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How To: Switch to Linux

Loralighte on June 17, 2020

Linux is a family of operating systems usually seen as "enthusiast" technology. The basics of Linux are simple, and anyone in the current year can ...
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Uchena Miller

In terms of lightweight, would KDE be slightly be faster than Gnome? because Ive been using the default Gnome Environment installed with Ubuntu and I have been having performance issues when running software simultaneously like VScode with Firefox especially when connected to a wireless network and using the terminal.

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Loralighte

KDE is currently about one and a half times slower than XFCE, which is one of the lightest weight desktop environments. I cannot think of any desktop environments slower than Gnome.

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Loralighte

I would say KDE is easily at least a little faster than Gnome

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Uchena Miller

so what do you recommend Kai?

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Loralighte

Really depends what you need, but Cinnamon, Lumina, and MATE are all good

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Uchena Miller

okay thanks, Imma do some reading up and them out. Whichever I'm comfortable working with.
Thanks again.

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Admin Istrator

I would advise pointing out that Free Software does not refer to price in Linux. It can be quite confusing for the end user who thinks that it is fraud to mark a program as 'free' and charge for it under Linux jargon.

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Enmanuel de la Nuez

Love it! Linux for the win!

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Jan Ehrhardt

I agree on the Ubuntu focus, but have recently changed my mind. I recommend ZorinOS, because it is Ubuntu but with Windows or macOS like UX. This lowers the usability barrier to enter Linux, while still being Ubuntu 😉

But don't get me wrong, this is not about distro wars.

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CallMeRenny

When talking about DEs, KDE is my main priority .... I have a "potato" .... Now everyone thinks KDE is heavy,
but I found it pretty smooth ..... Instad the astonishing fact is feel that XFCE is heavy or more clearly painfully slow ... I have customised KDE to look and work like Gnome and i rarely experience lag .... I hope this helps someone

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birdmun

Personally, you missed the ls 'el s' command and I would lean towards Linux Mint or Manjaro to start. My preference is Arch, but, I've been using Linux for about 15 years now.

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Loralighte

I purposely left out both, for a plethora of reasons.

Manjaro, while relatively easy to Arch, is something that can get difficult to maintain long-term, especially for a new Linux user. I didn't include Mint, not even because I think they are idiotic to remove Snapd but for the ease of removing higher levels of choice and thought, Manjaro is also kicked out of the list for that reason.

The specific reasons I picked Ubuntu are quite simple:

  1. Ubuntu is developed by a large corporation
  2. Ubuntu is already fairly well known by non-Linux users
  3. Ubuntu has the largest userbase
  4. Ubuntu won't require any workarounds for anything supported by Debian
  5. Ubuntu has a massive user-base, that can help ANY issue without having to worry about compatibility with a derivative (like PPAs in elementaryOS (last I checked), and Snapd in Linux Mint) or a separate distribution (like Fedora and Manjaro).

In short, Ubuntu is the better choice to pick for a tutorial like this.