They are not wrong to do that. It's safer and more reliable to use a distro that is already designed and has the packages for the DE you want. Trying to install DDE on Pop OS or XFCE on Elementary can make your system buggy and unstable.
@@fubaralakbar6800 Sometimes its easier to just reinstall another distro that has the de you want then going through the commands and stuff to get the one you want I have had the display manager bugger up and had to go reinstall it anyway so when i was doing testing i put deepin on but kept plasma 's default manager on otherwise switching caused booting problems so i ended up keeping deepin as the secondary with plasma on there so i could atleast take a look at de to see if it fit my needs. long story short though would have been easier to just install the damn thing pre done on the distro but atleast i got to look at it and learn what not to do and keeping plasma on there with its default manager kept it from crashing haha. still learning but its a lot more enjoyable than being stuck on windows.
Installing different desktop environments isn't as simple as people make it out to be. Sometimes things just don't work, like keyboard binds and the mouse settings utility. This has happened many times when I tried to install ubuntu gnome on a xubuntu system, or kubuntu system. Idk why there were bugs, but it wasn't worth my time.
I've had issues putting KDE with LDM on Pop!_OS, came to the conclusion that because of their theming in GDM, and it being the default, would love to be able to remove GDM, and the theming for LDM and KDE. Unfortunately because I haven't figured it out, and Google and Facebook haven't been useful. I know Chris has done a video on this before followed those steps and it didn't work either.
Installing DE on Ubuntu would indeed cause some minor issues. It is because the distro has some unwanted customizations which, in my experience, do more harm than good. This is why I use Arch.
Let me use a car analogy: Level 1 : Able to drive a car without knowing how an engine works Level 2 : Know how to drive a car really well and understanding some aspect of the engine and mechanics Level 3 : Know your car inside out, swapping engine and parts to your exact preference Level 4 : Designing a car or something that can take you places, from scratch
Car analogy doesn't work anymore really well. The amount of people that could swap engine is close to zero, and the amount of people that can break and assembly an engine is even less. You need lots of really expensive equipment in many case. Becoming someone in the bottom of level 3 in Linux doesn't take huge efforts. If you like to learn and have separated your production PC with hobby/learning PC, then it's just a matter of time. It's achievable by anyone who like to learn and tinker (for a lack of a better word). But getting into level 3 with modern cars is about impossible for individuals. I just commented this because I think one important misconception for huge amount of people is that becoming Linux expert is really hard. Becoming someone at the top of level 3 is another thing entirely though. But becoming someone that can safely say he is Linux expert is not. It just takes time an motivation. When you are on the level of being able to fix things to your liking through source code, or really knowing how the kernel works etc. now that's a different thing entirely, but still exist at the same level 3.
I am using Linux for over 10 years but you have me convinced so hard now, to travel back in time and convince myself to start using Linux 20 years ago 😅
@@1pcfred I hear you man. I've been using Linux since 96, and HP-UX a couple years before that. Have worked on kernel modules, built several linux-based operating systems from bare metal on a PCs and arm tablets, and administered fleets of hundreds of production systems, etc... I'd say i'm a solid 3. -There are always more massively vast areas of knowledge in anything as complex as "Linux" than you ever know. (And what you know has an expiration date)
Yeah, just ignore the previous gun fire you have with the "distro is the king" users. But this video, Holy. This is what really that needed to be in Linux community. Looking forward to your futures video on pushing all of the second tier to third tier, because once the crowd from tier two goes up to tier 3, there will be a really huge pump of linux adoption happening. All the best!
This video is so accurate. I'm definitely a tier 2, although I've found gnome to be very nice for me, but I don't know how to fix most issues without looking it up
@@EddoWagt without a touch screen I see no reason to use Gnome, I feel it would make a great OS for a setup of something with limited options like in public with icons for stuff but the non ability without a keyboard mouse to easily do stuff to change the computer but just a specified purpose like looking up an item or running a machine device like android does is what I believe is Gnomes strong suit now but unlike android has ability to have a lot of windows open. I myself love the lightness and intuitiveness of XFCE like Cinnamon but better for users with a little more linux experience.
The context not mentioned was that his primary complaint was that Debian made it quite difficult for him to use his own kernel, and that would hinder his work as a maintainer.
@@ishanagarwal475 I was shocked the genius that designed the linux kernel had trouble installing something or doing anything with a computer blew my mind, he was a tech god in my mind until I read that.
@@SCTproductionsJ5 meh - we were all NAH-VISes "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....," but not the point - it's the empirical pronunciation that is the upshot of this thread - LOL besides I gotta plenty voice bro!
