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I'm a little surprised I didn't find this topic in the search results, but never mind.

So Windows is going downhill fast and tracking user data out the ass. I think it's time to switch to Linux. If you use Linux, what distribution do you use? What desktop environment? Any general recommendations? If you don't use Linux, why not?

I've been looking at all the distros I could get my hands on (i.e. those which I could download on my crappy WiFi and run in a virtual machine for testing) and right now I'm looking at Debian because it seems pretty tech-friendly and, in my opinion, has the best general build quality. I've previously used Ubuntu but I don't like it as much and I'm bitter because I'm almost certain it killed my first laptop. I took a look at Fedora but for some reason it fricking hates me, and I took a gander at Damn Small Linux (fun novelty but I can't figure out how to use it) and Tails (my boyfriend uses it but it's not my thing)

I was pleasantly surprised by the Openbox desktop environment because it was minimalistic in all the best ways, takes an old-school Start Menu approach without actually needing a Start Menu, and automatically supports four desktops by default. I'm finding that I really like a modular customizable computing experience, and so far Linux appeals to me as an environment for coding.

I've tried a few different distros: Ubuntu wasn't bad, but I wasn't feeling the OSX feel it was giving me; Mint's very robust and stable platform (It's actually the one I'm using right now for my gaming rig), but it has a lot of extra features I don't use or need; MX Linux is my personal favourite right now, but I'm not using it because I had trouble setting up the drivers (which is a "me" issue and not an "it" issue); Bunsen Labs is a very good distro, one which I might revisit at some point. At this point you probably noticed I haven't tried a non-debian based distro. After I upgrade my graphics card I plan to try out Fedora and Arch.

As for desktop environment, I prefer lighter ones: Xfce (which I'm using now), LXDE, Fluxbox, Openbox, ETC,.

I only have two general recommendations:
1. If you dual boot with Windows, never touch anything on the WIndows partition while using Linux. (That's the story of how I switched full time to Linux BTW )
2. Be prepared to break things a couple times and reinstall. It's not necessary to break your OS, but it's certainly the fastest way to learn.

Crawldragon wrote:So Windows is going downhill fast

THANK you!

I've been using Ubuntu. I've played with another one because it allowed me to make changes to certain files and Ubuntu wouldn't let me. Not sure which one that was but I think it was Mint, was a while ago and I was wrestling with the Rasperry Pi.

Meta what games are you playing on Linux? Also I know you are experienced with the Ras Pi, have you tried Ras Pi 3? I was thinking about getting one.

leroybrown wrote:I've been using Ubuntu. I've played with another one because it allowed me to make changes to certain files and Ubuntu wouldn't let me. Not sure which one that was but I think it was Mint, was a while ago and I was wrestling with the Rasperry Pi.

My experience has been that Debian is usually very nice about letting you change system files if you ask really nicely and get root privileges from your admin. It's funny, actually, because I'm always really paranoid about other people screwing up my computer somehow and yet once I'm given root privileges and no consequences I immediately start messing with stuff to see what happens. I should invest in some mad scientist goggles and one of those electric ball desk toys so I can get the full effect whilst cackling incoherently to myself and futzing around with system folders.

leroybrown wrote:I've been using Ubuntu. I've played with another one because it allowed me to make changes to certain files and Ubuntu wouldn't let me. Not sure which one that was but I think it was Mint, was a while ago and I was wrestling with the Rasperry Pi.

Meta what games are you playing on Linux? Also I know you are experienced with the Ras Pi, have you tried Ras Pi 3? I was thinking about getting one.

How did wrestling with that pi go? Last I remember it was having a weird screen flipping problem.

Well the last thing I played was Witcher 2, which I'm in love with. I'm planning on playing Undertale soon because it just got ported, and Brutal Legend is pretty high on my next-to-play list. With Wine I'm having issues in a few games (endlessly spinning camera in Dead Space and Darksiders, really bizarre accelaration in Deus Ex), but besides those games I've had no problems.

The Ras Pi 3 is good (I picked one up in March for Morrowind), but I I don't really use the bluetooth and the speed increase isn't really noticable, so unless the built in wifi and bluetooth is a selling point for you, the Ras Pi 2 is just as good with slightly less power draw.

MetaCthulhu wrote:How did wrestling with that pi go? Last I remember it was having a weird screen flipping problem.

Wrestling with the pi never stops. That being said the screen flipping problem has long since been solved. OSMC was an easy (GUI) fix while Raspbian required some LUI bs work. I have multiple pis each with different OSs. I have an older XBMC somewhere but it is basically a high tech profanity generator so I've kinda left it alone. It's a shame because that's the interface I liked the most.

I really like OSMC, it streams all kinds of stuff and with no ads which includes youtube. Sooo nice.

How are you playing these games on Linux? Steam? I know they have a linux version or whatever but I haven't tried it.

