So I’m building a new computer before the end of the year and lemmy is obviously pushing me towards Linux.

I am not computer savvy, I have a family member that will help me set up my PC, but I do not want to be calling/messaging them every day when I want to open a program.

Basically my question comes down to: can I operate a Linux PC these days without needing to troubleshoot or type code.

I use my computer about once a week for a few hours I would say, so any time spent troubleshooting is time wasted.

Thanks!

EDIT: since a lot of people are asking what programs I typically use, I’ll just list my most used programs.

Word, Excel, ect(I’m fine with alternatives)

Spotify

Gimp (would have been a make or break, so I’m glad it’s supported)

Brave browser (browser is a browser)

Steam

Discord

I would say that while I could figure out how the kernels work, I’m at a point with computers these days where I don’t have the time. My priorities fall with a seamless daily experience. If I have the time to figure something out I can, but ideally my day to day usage being unbotherd is what I’m after.

A lot of the comments so far have been helpful! I’m definitely going to give Linux a fair shot with my new build, probably start with Mint.

  • @elxeno@lemm.ee
    6•9 months ago

    Mint should be pretty easy to get used to, solid choice IMO, as for the programs

    Word, Excel, ect(I’m fine with alternatives)

    If you’re fine with libreoffice, no problems

    Spotify

    Don’t know.

    Gimp (would have been a make or break, so I’m glad it’s supported)

    No problems

    Brave browser (browser is a browser)

    Not sure if there’s a flatpak, U might need to add a PPA, but it’s just a one time copy/paste a few commands.

    Steam

    Works fine, but some games might not run or require some tinkering, check games u play on protondb.com

    Discord

    It’s a bit annoying because they require u to have the latest version all the time, it won’t auto update, and the package might take a while to update, so u either download and update manually every time (it will be a different install than the flatpak package) or use the web version, peraonally i just run a script to download and extract the tar.gz version when there’s an update.

      • @elxeno@lemm.ee
        5•9 months ago

        Sure

        #!/bin/bash
DIRNAME=$(dirname -- "$( readlink -f -- "$0"; )");
cd "$DIRNAME"
wget -O discord.tar.gz 'https://discord.com/api/download/stable?platform=linux&format=tar.gz' && tar xvf discord.tar.gz && rm discord.tar.gz

        Edit: DIRNAME is just to find the script location and download/extract there, in case u call the script from somewhere else