For me, I am running EndeavourOS on my laptop (for its rolling release updates and its customisability) and Debian on my homeserver (for its stability). I have also set up a secondary laptop with Linux Mint that is now being used by somebody else for its ease of use :)

Oh that is a good bit of evidence!

I will note that indeed. Don’t worry, they do believe that the Earth is round, they’re not that nuts!

That was really helpful, thanks! I will try bring up some of those points in the future. Makes sense that going to the moon is expensive especially given that NASA’s budget is so much smaller now.

Woah that is kind of insane, I did not know that the modern budget was that much lower! :0

They don’t say that it was definitively faked, but claims that there isn’t enough evidence that it was not. They say that “we will see” once China lands on the moon.

This project seems pretty neat! I appreciate that you are upfront that it is AI-assisted (some projects don’t do that and get grilled for it), I might check it out!

Okay that is actually kind of cool. I never knew this was done! I am anticipating that they would ask whether they were placed by humans or rovers/landers/non-human methods, so was it possible (at the time) to put these retroreflectors on the moon without human intervention? I’m assuming, like the collection of moon rocks, it was not (otherwise why would they bother with having humans doing it with all that human error?)

One of the main reasons why Linux can be more secure is that, being open-source, anybody is able to review the code and submit changes, meaning vulnerabilities and exploits are usually patched very quickly. This is one of the reasons why Linux has a larger market share when it comes to servers, since data security is pretty important for those!

1. Yes, that is correct, if repositories of proprietary repositories is asked (on distros that only install open-source software by default, like Fedora), you should enable that for Nvidia and Steam. This won’t have any downside really, it just lets you install a few proprietary/closed-source software. It won’t even significantly take up more space either, as what it’s essentially doing is telling the app installer manager to check these URLs in addition to the default ones when searching for things to install. If you don’t select this option then you won’t be able to install Nvidia drivers or Steam without manually adding the repos in the menu hidden somewhere. If you are going with a gaming specific distro they might also have an Nvidia-specific version for you to download.

2. LearnLinuxTV, the YouTube channel, is super useful, as well as Veronica Explains (who has both Peertube and YouTube channels)

Bread on Penguins is another channel I follow and they recommend a bunch of neat little command line tools and tips and tricks regarding the shell (like RMPC, which I really like as a music player!)

Most importantly, always read the documentation! Of your distro and of the software you are using. It can really help a lot!

Another thing, even if you don’t use Arch, ArchWiki has excellent documentation on a lot of things that apply to all Linux users.

Yeah, the people there are really knowledgeable when it comes to Linux! I always get good answers there

Some more tips if you end up switching to Linux, specifically on methods of installing programs (because that can be confusing), distributions/“distros” (since lots of people ask about that), and desktop environments (since those are separate from the distro, which many people don’t know if they come from Windows! I certainly didn’t…)

There are five main options to install programs on Linux:

• The ones packaged for your specific family of distro (like .deb for Debian based distros, .rpm for Fedora/RHEL based distros). These will work the best and should be your default.
• Flatpak, a universally compatible Linux app format that most desktop programs support. They have what’s called “sandboxing”, which basically means that apps don’t have full system-wide access by default. This can be annoying for some applications, but with a bit of configuration it seems that you can get it working. Additionally,
• AppImage, another universally compatible format. This one is more similar to a standalone exe on Windows, where it doesn’t install itself anywhere, it just runs as a program. Optionally you can get a program called “AppImageLauncher” which handles the “installing” part (e.g. adding entry in the applications menu, moving it to an applications directory) if you need that.
• Executable w/ some other stuff wrapped in a tar.gz (Linux equivalent of .zip, both formats work but tar.gz will remember Linux-specific information like symlinks and can offer better compression too I think). The executable usually doesn’t have a specific file extension. This would be similar to installing a portable application in a zip file on Windows.
• There are also snap files, but the community doesn’t really like them since they are sourced from a centralised and not-so-open repository controlled by Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, and it isn’t as widely adopted as Flatpak. Unless no other alternatives exist, I wouldn’t really go for this option.

Most distros have a graphical user interface to install programs, usually letting you install programs via either specific packages (like rpm for Fedora) or via Flatpak. You can also install those two through the command line (“sudo apt/dnf install [name]” and “flatpak install [name]”, note that flatpak doesn’t require admin privileges! You can update programs using “sudo apt update” and “sudo apt upgrade” on Debian-based distros, “sudo dnf update” on Fedora-based distros, and “flatpak update” with Flatpak. You need to update repos and then upgrade packages separately on Debian-based distros, while on Fedora with dnf it is done with just one command)

You can also go to the website/git repo of the software you wish to install and download the respective file to manually install stuff, as well as to get programs that come in AppImage or as tar.gz archives.

