The Complete Guide to Switching to Linux
Reply via email: me@absurdpirate.com Updated 2 months ago
If you're reading this, I'm guessing you are considering switching to Linux. Good! Linux is a great operating system that is open source (meaning you can see the code yourself and others can contribute to it), secure, reliable, customizable, and efficient.
Who is Linux for?
Everyone! You don't have to be Alan Turing to be able to install Linux. Just use your computer for web-browsing? Linux is perfect for that. Gaming? Linux works great with thousands of games supported thanks to Steam's proton. If you want to check and see if your games library works on Linux (or at least games you particularly care about) click here to see which games work with Proton.
DISCLAIMER: Most multiplayer games that use anti-cheat software WILL NOT work on Linux (i.e. R6 Seige, Halo: MCC, Call of Duty, etc.). If you still want to make the switch and have the storage space consider dual-booting Linux and Windows to have the best of both worlds.
The only issues you might have that may be a deal breaker is the lack of support from proprietary applications, namely Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft Office, and some others, so check what applications you really need. There are alternatives to each of these that DO support Linux, so give that some consideration.
Making the switch
I will go over the step by step process of installing Linux, from choosing a distro to final installations.
1. What You'll Need
The Only thing you'll need is a USB flash drive that is at least 4GB in size.
2. Choosing a Distro
For Linux newcomers, there are 3 particular distributions I recommend. Ubuntu, Pop_Os!, or Linux Mint. Clicking each of the links will send you to the distro's respective download page.
Why do I recommend those three? Because they are beginner-friendly, debian-based distros. The reason I recommend debian-based for newcomers is due to their lower learning curve compared to Arch, Red Hat, or Slackware-based distros. Most apps have packages that can be downloaded either off the official website where you can download a .deb file (which basically works like a Windows .exe), or you can use the distros specific package manager (which if you get used to is A LOT faster of a process).
If you are an NVIDIA user and choosing Pop_Os!, use the "LTS With NVIDIA" package for pre-installed support.
Ultimately, what you choose is going to depend on what desktop environment you like. If you want a windows-like experience, go with Mint for a desktop that feels like Windows 10. Both Pop_Os! and Ubuntu use their own modified version of the GNOME desktop, which has a more MacOS-esque UI (that's the best way I can describe it).
Which ever one you choose, go to that distro's download page that I have linked 2 paragraphs above and hit download.
3. Creating a Bootable Hard Drive
Click here to download Rufus. This tool will help take the distro's ISO file you downloaded and make it so your computer can boot off of it.
Once you have Rufus installed, insert your USB drive, and open Rufus. From here, you'll want to fill out the form with the following:
- For Device, select your USB drive
- For Boot Selection, select the ISO you downloaded
- For Partition Scheme, select GPT (if you have an old computer MBR is more likely the partition type you'll want)
- Under target system, select UEFI (if you have an older computer select BIOS, however most computers should be using UEFI if they were made after 2000s. If you're using a device from the early 2000s and are unsure, use BIOS.)
- Under File System, select Fat32
Hit "Start" and let Rufus setup your USB to be bootable.
4. Installing Linux
Once your USB is ready, you'll want to restart your computer. Once the boot screen shows (it'll basically have the logo of whatever your motherboard manufacturer is, such as MSI, Gigabyte, etc.) you'll want to spam the key that opens your boot menu. This can be one of several keys, the boot screen should tell you which one (F12, F11, and F2 are common).
Once you enter the boot menu, you should see your USB device. If for some reason you don't it can be a few different possibilities:
- Wrong Partition table
- Your BIOS needs to set storage from RAID to AHCI (BIOS can be access through one of the F keys or the DEL key)
If none of the above seem to work, this is your chance to push yourself a little bit and troubleshoot. Research online for some help, if you're really stuck feel free to email me and I'll see if I can help you.
Once you're in your boot menu, select your USB device. Depending on your motherboard, you may need to select either BIOS boot for older devices or UEFI boot for newer devices.
Once you've selected your boot option, it'll either take you to the GRUB bootloader or send you straight into the distro to which you'll see the setup walkthrough.
FOR UBUNTU INSTALLATION: Sometimes Ubuntu installations have issues with initializing graphics upon boot, and it'll just send you to a black screen. So, to work around this, when you enter the GRUB boot menu (The black screen with white text that gives you the option to Install Ubuntu or Try Ubuntu Without Installing), select the "Install Ubuntu (safe graphics)".
From here, the installation wizard should automatically pop up once your desktop environment loads.
From here, it should be pretty straight forward, just go through and fill out the forms such as your username, password, root password (which I recommend be different from your user password), timezone, etc.
You'll get to a page that will ask you to decide your installation type with a few options. For people who are NOT dual booting select "Erase Disk and Install [insert distro here]".
For people who ARE dual booting, you have some options. You can either install linux on the same drive as Windows, to which there should be an option to install Linux along side the windows boot manager, or you can install on a separate drive. This was what I did when I first installed linux.
If you have multiple hard drives, be sure to select the hard drive you want to install on, if you're dual booting this should be the same drive you have windows installed on.
After the installation wizard is complete it'll allow you to continue testing the distro or restart. When you restart, remove the USB drive.
Upon restart you should be entered into the GRUB bootloader. From here you can select what option you want to boot into. Boot into your linux distro.
PRESTO! You should now be in your distribution and have officially installed linux.
Going forward
First thing to do when into your distro is to find your terminal emulator (should just be called "Terminal" or something similar Mac users should be somewhat familiar with this). Once that is open, you will type the following:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade
"sudo" means Superuser Do, it's basically giving admin-level access to do a particular task. Think of when Mac asks you to confirm your password when changing system settings, or when you use the "Run as Administrator" command on Windows.
"update" refreshes your package managers available packages as well as tells your package manager what a package's latest version is.
"upgrade" updates all your packages. You can upgrade an individual package by adding the package name after the "upgrade" argument like so:
sudo apt upgrade <package_name>
"apt" is your package manager, you'll use this to install applications. Some distros come with a store that basically does the same thing in a GUI rather than a terminal. I recommend getting familiar with your terminal as it is INCREDIBLY powerful. To install an application, for this instance we will use Steam, type the following:
sudo apt install steam
You can install multiple packages, we will use Steam and Firefox in this example, like this:
sudo apt install steam firefox
If you want to remove an application, use the "remove" argument:
sudo apt remove <package_name>
From here, the world is your oyster. Feel free to explore your new OS, and get a feel for things. You may need to look up a couple of tutorials. Search engines will be your best friend when you get stuck. The nice thing about Linux is it is 100% fixable in pretty much every instance unless you do something REALLY stupid (looking at you Linus Tech Tips and your "do as I say" fiasco with Pop.)
If you have any questions, feel free to email me directly. Assuming this blog doesn't blow up in popularity I should be able to get to them relatively quickly.
Hope you enjoy using linux!