Questions about switching to Linux - eviltoast

My objective is to ditch windows & utilize my triple monitor desktop as a cockpit style dashboard for my homeserver & lan devices along with always open widgets like music, calculator, etc.

There was another post yesterday about this and the community recommended Mint & Pop OS the most. However, I am not looking for windows-like. I want a new & fresh experience like using a smartphone for the first time or switching from ios to android.

Distrochooser.de recommended kubuntu to me.

So I have some questions:

  1. What are the building blocks of a distro? Things that separate distros from each other. Like I know 2 - Desktop Env & Package Managers. Are there others, what are they or where do I find a list? I would like to compare these blocks and make it a shopping experience and then pick the distro that matches my list. Is this approach even valid?

  2. How do I find and compare whats missing from which distro? For eg. if I install mint, what would I be potentially missing out that may be a feature on another distro? How do I go about finding these things?

  3. What are some programs/ widgets/ others that are must haves for you? For eg. some particular task manager

  4. What are the first steps after installing linux? For eg. In Windows, its drivers, then debloat and then install programs like vlc, rar, etc.

  5. I read on some post, a user was saying that they want to avoid installing qt libraries. Why would someone potentially want that? I have never thought of my computer in such terms. I have always installed whatever whenever. The comment stuck with me. Is this something I should be concerned about?

  6. Should I not worry about all of the above and just pick from mint, pop and kubuntu?

    • Zeon@lemmy.world
      1·
      10 months ago

      How? It’s gotten so much easier to install and literally all you have to do is click Continue during the install process.

      • Lunya \ she/it@iusearchlinux.fyi
        1·
        10 months ago
        1. Beginners will likely expect to get the newest updates to their software, which is famously not a thing in Debian.
        2. When I tried to install Debian for the first time (with only knowledge from using Windows), I had no idea what like half of the words in the installer meant.
        • Zeon@lemmy.world
          1·
          10 months ago

          Well, that’s debatable too because if your going to put a new user on a rolling-release distro, something will probably break and they’ll have to fix that. Debian is great for this because it provides stability over having the latest and greatest tools. In my own opinion, Debian was the best choice for me as a newcomer because it just worked. (I use it as my daily still)

          I do agree with your second point though, there should be descriptions in the installer describing words like ‘GRUB’ or ‘GNOME’, I already asked one of the Debian developers about this, they said there is just not enough room in the installer. People also have AI at their fingertips now, so it will get better later on.

      • yianiris@kafeneio.social
        0·
        10 months ago

        Partitioning among other things, the choice of efi/bios gpt/mbr, bootloader and its location, choice of filesystems, is dangerous to someone who has only win10 experience. Also the mindset of stop being a user and become a sys-admin is also foreign to windows users with MS dominating the role of sys-admin.

        @Zeon @backhdlp
        #linux #windows #unix #BSD

        • Zeon@lemmy.world
          1·
          10 months ago

          You don’t have to manually set partitions, you can just choose to keep everything in one partition if you’d like.