Good thing is that Linux can support pretty much every hardware regardless how old it is. Bad thing is that Linux Users have it hard in a Windows dominated Landscape which makes transitioning from Windows to Linux quite harrowing. I took the plunge and never looked back. Heck my workflows and games even feel better than ever, it’s glorious thanks to Glorious Eggroll (did that user and developer chose that name on purpose though?)
Is my hardware too old to start tinkering with OSs?
I don’t know what you have but I’m using an Acer Chromebook from the early days, it’s one of the few ones which had Hard drive bay. I upgraded it to 8GB of ram and it works well enough for web browsing and even Minecraft (lowest render distance running optifine, forget about servers). Also windows wouldn’t run on this thing even if I wanted to, because it doesn’t have proper drivers for it and is way too slow for modern versions to run smoothly anyway.
Generally Linux supports much older hardware than Windows does but if it’s too old you are better off replacing said hardware with something slightly newer. Some old hardware is best suited only for Retro applications such as old-school gaming or running legacy equipment.
Will losing touch with the Windows environment make it more difficult for me to succeed in a Windows-dominated career?
Depends if they require it and how much or why they do. If it’s required then yes, if you can work around it then not necessarily.
It’s normal to feel these things when thinking about a new OS, it can be quite a big change. You can always dual-boot, at least at first. Anyone telling you that you need to fully wipe your drive and immediately start from scratch is being silly.
Part of the fun of exploring new OSes and Linux distros is experimenting with new things! You don’t have to commit to a distros immediately, no one will judge you for distro-hopping! Even if you do eventually choose to go back to Windows, that’s okay! And just because you’re on Windows doesn’t mean you can’t use open-source software! Just because your OS is proprietary doesn’t make using FOSS any less valid.
No one is born with intrinsic knowledge of Linux, and no one should loathe their user experience of their OS. Are you made to be a Linux user, or do you just need to tinker with your Windows install? Only you can tell, but you sound like you’d regret not at least trying out a LiveUSB of some beginner-friendly distros.
Your hardware isn’t too old, in fact a new OS can often help old hardware run a lot better. Proton and WINE have made running games and Windows software on Linux easier than ever before.
Feel free to post here if you have any more questions about your potential transition 💕
I’ve had a lot on my mind that I just can’t find the courage to verbalize directly, but for whatever reason I feel like I can ask it this way without making it feel so terrifyingly real. So I’m deeply grateful for your understanding.
I think maybe I need to get into the spirit of experimentation and exploration. Your OS can grow with you. It should grow with you. All the same, there’s no hurry to choose a distro and stick with it.
Your OS can grow with you. It should grow with you. All the same, there’s no hurry to choose a distro and stick with it.
Couldn’t have said it better myself! 😊 You clearly have a way with words, I very much enjoyed your post.
EDIT: I’d like to add, I know people who don’t even have a main OS, they’re just constantly distro-hopping, and that’s valid too. Sure, maybe some people would say they’re needlessly complicating their workflow with constant re-installs, but who cares if that’s what they like?
I think it’s because historically women helped button men’s shirts and as the buttons are on the other side, it’s easier for women to button men’s shirts
Historically, women were dressed by/with the help of servants, while men dressed themselves most of the time. Thus, women’s buttons were placed such that they could best be closed by others, while men’s buttons were meant to be closed by the one wearing them.
You’ve posted this in the wrong community; this community is for memes about both cracked and uncracked eggs. Might want to post this in a different community.
I was writing a post for a tech forum, but I had other things on my mind, stuff I’ve been too nervous to verbalize directly. One thing led to another, and… well, I think you’ll catch my drift if you read the post again.
I hope you don’t mind me being so very circumspect. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me to talk about this.
Ok, I can accept this as a text-only egg meme. But you’re still breaking rule #1 with the title, and don’t wanna have to delete your post if someone reports this. egg🐧irl would be a valid title!
It might help to make an alt account just for talking about these feelings and experiences. It can help you "let go" so-to-speak, and explore who you want to be (or who you really are) in a safe space. Besides this community, there are other good ones on this instance for more serious conversations, if and when you feel ready for that.
