DEV Community: Bhawesh Kumar

Good Linux distros for new users.

Bhawesh Kumar — Sat, 14 Nov 2020 08:31:59 +0000

Are you willing to switch to linux or maybe give it a shot? Well I was too and to between all these hustle of distros and desktop environments I did what you did to find this article, I googled,"top linux distos". So here are my top distros that I'd recommend to a new comer.

1. Ubuntu

Let's begin with probably the most popular distro, Ubuntu itself. Ubuntu is based on Gnome desktop environment. It's comes with a side dock by default good for people who want something different than windows' taskbar and mac's dock, though it is customizable like any other linux disto. It comes with libre office preinstalled. Overall I'd suggest ubuntu to anyone who have heard about it and want to see what ubuntu is.

2. Pop OS

I'm currently using pop os as my main distro. It has probably the cleanest desktop out of every distro. It is built on top of ubuntu but there are several key differences. By default it has a hidden dock like default gnome, it's latest release has built in windows manager for people who are into that. It comes with a only a few basic software. It's made by system 76 for their hardware but it runs like a charm on any device. Overall I'm loving it and I'd recommend it to you if you want a clean desktop. I'll write an article on how I customize my pop os for learning and developing python.

3. Linux Mint

If you're a windows user and want similar user experience on linux then Linux Mint is for you. It is built to attract windows users with a similar user interface and props driver installation and media codes on boot. I've not used it for long but with the short time I spent on it I'd say it was really good and polished.

4. Elementary OS

If you're switching from mac and want a similar user interface by default then I'd recommend you Elementary OS. It's clean, it's simple and it's beautiful. It does a few things different from other distros, like having a 'Pay what you want' model. For apps in it's app center you can pay whatever you like to the developer to get that application, of-course you can choose to pay nothing. It also has something called Curated app, i.e, apps developed specifically for elementary os keeping it's theme in mind. Do give it a shot if you want something clean.

Bonus

If you want something with arch then give manjaro a try. I've personally never used manjaro but I've heard some good things about it.

Open source tools for game development.

Bhawesh Kumar — Sat, 07 Nov 2020 18:03:36 +0000

There are open-source tools for almost everything out there. Game development is not different. There are tools like unity engine and unreal engine which you can use for free but you'll need to pay them one day or other. Here is a list of top game development tools that are open-source and 100% free to use. However you can choose to donate if you want to.

Game engine- Godot

The obvious choice in past few years is Godot game engine. It's a completely open-source game engine with both 2D as well as 3D game support. It uses it's own Python like scripting language called Gd-script but it does have support for C#. It is available on all three major OS'es, windows, Linux, and mac-OS. It's almost as good as unity or unreal engines is not better. It's in constant development, and has a very user friendly interface.

Click here to check out their website.

3D Modeling, Animation,Texture Painting, Rendering, etc.- Blender

Well if you are here there's a very high chance that you've heard about Blender. It's one of the best software for 3D modeling and other things you need for developing a 3D game. It uses Python as it's scripting language if needed. And it is 100% open-source. I don't need to explain much about it as it's one of the more popular softwares.

Check out blender here.

2D assets- Krita

Need an open-source alternative to photoshop to create concept art, sprites, other hand drawn assets? The open-source community knows that krita is the one of the best ones.

Check out krita here.

Sound editing and production- Audacity & LMMS

Audacity

Most audio related work can be done with Audacity. Multi-track editing nd recording with with an impressive collection of impressive tools and effects, with a support for plugins.

Check out Audacity here.

LMMS

If you need a software for music production for your game, LMMS is a good option. It is created as an open-source alternative to FL Studio and is in active development. It comes with a lot of instruments, samples, and effects included in the package.

Check out LMMS here.

Code editing- Visual Studio Code

Though Godot has a built-in coe editor which is pretty competent in itself but if you still want to use something then you probably know what you should use. And if you don't check out Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. Let's be honest here, you most probably already know what VS Code is.

Check it out here.

Bonus: The OS itself

Why not go open source all the way? Ever tried linux? Give it a shot, it's not all text-based and confusing, it can look the way you want it to. Heck, make your own linux distro for the world to use.

Begin with Linux #1

Bhawesh Kumar — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 13:33:42 +0000

I know many people who are still confused if they should switch to Linux or at least give it a go. In this article series I'll taking you through the steps I followed and my experience while switching to Linux and how I learn and do python projects solely on Linux.
Just in case, I'm not saying you should switch to Linux, if you're curious or want to try something new just give it a try, fun fact it's free!

Let's get started with installing Linux on your device.

This series will be focusing on Ubuntu since that's what I'm using now and writing this article on.

First you'll need an USB stick, I recommend minimum of 8gbs. Now let's download everything that you'll be needing.
- You can download the iso from here.
- Now you'll need something to make a bootable usb stick, and for that we'll be using balena etcher. You can get it from here.

Note- if you follow the videos mentioned below, follow the steps they show on what to and how to download.

I'll be leaving here the video tutorials which I followed here since I'm no expert in partitioning and things.
- If you want just ubuntu on your device check out this video.
- If you want to install it along side windows refer to this video.

Install the drivers and software packages.

If you're using a device with an nvidia gpu check out this video.
If you're using a device with built in gpu or an amd gpu, you should be fine.
Now let's run the command to update your system and installed softwares first

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade

Now you're almost good to go and download any software you wish to, you don't need to use the terminal to install software if you don't want to. However, there's several ways to intall software on linux:-
Use snap packages, you can use snap packages, ubuntu comes prebuilt with snap support since snap is developed by canonical, the same company which developes ubuntu. You can open the software centre and most software there will be snaps by default.
Use aptitude, you can use apt to install software directly from ubuntu's repositories. For eg,

$ sudo apt install vlc

Use deb packages, like windows' exe and msi packages you can download software's deb file which works very much like exe or msi packages, just click on it and it'll install the software. One benefit is that the deb file will add it's repository on your device so you can update it directly from you terminal or software center.
flatpak, flatpak is very much like snap but flatpaks generally have faster load times compared to snaps. Check out this video to see how you can install flatpak on ubuntu.

Forums and help

Ubuntu is one of the biggest and most used distro out there, if you have an issue the chances are it's already solved by someone else just give it a google search.

In next article, I'll be writing how I setup my device while I'm mastering python.

Switch to linux while learning programming?

Bhawesh Kumar — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 04:40:01 +0000

For a new user?

I've used windows for most of my life like most people. Last year when I got a new laptop and started learing python I heard about linux on the internet. I always knew about linux but like most people I had a mindset that linux is for tech nerds and hackers and all those cool internet people. When I googled,"Linux for beginners", I was amazed by just how beginner friendly it is!

What are distros?

I'm no linux expert but I've used a few different distros in the past year. Most of them were based on ubuntu. In simple terms linux distros are like different android skins provided by different manufacturers like oxygen os by oneplus and color os by oppo, their looks and features might vary but under the skin all of them are same android. This is mostly same with linux distros, they may have different look, feel, user experience, workflow and package managers but under the skin all off them are for the most part same.

Opensource?

What are opensource software? This was the most concerning thing for me when I first switched to linux. And boy i was wrong, opensource softwares can be as good as softwares developed by big companies. They are made and polished by the users for the users. You found a software you like? Want to contribute to it's development by adding some new features? Well stop thinking and just do it, that's the beauty of opensouce software. I also worried if opensource softwares are safe or not and I'm not completely sure how to explain but they are as safe as proprietary softwares. Just to be clear, they are not perfect. If you're into video editing, digital art, image editing and things, you will not get adobe suite but there are some goodd alternatives for some use cases.

For coding?

It's absolutely perfect for all your programming needs. It's just as good as other OSes if not better.

Conclusion

If you are eager to try linux but you're also afraid to dive into a completely new eco system, just take the roll and try it yourself.

Some good distros I used as a beginner and also using right now are:

Elementary os
Pop!_Os
Zorin os
Kubuntu
Linux Mint
Ubuntu (currently using)