Linux for the Airheaded Layman?
I have tried to learn Linux for ages, and have experimented with installing Arch and Ubuntu. Usually something goes wrong when I try to set up a desktop environment after installing Arch in VirtualBox. KDE gave me a problem where I couldn't log in after getting to the point where my username was displayed in a similar format to how it is for Windows. My end use case is to help keep my workflow more organized than haphazardly throwing files somewhere on my desktop or in a folder nested somewhere that I'll just inevitably lose :(
Somehow after all this time, I feel like I actually understand less about my computer and what I need to understand regarding its facets. Is it an unrealistic goal to want to eventually run a computer with coreboot and a more cybersecurity heavy emphasis? I'm still a noob at this and any advice would be appreciated!
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There's your problem. Try Linux Mint.
Don't try to bite off more than you can chew. Start small and easy, with a beginner Linux distro, and once you've become really comfortable with that, you can try to move onto something less user friendly.
Downloading the ISO right now! I think that was routinely the case where I was "installing" Arch nearly every other day. I'll update how it goes once I get it up and running. Thanks for the suggestion :)
Don't start with the most complicated distro and then fail.
No, its not unrealistic. However, what I think is unfair to yourself is to attempt this before knowing what you are doing. Think of it like learning to draw. You have good taste, and you see art you like, and want to do it too. Yet your personal skill level, you finger dexterity, isn't yet there to be able to make the art you can visualize in your mind.
If a task is too hard, or to complex, then there must exist a smaller, easier task to accomplish first. Coreboot specifically is an extremely low hardware/firmware level system, but you don't feel confidant in installing a working desktop OS. You have aspirations for cyber security, as well. Find the smaller, and easier task first. Get Debian/Ubuntu working in a VM. Then look at what software is installed, and read about it. If you want to eventually pursue security projects, setup a LAMP stack. If that too hard, just get the A in LAMP. If that's too hard, find out why. What do you know, what do you not know? It's machines all the way down, and its an extremely small chance you are the first person with a problem. Don't worry about "correctness" and focus on the learning experience.
It is 100% achievable, but it is a lot of time. I started with it because I wanted to run a game server for myself. It's a couple of decades later, and I still have a massive amount to learn.
I really like the comparison to drawing and the gap between what I'm seeing in my head and my actual ability to carry out the task! Something hypnotized me when I first got introduced to the world of free software. Initially I started out learning LaTeX to make math worksheets for my tutees because Microsoft Word made me want to violently smash my keyboard. Further rabbit-holing and forum-crawling convinced me that I needed to download Arch or else it simply "wasn't worth it", which is completely wrong in itself.
Never have heard of a LAMP stack, but I'll check it out. I'll try to persevere through frustration and just look at errors as a way of learning from my mistakes. Eventually I hope to have a grander control and understanding of my devices, but this will just come with time. Thanks for the encouragement!
Unfortunately Arch appeals to, and is loved by, a specific kind of user. They aren't really interested in being more newbie friendly, which is totally fine. Debian, and by extension Mint, actively trying to help new people use the software, and is very newbie friendly. Most people asking for help use these types, and thus a lot of the helpful guides use these as a base. OpenSuse also does a very good job too, but it is pretty different than Debian in how it is structured, so not all guides written for Debian will work the same way. When you know about how different Linux ecosystems work, the less which specific distro you are using matters. So don't worry too much about picking the "right" one.
This is the best way, find something you want to do, and learn how to do it. Follow the rabbit holes! You never really know where they go.
I completely agree with this one! Been awhile since this comment was posted, but I've had a great deal of fun with Pop!_OS after I nearly went mad. I used my arch system for about 2 months exclusively. Right now I'm dual booting it and Windows. I'm exploring Windows with new eyes again just so see what exactly was abstracted away from me and I'm just using it to get work done more efficiently.
Thanks for the initial advice :) I'm working towards using only a Linux system and I learned I liked Debian as well. Ubuntu, Mint, and OpenSUSE didn't really feel the way I wanted them to, and I still was piecing together concepts that were fuzzy from my 20 years of Windows usage getting in the way.
Currently trying to get Gentoo onto a Chromebook and got curious about hypervisors so a new rabbit hole has reared its head...
Just a sidenote: LAMP is a traditional webserver stack. L = Linux, A = Apache (web server), M = MySQL (database), P = PHP (or Perl or Python, depending on who you ask—some server-side programming language, anyway). So it might not be germane to your use case.
Hey! Sorry its taken a while to get back. I'm almost at the point where I can order everything for my NAS which will then necessitate learning Apache, MySQL, and how to implement programs in the best suited language for the job. I did a lot of Python in undergrad so I should be trainable in that regard.
