I thought this was going to be a community for linux newbies, who come here and find little tips for how to better use linux. Like little tips and tricks to better use linux that are so addictive it’s like crack.
Alas, no. This is a sub on how to download pirated linux games.
Which I’m still all here for, by the way. I just wish the community I envisioned ALSO existed. It would be like the first time I ever found out about the registry editor on windows XP.
I need THAT moment, but for linux. The moment where I figure out how to take control, and understand what I’m doing.
Because right now, I’m just distro hopping, but hating most of these options. Right now I’m looking at LMDE which is Mint without ubuntu. Also looking at Fedora. Also looking at Bazzite. And I’ve been using Zorin for a year now.
Outside of those, I hate every option I try. MX Linux was kind of good…but also really really annoying. HATED PopOS.
I’m just looking for tips that will help me understand “OOOOHHHH!!! THAT’S how that works.”
Like right now, I have no idea how updates work. I know there’s repositories. I have no idea where these repositories are. I have no idea how my computer knows where these repositories are. I have no idea how to add or change my repositories. I have no idea what’s in them.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what I don’t know. Terminal is just…can we make a distro without the terminal please? Make it so you can download your own if you want to, but the culture around this distro would be terminal-less. That’s the distro I want.
I want to have issues, that have solutions online that don’t start with:
“Step 1, open terminal…”
NOOOOOOOOO!!!
Being real, Linux without terminal is kinda impossible. That being said, assuming you test compatibility via a live disc/drive before installing, you shouldn’t need to use CLI often at all, and may never need to if you don’t want.
However, when trouble does happen, you need that kind of access. You do on Windows as well, so it isn’t like you’re escaping it if you jump ship.
Not having a terminal program would be mind-numbingly bad. Any situation that you would need to use it, installing it would be harder, and maybe impossible. So, just don’t open the damn thing if you don’t want to use it regularly. There’s a ton of gui options for almost everything these days. But you can’t escape command line entirely on any os.
Repos are essentially what makes the various distros what they are, to an extent. They’re curated software, and the address for whatever is maintained by the distro is already in there, and that’s how it knows. Someone put it in.
If you’re not comfy with CLI, you probably shouldn’t fuck around adding repos tbh. Again, that being said, you’d find where to do so under the software/updates menu in mint. You find the box, type the info in, give your password, and Bob’s your uncle. Thing is, that’s not a decrease in steps compared to using command line, it’s just different steps. The exact label to get there via gui may vary between distros, but it’s in the “start” menu somewhere.
Updates are just a matter of the software connecting to the repo, checking to see what’s new, then giving you the option to use them.
Legit, I totally understand the issue with using command line interfaces. My dyslexic ass hates trying to sort through the text. But it is a great tool. If anything every goes really wrong, you’ll be glad it’s sitting there ready.