The community can’t agree on which distro is the best, because there is no best. They’re all good. Pick and choose! Personally, I have used Fedora, Linux Mint, and am currently using EndeavourOS. As long as your hardware is compatible and you aren’t using something super unstable, you should have a good experience.

For beginners, I would recommend either Linux Mint (Cinnamon) or Fedora (Workstation/GNOME or KDE, other DE spins also exist), which faster release than Mint, so it’s better for newer hardware. These are the ones I’ve personally used and was happy with. I have not yet used Bazzite, Nobara, or similar gaming-oriented distros. Nobara is a fork of Fedora that is gaming-centric, and it seems that most people are happy with it. Bazzite is also Fedora based, but it’s an atomic distro, meaning there’s some stuff you can’t do on the system (which can be good, less likely to bork it, but also bad, as it gives you less control and there are limitations on what stuff you can install)

Although Pop! OS used to be a recommended option (you can find it in a few articles here and there) they are currently transitioning to their new DE called COSMIC, which sounds really cool but is a bit buggy it seems, given that it only recently went into beta, so it needs a bit more time in the oven. Just a note so you don’t do a Linus Tech Tips and translate a bad experience with buggy COSMIC as a bad experience on Linux.

If you want to experiment and don’t mind tinkering a bit to fix issues with a more unstable distro, you could try out a rolling release distribution. If you’re a beginner simply looking for an alternate OS and don’t want to do that, I wouldn’t recommend these. You of course have the Arch-based ones, like EndeavourOS (which is more standard) and CachyOS (which has gaming optimisations) that are easier to install than vanilla Arch Linux, but you also have openSUSE Tumbleweed, which sounds like a decent option. I currently use EndeavourOS as there were a few specific software that I wanted to try that were built for Arch-based distros but weren’t built for non-Arch distros (like rmpc, an awesome mpd music player which requires manual building if you don’t use Arch), and I also wanted to experiment with being on the “bleeding edge” of software. The package manager on Arch is called “pacman”, and you can get the loading bar when installing programs to look like a yellow C pacman eating little dots rather than through hashes (e.g. [#### ]), it’s amazing!

What are the differences between GNOME, KDE, and Cinnamon? Those are desktop environments, and most distros allow you to interchange between them since Linux is super modular! I started out with Fedora Workstation, which uses GNOME, and I was able to install KDE Plasma and then after remove GNOME. If you want, you can install multiple DEs and switch between them from the login screen (but then you would get duplicated system apps, like file managers and stuff). Different desktop environments give you a different user interface with different features and theming options, and it truly is simply which one you like more! GNOME, KDE, and Cinnamon are the most established options, but you also have ones like XFCE and MATE. If you want, you can even run Linux without a desktop and work solely in the terminal (this is how Linux servers run, for instance, as it saves on unnecessary processing power and disk usage)!

Between the “big three”, GNOME is the most “minimal” with lots of padding and it looks very nice (but some people hate it), especially when you install apps that match its aesthetic, but is not as customisable by default (it’s kind of like macOS in a way where you need to install extensions and apps to add additional functionality). KDE Plasma is the most feature-rich and customisable out of the box, so much so that some people have mentioned that there could be too many options. It’s really polished and intuitive to use, and their default Breeze theme (which is more boxy and contrasty) looks equally good as GNOME’s libadwaita, it’s just a matter of taste. I personally use KDE for its extensive theming options, you can really make it looks like anything you want! Cinnamon is Linux Mint’s homegrown DE. It’s somewhere in the middle in terms of customisability, and out of the box (!), it is the most similar to the Windows 10 interface.

Last year I switched to Linux, so I’m a recent “convert” and have learned a lot. I would highly recommend moving to Linux over paying Microsoft more money!

1a) As far as I understand, Linux is usually installed using ext4 or btrfs, while Windows uses NTFS by default. Moving files between the two will work, I was able to move files from my NTFS Windows drive to my btrfs Fedora drive very easily. No issues there.

One thing I found out while troubleshooting something, since exFAT doesn’t support symlinks, files when directly moving from my btrfs drive to an exFAT external SSD were way bigger, which was annoying when I was distro hopping (where I copied my home folder, the folder where all user data is stored basically, from Fedora to be restored on EndeavourOS. Yes, you can do that do save all your program settings, themes, documents, pictures, etc. all at once when moving between Linux distros, it’s pretty awesome. I was surprised that my theme persisted actually!). I solved the issue by using the “tar” command to create a tar archive file, which preserves symlinks (even when in a file system that doesn’t support it), so I was able to copy the home folder onto the external SSD with lots of room to spare, even without compression! This only applies if you are moving lots of system files, Wine prefixes, that sort from a Linux file system to an exFAT or similarly symlink incompatible external SSD that I couldn’t reformat to a more compatible one due to Windows users using it, but I thought it would be helpful.