The good thing about Linux is, once you have everything setup, you can actually forget about it and FULLY FOCUS ON PRODUCTIVITY. You don't realize it until you switch, but when using Windows, it is always on your mind. There is always something happening with Windows! They've basically "implanted" an idea that it is not secure by itself and you constantly need to keep it "up to date" and with good virus protection in order to stay "safe." And this was even before Windows 10. There was always this sense of "instability" when using Windows; then on top of it came increasing intrusion into your computer and its use starting with Windows 8. There was always a certain amount of "stress" connected to just using Windows, and I didn't realize it until I switched to Linux. I feel like I have been able to do a LOT more on Linux in a shorter amount of time - it's basically a major PRODUCTIVITY BOOST switching to Linux. Even playing video games feels so much more "direct" and "immersive" since there is no OS bloatware that is constantly trying to do something, interfering with YOUR INTENDED USE of the computer. Linux provides a STABLE PLATFORM to allow you and the applications that you use to fully utilize your computer resources. Plus, it motivates you to use the command line and various COMMAND LINE PROGRAMS. This is something that is not at all evident when looking into Linux from the "Windows experience" - the use of the COMMAND LINE to BOOST PRODUCTIVITY - like command line programs from manipulating image, video or sounds files where you can easily automate things, write batch scripts and then assign those to keyboard shortcuts if needed. Over time you work out all these ways to do things much faster and more efficient and without the use of GUI applications that can sometimes limit you in certain ways that you didn't even realize until you start using command line programs. And the good thing about Linux is a lot of times you have the OPTION to use your regular GUI apps or alternative command line tools. And yeah some of these are also available on Windows like ffmpeg, but Windows somehow deters you from using the command line and that's the "attitude" they have set from the very beginning - avoid the command line and only use your computer through GUI apps. Linux doesn't have such restriction and gives you the freedom to use your computer how you want to use it to MAXIMIZE YOUR PRODUCTION - of course big thanks to the developers and the community that produce the various programs and the education about them.
I skipped the first stage and it's a good start. I did a lot of research before using linux bc i was afraid I will make a bad decision . Joining the linux community is one of the best things I've done. Linux has so much potential. Maybe one day beating windows. I will go all in linux when I receive my new laptop.
It is another way of saying "A man is not truly wise till he realizes how much he truly does not know" is how I first heard it said and that is a saying that smarted my know it all ass up. As in no more saying, it's not my fault, since it likely was my fault for not knowing and doing it anyways, and that covers a huge amount of areas in life.
I am pretty comfortable with out of the box Cinnamon and KDE. If you customize too much, you introduce unwanted side effects and may be unable to understand what causes them. My really uncomfortable things in Linux are : apps I really want to run don't like Wine, games I really want to play have performance problems, and surround sound for headphones is in rudimentary state on Linux.
Hey man.. just wanted to say thanks. Ive been using linux variantes as my main computer for about 10 years. You are doing great work for the community. Well done good sir.
It's only a week & I'm already more comfortable than I ever was on Windows! There's still a learning curve, but I'm already comfy, wish I'd started a long time ago.
@@ChrisTitusTech I brought an Acer Aspire One back to life with it, then I tried using Manjaro on it and then I went into dependency hell. LightDM died, so I'm going to reinstall it and try again.
Lubuntu is like Windows XP but without vulnerabilities. XD Y like that distro so much that I have my old laptop gentoo instalation matching all packages of Lubuntu.
Next step, build Gentoo Linux and optimize directly to your hardware. Remove all from kernel that you don't need and have certain configurations that make the kernel use less % of the performance, especially with slow single core CPU). Remove all dependencies that you are not using by USE flags (remove all Gnome, KDE etc. compatibility from software, like other things you know you don't need). Then install/compile LXQt desktop and the software you need. That's how I managed to get 14yr old Celeron 1.8ghz single core laptop (one of the slowest at it's time because it was heavily focused on battery life) with 2gb to run like a dream. That laptop has amazing display for it's age, and 2gb of RAM which is a lot for the time. I had a challenge as I wanted to make a laptop to my mother that could be used for online videos, and other browsing activities, but the computer just didn't have enough performance. But it was really close, so I knew that there was a possibility to make that laptop work. And if video works 30fps without stuttering, it doesn't matter if it uses 100% or 3% of your performance, for someone that doesn't multitask. Long story short, it worked. Compiling things with -s (thus making minimal sized binaries) gave the best results as Celeron has such tiny caches. Achieving this goal was awesome. Though compiling was done by other computer over the network.
I was just having these thoughts the other day, as I was realizing I'm starting to know what I don't know. It might sound dramatic but I'm at the point where the power of the terminal is just starting to reveal itself to me.. lol. Living inside the terminal mostly these days, and I can really see why people say distro doesn't matter.. through the command line, they are really all the same.
For a while, yes, they seem all the same from the terminal. Then, as you dig further, you start to find where they truly differ. The arguments over those differences, the ones that only matter at the console, are the ones that are actually worth arguing.
Chris, This is the kind of transition video Windows and Mac users need to see.... This is what I am talking about... A road map to navigate Linux into the future.
