Linux - Getting started

[OutOfTheBlue]

+for Pop_OS! as well. Forgot to mention it. Based on Ubuntu, visually pleasing, features a well customized GNOME desktop, even has a neat window tiling feature, similar to what I use in Regolith!

[NewBlood]

If you're looking for a very low barrier of entry for people used to Windows, I second the recommendation of Mint Cinnamon. It's based on Ubuntu, is super simple to use and everything I need is available. The only thing that is troublesome, but that would be common across all Linux distributions, is LibreOffice, as zbigi already mentioned. Not very compatible with MS Office, so if you need to collaborate on files with Windows users, there will be formatting issues.

I definitely recommend testing different linux distributions using pen drives as others have recommended. You can even set up those flash drives with persistent storage so that you can save files, programs and settings on the drive so changes you make don't disappear when you restart. Your Windows computer in the meantime remains untouched. Here's a How-to:
https://www.fosslinux.com/60398/create- ... stence.htm

[horsewoman]

Libre Office is indeed terrible. A large part of my PT office job ist to proofread documentation our team of freelancers send in.
The formatting is very bad, and the spell check worse. I even set up templates in libre Office and sent them out to those in the team sending in ODT files, but nothing is where it's supposed to be when I get the files back. I've given up, since there are only 5 people or so that don't use ms word.

I will definitely set up a stick drive for testing first. Thanks for everyone sharing their experiences!

[daylen]

go team manjaro w/ xfce

[guitarplayer]

When you talk about Visual Studio, do you mean Visual Studio Code? I have recently spent some time interacting with Ubuntu 22.04 and there is Visual Studio Code there.

[zbigi]

@guitarplayer

If you're referring to me (and you probably are, since I was the one who originally brought it up), then no, I mean Visual Studio. VSCode is just a text editor with some programmer-friendly features, while Visual Studio is a full-fledged IDE that does a lot of heavy lifting for you. It makes a large difference especially for languages like C++ (and probably C#?, although C# development is not something I know much about).

[guitarplayer]

Yep you @zbigi though I think one or two more persons picked up on that earlier in the thread. Interesting. Someone in my team recently entertained the idea of us working in an agile way, doing sprints etc. I don't think it is going to happen but in the event it does, Visual Studio will be my focus of attention.

Meanwhile, I'll be exploring Ubuntu and Mint across the next year!

ETA: Actually, there is a data scientist in my organisation who says that for an aspiring data scientist getting familiar with the Linux environment makes sense, what do you think @zbigi?

[loutfard]

On *nix, you'd use emacs (definitely not vi )

Jacob, we agree on almost everything, but to read this, from you, of all people...

See also: http://hackles.org/cgi-bin/archives.pl?request=284 .

I'll see myself out.

[zbigi]

ETA: Actually, there is a data scientist in my organisation who says that for an aspiring data scientist getting familiar with the Linux environment makes sense, what do you think @zbigi?

There's infinite amount of tech minutia to learn in this industry and, to make matters worse, there's a lot of churn in technologies. So IMO it makes most sense to learn what's required for your current job, or what appears as requirement in the job ad for the jobs you'd like to get in the future.
As for specifics regarding data science, the data scientists I've worked with all had working knowledge of Linux. But maybe there's a vast space of DS people who only touch Windows that I'm not aware of - I only had tangential interest in the DS space. It would make sense for you to get to know as many Data Scientists as possible across the industry and see what is needed for their jobs. Over time, you'll be able to build a mental models of what subspecialties there are, what skills are required for them etc. Looking at job ads and going to interviews helps with that as well.

[jacob]

I'll see myself out.

If you can ... one can always tell a vim user by how they append something like the following text to every file they edit

:q
quit
:quit
:exit
:e
ARGHHH!!
help

There's a theory that vim's user base is mainly comprised of people who have not figured out how to quit it yet

[ebast]

and you can tell an emacs user by the carpal tunnel braces they wear just to brush their teeth.

Esc+F, meta ctrl shift + TW

[candide]

I am not going against the consensus recommendation of Mint as the great starter distro. In fact, it's been and will remain my daily driver, in no small part because I share it with my wife from time to time. But my goodness Arch has gotten easy to install with archinstall command that comes with the iso.

So if anyone wanted to get over to Arch for the freedom and sense of accomplishment, I would say only a short time with Mint would be necessary. Say, three months or so if you are ducking into the command to do stuff, rather than always using your mouse... Go looking for command-line alternatives, if you are wanting to follow this advice.

If you've ever changed a config file to get a customization you want, then you are ready for Arch.

If you can get past the checksum and PGP signature on the iso after you download it, then you are ready for Arch.

In both cases you get to ask chatGPT or your LLM of choice to help you with the challenges.

Here's a little script to run each time you start Arch:

#!/bin/bash

sudo pacman -Syu;
clear;
neofetch;
echo "Arch, btw."