1b) Most programs should work fine through Wine, and the ones that don’t usually might have a few visual glithchs or simply crash. Usually there isn’t loss of data, unless you’re running a program where you are editing, say, a document, and it crashes before you are able to save (that would count as lost data. There are a bunch of Linux-native document editors though so that wouldn’t be a problem)

1c) To copy bookmarks, you can export them as an HTML file. Specific settings can be easily synced with Firefox sync or, if you don’t want to make a Mozilla account, I think you can also just copy the profile directory (go to about:support and there’s a button to open the directory) or the stuff in that directory that you want to keep, quite handy!

1d) Aside from .exe (and similar Windows-specific stuff, like .msi for installers), most file types should work fine (PDFs, images, videos, MS Office files, audio, all that should work!). Even some extensions related to proprietary software (like .ai for Adobe Illustrator files) can sometimes work with Linux-native apps (like Inkscape) but there might be compatibility bugs here and there.

1e) Everything stored on the USB isn’t saved in a live boot environment, it’s meant for you to test out the feel of the operating system, see if WiFi/Bluetooth/etc work, that sort. I highly recommend trying Linux distributions in a live environment first as you can test basic compatibility as well as see if you like the desktop experience (e.g. if you are deciding between GNOME, KDE Plasma, and Cinnamon)

1f) Linux is thought to be more secure not just because it has a lower desktop market share, but also because it’s open-source (meaning anyone can check the code for vulnerabilities and exploits). This is one of the reasons why Linux has a very high server market share. They do exist, so you still have to be mindful as with any operating system!!!

If you accidentally run Windows malware through Wine, unless it’s some really sophisticated stuff, it is unlikely that it will spread to your Windows drive. Even if it was likely, it’s not really a reason to not go with Linux, as Windows malware would be worse on Windows.

1g) Most distributions have the option for including Nvidia graphics drivers, but do your research as there are some cards that don’t have great compatibility. If you have very new hardware, I would recommend you go for a distribution that has a faster release cycle (like Fedora or, if you’re a tinkerer, a rolling release option like Arch-based distros) over ones that have slower ones (like Debian or Ubuntu-based distros).

If you go for Fedora, make sure to enable “third-party repositories” or “proprietary repositories” when installing the distro, as it is needed to install Nvidia drivers, Steam, and a few other things, and the option becomes hidden in a bunch of menus if you don’t click that during the setup screen. I did not select this option when installing Fedora, so it took me ages to find out how to install Steam. Don’t make the same mistake as me!

edit: I have added additional notes on some Linux tips as a comment below:

I could give it to a younger sibling once they are old enough to be responsible with a smartphone.

I did not know you could use a phone as a Stream Deck, that’s pretty cool :0

Yes, I do know of the coup against the democratically elected Mosaddegh in favour of the autocratic Shah. Wow, the U.S. removing democratically elected leaders in foreign countries in favour of autocratic ones that support American business interests? I wonder how often that happened! (a lot, that is)

I understand that these people should, of course, be held accountable and shouldn’t just run free after doing all that horrible stuff on his island. What I don’t really get is why it is so often brought up in off-topic discussion. I get that people want to spread awareness and all that, but screaming “release the files!” on internet posts doesn’t really help.

Fair enough, everyone should be upset that the uber-rich can evade the law as they are now. Yes, they are horrible people. That I can understand.

What I don’t understand is why many people (not all people, but some certainly) bring it up in off-topic internet discussions.

For your information, in a later comment I did note that the weakening of Russia due to their invasion of Ukraine is playing a part in making Iran more vulnerable. In terms of their ties with China, that is correct, their relations are an additional reason why the U.S. doesn’t like them very much. It doesn’t look like China would support them in a conflict though, at least not with troops on the ground.

and many of the naughty Iranian proxies have also been weakened through a hellfire of Israeli and American bombing, like the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas in Gaza, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the past, there have been moves against Iran (sanctions and the sort that are worsening their already mismanaged economy) but the recent strikes have been down mostly because Iran doesn’t really have any allies that are able to support them should they get attacked. Russia has their invasion of Ukraine that they are grinding soldiers in, and the Assads have been overthrown in Syria. Their bad bad economy also means they have lots of domestic issues too, making them super vulnerable.