I am not sure how much you know Linux, ... Unlike Windows, Linux just works, and if money is no object and you want to live in the Apple sphere and double and triple pay for everything, ...Then all power to you. Linux is by far a much more superior, robust, and more stable operating system than windows will ever be, and FYI you do not have to tinker with Linux as you said, an 8 year old or a Grandmother could use Linux without ever having to use the command line or ever need assistance from anyone, Contrary to popular belief Linux is the most used O/S there is, just think about all the Android Tablets and Phones, Web and Cloud servers, and Chrome book, they all run on Linux, some Linux computers have not been rebooted in 3 years, just think about that...
Still learning Linux, but know that at least for my home-built machine I won't be putting Windows on it ever. I might get a windows or Mac laptop, but only if my job requires it.
Chris...nice presentation and I love your work. I've been a Certified RHCE and RHCA for over 20 yrs and I'm semi retired now and I loving it that more people globally are migrating to Linux as their daily OS. I use Ubuntu, OpenSUSE and Redhat based Linux on several machines at home and after so many years of enterprise experience, I still don't consider myself as a Master of this monolithic OS. Keep up the good work Chris.!!!
Part of the learning curve for Linux is learning what you actually do in windows to use your computer so you can then find the alternatives and what you like and don't like or don't like. I agree about desktop hopping more than distro hopping. I have come to the conclusion that's what I had been doing. And now that I have found what I like I use it for more and more tasks to see what I need to modify. For example one thing I need to change on peppermint is the monitor setting app it doesn't behave how I need it for AV work. So now I'm off to check out your monitor video that I didn't know you had. Thanks for the help.
I fell in love with linux, I don't know too much but it really opened my eyes, got into a lot of alternative tools like krita for drawing and LaTeX for dokuments. Those just work better on Linux
Tip for that annoying static : Don’t put your phone, or router near the mic, since it can interfere with the signal and make it sound like that static.
I’m a relatively competent Linux user who had plateaued and didn’t think I was going to get much more towards the ‘expert’ level. I’d hopped, I could fix boot issues, swap desktop environments, do some terminal stuff etc. Just a few weeks ago I discovered Arcolinux and discovered (obviously a new distro!!!) which is also an academy where they teach you to get out of your comfort zone and eventually make your own Linux iso! It is heavily RU-vid based, which I think is better than reading some dry webpage about something you want to know or fix (and often don’t quite get there and fail). You get to see a real expert actually doing it and sometimes see things not work and his workaround. It’s free, FAST, rewarding and just the right amount of geek for me. Try it guys. Do something with the lockdown.
I think of Arco as the KDE Plasma of distros. Each DE comes with so much for you to tinker and configure. I like to dabble with it in a VM to try things out from time to time.
The first thing I did, when I try out Linux the very first time. I never brought my Windows knowledge towards Linux. As I known Linux isn't Windows. So my first advise, never treat Linux as Windows. If you do, your just restricted yourself and might get stuck easier and just give up and move back to Windows. I spent my first two hours with Linux inside a GUI Package Manager call Synaptic Package Manager. This got me familiar with the names of the packages and what they really do. Took me no time to learn how to install packages in Linux. 5 days I was completely comfortable using Linux. My second step after learning package names and install these packages. I just learn the File System(hierarchy standard). Just learning just these two basic things, your moving forward to really knowing Linux. 5 days I was even using all my peripheral devices as well. So Linux is really easy if you approach with confidence like I did. 17 years later, I'm still using Linux. My primary Linux distro is MX.
@Donald Mickunas Thanks. I actually got flared up with Windows. My third virus with Windows XP and it was only July. I actually said out loud, there have to be a better OS then this Windows. I had a Linux CD that I burn just two days before. So before I grab my Windows XP disk again to reinstall. I said to myself, what the heck; Lets try this Linux out. Since Windows XP had that virus and I was going to reinstall anyway. I install that Linux over the whole hard drive. Meaning no Windows exist, after this Linux installment. You already know the rest. I just force myself to learn Linux as fast as I could. As I wasn't planning to go back to Windows anytime soon. After I learn the Linux way, in those first 5 days with Linux. I never look back and never touch Windows every again. And that was 17 years ago. So I had a goal and accomplish it and I'm sure glad I discover Linux. To me Linux is better then Windows. Well it has to be, if I stuck with it for the pass 17 years. And another thing, in those 17 years with Linux I never got a virus, slow-down or even a hiccup. So Linux is better, at least in my book.
Revisiting this video. You and the rest of the RU-vid Linux community have managed to push me into a desktop environment hopper. I still do distro hopping on other devices but I've settled on my thing on Ubuntu with KDE on my XPS, which is my daily driver. Got a DE that's designed to work for me. Thanks.
