Canada.

What about Windows do you want to replace?

  • Hardware compatibility: probably more likely and consistent on Windows, but there's a fair chance what you have will "just work" on Linux, so no net difference.
  • Desktop environment. Big difference there, including
    • file manager, for graphically moving files around. Many choices on the Linux side, some intentionally similar to Windows. Although Microsoft keeps moving stuff around anyway
    • settings: ditto
    • taskbar and windowing controls
  • Applications can be an issue if there's something specific, but there are many apps, including browsers, that are cross-platform
  • Especially if you're programming, the shell: PowerShell vs Bash (or whatever you like). Linux has the edge there, with all the standard utility programs.

You could try using WSL -- Windows Subsystem for Linux -- which will run a Linux (like Ubuntu) inside your Windows install. It's less hassle than a VM or dual-boot. The main thing it lacks is the Desktop environment, but you can run Linux apps. You can also access your Windows files from there.