Hey guys, I mostly hang around /fit/, and this is my first time posting. I recently got a new laptop for school...

Hey guys, I mostly hang around /fit/, and this is my first time posting. I recently got a new laptop for school, an asus zenbook, and I was wondering if I should opt for gnu/linux instead of windows. So what are some advantages gnu/linux has over windows 10 for a casual user? should I just stick to windows?

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Windows is a botnet
gnu.org/proprietary/malware-microsoft.en.html

Solution? Install Gentoo
gentoo.org

Yes, go with Arch, that will surely /fit/ your needs for school and private life.

Don't come back

...

Ubuntu is probably the easiest Linux distro to set up, and it's great for casual use.

Some advantages are that it isn't a botnet and it gives you availability to tools and programs that just don't exist on wangblows.

...

Ubuntu is the only right answer for a beginner distro. Just because tutorials and guides are usually written with it in mind.

But dont ever use the stock Unity Ubuntu. Go for Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Gnome or Ubuntu Mate.

Ubuntu Mate is the most based if you dont need or want fancy features. Cuatomizable, fast and functional.

If you want cool stuff to impress your friends, use Kubuntu (or Kde Neon - basically the same, also ubuntu)

Hey OP, as you can see, you've only receieved MEME responses. So here's a REAL response!

Look at Ubuntu or Linux Mint, you're going to need some documentation with some "just werks" added. Don't deal with Arch or Gentoo those guys are just faggots who run servers and shit or attempt to rice anime oses.

Ubuntu and Mint are pretty easy to use and easy to find solutions for if you have any problems. Any other debian based distro will do too but those are the two most recommended.

For a casual user, no real advantages.

keep W10 as dual boot if you really want to try linux

don't fully listen to these autistic idiots, most of these fags think they're superior by using linux, BSD or whatever bugshit OS they choose because they're paranoid about the FBI, they use TOR to watch child porn and give everything in their lifes including it's purpose and happiness in exchange to living the myth that they have privacy
The truth is microsoft doesn't spy on you to an extend that you should be worried, if you uncheck those boxes at installation, you're pretty much as safe as a linux/bsd faggot
There's actually no proof that W10 spies on you or that the NSA uses intel ME to know what you're doing and watch you through your webcam

The thing is, even if you're using linux, the NSA can still watch you because of intel ME so why bother buying an old x200 thinkpad and flash it with libreboot if you will lose the ability to run anything on your slow computer?

Not if you want to have a life.

>advantages
It's free?

Also why not dual boot if you're just curious about Linux?

>what is the ellipse tool

not a circle.

This. Everybody says otherwise is a RedHat/Canonical/Linux Foundation Shill.

Do it faggot. It's worth it.

>gnu/linux
it's just linux, you retard

holy shit you can lock the aspect ratio to 1:1 you tard

>"teehee user why don't you just use the circle tool? why so complex? you arent one of those tech nerds right?"

Dual boot
Use GNU/Linux (install Arch) for everything and NSA/Windows for stuff that doesnt work on Linux

>arch
>/fit/

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This. But I strongly suggest you boot it from a Thumb drive for a few days to see if you can do everything you want with Linux. It's great, but not for everyone.

Linux "just werks" far more than Windows; with Linux you never need to worry about any system components being out of date.
Windows is superior for gaming only, Linux is far better for just a Facebook machine.

This, so hard.

If you're /fit/ and you don't give a fuck about video games (which can still be had on linux), then install ubuntu right fucking now.

Set aside some time to understand it, but you'll thank yourself in the long run. I'd reccomend GNOME or Unity, but the latter gets a lot of hate. I see why, but I still use it.

DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO!?

I personally prefer KDE. I know it gets a lot of shit from Sup Forums, but it "just werks" in a way that a lot of people expect.
KDE has had a lot of issues in the past, but more recent iterations have basically fixed all of those problems.

I tried it briefly, got a bad taste and dropped it.

Unity has what I want, and it has the HUD search. It's honestly extremely useful for me.

GNOME has even more extensions than Unity, but lacks the HUD. It's very nice for being productive, though.

i3 is interesting for minimalist installs on laptops, but you definitely have to be an enthusiast to use it. No idea why I mention it.

GNU/Linux*

Linux is just a kernel, mostly used in the GNU operating system.

SystemD/GNU/Linux*
GNU's utilities are less important than SystemD in most modern distros. If you're going to be pedantic like that, include the more important one first.

using linux is supporting communism and pedos. how could you support such vile filth?

gnu.org/gnu/gnu-linux-faq.en.html#many

>include the more important one first.
So GNU, since GNU started the whole thing and c reated the OS in 81, 10 years before Linux (a secondary contributions, just like systemd) was even a thing.

Fair enough. I would recommend that you try it again. It even has a HUD search. And crazy customization.
Not like it matters that much, though; just use whatever you feel like at the end of the day.

stallman don't you have more toe fungus to eat?