The main thing holding me back from really learning the Linux ecosystem, is the way how many processes are often explained. Whenever you look up how to do something, you often see "type this command in the terminal". What is lacking in my opinion is an explanation of what exactly that command does. Simply saying "type this command with these parameters" doesn't make me learn what I have actually done. The next time I want to do something similar but just a little different, I again have to search the internet for the correct command, because I lack the basic knowledge on how to alter the previously used command to do what I want to do now, and unless someone explains to me what each part does, I won't be able to make it my own. This leaves me tight to the more "documented" areas of the system, where someone else has asked the exact same questions before me, so I can copy and paste the command. It becomes very hard to rise above this level if you never actually learn the basics, but keep copy pasting. I also ran into this issue when I tried to get into python. The basics (such as if commands, while loops etc.) are understandable, but when you get into things like tkinter, I find that I lack the basics of understanding how the syntax is composed. I have code which can create a canvas, yes, but that is copied from the internet. If I now want a canvas with a different background, I will look up a command for changing the background colour, but I can't put it into the commands which create the canvas because I simply don't understand what each part does. If someone then has a different name/variable which they call the canvas with, the command will not work, and it will most likely take me quite some time to figure out something basic like that. Using the "help" command isn't much use either. Doing so will give so much information, that it is hard to find the part you are actually looking for. Also, much of the information given are related to other systems I have never even heard of, which only leaves me more confused than before I called the "help" command. I understand you can't always exactly explain the entire basic syntax of the terminal every time someone asks a question, but especially for the simpler questions, which are most often asked by people who are relatively new to the platform, it might be usefull to go over all parameters in the command and explain what they do, so the other person can use it later on if he/she has a need that is similar, but not exactly the same, as the one originally posed in the question.
So basically; 1- distro hopper 2- de hopper and customizer 3- wm hoppers and confugurers 4- builders from scratch If that's the case i think i'm in between 2 and 3 or maybe bottom of the 3 is more like it.
it's often easier to just install another distro on a spare partition/usb stick, and only switch your production partition when you are ready because removing one de and installing another often creates a huge mess, most people don't know how/want to fix
I've reached a level where I'm just using one distro and I have removed the things that I didn't want from it and added whatever I need to it to make it work best for me. Also, I can fix most of the issues I'd run into with some research. I'm going to stop right there because I'm not really interested in getting deeper into linux. I just like it more than other platforms and want to get things done. I don't know where that puts me, but that is where I am.
Me too this is a Fedora 31 Cinnamon I am using where I host my website as well windows12shop.com where you can freely download windows 12 Lite and eBooks
For me, being a new joiner to the linux community (Mint Xfce 19.3), i am already more than happy with what i have and what i like most about Mint Xfce is that it holds your hand until you get used to using the terminal, in such a way that you can ween yourself off of it over time. I am still working on a LOT of things that i wish i knew how to do in the terminal, but I'll get there because the biggest reason i switched to linux was because of the terminal.
I like the idea and direction. Noobs and those on the first level of the Linux journey have no idea what Linux is, what it entails or what you can do with it. They have no way of separating Linux or the distro they are on from the actual desktop they are initially using. Keep up the good work.
Chris, the main point why people don't move to Linux are not Desktop issues or lack of functionality, but the lack of a really good Rapid design (RAD) development system, which allows to create and distribute quickly apps from crap to top notch software. It's the developers who promote a system to their customers.
The problem is that not everyone wants or can build what they want/need in Linux. I did my share of distro-hopping for the last two-three years, but I found "my" distro now - it's Deepin. Not all here I like but it suits me in like 95% of cases and I learned all its quirks and minor bugs (at least I hope I did). Cheers!
I started with Linux Mint, hopped from Cinnamon to KDE, XFCE, then I tried Debian (Gnome), then Slackware (KDE), then Fedora (Gnome, then KDE) to Antergos (Cinnamon). I also tried out some distros on VM like Ubuntu, Arch and others. After quitting Antergos (because my computer became too old for it) I went back to Linux Mint Cinnamon. I don't want to hop anymore. And everytime I install a newer Mint version I have to reconfigure themes and stuff. So I would call myself a 3-user but not that professional like most others. About many difficult things I write little manuals just for myself. It's very helpful and I do recommend it to all of you: If you find something difficult and how to resolve it, write it down! You may need it in the future and you'll be happy "not to go again" through the whole learning process.
Sometimes, I think it's just a matter of "laziness". I tried Ubuntu for the first time in 2009 to see if it was possible to stop using Windows and, for three years, I updated Ubuntu after each version, I was never satisfied and trusting Windows to play and do my things in photoshop, illustrator and premiere and circa 2011 returned to use only Windows. In 2016 I was caught in a bad situation, my pc broke and for lack of money I had to assemble a machine with used parts that I had at home and others that friends had relinquished, it was a celeron with 1gb of DDR2 ram. Because of those specs even Windows xp and older Ubuntus was a pain to use, so for necessity I learned to install and use Arch, after literally one whole week I finally managed to make the system stable and that was the beginning of a love story with GNU/Linux. Today I use Ubuntu Studio for my things (GIMP, Kdenlive and Ardour) and even play some games. I'm not a master, far from that, almost every week I need to go back on snapshots because I broke the system tinkering something, but I'm stubborn and when in need we, as humans, always find a way to solve our problems.
