No.2469
If you like to vidya, just keep around a Windows machine to do that with and nothing else. Don't dual boot because it's a pain in the ass in practice. Pick up a new machine, like a cheap Intel NUC or other x86 SBC to do your general computing on, and bonus points for a KVM switch so you can use the same keyboard/mouse on both computers. Basically you're learning a completely new OS, so make it simple to use and mitigate the negative effects of breaking things, and you won't be in a rush to fulfill every need.
Linux Mint is good, since unlike Ubuntu it's not bundled with Amazon software, has plenty of support, and is built to be easy to use for all. I personally like the Debian-based Trisquel OS, which in my personal experience has been more stable, is similarly easy to use, and it's FSF approved. Ethics and good software repositories are the two things I look for, and you're pretty safe using a Debian-based OS for the latter.
No.2470
Manjaro is the one, it is both very powerfull (it is based on Arch), and super easy to use. The team has great efforts on it. Also there is lots of option to choose while downloading the OS.
No.2471
Ubuntu is the most straightforward if you want Steam. Arch(/Manjaro) & Debian also play well but may require a bit more tweaking.
What should you look for? Hardware support and if the repositories have the software you require.
No.2490
>>2469I have Ubuntu Budgie. It doesn't have the Amazon stuff included.
I prefer it to Mint for 2 reasons:
-Just another Ubuntu flavor, so it has good support
-Doesn't have that bad rep that Mint got for those infected downloads
No.2509
Ubuntu is popular with newbies because you'll find help for just about every problem, same reason the raspi is popular.
So I'd recommend that to get your feet wet, then when you learned how Linux works in general you can try out other distros if you want.
No.2550
>>2466Dual-boot anon, if you have a fast desktop it is not a hassle at all. I am doing it now and have windows to play games because it's just better that way. Computer takes seconds too boot so if I feel like playing a game I jump into windows quickly, play, then switch back for whatever it is I feel like doing. I am running w10 and Manjaro I3 and its pretty great, manjaro has a solid hardware recognition when installing it you can opt to install the proprietary drivers, but in my experience ubuntu's driver auto-install is better and Ubuntu works better with graphical stuff in general in my experience. It's also just good to have windows to fall back on if you mess something up playing around with system configs, and just want a clean start.
No.2551
>>2466Linux mint. Its basically a normal person version of ubuntu which is by itself a normal person version of debian. Any linux distro based off debian is relatively easy to use. Steam support for linux has increased steadily over the years, so you shouldn't have much trouble there. You can use most windows apps on linux if you install wine.
