> Linux won't stop you if you try to use a command that deletes every file on your PC ("sudo rm -rf /").
It will definitely stop you from running that command because of "--preserve-root" that is enabled by default, if you want to break your system you have to opt out of it. Just don't try to put an asterisk after, pathname expansion will be a different case ("rm -rf /*").
alias rm='rm -i'
alias cp='cp -i'
alias mv='mv -i'
"rm -if" never prompts, "rm -fi" prompts. --preserve-root is an entirely different thing which will stop the command from deleting files even if you told it to.
$ sudo rm -ri /
rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on '/'
rm: use --no-preserve-root to override this failsafe
(I would write something like "Refusing to delete the entire filesystem (did a shell variable expansion go wrong?)".)
Until you come across a system old enough that the coreutils' rm doesn't have that safeguard. And that is how I accidentally'd my OLPC XO's Fedora install.
TBF, this safeguard has never saved me, being careful saved me. You can afford to take the time to be careful, because writing the powershell equivalent is probably at least ten times longer (just kidding, or am I?), and clicking buttons in the file explorer is a hundred times longer. Always write the "-rf" after writing the path! I never run rsync without a dry-run, too, even without --delete.
I've been running Linux for gaming for well over 15 years and have not missed much in the last 5 or so. There's way too many games out there to play that do run on Linux even if unemployed and have the time to dedicate it as your sole hobby.
To check for game compatibility, you should check :
- Steam store page for Steam Deck compatibility, be aware that sometimes a bad rating only means the in-game text is too small to read on small screens or that gamepad support is poor, also I've played multiple "not supported" games that ran just fine.
- ProtonDB, community rating, separate comments for Steam Deck and PC, troubleshooting for Nvidia/AMD specific issues, etc. -> This includes Valve's Steam Deck compatibility score https://www.protondb.com/app/1808500?device=pc
- https://areweanticheatyet.com/game/arc-raiders AWACY says ARC Raiders is not officially supported, but runs. You never know, it might break in the future or not.
- Be aware that the Steam Client is only officially supported on Ubuntu, though you might be fine with other distros as well. Don't use the open source "nouveau" GPU driver, use the proprietary Nvidia drivers, also I've had GPU hiccups during the transition from X.org to Wayland that might be related to NVIDIA, but now it's fine.
You could just buy another SSD and install Linux on that. Then, you have your Windows drive left untouched and pristine so you can swap back if you want, or you can pull data over as needed.
I wouldn't try to dual boot, mainly from past experience. Linux is very fine with it, but Windows can aggressively try to repair itself and break other things, or end up broken itself.
Prepare for some potential headaches, do some research and see what kind of problems you might encounter. And before blaming Linux watch this short clip[0].
I'm a developer, so I'm techy enough how to look up what I don't know, but I would never recommend this to someone who struggles with technology.
Kernel antic heat is frustrating but usually its games where I feel like I won't lose anything if I don't play it.
And for those you still have options, through streaming:
1> A small headless Windows PC powered with a videocard like a Radeon 9070 XT and a nifty app called Moonlight (https://moonlight-stream.org/) enables you to stream games protected with kernel level anti cheat to Linux machines (and some other devices).
2> Geforce Now supports some games notoriously renowned for their kernel level anti cheat like Battlefield 6 and Call of Duty Black Ops 7. With some trickery it is possible to run the app they "exclusively" developed for handhelds like the Deck on any Linux distro, because it is just a desktop app distributed through Flatpak.
That aside, the Windows API is one of the most godawful, miserable pieces of code I've ever had to work with. I've been up to my neck in WinRT writing Bluetooth drivers and holy fuck I wouldn't wish this misery on anyone. I don't know how any developer or engineer ever gets anything done on Windows.
Last job let me use Linux where it mattered most, and new job doesn't care so long as the work is done. I don't think I'll accept a job anywhere that requires Windows in the future. There is just plain and simple no feasible way to do my work on Windows anymore.
This is a bit suspect. WinRT is an entirely user-mode library meant for writing user-mode applications; why would you be writing Bluetooth drivers in that? It's like writing Linux drivers with GTK. Why aren't you writing the driver with UMDF2[1]? I have so many questions.
[1]: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows-hardware/drivers/w...
Whatever's possible, local on Linux. If it's not, one of my servers has a GPU that I pass through to a Windows VM, and run the games there and displayed by streaming. Also works for VR.
Not a setup for everyone and a tad technically complex to set up, but it works well enough for my needs.
It does run into some trouble with games that don't like virtual machines, but since I'm a very casual gamer I just play things that don't complain about that.