I understand that there are some people who like to customize their stuff, but i find that pretty boring and unnecessary. I'm new to linux world and i would really appreciate if someone experienced could give me some keywords i can google and find out some cool functional stuff i can do on my linux machine.
Along with the car analogy, I like making martial arts analogies too. A master of a style knows his style inside and out; a level 4 Linux user knows the distro on his computer inside and out. Imo, you don't have to know every single flavor and option when it comes to Linux to be a master. However, a true master looks beyond to see if anything works better than his current style/setup. It's another breadth vs. depth situation; a master has depth, a dabbler (distro hopper) has breadth. It's important to try and balance the 2 in whatever you do.
I remember i watched this channel when there were only 500 views per video and he was new on RU-vid. For some odd reasons ,maybe cause of RU-vid recommendation algo or whatever i haven't seen him for like half an year. Now look at him and his channel, doing so well. Keep it up chris :)
For a while I dual-booted Linux and Windows, and I still used Windows for some tasks. Eventually I removed my windows installation and I was forced to do things in Linux. I never went back. Once you got over the adjustments, things will only become better
I want that to happen to me too (dual booting) Im done with windows bullshit and want to go to linux. Still learning though and i have quite a way to go until i will be comfy with just a linux os.
@Kurt M. Yeah, I've thought about trying Awesome or something like that, but I can't really think of anything I'd use it for that I can't already do pretty really with KDE.
Honestly, you become more comfortable when you just stick with what you have. Instead of trying to make your system more like windows or mac, just use it as it came out of the box, like Ubuntu. After a few days of forcing myself to just use Ubuntu Gnome, I've come to like it a lot and I kinda prefer it over any system now. Although it was for sure not the first time I used linux. That was 8 years ago lol
According to your pyramid, I would consider myself a Level 3 user. Not because I make use of that knowledge or because I always have in mind what commands and settings it really takes to fix anything but rather because I have a relaxing time learning new things. It's just I don't want to anymore. My machines shall work and if Kubuntu, OPENSUSE or Debian do as expected, I am happy.
I only use arch because of AUR, tbh otherwise Alpine is also pretty cool... BTW, make sure to remind people, *desktop environments and window managers **are quite different things***, xfce or cinnamon or gnome are not window managers, they are a collection of programs combining to a desktop environment, including a window manager, along many other things, for example gnome's window manager is/was metacity (I think gnome3 might have a different one, now? not sure, haven't checked on gnome in years)
I have some old laptops I have meant to install Linux to learn. Only experience with Linux is on rented game servers some time ago. But that seems like a winter thing, full summer now, thank you Titus!
As to the DEs, I haven't needed to get much beyond novice, but I live in the terminal and WebMin for working on servers. I was compiling kernels 20+ years ago, to make transparent firewalls. I write code to pull data from remote shells and SNMP devices. I like being able to install a distro with the DE, and get back to work, so Ubuntu Mate, Linux Mint Mate or Cinnamon, and even Debian Mate ( did that install after watching your Debian install videos ) allow me to install a fresh OS, install a couple of packages I need, and get back to work. Maybe an hour from installing a fresh drive to working. As to the dual monitors, I used to have to edit config files back in Fedora ( pre-2006 ) and some of the earlier Ubuntu releases ( 6.06, 7.04, 7.10 )
I never got why people are SCARED of the command line... like, dude, you can look up a tutorial and look up practically exact commands to copy-paste...why are you scared... also weird when people are pasting something like "tar -xfv program_.tar.gz" literally, when the same page told them to substitute the version they downloaded like, 2 sentences before that... (for things outside the repos)
The idea of elevating average Linux users skill is fascinating. Please start the venture. Actually I am in base level for last 11 years but no complain as all my requirements were satisfied. Even if I want to elevate but couldn't give enough time. Hope your video series will help.
