Linux Tips

Various tips for those thinking of moving to a Linux distro. No need to memorise all this just skim.

Things I wish I knew

• Vim isn't hard, it's different. Encyclopedic knowledge of all of its hotkeys and features isn't needed to benefit from it. It takes awhile to get used to it, is all. Ignore the plugins and Neovim at first, and stick with vanilla Vim.
• Coding knowledge is unnecessary for using the terminal. It's pretty much the same as talking to a Discord bot.
• Bash is cool and fun. There's no need to sit down and study it to get use out of it, just use cheatsheets and search on how to do things.
• FFXIV works fine, use XIVLauncher. Make sure to copy the files from Windows to the right directories. Option settings aren't tied to accounts.

Things I want others to know

• Test Wi-Fi and sound before swapping over.
• Test any hardware peripherals before swapping over (printers, tablets, etc.)
• Linux comes with drivers for most things and usually a button or command to update all drivers and software at once. Drivers for the graphics card and printer will probably be needed to be installed though.
• NVIDIA drivers will sometimes bork after an update, resulting with a black screen on the next reboot. If this happens, they will need to be reinstalled or rolled back. This is not really an issue these days, but good to know.
• The Arch Linux Wiki has a bunch of useful info, with most of it applying to other Linux distros as well. The List of applications page is incredibly helpful for finding new applications.
• For running Windows software, check WineHQ for compatibility.
• VR support on Linux is jank. Check the links at the bottom for compatibility.
• DAW and VST compatibility has come a long way, but test anything important before switching over.
• There's plenty of nice art software now, but if you need Clip Studio Paint specifically, it might not work. There's Kolourpaint (XP era MSPaint clone), Krita, MyPaint, AzPainter, GrafX2, and more. Sai2 and various versions of Photoshop work fine under Wine.
• Pretty much all games without anti-cheat work fine in Steam. Simply enable Proton under settings. Check ProtonDB to see what works and doesn't.
• Arch Linux and Gentoo being hard to install is exaggerated. They have very well documented wikis with guides that explains the whole process. That said, do not start with them. They're time consuming to set up and not worth it without a specific reason for using them.
• Distros come with their own app stores of sorts, commonly Flathub. Some software might need to be installed in another way, but for the most part use the app store.
• Desktop enviroments are bundles of software that effect the look and feel of the system.

Differences to Windows

• Hidden files start with a "." in front of them.
• A password is required for running apps that require admin.
• File paths are different, there's no c:\ drive.
• Root, which is at the very top like c:\: /
• Home, is the folder where the Documents, Pictures, etc folders are: /home/[USER]/
• Also can be written ~/ for short.
• Config folder, which is like AppData: /home/[USER]/.config
• The other Config folder: /home/[USER]/.local/share
• However, with Flathub, each app gets their own config folders.
• (This is for extra security.)
• (Look at the settings to see where their config folders are.)
• The common alternatives to Windows Explorer have tabs, so no need to open up a bunch of windows to move files around.
• It's way easier to theme the taskbar.
• No forced updates, they need to be started manually.
• Easier to update drivers and other software.

Distro Recommendations

Mint

Mint is tailored for beginners and has the most beginner friendly community. It's easy to find answers to problems on the forum, or in the official chat.

It uses Flatpaks which is better for security but can be annoying with permissions and file paths.

It has three desktop environments to choose from. MATE is an older version of GNOME, which resembles Mac OS. While Xfce and Cinnamon are more similar to Windows.

Bazzite

Bazzite has a smaller community, but is focused on gaming, with multiple tools pre-installed to make that easier.

A pro (and sometimes con) with it is that it's immutable, which helps prevent the system breaking, but also prevents major system changes such as installing a different desktop environment.

It uses Flatpaks which is better for security but can be annoying with permissions and file paths.

It's desktop environment uses KDE Plasma, which is similar to Windows.

Less control, but it's harder to break.

CachyOS

CachyOS is Arch Linux based with software preinstalled for gaming. It has a learning curve but the ArchWiki is incredibly comprehensive. It's very easy to find support for it.

Check Arch's news posts before updating: There's major updates occasionally which require manual intervention.

More control, but it's easier to break.

Links

Hardware

Running Windows Software

Themes

Wizardry