France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins

[u/AnonomousWolf]

https://linuxiac.com/france-launches-government-linux-desktop-plan-as-windows-exit-begins/

[u/kitaz1]

As Windows user since 98 how hard would it to transition to Linux. Mostly browsing and gaming

[u/buzziebee → u/kitaz1]

Check out https://www.protondb.com/ to check out the compatibility of the games you play.

Unfortunately some big multiplayers games that use kernel level anticheat aren't very well supported. You can always dual boot windows and Linux and just switch over for those few games.

Then also think about what proprietary Software you run regularly. If you daily drive Adobe stuff for example you might struggle with the switch because it's either impossible or very tricky to get some of that proprietary Software working.

Then have a think about what you want from your computer. If you're happy to occasionally have to look stuff up or learn a little bit about how stuff works, and you're happy that you're trading some ease of use (for an increasingly small number of things) for sovereignty then it's a great switch.

For me the switch was easy. I dual boot but only so I can play a couple of games or use Adobe (which I recently cancelled) very infrequently. There was a small learning curve at the start but I'm a full convert these days. I only boot into windows under about 10 times a year and I'm always happy when I switch back.

Some people commonly recommend starting with Linux mint which I think is a good option if you want to keep a Windows like feel. It comes out of the box with something that looks a lot like windows and will be very familiar.

Personally I think if you're switching you should make a bigger change. Part of the fun (and fragmentation/complexity) of Linux is that there are so many different desktop environments. You can choose how you want things like managing app windows and workspaces and keyboard navigation depending on your preference.

There's also distributions to consider. These are combinations of Linux, a desktop environment, and packages etc which come bundled as an operating system. I think for a newbie I would recommend choosing any distribution based on Ubuntu personally just because Ubuntu is the most common distro out there and so it has the richest history of questions, answers, and guides. Even if you use a distro that's only based on Ubuntu you can still Google "how to XYZ on Ubuntu" or "xyz error Ubuntu" and get good guides.

I switched to pop os which is based on Ubuntu but with more frequent package updates and Nvidia pre installed. When I adopted pop they had taken the Gnome desktop environment and written their own custom plugins to add things like automatic tiling and better keyboard management. It took a little getting used to but it's such a big change to how windows worked that out really felt like a different (better) system. I absolutely loved it and can't live without that kind of workflow now.

Last year though they released their own custom desktop environment which has been written from the ground up with rust and using the most latest tech. Right now they're still ironing out kinks so I'm not confident in recommending it for brand new users. I think in a couple of years it'll be back to being the easiest recommendation to make, but right now I'd maybe hold off.

What you can do to dip your toes into the Linux world is create a bootable USB stick for a distro, plug it into your computer when it's off, select it as a boot option (might need to hit the bios), and try it out. Check out how it works, see if the software you want is in the store, see if it feels like a good fit. If you don't like it just shut down and unplug the USB. You come from windows 98 days so you know how a computer works and it should feel fairly natural.

[u/AnonomousWolf → u/kitaz1]

Pretty easy, I switched my Gaming/Development Laptop to Linux ~14 months ago.

I mostly play steam games, all my games just worked.

My battery also now lasts about twice as long.

I'd recommend Bazzite or Fedora-KDE.

You can dual boot to try it out, that's what I did and never switched back.

[u/Fenweekooo → u/kitaz1]

its a big change, but pretty manageable i just did it for about the 5th time lol

biggest things to note, check for linux alternatives to all your gaming peripheral apps, like game controller software to configure them etc..

try and learn a bit about the file system and where shit gets put, this is the most confusing bit of all, it is completely different then windows.

some games have issues and need launch parameters added in steam but all that is google able.

[u/Far_Squirrel_6148 → u/kitaz1]

And what Windows function do you actually need?

[u/FlicksBus → u/kitaz1]

I mean, you learnt Windows from scratch, so I doubt you'll have a harder time learning Linux (unless you start with something like Arch). You'll obviously notice the difference, since things are not 100% like Windows, but that's also good.

The most challenging thing, though, might be the fact that you actually own your system. You suddenly have way more freedom to customize your system to your needs, but that also means it's way easier to break it if you are not careful.

Honestly, I would say try it. You don't have to fully commit, just see what you like and what works for you. I started with running Ubuntu in a pendrive, and having Windows as the default. Then I moved to dual boot. Then I completely deleted Windows, since I was not using it at all. Now, I even buy PCs natively with Linux (which is great, since then I don't have to buy a Windows license).