I’m over 50 and all I know about Linux is it’s mascot is a penguin and I think it has something to do with programming. But I’m trying to learn, do new things, and reinvent myself. Where/how should I go about learning? Or at this stage, should I even bother? I do want to learn, tho
Hi, I’m over 65 and I’ve just dumped Win and MacOS for Linux Mint Cinnamon. Not ever going back. So, yes you should bother definitely. As other posts says, decide on a distro, find the relevant forum, join and ask questions. I tried Mint Cinnamon, XFCE, and also Gnome. The Mints are most like Windows, Gnome is a bit different. My point is once you’ve got your head round doing the SHA256 checksum malarkey and installed it, check it out, install what you need. If it runs it great. Or try a few, it’s a great thing to learn. Personally, I find it’s fantastic to get away from the tricks and all round ensh*ttification of the Win/Mac worlds. As Nike say ‘Just Do It’. 😁
On top of what was already said: Try to fix problems. Even if you see no other option than to reinstall. See it as a leaening opportunity. Over time you’ll start to recognise commands and names and how things interact with each other.
I’d also recommend you avoid AI. It likes to go into the wrong direction and break stuff. Use distros’ forums instead. People there are super eager ro help and will try their best.
Lastly, install linux on a real device and try to force yourself to use it.
Thank you all for your help! You guys are the best!
check out the “virtualbox” guide on this site: https://itsfoss.com/install-linux-in-virtualbox/
it basically teaches you how to install/run linux inside a “simulated computer” on your computer, so you dont break anything important
seems to be decent and i couldnt spot any obvious errors in the guide
This is awesome! I recommend downloading virtual box and trying out some different Linux flavors. I highly recommend a flavor called “Fedora”. Each Linux distro (short for distribution) comes with a “desktop environment” which is basically the look and feel.
If you’re coming from Windows, I recommend Fedora Cinnamon https://fedoraproject.org/spins/cinnamon/
You can always change the desktop environment later with some shell commands, but for now, just learn how Linux does things.
You can use an AI chatbot to ask questions or to learn, but Linux has a MASSIVE community out there. Try doing some web searches to figure things out, and use AI to dive deeper.
If you have any questions, I’m happy to answer in this thread!
I think that’s awesome that you’re trying to learn.
Linux only indirectly has to do with programming. Linux is an operating system, like MacOS or Windows. An operating system is basically everything on your PC that’s not the apps, so the desktop, task bar, start menu, settings menu, … are all part of it. And of course a lot of stuff you cannot see because apps need a lot of ground work to function properly.
First let me say, you should bother. No matter if it clicks for you or it doesn’t, trying something new is always a good idea.
If you want to get into Linux, you can install it instead of windows / MacOS on one of your devices. Make sure to backup all your files beforehand of course. Then you download an ISO from a Linux distribution (the flavour of Linux you want). if you just want something that works, Linux mint is one of the most straightforward ones. You download a “.iso” for that. Then you use a tool like “Rufus” and a USB stick, and put your iso file on that USB stick. After that, you plug that into the PC you wanna put Linux on, reboot, and look for the USB stick in the boot menu (different on every PC). And then you will be guided through the installation of Linux mint. After that you should be done and when the PC shows your new Linux mint desktop, you are done and you can unplug your USB stick. So much for Linux.
Getting into programming is a little bit less of a process, and more logic puzzles to understand how code works. I would recommend you look at an easier language, for example python, learn the basics of that and then set your sails on an intermediate project. For example a Webserver can be a cool one.
I know Lemmy hates AIs but I also gotta mention every time you wanna learn something, ask AI all the small questions. I personally like the free Claude AI; especially when you start out with a new hobby an AI will be helpful 99% of the time.
But most of all, do it for fun, stop when it’s too frustrating, just keep going and stick to it for a while, everything else comes with time. You’ll quickly see if this is interesting to you or not, and I hope it is :)
Just to clarify op, it’s not just Lemmy that hates ai, most people do, and for very good reasons. Don’t get tricked, you can do a search on the Web for the small things with your hobby, you don’t need a robot misinforming you.
