yujiri.xyz

Software

Use Linux

Whenever I pontificate to non-technical people about digital freedom and boycotting proprietary systems, there's usually an elephant in the room: Windows (or Mac). This is the single most important proprietary system in an average person's life (as far as software goes, at least) and the most important to get rid of - but also the hardest.

First, let me shoot down some oft-echoed but ill-informed reasons not to use Linux:

Compatibility / program availability

Yes, Windows programs don't work on Linux out of the box. But!

Wine

"It's for smart people" or "It's all terminal commands"

Nope. There are user-friendly Linux distributions that come with a guided installer (similar to the installers you see in Windows programs) and a desktop environment similar to Windows, such as Linux Mint and Pop!_OS. You can use Linux without ever opening a terminal. Some of my friends do!

With that out of the way: no, I'm not going to bullshit you, switching to Linux is extremely tricky for a non-techie. That's why I'm here, not just to impress upon you the importance, but to make it easier.

I think the aspect that most needs better guides is how to actually *install* Linux. Because while it's possible to buy a computer that comes with it installed (like Minifree computers), I would be loathe to suggest that people should buy new computers just for this; and installing it yourself is really easy to botch and end up with a computer you can't boot and don't know how to fix (though I guarantee it is fixable). If you're ready to install Linux on your computer, *make a backup of everything before you start*.

The install process generally goes like this:

Rufus

And did you know you can install Linux without removing Windows? You can have them both on the same hard drive, although switching between them requires rebooting. It's called dual booting and it's really useful but unfortunately this is the real tricky part. Not every guided installer supports this, and even if it does, it won't be the default and you will lose your Windows installation if you select the wrong options.

Another obstacle to dual booting is that you might have to first shrink the Windows partition to make room for Linux. You can do this from within Windows, and there are decent guides on the internet, but again, you can royally botch this and you should always make a backup first.

While learning to use a terminal/command-line is optional, but I do recommend it because it will help you get a deeper understanding of computers, and is also just more efficient. The website for Ubuntu (a beginner-friendly Linux distribution) has a good tutorial on how to use the terminal.

Ubuntu terminal tutorial

My guide "Learn programming for good instead of profit" also has a lot of information about terminal use and how Linux works in general, so if you choose to switch to Linux, you might benefit from looking through it, even if you don't plan to become a programmer.

Learn programming for good instead of profit

The last thing I'm going to do to make it easier for people to switch to Linux is to offer free support. I can be reached by email or matrix or on the fediverse and would love to help introduce someone to Linux. There are also lots of forums and mailing lists for getting help, and a valuable (but harsh) read on how to ask questions effectively:

How To Ask Questions The Smart Way (read the disclaimer on it first)

Proxied content from gemini://yujiri.xyz/software/use-linux.gmi

Gemini request details:

Original URL
gemini://yujiri.xyz/software/use-linux.gmi
Status code
Success
Meta
text/gemini; lang=en
Proxied by
kineto

Be advised that no attempt was made to verify the remote SSL certificate.

What is Gemini?