Skip Navigation
Linux @lemmy.ml
gronjo45 @lemm.ee

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!

54 comments

  • Is it an unrealistic goal to want to eventually run a computer with coreboot and a more cybersecurity heavy emphasis?

    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.

  • 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.

  • Keep it simple, Ubuntu/Mint/PopOS, play around with it for at least a few months before trying an arch install

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • @gronjo45 The big question here is; what do you mean by "learn linux"?

    If you really want to learn and understand what you're doing, here's a solution that will not leave you empty handed. No matter if you decide to call it quits half way through, you still have a great deal more knowledge than you'd get from simply installing a distro that does all the hard work for you.

    No one ever listens when I say it but I'll say it again; follow the #gentoo handbook cover to cover doing a stage3 install. When you encounter something you don't understand, go read about it, usually links are included. Once you've gotten to any graphical environment, wipe it and start again. Repeat this process until you only reference the handbook to verify you're doing it correctly.

    I would also advise doing this on metal, as the VM approach will likely give you no hardware problems to solve along the way. You'll never learn how to fix what never breaks. ;)

    Installing something that just works, or where you only need to click next in the installer only gets you a working system. It offers you absolutely nothing in the way of knowledge or understanding. What good to you is a working linux system if you know nothing about it? The method I propose will ensure you have all the basic skills and knowledge you need to be a (mostly) self sufficient linux user.

    If you do take my advice and have any questions along the way, feel free to send me a direct message. I'd be happy to help.

54 comments