Oh and Crawldragon why don't you like Tails? I haven't tried it but apparently it's the most secure OS available. I'm not sure if that's true or not just the impression I get. Regardless, sounds interesting.

leroybrown wrote:Oh and Crawldragon why don't you like Tails? I haven't tried it but apparently it's the most secure OS available. I'm not sure if that's true or not just the impression I get. Regardless, sounds interesting.

It's not that I don't like it, because I actually take my personal security very seriously, but it's not my thing. It's an interesting concept, but a large part of the way Tails works is that it routes everything through The Onion Router, and TOR doesn't really work unless you abstain from certain activities that I'm not willing to do away with, so I don't bother with it. I'm not the kind of person who thrives in an environment of constant security. Plus if I'm going to use an OS, I'm going to use one that's designed to be installed on hardware and not carried around in a USB drive, which is part of why I didn't really get into Damn Small Linux.

My boyfriend is a big fan of it, I've asked him how he's liking it and he says it works great for him, but he still uses Windows as his main OS because he's a big gamer and he thinks I'm a scrub for liking Linux. We'll see who's laughing when I get my gaming rig set up.

Ahh I see. Yeah I know what you mean with TOR I've used it a bit. Honestly I want to get more proficient with it but that's a bit of an endeavor for someone like me and I've got a lot on my plate as it is.

leroybrown wrote:I really like OSMC, it streams all kinds of stuff and with no ads which includes youtube. Sooo nice.

How are you playing these games on Linux? Steam? I know they have a linux version or whatever but I haven't tried it.

I should try that with my other pi. It's just sitting around doing nothing right now, so that could be a good use for it. Do you have a remote hooked up to it, or are you using a mouse and keyboard?

I mainly use GOG, but that's cause I'm a DRM-free hound. This is where I actually abate from my usual Steam hating to say it's a very Linux friendly environment, and that the Steam Controller is a beautiful gaming instrument. Linux gaming is frustrating though, I can name five canceled ports right off the top of my head (Darksiders, Witcher 3, Hard Reset Redux, Street Fighter V, Arkham Knight).

Crawldragon wrote:My boyfriend is a big fan of [Tails], I've asked him how he's liking it and he says it works great for him, but he still uses Windows as his main OS because he's a big gamer and he thinks I'm a scrub for liking Linux. We'll see who's laughing when I get my gaming rig set up.

I'm thinking of giving Tails a spin sometime this week, isn't it the OS that Snowden used?

What sort of gaming rig are you looking at? I recently built mine (though I bought the wrong motherboard, so don't listen to me!) for around 400$, and while it's not a world-beater it plays what I want and is so quiet!

Originally I was using a touch screen but frankly it's easier to use a keyboard so I'm using that. When I install it into my truck obviously I will use the touchscreen.

MetaCthulhu wrote:I'm thinking of giving Tails a spin sometime this week, isn't it the OS that Snowden used?

No idea.

MetaCthulhu wrote:What sort of gaming rig are you looking at? I recently built mine (though I bought the wrong motherboard, so don't listen to me!) for around 400$, and while it's not a world-beater it plays what I want and is so quiet!

I have a custom-built PC that a friend of mine hacked together. He was really into hardware and stuff and was a big Linux fan while we were hanging out, but I guess he fell out of it because he gave it to me for my birthday. I have no idea what the specs are, but it runs Skyrim and a bunch of other games damn flawlessly, so it's good enough for me. I still need to test and see if I'll be able to get Wine and DOSBox working, but I've dealt with them before when I was using Ubuntu so I'm sure it'll all come back to me.

To be honest I'm kind of diving into this Linux thing head-first and hoping to figure out the rest as I go along, which is often my strategy when dealing with new software I only took the time to run it in a virtual machine so I could decide what distro to use and get the basics down.

You play Skyrim on Linux?

leroybrown wrote:You play Skyrim on Linux?

Hah, no. The PC I'm using runs Windows at the moment. We didn't even know for sure there was going to be an Elder Scrolls V when I was using Ubuntu. If I can get Skyrim working in Wine, though, it will be a major deciding factor in whether I make the full switch or simply dual-boot.

So I tried Arch and Fedora. Fedora seems nice, but I didn't get into to much. I also tried Arch (Antergos, because I'm lazy and didn't want to go through Arch's CLI installer unless I had to), and I'm liking it so far. Antergos is easy to install, and I haven't broken anything, which is nice. I'm using the open-source drivers so now I can use Gallium Nine for Wine, which I think is giving me a decent speed boost.

I also tried out the Sawfish window-manager. It's the most basic thing I've ever seen that actually manages to keep all regular functionality, and it's memory usage is so much lower than even XFCE: Not really a major thing, but it's about 0.1GB of free RAM when I'm gaming.

Edit 1/10/16: Okay, I've switched to the proprietary driver so I can play so I can play Shadow Warrior (it was throwing an error before I installed the drivers). I haven't noticed a performance difference between the two drivers on Morrowind, so I'm pretty happy either way.

Sawfish is giving me an extra 5fps in Morrowind (from 60 to 65), so that seems to have been worth installing.

And a fresh-ish batch of Linux stats have been released: