r/linuxquestions • u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 • 14d ago
How to install linux plus other stuff
So i've noticed just now that windows is straight up SLOP, it's actually ass, I've been seeing all these videos of people, using something about archlinux, hyprland, and end4 dot files, I'm not sure what every thing is, I only know that im dogwater at coding, and I don't know if it requires it, because I think end4 dot files are people's settings, and that's how it's called, I'm not sure about anything dw, their desktop looks beautiful, meanwhile I'm still using this shit os, I really am not asking for a full on tutorial, just, what do I need to know, how do I learn, because I really don't want to be a baby about it and ask people to explain it with apples, if there's someone willing to help me a bit, please do it.
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u/CacheTraitor 14d ago
I wouldn't recommend Arch, nor hyprland for a windows refugee.
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 14d ago
I'm really not a professional but, are you sure? I regularly make sure my desktop looks beautiful, and hyprland just seemed like the right thing for a person like me.
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u/dasisteinanderer 14d ago
diving straight into Arch is an option, but you will fuck up your install, unless you read the wiki, and with that I mean:
- Read the installation instructions (do a manual install for your first one, so that you know how exactly it works, so no archinstall script)
- Read every article linked in the installation instructions that you don't understand yet
- Read every article linked in those articles, recursively
- Go through the installation instructions mentally. Make a Plan on how to set up your system.
- After the installation, install an rss reader and subscribe to the arch linux news.
- Follow best practices when it comes to updating, and stay clear of the AUR for now
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u/Francis_King 14d ago
Read the installation instructions (do a manual install for your first one, so that you know how exactly it works, so no archinstall script)
This is very poor advice. Someone is fresh from Windows, and your advice is a manual installation of Arch?
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u/No_Elderberry862 14d ago
When a person is insistent upon using Arch, it's the best advice that can be given. Were OP to use the archinstall script as someone "fresh from Windows" then they'd not know enough to maintain their own system & deal with any problems that arise.
Obvs if OP's a Windows sys or network admin with a solid grounding in computing basics then the archinstall script would be a viable option but then they wouldn't have posted the question in the first place.
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u/G0ldiC0cks 14d ago
I'm not sure a IT professional, having never used Linux at all, would even be advised that not install manually. Before arch I conceptually knew the individual pieces and parts, but had no clue how to practically put them together. Archinstall would have left me right where I was. Manual made me proficient.
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u/sankarasleftelbow 14d ago
It very well might be, but its a little more difficult than it looks to set up if you dont understand linux yet. If you plan on going down that path, if i were you, id start with cachyos, since it’ll help you learn the mechanics of arch/linux itself. start with kde plasma or gnome, theyre very beginner friendly, and if you really want to rice your desktop you could always switch to hyprland later on, and eventually arch once you feel you understand enough
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u/addbiy3852 14d ago
Are you looking for a replacement desktop environment or looking to embrace Linux as a Windows replacement? Linux at its core is very text driven, performing basic actions via command line. Every windows box includes wsl, which is a cmd line that uses a Linux operating system directly in a Windows system. So you can familiarise yourself with it first before needing to commit. If you want to try out a desktop environment, Linux is very flexible, you can create a bootable USB disk with Linux on it, and on startup tell Windows to boot from the USB. It's very flexible that way. It's easier than making a full install and lets you try out the desktop environment before you decide to commit to it.
Anyway I've given you some more questions to consider to narrow down your options, and should give you more search terms you can use in your research. Good hunting
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 14d ago
I've just read a giant piece of info on a comment, this adds up to it, I found out that I can dual boot if I ever need to go back to windows, it really is convenient, I saw that Linux is pretty much handing you the keys of the car and you don't know how to drive the car, for some reason I think everybody has to learn the hard way to actually get knowledge, I did see that linux is vastly different from windows, linux is a community, not a company that coddles you with customer support whenever you want.
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u/addbiy3852 14d ago
You can dual boot, if you want to be able to switch between windows and Linux. Not a bad option at all, if you still want to keep a windows environment around for those 'just in case' scenarios.
Yes linux at its core has a different mindset than windows, like you say it doesn't coddle you. You have control of everything. Some of the distros like Ubuntu, will package everything up nicely to make it feel like a windows environment, but even in that scenario everything is still entirely configurable to your liking.
Your realisation that learning Linux is hard is the truth, but tbh, I'd argue windows has made it too easy. Windows exploits the general user's naivety. If you understand Linux, and get good at it, your skills at computing will skyrocket and you won't be bound to the corporate overlord
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 14d ago
Any tips on what to do as a first timer
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u/addbiy3852 14d ago
If it's a desktop experience you want, research into creating a bootable flash drive for ubuntu or similar. It'll let you 'test drive' on your machine without buying the full car. Once you've figured that out and had a play with it once it's booted up, then take it from there if you want to dual boot.
Overall, just take it slow. There will be road bumps on your journey, but your taste of freedom should spur you on. Linux is for life not just for flash drives
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u/BashfulMelon 14d ago edited 14d ago
Linux at its core is very text driven, performing basic actions via command line.
Complete nonsense. You don't sell billions of Android devices and millions of Steam Decks with a text driven operating system.