Are there any resources or Wiki you'd suggest to get started regarding interacting with a server?
Mint is great. I recently switched fully to Linux and mint feels comfortable
Arch is a bad distro for newbies. Go find an ISO for Kubuntu and install that. The install wizard is idiot-proof. I use KDE-based distros like Kubuntu even though I'm a fairly advanced user so don't view it as some kind of failure. There's no virtue in using more complicated stuff. Get comfortable with the easier distros first.
Bog standard arch is absolutely not what I'd recommend to a new user, maybe endeavor if they're really asking for it, but you really should have some idea what you're doing before using arch. Try Linux Mint or Pop OS. I'm surprised you had an issue with Ubuntu, though I haven't used it since like 16.04 so maybe it just is a pain now.
You're on the right track! That feeling of understanding less is normal - and good news is that it isn't true. You understand more than you did before - but now you also know of some other things you don't know about yet. This is good and exciting! I wish I were in your shoes so I could experience this for the first time again.
I would recommend Fedora Silverblue 38. It is an immutable OS, meaning that it is impossible to break it to the point where it doesn't work. Since the root file system is read only, like a mobile OS, you would be hard pressed to actually break it. Don't worry though, most graphical applications are available as flatpaks on Flathub. Flathub is integrated with the app store in Fedora 38, no need to use the terminal. For terminal applications you want to use there are toolboxes, which are little mini fedora containers that have access to your home directory and some other integrations. Also Fedora Silverblue is easy to install and works with most hardware.
I'd give it a try! It has been quite fun to have a Linux system and to finally feel more comfortable with the Unix-like way of using a computer. It has greatly simplified a lot of things I needed to do when I was in uni, such as uploading and processing data from a DAC as well as the simplified way of managing packages and CLI workflows. I never knew how many times the task just needed a solution with a Regex in it, but it takes one awhile to learn it.
It feels weird to go from being a lifelong Windows user to using Linux. Unfortunately, I chose Arch to be the distribution I'd struggle with because I was too stubborn to give up. Now that I'm a little more comfortable with systems, I've been hopping around tinkering in different virtual machines. It took quite some time before I felt I got fluid enough with the CLI, but it makes everything feel like a text adventure game! It's so nice to be more comfortable with Vim when I need to do systems work, access servers remotely via SSH, or navigate the system more easily. I never thought you could agnostically open files, so that was nice to learn. It's impressive the beast of programming problems that needed to be solved before one could have a seamless in-home system. I can't imagine shuffling magnetic tape through a dinosaur, or the hoops you'd have to jump through and technical knowledge to use a PDP-10 or older computer. Lots of respect for the gurus who can speak in tongues for those machines :) Thanks for the advice, never knew immutable OSs were a thing.
I cannot stress this enough...
POP!_OS
For real this is The One for new users. It just works.
Even though Arch is very well documented, it's not really accessible to newcomers. The documentation assumes that you know the basics, so if you don't, you're screwed. Mint, Pop! and Debian, to some extent, are much more accessible.
As an absolute noob, I can tell you this is not the case for Arch based images though. I've used Manjaro and now settled on Crystal Linux. Both Arch based. They are as easy as any other distro, even more than Debian.
Debian, in their philosophy, provides a pretty bare ones image, and you have to add everything yourself. They don't even ship Flatpak for example.
Pop! Has an archaic Gnome desktop but an otherwise excellent system.
I don't like Mint's desktop environment, but that's very subjective, so no cons there.
i wouldn't say that it's unrealistic.
The "Problem" is however, that there are a gazillion different approaches to everything. And everyone will tell you their method and maybe even badmouth other peoples methods... That way you don't really know what to do anymore.
Imho, don't install them in a VM. Get yourself a new cheap SSD. Unplug the one with windows on it and just install a well-known Linux distro that has a big open community on your PC.
If you want something Arch-based: I'd highly recommend you Garuda-Linux. Don't get scared off by it's ..... flashy default looks. This can be changed very easily. But they have one of the most welcomming and helpful communities i have ever witnessed. They aren't really here or on reddit, but rather have their own forum.
This thing will give you everything you need to start. And if something breaks, it does automatic snapshots of your system everytime you install a new package. So if something breaks, you turn off...turn on....and in the boot menu you'll find your snapshots. Pick the last working one. and that's it. Good to go again.
But these are just my 2 cents..
You can try a boot from usb key too for example.
It sounds as if OP was beyond the stage of playing inside a live-boot.... plus you'll never get to really get a feel for a distro if you can't even install new packages properly.