Nice explanation for the eager youngsters. As ex "main-frame/mini-computer" guy I know, what I don't know about Linux and I'm not interested in finding out things, that I don't need to know for my today's stuff. For me the distro/desktop does not matter very much. I adapt it to my taste. Dock on the left, Conky on the right and a panel on the top or bottom :) When it is too much effort, I simply skip it for another distro/desktop. After 12 years and some distro/desktop hopping, I limit myself to Ubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Xubuntu and FreeBSD. Interesting reserves are UbuntuDDE (almost there), Peppermint (used as my office distro for half a year) and Manjaro (looks good, but comes with the hurdle of other package manager(s)). I had to learn FreeBSD for zfs on a 32-bit PC, but fortunately it came with xfce, a dock, conky and xrdp :)
4 года назад
A typical user who has used Windows for years will take about 6 months of exclusive use of Linux you get to about the same level of comfort as on Windows. Dual booting will prolong that period considerably. Some tasks never get easier on Linux, simply because there is no good software for those tasks. A vast majority of tasks, however, get MUCH easier with Linux.
hard to stay on noob level when you gotta tinker and get certain things to work :D! tricky part is remembering what you did to something when you gotta do it all again when something else might break while learning!
From day one I have understood Linux more than I will ever understand windows. It's just so much more conducive to learning and it's so well organised that I just picked it up so much quicker.
I used Linux Ubuntu for years in the past(After a few hops) at work, then just turno into Windows 7 cause i needed to use that os for my work. Now I resintall linux on my laptop for work, keep w10 on my workstation, but this time i gave a chance to try pure Debian(just some cfg tweaks from default install) and really fall in love with its simplicity, ease to go from scratch and my new favorite desktop env Kde wich has grown for better since 2008.
my brother installed linux in our mother's laptop and she was able to use it quite fine. only issue is that if she has any issue she takes it to a computer repair shop and they simply install windows by formatting the disk drive irrespective of the issue which i think would be very simple in most cases. we stay far away to be able to help in real time.
Your first example would not be considered a novice, but a beginner. A novice is someone who has some idea of what they're doing but don't know quite enough to be considered mediocre to good. Your second "tier" would be a novice.
I consider myself as a tier 2 user. It took me from tier 1 when I hoop from Debian based distros to Arch. Finally I could move somewhere else not to just stuck into "why I need to install my apps in so many different ways". And when I overcame this, Arch let me understood the idea of Linux architecture and why it works how it works. Because of that I will always sugest Arch based distros like Manjaro for newcommers.
Linux - where you need merely to figure out how to make it do whatever you imagine. Windoze - where you can easily do what BG thought of, but can never make it do what you imagine (and if you do find a way, you'll get sued).
Even worse: Windoze: where you get to work exactly like ms wants you to, and if you find a better way, microsoft will silently overwrite your changes in the next background update...
I have settled on one distro and one desktop environment, but I still like to try out new ones in Virtualbox. I just like to see what developers come up with and what innovations there are. And maybe one of those distros might even get my new number one (although this hasn't happened yet)
I use all three systems. Windows 10 for work-very special proprietary engineering software and gaming macOS, iPadOSvideo creating, photo management sync services Arch i3gnome, playing with linux, watching TV, browsing, viewing pictures, playing games what linux can on steam
I'm at tier 2.5 (I think 🤔). I was a windows power user, but I switched to using Linux about 4-5 years ago. I switched back to windows recently (mainly to complete my cs coursework in college thanks MS corporate sponsorship 🙄). Now I realize I know more about how to get things done in linux than windows.
I recently dual booted MX and Mint current versions on my 5 year old laptop stock components and this thing is running better than ever! With TWO freakin os's on it. Windows 1909 was struggling mightily because of all the bloat and crap it has. So i needed a better alternative and Linux is it. Thanks to all the creators of this wonderful system.
THANK YOU FOR TAKING THIS DIRECTION! Idk how long it'll take to address my specific situation, but here it is (in short): How much configuration is it to make stock applications cooperate with KDE, specifically in the panel-bar and KDE settings? (In long): Basically, Manjaro i3 edition filled in a lot of blanks without keeping loyalties to any particular software suite, with the assumed intention of being lightweight and/or terminal focused. When I tried installing KDE base + additions, I've noticed a good few conflicts with xfce packages, and canceled the installation of additions. This is a minor headache with 2 specific problems every time I logon: power management, and connecting to new wifi, neither of which can be solved in KDE settings. For wifi, I logon to i3wm to use the "taskbar/panel" wifi icon-drop-down-menu to select the correct signal in that familiar way, logout, and log back in with KDE. For power management, I launch xfce4-power-manager-settings through pamac GUI or terminal to enable brightness control.
Using some Linux Mint or Manjaro feels much easier than Windows actually, and I've been using Linux for less than 4 years now. Even when you don't know how to use the terminal, copy/pasting a command from the net is much, much easier than finding that particular control panel hidden deep down in one of the 3 different settings menus in Windows. Same if you only use your laptop for web browsing. "sudo apt install firefox" and done. I can't get how people still say Windows or even Mac is user friendly.
A long time ago I would have been tier 3. Then I stopped using Linux for many years. Now I built a programming machine out of old parts and have been working hard on it. I'm probably a high 2 now again.