>So GNU, since GNU started the whole thing
Alright, I'm willing to concede that far if you're willing to start calling it GNU/SystemD/Linux

That's fine. Better than completly omitting the GNU part and calling the system "Linux" (which is just the kernel).

>GNU started the whole thing and created the OS 10 years before Linux
Right, GNU made the entire operating system except for the tiny part that manages literally every single part of the operating system. Hard for your utilities to be used without a scheduler, isn't it?
Linus did all of the hardest work (work that Stallman repeatedly showed that he was incapable of doing), so he gets the most credit.

Linus wrote 2% of the kernel. Everythign else was written by random people allover the world.

Pure autism. Go lift some weights, neckbeard.

This. It's a really good idea to het rid of the windows 10 spy/adware but don't go with a supernerd os like arch if you just want something that works. Take a look at fedora it's very nice, not a botnet and it "just werks"

Like others and particularly has said, install ubuntu. If you have an 8 gig thumb drive you can pretty easily install ubuntu mate. Ubuntu is easy, ubuntu mate literally has GUI's to install just about everything you'll need versus using a terminal. People joke about how many errors linux has, but installing unbuntu mate is easier than installing windows, except for win10 that'll forcibly rape you.
Never have to worry about it shutting down when it feels like, don't have to worry about as many security threats, it boots pretty fast too.

It isn't even about spyware, it's about the lack of adware, forced updates, and bloat. My laptop runs better with mate than with win10. It takes like 20 minutes to follow a guide and install.

Linux is only good for people who's hobby is fixing linux.

linus is a faggot anyway, people shouldn't care about him. he developed proprietary software before linux and after (and he's still on it shilling nonfree software)
funny somehow that the linux foundations shills the "linux os" with the four freedoms as defined by RMS (without mentioning him) and at the same time, some pages later on their website theyre shilling skype for linux and other crap in order to boost market share

linux is master trolling

This.

you know what they say, old habits, they die hard.

This. My old ASUS N-series laptop takes ~30 minutes to boot into Windows 10 and only 45 seconds (give or take 10 seconds depending on the phase of the moon) to boot into Manjaro KDE. Linux is pretty much objectively better for everything that isn't graphically intensive.

STOP RIGHT THERE

If your Zenbook has higher resolution screen than 1080p DON'T DO IT

Scaling is shit in every gnu+linux

Scaling is shit on Windows as well, though. Only macOS really does it right.

Most people don't know this, but Linux was also proprietary with its first releases. The GPL was added later.

True. But at least it kinda works on windows.

Wait, KDE has HUD search? Since when? Like, like in Unity? Where you search menus?

That shit might have gotten them a new customer.

Honestly this.
I've been distro hopping for years and fedora really is pretty nice and low maintenance.

>Since when?
Not him, but I think Plasma 5 added it. Plasma 5 was a trainwreck on release, but it's on 5.6 now and has fixed pretty much everything.

What about dual boot so you can browse and work safely and when you need to do normie shit like gaming you just go on windows and do it?

Anyway, that's my plan for the future. Right now I have a cheap ass 120GB SSD in which I barely have any space for anything

I was running W10 for a good while, it had been relatively stable with just about every device I would throw at it running out of the box.

But the lack of control over your own environment was off putting, and after browsing through the privacy settings lowest telemetry option being basic was downright creepy as if everyone and their unborn child tracking your browsing habits wasn't enough Microsoft decided to one up everyone to know what you do in your local space as if having one smart phone wasn't enough.

I wonder how many users are jumping ship these days or sticking with W7, only reason to really stick with windows is gaming but considering how much better WINE has become over the years and the growing number of titles releasing with native support along with the possibility of running VM with passthrough it seems quite feasible.

Glad there are some alternatives in the desktop market to circumvent this bullshit but you can't really plug all the vulnerabilities unless you disconnect from the Internet entirely and ditch your mobile.

>But dont ever use the stock Unity Ubuntu

I fail to see the reason for this, care to elaborate? The online search thing was disabled by default in 16.04. I fucking love Unity and it's fast if you have the RAM. I see that some people don't like it and I understand that, but stock Ubuntu is the best OS I have ever used [it helps that I am less into my gaming than I used to be, but for the web/music/libre/basically most other things it's excellent].

What is the most stripped down version with bare essentials requiring minimal upkeep without going balls deep like Arch or Gentoo?

I like the idea of adding what you want and nothing more, but being stuck to unstable releases or spending too much time setting up when migrating to new hardware puts me off immensely.

Sticking with Xubuntu for the time being, seems to fit the bill though I have to get around to customizing it to something comfier, too many irritating little things going on at the moment.

Xubuntu or Lubuntu. But you probably don't need Lubuntu unless your hardware is pretty fucking old.

Thanks, I'll stick with Xubuntu then.