Finally making the move to Linux, and I have questions before I get started.
Hi everyone, I'm planning on moving from w11 to kubuntu (lts release - 24.04). I'm a gamer at heart, a game designer by education, and wanting to get away from Windows. I could really use some top tips, best practices, and things to look out for. I have run Linux on a Chromebook, but never as my primary PC.
I'm preparing by copying tax info, critical documents, game prototypes, and D&D documents to a USB.
Then run Linus from a different USB on restart?
Thank you for your help, and any references to specific how-to's 😅.
Snot Flickerman
in reply to Zugyuk • • •The most important thing: Tell us, the community, what your critical application needs are, and get suggestions for applications to use. So many people jump through fifty hoops because they Google search first and the first thing they try turns out to be deprecated, the second thing they try doesn't work on their system, the third thing they try has everything they need minus the most important part, the fourth thing they try turns out to be proprietary and half-broken, and so on.
You will not find good solutions just by searching around, you honestly, truly, need fucking nerds in this community who live this shit daily to help you know what the genuine best available solutions are. Otherwise you will spend weeks pounding your head against the keyboard using the wrong solutions, not because of anything you did wrong but because there are often so many different implementations of the same thing that it's nearly impossible to know which ones are the ones you need for your use case without directly asking some people.
Once you've been using it a few years, you'll be familiar enough with working solutions to keep track of this kind of thing yourself, but trust me, it takes a while.
Zugyuk
in reply to Snot Flickerman • • •Thank you for the recommendation, let's see...
My critical apps are (and Linux solution?)
- obsidian - files are organized to be referenced cross platform
- steam - works
- talespire - requires proton (need to investigate how this works)
- discord - works using browser (will need to test for video chat), might move to revolt if things in discord get worse.
Snot Flickerman
in reply to Zugyuk • • •Talespire you shouldn't have any issues with as long as you run it through Steam.
The main thing is that proton is enabled in Linux in Steam out of the box but only for some games. You will need to open your Steam settings and choose the Compatibility tab and choose to enable proton for all games ("Enable Steam Play for all other titles"). That should make it so that any game launched via Steam will run through the proton compatibility layer.
For non-Steam games check out Lutris.
As for Obsidian (not familiar, basing this on quick search), if its the "personal Wikipedia" note taking app they have multiple native Linux versions including a deb and a flatpak.
Discord, as I said elsewhere, use the website or the flatpak.
CoyoteFacts
in reply to Zugyuk • • •Check compatibility for all your programs before you move. Most Linux programs work on Windows but not vice versa. If you're not in a rush, try switching to programs that have a Linux equivalent before you move so that you'll have less of a culture shock. If you need any killer apps that don't have a Linux equivalent you're going to have to make your peace with that ahead of time, otherwise you're just going to end up switching back.
KDE is a good choice, and Kubuntu should serve you fine; if you end up going with Kubuntu, I would recommend sticking with it for at least half a year or so before considering switching to something else, as that will give you time to really understand what you like and don't like about how Kubuntu and KDE work.
Zugyuk
in reply to CoyoteFacts • • •Sounds reasonable to me! Thank you!
My biggest use apps are steam, obsidian, gamemaker, ue, and discord.
paequ2
in reply to Zugyuk • • •Install Discord on Linux | Flathub
Flathubenemenemu
in reply to Zugyuk • • •I guess the best distro for gamers is github.com/ublue-os/bazzite
I'm no gamer but if I were, I'd go with that. Thus could be helpful as well fedoraproject.org/atomic-deskt…
GitHub - ublue-os/bazzite: Bazzite makes gaming and everyday use smoother and simpler across desktop PCs, handhelds, tablets, and home theater PCs.
GitHubJames R Kirk
in reply to Zugyuk • • •Just to be safe you may want to copy important files to a cloud storage AND usb drive before formatting the drive.
Also don't overthink this and there is nothing wrong with Kubuntu, but Kinoite is going to be very similar and a little more resistant to n00b tinkering mistakes.
spv.sh
in reply to James R Kirk • • •if i suggested encrypting said files before uploading them to cloud storage, would that be good advice or ramblings-of-the-homeless-man-on-the-corner-warning-of-the-black-helicopters
edit: at least maybe the tax data
OldFartPhil
in reply to Zugyuk • • •Take notes on cool software you've discovered, take notes on your settings and configurations, take notes on any issues and bugs you've had to fix, take notes on how to use unfamiliar programs, take notes on Linux terminology. You have a huge personal knowledge base from years of using Windows. Linux is not hard to use, but it takes time to become second nature to you.
Jumuta
in reply to Zugyuk • • •