Begin your journey with Linux today.
Begin your journey with Linux today.
Choose Ubuntu, SUSE, Fedora, or Mint. You're also welcome to use Debian or CentOS. All of these are straightforward to set up and maintain.
It wasn't exactly what I intended, but it helped me move quickly. My goal was simply to become comfortable with the command line, no matter which distribution you're using. The person mentioned they were focused on learning rather than immediately switching to Windows.
It’s clear you rely heavily on computers for your studies, especially with Windows set up for your games and Microsoft Office required for classes. You’re interested in learning Linux because it’s used in your university labs—not just to switch systems but to understand the tools you already use.
I’m sure I should bring newcomers into the terminal on day one because most Windows/Mac users already feel uneasy around it, and they don’t need that anxiety repeated. This was true for me when I first tried Linux—I might have skipped it entirely if certain situations hadn’t pushed me to practice. Raspbian was my initial distro; back then there was no graphical package manager or system settings window, so you had to rely on the shell. Because using it in standalone, headless mode was so frustrating, I began connecting to it via SSH. Over time, I grew more comfortable. The graphical Linux experience isn’t especially strong; the desktop environments are mostly similar to Windows or MacOS a few years back. Most differences feel confusing and annoying. I recall searching for ways to add a shortcut on the desktop—it felt like a trip to England: there’s a lot to explore, but the interface keeps throwing me off. Desktop Linux has very few appealing tools. The differences between operating systems are often unnoticeable. I spent several years looking for alternatives to Paint and Notepad; sometimes FOSS options actually outperform their Windows counterparts. Programs like Pinta and Gedit beat traditional ones, and complexity rises quickly. Browsing the web works better on Linux (Edge isn’t available on some Nix systems). LibreOffice suffices for most users unfamiliar with VBA. Tools such as GIMP and Inkscape are decent but nowhere near Photoshop or Illustrator. Gaming is another point of contention. Many Windows users claim Blender, Audacity, VLC, Krita, Chrome, and KiCAD aren’t Linux-friendly. The real standout features lie in the command line—people love piping commands together. It’s surprising who doesn’t enjoy that. Also, most folks don’t know how to batch-process files anymore. My boss tried to stop me when I opened the terminal to edit images, but I finished 900 pictures in one bash command during a break. I’ve also converted files like .doc to .pdf and handled other tasks similarly. Using the terminal lets you automate tasks instantly, something GUIs can’t match. Yes, Windows and MacOS can do it too, and Mac even uses the same default shell. But Linux truly pushes users toward understanding what computers are meant for.