Hi there!
Seeing the enshittification of Windows unfold, I’m curious about trying out Linux.
I don’t want to move over my main machine just yet, but I’ve got a 9 yo HP Pavilion 15-e001ed spare laptop I want to experiment with. Eventually I want a gaming laptop that can run steam games.
When I googled I found a plethora of pieces of advice, but seeing the proselytizing for Linux here, maybe I could get a bit more personal advice as a potential conscript.
So what advice would you give me to start my journey into Linux?
UPDATE: Ok my cherry is popped, writing this from a fresh Mint install. It’s suprisingly smooth sailing. Only thing is somehow software gets installed on my root partition instead of the home partition I made because people told me so.
But overall not nearly as dounting as I thought it would be. Thanks for the help everybody!
Part of the challenge in starting with Linux is documentation and support. When things go well, it works beautifully. But what happens when you hit a snag? Where do you turn for help? Search engines will only get you so far. You will need to find other users that had the same issue, and how they resolved it.
You’ll probably end up in forums, both official and unofficial. Check the common ones for your preferred distros, and see which ones feel inviting and helpful. The less common distros probably don’t have the support you’ll need. Certain distros have condescending forums, and may only be helpful with much more technical concerns.