this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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It’s not plug and play
A distro like Mint with Gnome or KDE just detects everything and works out-of-the-box, in my experience. I consider them as close to Windows as possible.
It sure would be nice if even one variant were, though.
And what does that mean? That drivers for most hardware doesn't exist unless we write it ourselves? I don't have time for that steep a climb.
You guys are now seriously freaking me out. My experience has been decades of windows not mainframes with 1980s era OSes. Is all that experience going to be useless?
I have 70 and 80 year olds running Linux Mint without any problems or support hassles (because their old PCs run like dogs on windows and linux is much lighter on old hardware). It also reduces my (unpaid) support effort to nearly zero over constant windows issues.
There's a reason it's one of the most installed desktop linuxes
Install a copy on an old machine, or setup virtual box and try a virtual machine. It even comes with a "try before you buy" mode where if you boot the install USB (you need to create it) you'll boot into a working copy of Mint so you can just give it a try and make sure it works ok on your PC.
Seriously, it's very little different to windows - everything you're likely to want to do is available in a graphical window.
https://linuxmint.com
Mint is great.
Tbh, if you're using mainstream hardware, and a sensible DE like KDE Plasma, it pretty much is plug and play these days. Drivers are built into the kernel; the system detects your hardware at boot and loads the appropriate drivers automatically, so you can even swap out components and simply turn the system on and it'll work in most cases. Peripherals like audio interfaces that are tricky and require diver installs on windows are often plug and play on GNU/Linux, but generally speaking, being a windows expert will not help you.
Windows has layers of abstraction designed to make it difficult for you to understand how the OS is actually working - GNU/Linux does not. You can access any information, change anything you like, and almost all system config down to a low level can be done by editing plain text files. It's intimidating at first, but with some experience, config and troubleshooting is miles easier than windows because no information is hidden from you. Then again, that really is in the realm of advanced usage; for day to day computing you shouldn't have to think about any of this.
If you're worried, try out a live USB of a beginner friendly distro like Manjaro. You can run the os off of a USB stick and get a feel for it.