@Nerdzmasterz , if you have an old PC around just install a Linux with a desktop you might like and get going.

Just suggesting wildly, try Debian and XFCE if you like it easy, Ubuntu ("the Windows among the Linuxes", hehehe) if you just want it running with as much hard-/software support as possible, or any of the countless others. Mint with Cinnamon is another light and easy one, KDE desktop for instance if you love as colourful as possible. You can also just run a window manager without a full blown desktop. No distractions pls :-)

If you're unfamiliar with the command line, I'd recommend "The Linux Command Line" lates edition from No Starch press.as bathroom reading.

Edit: QNX, never heard of before, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QNX.

I run Debian Sid (bacause full Vucan support for the RX6700XT without having to install the proprietary driver), various editors for my tinkering with C/C++, from Nano to Eclipse CDT. I don't mean to really recommand or insist, it fits my needs and ... agenda :-)

Nerdzmasterz Most Linux distros are fairly similar in terms of functionality. There are a lot of flavors in terms of the look of the windows and the options, but they can generally all do the same things. My personal favorite is Ubuntu. It's easy to use, looks great, it's popular so most of the tutorials and info will include Ubuntu first, and it's generally pretty stable.

https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

I would recommend live booting rather than doing a VM. VMs are slow and can't access the graphics, so you won't be able to test Godot or Blender or anything serious. With a live USB you can test the whole OS but not overwrite anything on your machine. Try it for a few hours, and if you like it you can dual boot on your machine with Windows as well. I did this for about 3 years before I was comfortable enough to switch to Linux full time.

    cybereality
    It was quite popular as an embedded system in medical equipment back around the 90's (I was using the desktop version in 1999). It was also known for it's free version that had a live bootable version of the OS with gui desktop, internet support and a browser that fit on a single 3.5" floppy disk, as a marketing gimmick. But it was primarily an enterprise OS.

      Yes, this is definitely the best Linux book out there, and I've read a ton.

      cybereality They spend all their time complaining about Bill Gates, about ads on the desktop, getting hacked, spyware, having to reinstall every 6 months, and it generally not being a good OS.

      Maybe that's because the complainers are simply heard? Not only have I forgotten about such problems myself, but I also provide technical support on the game site, and there are fewer issues there over time when users follow my recommendations. Ads on the desktop — I don't even know what they look like, but yes, I don't have an M$ account. Reinstalling... Win 7 worked without reinstalling... can't remember exactly how long, but about 10 with cloning different boot disks.

      The only reasonable complaint is about Bill Gates, but that's a question of the corporate model and social structure of society. The only thing worse than capitalism is socialism.

      Is it better to replace all the complaints about windows with finding drivers for linux? Then there will definitely be no time left to complain. 😃

      However, we have already discussed all this…

        cybereality

        Well, at the risk of beating a dead horse, it took me about ten minutes to get a bluray to play on my gentoo system with mpv and makemkv. It would have been a lot quicker, but I decided to run it in firejail, just to make it challenging. It's kind of a sad statement when getting a disc to play on your OS is grounds for excitement. 🙂

        The instructions were in the ebuild for makemkv. I knew I'd seen them somewhere.

          Well that is cool, but I'm kind of over it at this point. I'd rather watch on the PS5 with 4K and HDR anyhow.

          One of the best things about Linux is that you have choices:

            DaveTheCoder One of the best things about Linux is that you have choices:

            That is, it is not enough to find a program just "for Linux", you have to find out which of the 100500+ versions it more or less works well on?

                Tomcat That is, it is not enough to find a program just "for Linux", you have to find out which of the 100500+ versions it more or less works well on?

                Not really. There are essentially only two main executable files *.deb (which spawned from Debian) and *.rpm (from Red Hat Linux). The most popular distros are based on Debian, like Ubuntu or Mint. And if you are on a distro that doesn't support those two, it doesn't matter much because you download apps from the package manager (sort of like an app store where everything is free). These will be compiled and customized by the maintainers of the distro and verified to work. It is very rare that you ever download like a exe file off some random website, it's not like Windows. However, if you are on a niche distro or the app you are looking for is also obscure, you'll probably have to compile it yourself from the source code, but this isn't as difficult as it sounds.

                  Someone on Udemy claimed the people who can compile things themselves from Git are "immortals". How ridiculous! 😆

                  Still, the large choices in a Linux seems like it could be very daunting. I say "could", as some people may not have much problem with them. For others, it may feel like a lot of freedom to do whatever.

                    So what are people then who write real programs, like game engines or even OSes :-) ? Or just little renderers or even only application programs ? Ist there a hierarchy of immortality ? Can I level up ? :-)

                    It is a good idea to learn the basics of the command line, and maybe an editor that is avilable everywhere. One can click around on any desktop or standard software, including most IDEs, they are pretty intuitive, but the power lies in the CL, and doesn't change between distros.