Thanks for the kind words and the understanding. I’d like to think that once I have the courage to ask these questions directly, I’ll no longer need to ask them. But it’s really encouraging to know there are good support communities out there.
OMG!! This is seriously the best and funniest egg_irl post I've ever seen! I was laughing so much while reading it! And it's even funnier seeing how many people didn't get it. Incredible post!
The distro you chose is important when you start to do serious things : running a web server, deploying applications for a company, etc.
At your level this is irrelevant. You want to play with Linux, get a taste of it? Install VirtualBox on your PC, create a new VM and install Linux Mint Cinnamon. Is it the best to begin with? Maybe yes, maybe no, who cares, it's one of the noob friendly distros and it is based on Ubuntu Linux (it's virtually the same minus some proprietary crap) which has TONS of documentation online, and forums filled with answers to almost any question you can think of. You run into a problem? Paste the error message in Google and a post on the Ubuntu forums will be on the top of the search results.
In one evening, you will have learned how to run and configure Virtualbox (very easy) and install an "easy" Linux distro. And you will have your playground ready.
Now just look around, try the environment. Open a console and start trying some commands. Find yourself a little project that will force you to look under the hood : setting up a basic LAMP webserver for example. That will teach you how to use package repositories to install new software, where the different components of these software end up in the system folders, how to run command lines, etc. Give it a few evenings.
Then pick up two-three other distributions with different Windows Managers and reinstall your VM (or make a new one) with them. To see the differences. Manjaro with KDE. Fedora XFCE. Endeavour i3 (an amazing Arch based distro but with a very steep learning curve. For later).
Just fool around in a VM. Don't take that seriously. Explore Linux. Give up. Come back to it. Nobody cares, just have fun and try. You won't know if you like it unless you play with it.
Then if you fall in love replace Windows with your favorite distro and run Windows in a QEMU virtual machine... :P
It's understandable to feel that way about trying a new OS. It's a pretty big decision. I think the only way to know would be to try one out. and see if you like it. Linux can run pretty well on old hardware, so I wouldn't be too concerned there.
There's a few ways to try out linux without committing to even a dual boot. You could try running it in a VM in windows. I've used VirtualBox in the past to do that and it worked out fine. You may not get to properly see how well your hardware does in a VM tho.
You can also create a LiveUSB with Persistence, if you've got a spare USB thumbdrive lying around thats large enough (>= 4GB at smallest, maybe?). This will allow you to boot your computer into Linux off of a USB drive and try it out. the Persistence setting will allow you to save any changes you make to it like installing software or creating files to persist on the USB drive so you can go back to Windows and come back and all your changes will be there. It won't do anything to your Windows install at all.
You said you have an engineering background and use proprietary software. It's possible that some of it may run on Linux. Is it software you run on your own personal machine, or just use at work? You can check the WINE Appdb to see how any software you may need thats non-negotiable (as in an alternative just wont cut it) will work. A lot of times, the issue isn't really that things wont run on Linux or WINE, but that they have antipiracy or anticheat measures that won't accept an OS other than the one it was written for.
Valve has really done a lot for gaming on linux, and a lot of Steam games do work well. Idk what kind of games you play, but you can always check ProtonDB for Steam compatibility. Just be sure to click on "PC" once you select the game you're looking for. Sometimes there are tweaks you may need to do (Lookin at you Blue Reflection, lmao) in order to get things to work. Other times, stuff will just run out of the box (eyyy Sekiro). For games outside of steam, I'd look at Lutris, or again, the WINE AppDB. AreWeAntiCheatYet? maintains a list of games that have anticheat systems and if they have, or have plans to implement, linux support.
I would recommend you start with Linux Mint. It's based on Ubuntu, which is a really popular distro, so there's tons of support you'll be able to find out there on the internet that should apply. The standard Cinnamon package should be good, unless you really feel your PC is old, then maybe the XFCE version will be better. (It's more lightweight than Cinnamon). If you do ever go down the route of distro hopping if you choose to do a dual boot, I'd recommend maybe setting up a separate /home partition when you're installing Linux, but that's wayy further down the line from just trying it out.
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