I think the other comments mean well, but are perhaps already too technical given that your current knowledge is “it’s mascot is a penguin and I think it has something to do with programming.”
Linux is an operating system (OS) on computers. OS’s are what allow you to actually use it. Most computers come with Windows, which gives you a taskbar, a start menu, and several programmes that you can use like Edge to browse the internet, Paint for basic image manipulation, etc. Of course, you can download more software from the internet to use on your OS.
Another well-known OS is Mac, the OS that apple computers and laptops use. As you may know, it looks and works somewhat differently from Windows, but it has the same basics with a taskbar (though it might have a different name, idk because I don’t use Mac), Safari to browse the internet, etc.
Linux is, like Mac and Windows, an OS. But there are some major differences. Mac and Windows are developed by a single entity, Apple and Microsoft respectively. This means you have very little difference between systems developed by them. Sure Windows 7 and 11 look very different, but actually using them is very similar. Also, (almost) everything that is included in the OS is developed by their respective companies. Linux, in contrast, is highly modular. The kernel (the OS’s bedrock) is developed by a single, open source project, but that does not give you a full OS. There are many different projects that combine other software to build a full desktop OS. These are called distributions, or “distro’s” for short. They can give you a familliar taskbar, desktop icons, and base software to navigate the internet and your files. But they may also take a wildly different approach! I’ll leave those for you to discover if Linux intrigues you ;)
Anyway, Linux is often associated with programming because it is much more cusomizable than Windows and Mac. Programmers often like tweaking things to their liking, which is why they are more likely to be interested in Linux. However, you don’t necessarily need to know how to code in order to use Linux (though, if you want to learn, Linux had a lot of good tools). My mother is in her 60’s and I’ve set up Linux for her on her laptop. We set it up to her liking, verified that the printer worked, and she’s been using it since with no issue.
To add some final remarks: Linux is not developed by a massive corporation. It is the biggest open-source project in the world! This means that anyone who wishes can see the code of the OS - so anyone can verify that they are not spying on you or stealing your data. It is also free to use for everyone (with some Enterprise exceptions).
In essence, Linux offers you a different way of using your computer, free of charge! If you would like to try technical things, it’s a great place to start. I would recommend trying out a dual-boot (meaning you have both Linux and Windows installed) to see if you like it. As for distribution recommendations: Linux Mint and Fedora (KDE edition) are highly recommended for beginners and professionals alike! ZorinOS is also often touted as a great introduction for people used to Windows.
Finally, should you even bother? Well, I don’t know what it’s like being 50, but personally I’m not convinced that an old dog cannot learn new tricks. Best of luck!
GNU/Linux is an OS Kernel on which many many different operating systems (called distributions) are built.
It’s quite a bit easier to think of Linux as a family of operating systems, though. Are you thinking of getting into using Linux? I would recommend checking out Linux Mint as a beginner friendly distro with a familiar interface.
- Get linux distribution image of your choise
- get a USB-stick
- get a new SSD-drive
- write the image on a USB-stick
- detach the old windows drive (for now)
- install the new SSD-drive on another slot
- put the USB-stick in a USB port
- set your UEFI/BIOS to boot first from a USB drive
- boot in to the installer or “live environment” (depends on the distro)
- install Linux on the new SSD-drive (quite strait forward process)
- system reboots after install, so remove the USB-stick before it starts up again.
- check that it successfully boots in to a desktop environment.
- at some point reattach your Windows SSD-drive back and go to the UEFI/BIOS and set your Linux SSD-drive as the primary boot drive
- after that you learn as you go, which means shitload of googling and registering to the relevant forums.
- if you use AI instead of googling, tell it everything about your distro including kernel and distro versions. Be very careful running any commands you don’t understand.
Good Luck
YouTube is probably your best bet. Then expand from there depending on what grabs ya
Linux (/ˈlɪnʊks/ LIN-uuks)[16] is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel,[17] a kernel first released on 17 September 1991, by Linus Torvalds.[18][19] Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution (a.k.a distro), which includes the kernel and supporting system software and libraries – most of which are provided by third parties – to create a complete operating system. Linux was originally designed as a clone of Unix and is released under the copyleft GPL license.[20]
