Hey all. I need to move to linux. Like, yesterday. Last month even.

As a quick explanation to the non-techy people reading my blog: Linux is a type of operating system, “competing” with Windows and MacOS. Whenever Microsoft or Apple shit the bed for one reason or another, people once more hear the siren call of the third, niche, hip kid on the block - Linux. It’s free, it’s customizeable, it’s all you want.

But it’s not easy. Linux isn’t managed by one guy, nor is it a single operating system. It’s a collective name for a cacophany of different operating systems with different end users and features. A few examples include:

• Ubuntu, the “standard” linux distro which does everything and is the most popular.
• Mint, the new kid on the block which just works out of the box and is aiming for Ubuntu’s crown.
• Arch, an operating system so barebones it doesn’t even include a window manager. (You know how you move windows on your computer around when you’re working? Putting stuff on fullscreen and all? Yeah, in arch you need to download that yourself.)
• Nyarch, arch but it comes preinstalled with programs that let you download anime girls from the internet with ease.
• Suicide, which deletes your entire computer if you make a typo once.
• Hannah Montana, which… which is hannah montana themed.
• and Kali, which is used by people who wish they were hackers.

And these are just the ones I could write an entire sentence about. There are SO many others to pick from: EndeavorOS, PopOS, Tumbleweed, xubuntu, lubuntu, SteamOS,Fedora, you see the fuckin’ problem.

I will probably be going with mint because everyone’s saying it’s one that just works and you don’t need to fuck around with too much, so that seems like a good starting point. But even still, the feeling of FOMO is everpresent and headache inducing. Windows and MacOS try to limit what you can do to the operating system to make sure morons don’t accidentally turn their computer into a big expensive brick. Linux doesn’t do that; you want to change how the windows look? the basic font? the boot-up sequence? You want to delete the operating system? Aye aye cap’n, it’s your computer. It’s cool, but it’s also terrifying.

I installed a version of mint on a USB, so I can try it for a bit before making the big jump. That USB has been sitting in my closet for about two months now, collecting the appropriate amount of dust. I should make the jump, but I’d need to go through my drives and clean them up, I’d need to download them again on linux, I’d need to make sure everything works, and fix all the drivers… uuuughhhhhh.

I know I need to do it, especially because my computer is running out of memory and I’ve been wanting to buy a new SSD anyways, so I figured if I get a new one, I’ll install linux on it to make the transition as easy as can be. There’s always something else to do: work, hobbies, projects, uni, there’s never an appropriate time to make the jump, there’s always something else that needs to be done.

But I really fucking need to.