                    I can only speak for myself and I am just a hobbyist, not one whose dreams compile -Wall. I just got stuck with Debian because its ecosystem is good enough for me and because it has no undisclosed features if one sticks to the free part of the repository. That's probably how most people handle it ?

                    tl,dr: You can choose, but you don't have to.

                    And I hate it when my choice is being ignored or even limited without asking, like last time I tried MS Software did on me.

                    And I believe @Tomcat was joking ?

                    Back to the Godot tutorials :-)

                      Nerdzmasterz Still, the large choices in a Linux seems like it could be very daunting.

                      I get the impression that there is no freedom here, but rather anarchy.

                      Pixophir So what are people then who write real programs, like game engines or even OSes :-) ? Or just little renderers or even only application programs ? Ist there a hierarchy of immortality ? Can I level up ? :-

                      It is possible to raise it… if you work on yourself. But it's impossible to know everything — a person is usually limited to certain areas. Even just learning takes time out of your life. I have met very smart people who were geniuses in their fields, but completely naive in others. You can learn compiling for Linux, or you can be interested in history.

                      And I believe @Tomcat was joking ?

                      Every joke has its share of jokes.

                      But seriously, M$'s total surveillance is a good reason to consider alternatives. I wouldn't want to choose between concentration camp and anarchy.

                            Tomcat You can learn compiling for Linux, or you can be interested in history.

                            Actually, I am from the geosciences, side subject paleontology. Hope that counts :-). Geoscience does a lot with numerical modelling and simulations. Archeologists are using engines and frameworks to model and recreate findings from all kinds of spatial data, to a near-perfect 3D model, e.g. for public presentation where opening up a site to the public would destroy it, like Pompeii, or the upper paleolithic caves in France and Spain. Not speaking of modelling lava flows to save people from volcanic eruptions, or wave propagation in an ocean basin to warn before high energy phenomena, and all kinds of dynamics of the earth system not only in climate science. Programming courses are just supplements when studying.

                            Like many others, I know the basics of programming and compiling. But I will not learn SCons sticktongue, I am fine with GNU make and cmake. Just to make that clear.

                            A human lifetime is long enough to learn mutliple things at least to a degree to handle them sufficiently well enough, I believe.

                            On a philosophical note, I have no problem with anarchy sensu stricto. We were all like that in 70s :-) Of course it's an illusion just like most political things, and large projects need a structure, or they fail. Anyhow, I'd consider Linux not an anarchy because there is a hierarchy. The kernel is well maintained and supervised.

                            edit: pause is over, I had to re-downaload and compile the engine for 3.4.4 because of discrepancies between the documentation and godot latest, handling of spacial nodes it was what broke the tutorial. I'll be back :-)

                                Nerdzmasterz Is any of this accurate? I keep seeing this video pop up when I'm looking at stuff.

                                Can you spell out in a sentence or two what he's talking about?

                                Pixophir A human lifetime is long enough to learn mutliple things at least to a degree to handle them sufficiently well enough, I believe.

                                This is a debatable question… "Good enough" is a very vague term. And different people have different learning abilities, different living conditions. In our country, for example, people live noticeably less with a lower quality of life than in Europe and the USA.

                                In general, I think you can't judge people who have chosen other interests and pursuits than learning how to compile programs for Linux.

                                    From what I gather, you can do nothing with your PC- which you bought- without the consent of Microsoft.

                                    Virtual machines, the games you play, etc. Microsoft would control your PC remotely. I wonder if that will make them have the power to require their consent to build games?

                                    Either way, if that is all correct...

                                      Nerdzmasterz From what I gather, you can do nothing with your PC- which you bought- without the consent of Microsoft.

                                      Very close, but not quite right yet. For example, Win 11 Home supposedly cannot be activated without an M$ account, but I did. It's just that I was born in a country of totalitarian control, in which all residents learned how to circumvent laws in many different ways. Now all the other countries are pulling up with us on this issue. The point is that this is not a technical question, but a political one - M$ (and Google and others) on what basis do they collect data? And for linux users will be taken up later. Have you read the agreement on cookies? But we are not discussing politics, are we?

                                      What I am saying is that using Linux is not the solution to this problem.

                                        We are not. 🙂 I was just wondering why this video kept popping up.

                                          Nerdzmasterz I was just wondering why this video kept popping up.

                                          Psychology… people are teasing their nerves… I guess.

                                          For too long people have been living quietly and well… they need a thrill… but not as much of a thrill as they are on the outskirts of my country.