Linux is interesting to me, but I’ve never dipped my toes into it because it seems really intimidating (and a lot of loud people act pretty snobbish about it towards non-Linux users, making it seem even more intimidating to get into; I’d rather not be bullied for my choices in software or my ignorance in others).

It seems so complicated to me, and there’s so many types, and so much lingo that I’m not versed in, so that when I consider getting into it I just feel so overwhelmed I can’t even think.

My understanding of Linux is bare bones to say the least. I understand it’s highly customizable. I understand it’s a lot of manual work, though, at least… it sounds like it? From what I’ve seen people say, it seems like you need to remember a lot of codes and functions to do basic things unless you install interfaces for things? Again, I’m really ignorant about this stuff, so excuse my lack of proper terminolgy and such.

I also am under the impression that Linux isn’t the greatest for most games? Or at least, that’s what I heard a lot years ago, I don’t know if it’s still true (or if it was even true back then). If that’s still a thing, is it because Windows is just what everyone defaults to when designing software? How viable is gaming on Linux?

And how does one even… go about setting up Linux? How do you choose what er… version? Type? Ah, distro? Again this… terminology is foreign to me, I’m not fully sure what I’m saying. Would I have to whipe a laptop of Windows to install Linux on it? How would I do that?

I am fascinated by the concept of Linux but like I said, there’s just so much. I have ADHD and Autism and combined, the whole idea of jumping into this is so goddamn overwhelming to consider figuring it out all by myself.

Sorry if this is out of place, by the way.

ETA: Thanks for all the help so far everyone. I’m gonna start playing with various distros using an older laptop of mine. I bought it real cheap and used a few years ago and it has mainly just been used as my own personal tv that only plays Whose Line Is It Anyways? with Drew Carry every moment of every day, virtually nonstop… and the poor thing can do that on Linux just fine, too.

  • I_like_cats@lemmy.one
    5·
    1 year ago

    Let me tell you a small story about how I learned Linux:

    Two years ago I was annoyed by Windows and not being able to customize it.

    (What annyoed me in particular was that you had to go to the settings to manage bluetooth devices instead of being able to just connect paired devices from the icon tray)

    I had already heard of Linux in the past and had already tried it but never fully switched over.

    So I decided to install Ubuntu, everything worked well for a few days until I tried to do something it wasn’t designed for and it broke.

    (Ubuntu really isn’t designed for users that want to change their system in any way)

    After that I decided fuck it. I’ll try Arch Linux. I was pretty tech-savy so I ignored all the warnings about it only being for advanced users. I installed it and it broke. I reinstalled and it didn’t work again. But after a few times I had a running system and I felt very accomplished.

    Now I’m not suggesting you go the way I went. I had the privilege on not really needing my Computer and only using it for recreational means. That’s why I could leave it broken for a few days and not care that much.

    If you want to learn Linux. Take the plunge, install Linux Mint, and learn as you go. You’re probably going to fuck up sometimes. But google Startpage is always your friend. And if you don’t get further, the community will always help you.