I know that I don't know, I'm being honest here. I have found I prefer KDE, but outside of the gaming related tasks I've needed to run (like Lutris, and parts of Proton) I don't really know too much about what I'm doing, or how to fix an issue that may crop up. However I have these five giant resources to help with that. Google, RU-vid, Facebook groups for Linux Users, RU-vid, and Discord. For that I'm thankful. Because if I do run into an issue I know where I can look for assistance.
i just wanted to thank you because o your help i hae finally cut the dual boot cord and run everything i use solely in a linux enviroment. you hae gien me the confidence to teach my children linux efore they go to school and learn windows from the classroom thank you again
That's awesome. I took the plunge in 2014 - using Linux at the office and at home. For the work stuff I really can't do without Windows (diagnosing and repairing specific hardware with very bad Linux driver support), there's always a virtual machine. Already have my parents using Firefox, Thunderbird and LibreOffice... that pretty much covers 95% of their needs, so now just to wean them off Windows completely.
From my perspective I'd say that the amount of level 4 masters of Linux out there are probably less than 1% of all Linux users, but they are out there. Most are likely working in the shadows of big tech companies where they're literally reinventing computing as we know it in their R&D labs. These are the people who can take Linux and strip everything out of the source code and rebuild it into a brand new platform on which a whole new ecosystem can now be run and then go home after a normal day at the office. As such knowing everything about KDE/Gnome/Gaming/Servers/etc. no longer matters since your literally reinventing the wheel. I've been running Linux systems at home and at work for about 20 years now and I'm still just a 3 and even within the 3rd level you can separate out experienced sysadmins and script kiddies with the programmers. To reach the top of the expert level, you're going to need to learn how to program and program well and even then you still may not be a 'master' even if your skills are far above the others on the 3rd level. You only get to be a master when you've built a new platform for the experts at level 3 to learn and build a working system on that can then be handed off to the power users at level and then eventually down to the novices at level 1. That is why masters so rare. All from my perspective anyway. Also I've stopped worrying about being a certain level of a Linux user a long time ago (back when I was still just a 2). It was counter productive to me. When I stopped worrying about cramming all the new stuff into my head, I actually progressed further at a faster rate than before. But that's just me. Everyone's different so find your own path to get comfortable with Linux. For some of you, you may just need to stop and look at what you're trying to do and then trace it back to where you ran it for the first time and reflect on what you've learned to get to that point. Maybe in that moment you'll realize you're more comfortable with Linux than you thought. Then try and do the same things on your old platform (Windows or MacOS) and then maybe you'll realize you've already found a better way to do things that harder or just can't be done on the other platform. Or, maybe the old platform just won't feel the same way it did before like something's missing or it just isn't what it used to be even if you don't know what it is. In that moment you may come to realize you've already made Linux your home without even realizing it and then since you're home, you'll just chill out and run with it.
As you said, it's a good idea when you first start using Linux to just try out different DE's and find the one that suits you initially so you're comfortable. It's a big of enough jump learning new apps and finding alternatives to Windows/mac apps without the headache of a new system workflow. Personally I've found google search to be my friend when I run into problems and 90% I've been able to sort of myself. The other 10% I've used forums and while I still couldn't get it solved, I think it was more a problem with the way the distro is implemented. But, it all depends on how long you've been using computers and your experience.
I have always noticed good clean documentation in the Linux community. Might be old documentation but in most cases it’s still relevant. 👍 might help you know what you don’t know you know
I'm still a sporadic distro hopper, but I really only distro hop in VMs these days. With PCIe passthrough of your GPU, you can get a near native performance without having to install it on baremetal. Best of both worlds if you have the appropriate hardware for it, especially since the only distro hopping I do is to see how different distros approach different problems rather than actually thinking I'm going to be switching distributions on baremetal any time soon. Truth is, I feel limited in any distribution that isn't Gentoo when we're talking about baremetal installations. I gave into an impulse last year to install Fedora on all of my systems after talking to someone who was working for Red Hat because I thought perhaps docker or VMs might work a little better out of the box compared to Gentoo. They didn't, and I was back to Gentoo by the end of the week even if Fedora may be my second favorite distro. A lot of it might just be an issue of inertia; Gentoo has been my preferred distro for around 18 years. I cut my teeth in my early years of *NIX on source based approaches to package management (pseudo LFS style in Slackware, FreeBSD's ports, Gentoo portage), and back then binary package managers were kinda crap. No doubt binary package managers have gotten a whole lot better over the years, but I still can't shake the feeling of unnecessary limitations posed by binary package managers that just don't apply to source-based ones, especially portage.
ive come to linux about six months ago I think im in tire 0 now cause i know a little bit more of linux basics but i dont know what i dont i know i love kde i know i love Debian and Arch i'd used i3wm and awesomewm but ill stick to my kwin for now it will do what i want to do with a little bit of configuration maybe latter on i use i3wm because its config file is so simple just write the hotkey and a command to run
I have been using Linux for 10 + years now, and I would consider myself somewhere between Tier 2 and Tier 3. I stick to Fedora and my daily driver, and Linux Mint on my other boxes and laptop. My preference is Cinnamon, but I use Mate also. For the most part I will leave the desktop as is, with only a few minor tweaks. Desktop customization is really not my area of interest. My main area if interest is media sharing and streaming, so I use Samba, NFS, forked-daapd, MiniDLNA, Music Player Daemon and those type of programs. I have no trouble using the command line.