> Can someone be the Steam for Excel, please? :)
You can actually add anything you want to Steam, so you can use Steam Link to run Excel remotely.
"I’ve spent dozens of hours combing through Reddit threads, analyzing old Stack Overflow solutions, and, in times of true desperation, asking AI chatbots like Mistral’s Le Chat and Anthropic’s Claude for help deciphering error messages. Luckily, the Linux community is also very supportive. If you’re willing to ask for help, or at least do a little troubleshooting, you’ll be able to work out any problems that come your way."
There are many people -- like my Mom or Dad, for example -- who will never find this appealing and are likely to dig themselves into deeper holes trying to fix system issues on the command line. That's why Steve Jobs was on the money when he talked about a computer that was as intuitive as an appliance -- it has to "just work" for most normies. While I'm as frustrated with Windows as the next person, I'd probably just hand the average person a Mac mini instead of popping a linux distro on their machine if they needed a new computer (though if all they are doing is just browsing the web and reading emails, a ubuntu install is probably fine).
I’m in favor of Linux becoming more dominant as a desktop operating system but there is still plenty of work to be done in making it suitable for mass adoption. Denying that only slows the timeline on Linux’s ascendance.
I mean, yes, I've had to look things up to see how to do things in Linux. I've also had to do that on MacOS. (Just the other day, I couldn't remember what the Task Manager-equivalent on MacOS was, and nothing I typed into the launcher was coming up with an appropriate app, so I had to ask the robot what it was named.)
But dozens of hours? Maybe back in the Red Hat 4.2 days, but not now. Some of that is obviously just that I have a lot of knowledge about things, but even so.
I definitely had to, and continue to, search online for help. Sure, perhaps MacOS is more intuitive than Linux, but not by much.
> ubuntu install is probably fine
Ubuntu and Gnome should be avoided even as suggestions. Ubuntu has become less reliable than Fedora in my experience. And Gnome does Gnome things that are incompatible of the average users requirement from a desktop encironment.
That was such a culture shock. Endless pop-ups to do this and subscribe to that and so on. And it has gotten worse since then of course.
Instead I set her up on a nice mature Linux desktop - Mate - and that was fine. Chrome, Thunderbird and not much else. And solid reliable and nobody reaching in from the cloud with the latest attempts to monetize something or push AI onto you or whatever. You turn on (unsuspend) the computer and it's the same computer it was yesterday, working just the same.
There’s something to be said for “Windows creep” though, where the install decays over time and a reinstall is required. Back in the 2K/XP/Vista days this could be pretty bad, but that improved with 7 onwards. It still exists today, but the decay takes years to become noticeable instead of months.
Linux isn’t without its own issues there however. Even on a more friendly distro like Ubuntu or Fedora, eventually one will end up with things like config files that slipped through the cracks and didn’t get migrated correctly, very slowing degrading the desktop experience.
I went with Fedora Kinoite, and everything worked perfectly fine. I did choose an AMD GPU for this experiment, going with a 7800 XT.
Later that summer I decided to rebase (not reinstall, rebasing in fedora atomic is neat) to Bazzite, a more gaming focused version with some convience features, but that's about it.
Everything I want to do on my computer works fine, I don't feel hamstrung by it and really enjoy using it. The only game I regularly play that doesn't work is Battlefield 6, which I had a small Windows drive for, but I stopped playing that after the hype died down. The Finals, Arc Raiders, CS2, Hunt Showdown, Guild Wars 2, all run great.
While I see that recommending a different distro seems like more change and more fiddling about, Bazzite is something to try out for sure. As long as you don't have a very complicated usecase, it really does get out of your way and remove a lot of the foot-guns you find on linux.
I really think it's ideal for a gamer usecase, and it's also great for a parent/casual user who does most of their work inside a browser anyway. As a programmer with a big distro-hopping past, I've switched to Bluefin/Bazzite on all my personal computers and things work well. I'm glad to have something that works well out of the box and glad to not think about the OS.
jqpabc123•2h ago
In other words, you've found a new hobby along with your new operating system.
And that's OK --- but not everyone is looking for a hobby.
maxwellsdeamons•1h ago
jqpabc123•1h ago
baal80spam•1h ago
DennisP•1h ago
taeric•1h ago
To that end, the last time I tinkered with what linux distro I'm using is over a decade ago.
juujian•1h ago
mindcrash•1h ago
The only thing you'll have to decide is if you want a desktop which looks more similar to MacOS (GNOME) or Windows (KDE). For now they don't even care about even more advantages or disadvantages, like the fact that KDE is customizable to the point things can get a little crazy.
Graphical desktop and Steam support (with a little pinch of Lutris added on top), and that's good enough.
lukaslalinsky•6m ago