You can install the os to a thumb drive too. Performance will be meh but it’s fine for testing and can be brought with you while out and about
If I were you I would start by using standard Ubuntu desktop. In my experience it tends to be the most reliable, easy to install, least technical and does alot of stuff behind the scenes that others don't. A simple thing like plugging in a printer works very well in Ubuntu but is a nightmare on opensuse.
If you still run into issues then start to troubleshoot, especially if you are installing on bare metal and not a VM. Often the most common issues are WiFi drivers and graphics drivers. This is because these companies often don't make their code available so other Devs have to reverse engineer their own code and it's not included in the kernel. It has you need installed after installation. If your pc has an ethernet port or ethernet adapter I HIGHLY recommend using that when installing.
In Ubuntu open the search page and type "drivers" and it will show you an option to install additional drivers. Click that and it should detect what hardware you have and give you the choice to tick a box and install those drivers. Your must be connected to the internet via ethernet for this to work. After successful installation, reboot and the WiFi/graphics card should work.
If you have issues Google it an Ubuntu normally has TONS of answers.
My only issue with this is that the Ubuntu desktop is really buggy right now. 23.04 has plenty of odd issues like the file browser not showing the correct file as deleted, instead making it look like another random one in the same directory got deleted. But refreshing the file browser corrects the graphical issue. But due to many little paper cuts like that I'd shy away from recommending Ubuntu.
Keep it simple, Ubuntu/Mint/PopOS, play around with it for at least a few months before trying an arch install
You definitely don't need Coreboot. Try Linux Mint to start with, and just use your computer as you normally would. Getting comfortable with how Linux does things is something you need to learn before taking the next steps. No one became a Linux guru by reading the "Linux manual" front to back. I picked up almost all of my Linux knowledge on-the-fly because I broke something or because I wanted to do something.
Also, if all you want is better cybersecurity, you'll make a huge leap just by picking any Linux distro. Save Coreboot, full disk encryption, etc for at least a few months down the road when you're picking a new distro and have a better idea of what you want to do differently.
Start with Ubuntu, eventually switch to Debian, then give Arch a shot.
Get Fedora Silverblue. It is rock solid. Install Distrobox or Boxes to emulate other systems on top of that.
You could also move on to something else later if toy like.
One word: Mint
It's pretty streamlined, more reliable than some newer trendy Ubuntu spin offs, and still powered at it's core by the same old kernal that even the "advanced" distros use.
I applaud you for trying Arch, and if you can figure it out while learning Linux in general that's a great achievement, but it's overly complicated and I personally wouldn't reccemend it to anyone starting out (or even a most experienced users unless they had a particular need for it's features).
If you continuously get issues across all distros in VMs a live environment might also be worth checking out (live being booted off external media without an install).
Ultimately, though if Linux does mess with your workflow, then use what works best for you. Sure I like Linux, but if it breaks what you need and Windows or Mac doesn't then use what works best for you. But, there's a saying "the more the island of my knowledge grows the greater the shore of my ignorance". The more you learn the more that you realized how little you know. It's always the case for anybody who's either not an extreme expert or a narcissistic, but it's also a great motivator to keep learning.
Get Fedora Silverblue. It is rock solid. Install Distrobox or Boxes to emulate other systems on top of that.
You could also move on to something else later if toy like.
I have hosed so many installs over the past 20 or so years that it's impossible for me to guess a number. It's part of the learning process. Just keep at it and you'll get there.
Next time you decide to attempt Arch, you could try the included install script.
But for now I would also suggest starting out with something more simple, such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu LTS.
I’d recommend mint just because snaps add another layer of complexity for apps right now.
I've been in your shoes a few months ago. I tried a few distros in VMs and ended up using OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. It comes with different GUIs and I decided for KDE. As a beginner TW helped me with the built in snapshots mechanism. So before I did anything, I took a snapshot, did it, and if I fucked up, I could easily rollback and try again. Since TW is a rolling release, I now make a snapshot before and after the system update So I always have some stable Rollback snapshots. Gives me so much safety to fiddle around and learn more about Linux. Been loving it so far.
Make heavy use of ChatGPT. I've been chatting about Linux with it for months now.
If you want to use the Arch ecosystem but have trouble getting there, start with Manjaro. It handles the hardware extremely well. I install it for my friends and rellies because I like the Arch tools, but I don't want the cutting edge issues of pure Arch. I haven't had very many issues to fix with it on over a dozen installs running for as long as 5 or 6 years now.
I second this. Manjaro has enabled me to be far more successful in my Linux endeavors. The Arch package system and Arch User Repository are amazing and I've been able to get so many pieces of software running without too many headaches.
Mint xfce.