It doesn't help that Linux installations tend to be very fragile. Update packages, your entire desktop is broken. Days of work to investigate and fix. Like they say, free software is only free if your time is worthless.
My biggest challenge with Linux is VR headsets including Windows mixed reality. Hopefully these get better the support over time we shall see. As of now I am forced to have windows still so I can pay my VR games.
Look at the bright side: Once everything "just works" theres little to no incentive to dig any deeper than "tier 1". So people jumping through all those hoops today, will end up with a much higher level of expertise. Similarly to having used DOS prior to an actual "operating system", that tought you some basic things, which just arent really necessary in a modern Windows environment anymore, because everything is handled for you pretty much automatically.
I'm pretty satisfied with my first distro Linux Mint. And I game as well. Haven't distro hopped at all and been using it for a month. It does what I need and I keep learning more about bash and scripting and such. Considering playing with changing desktop environment to KDE and checking it out, but will probably do it in a virtual machine instead of messing with my perfectly working daily driver. So I guess I am on the first level or 1.5 level. :P I just wanted a good Windows replacement for privacy and security and get away from the giant corporations. I am very happy. The one thing I miss from windows that Linux doesn't seem to have is fancy animated screensavers. Not because they are needed, but because they are fun/cool. Coming from a technical / developer mindset (used to be a programmer decades ago and still work a technical ITish job) I enjoy learning about the capabilities of Linux and what you can do with it, but being old and lazy I don't necessarily want to do a whole lot more in-depth stuff. Little things here and there to tweak things is nice though and gaining the knowledge of how to do more in-depth stuff is cool to play with on occasion. When the time comes to re-install for whatever reason a year or two down the road, I may play with more distros to decide which one will be my daily driver at that time.
When I found Manjaro I was an Environment Hopper, because Manjaro is perfect for it. I learned a lot and I indeed didn't break my install, although I put on it almost all possible DEs and then removed them to leave the one winner - Plasma, which I run till today, of course on Manjaro, on the same install.
Been using Linux for 15 years. Did my distro hopping the first year or two, been using Ubuntu since. Been doing a lot of DE hopping through the years, but I always end up with Openbox eventually. I guess I'd consider myself a second-tier user.
My issue is in a personal bubble, I can use Linux for my day to day and do the majority of gaming native. However, as a user that can’t spend all my free time on just computers, I can’t spend enough time to properly switch and truly break in the the second tier. Last year I made it about 6 months in full Linux world. However when I took on a role in a not for profit, in order for me to properly get my work done with I had to switch back because I didn’t have the time available to tinker until it did work. I want to go back in a way, but I find myself stuck in a loop with it.
I think the journey you have described and that you are on is pretty normal for the majority of people who eventually get to the place where they use Linux full time (although even very competent users use Windows or Mac from time to time for specific tasks). I wouldn't beat yourself up too much, you will be back testing the Linux environment again when the itch becomes big enough. I remember being in your situation and feeling pretty deflated at times but with each visit to Linux you make you are adding to your knowledge base and there is a point at which the scales will shift.
Thank you very much! for the video and sorry for the long comment, I think I fall between the second and third category I’m a computer enthusiast and I've been building pc’s for my family and friends but the reason why I’m not in the more experience category is because I still can't troubleshoot some problems like make my printer work with any linux distro or make media tomb start automatic. Although all my life I’ve been a windows user since windows 3.1 to windows 10 (which I hate it) and when back to 7, I started using Linux when I was just a teenager back in Mexico when I worked in a book printing shop. Then when I heard that Microsoft was discontinuing windows 7 support I realized that I needed a change so I built my self a powerful triple boot computer with windows 7, Mac OS and Linux. I have tried Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint, Peppermint and didn’t like neither one but when I install OpenSuse I knew that was the one, so far I’ve been using it for like year now, the only two things stopping me for been a full-time linux user is printing and running a home network media server, which I know I'm going to achieve soon. Your tutorials help me a lot Thank’s again!
I'm a Cinnamon Guy! As soon as I saw "Linux vs Windows" I was excited to install it after seeing a RU-vid Video 6 years ago - I fell in love with Linux, it was using LXDE as my 1st DE with 1GB and my rig FLEW! I used to distro hop as well.
To think Ubuntu is finally hitting 20.04 LTS in just a few days, makes for another landmark for everything Linux, as a kernel, OS and as a community has achieved all these years.. More FOSS love to share around..