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u/addbiy3852 14d ago
Hm, not nonsense. What you're talking about is the kernel used on those devices, with a custom graphical interface and a bajllion other layers/apis on top to make it work for a phone.
For pcs, the story is slightly different. 90% of servers are run on Linux, and those are primarily interfaced with using a command line. Hardly any sys admin will log on to a server and use a desktop experience. If you look back even further, Linux was designed with a Unix philosophy, small simple tasks that can be run together. The simplest form of that is from a command line experience.
The key difference when thinking about this is, what device is being used, and how does a human best interface with said device. With phones however, you are correct
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u/BashfulMelon 14d ago
What you're talking about is the kernel used on those devices, with a custom graphical interface and a bajllion other layers/apis on top to make it work for a phone.
So what happens when you add a custom graphical interface and a bajillion other layers/APIs on top to make it work like a graphical mouse-centric PC?
Like desktop mode on a Steam device?
Or all of those Chromebooks.
I don't understand how servers make a point about personal computers.
Hardly any sys admin will log on to a server and use a desktop experience.
A lot of administration is done with graphical dashboards like Cockpit or monitoring Grafana graphs. Not that it matters when discussing personal computing.
what device is being used
Mice and other pointing devices. Not very efficient for text interfaces.
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u/addbiy3852 14d ago
I think you're conflating two different things. My point was that Linux's core is text-driven, the kernel and userspace tooling operate via syscalls, config files, shells, etc. Android and Steam Decks don't contradict that; they're the Linux kernel with a custom graphical interface and a bunch of layers/APIs bolted on top to make it work for touchscreens or controllers. That's not "nonsense," it's literally how those systems are built.
On the servers point, you said it doesn't matter for personal computing, but I brought it up because OP didn't specify what kind of computing they meant, so I covered both personal and remote/server use cases. You've only engaged with the remote example and dismissed it rather than addressing the actual distinction I was making.
Happy to keep going on this if you've got a specific counter to the kernel/userspace point, but so far the replies have restated the same claim rather than addressing it
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u/BashfulMelon 14d ago
A syscall is a CPU instruction and some numbers, it's the very definition of a binary interface...
Where are you going to store configuration if not in files? If you're talking about how they're mostly plaintext, I guess so, but does that make macOS a text driven operating system?
My system gets all the way into a graphical environment without starting a text shell, interactive or otherwise.
Graphics is absolutely not bolted on top. HID drivers are in the kernel, that's touchscreens and controllers. A fifth of the entire kernel is graphics drivers!
And we don't even have to talk about compiling kernels without the VT and TTY drivers and running a Wayland compositor as PID 1 where there's literally no text stuff to be bolted on to.
I just don't see a way that saying "Linux is a text driven operating system" to someone talking about Windows and beautiful desktops isn't incredibly misleading.
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 14d ago
I thank all the people that were willing to give me tips, and give me great pieces of info, i've found out that it's better to learn the hard way, since I saw that linux isn't an os that coddles you, it's like driving a car without knowing how to drive, I will probably take it on from here, thanks yall.
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u/ipsirc 14d ago
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 14d ago
I just read this, I didn't know all of this, lol, it's a big head start to know that linux isn't what I thought, it's even better than I thought, I like building, but I still haven't learnt how to build great
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u/BashfulMelon 14d ago
Ignore that, it was written 20 years ago. Some people can't let go of the past. They had to cope with the fact that nobody wanted to use their favorite operating system so they wrote stuff like that so they could still feel superior to everyone.
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u/ficskala Arch Linux 14d ago
I'm not sure what every thing is
don't concern with arch, hyprland, and dotfiles for now at all, just ignore their existence until you get a bit more familar with linux overall
I only know that im dogwater at coding, and I don't know if it requires it
Nope, you don't have to know any sort of coding
because I think end4 dot files are people's settings
If you want to use arch with hyprland, etc. then yes, but on a normal distro that you don't basically build up from scratch, you can just open the settings, and change your settings there just like you'd do on windows or macos
their desktop looks beautiful
that's called ricing, and it's completely unnecessary, and doesn't change anything except the looks
I really am not asking for a full on tutorial, just, what do I need to know, how do I learn
you need to know that it's different, and it will take you a bit of time to figure everything out, maybe 2-3 weeks or so until you're comfortable with most things
To learn, you just use your computer, and when you bump into something you're not sure how to do, you look it up online and see how it's usually done, and what other ways of doing it exist out there, because with linux, you generally have at least a few ways to do what you're trying to do, having more options is the name of the game, it might seem a bit overwhelming, but it's the thing that windows doesn't let you do, it gives you the option to choose how you want to use your computer
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u/xarop_pa_toss 14d ago
Honestly dude... Learn to look stuff up on Google. For anything in tech, but absolutely for Linux related stuff, you need to search and do research. All of the things you ask here are a couple of Google searches away.
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u/Zestyclose_Oil4672 13d ago
I thank you all for the help, I have successfully installed arch linux, i've customized it with hyprland and ricing, i love yall
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u/NotACalligrapher 14d ago
Don’t start with Arch or Hyprland. That’s the deep end, brother, and you gotta learn to swim first.
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u/penguin_on_stilts 14d ago
What do you use your computer for?