Installing Linux The 'Right' Way

Tired of Distro Hopping? Or looking for that perfect distribution? This is my guide on how I install Linux without downloading 100s of different installers. This can be applied to any major Linux install.

Timestamps:
00:00 Who should NOT do this!
01:50 How to Download
03:38 Making a Installation Drive
04:18 Install Process
07:20 Decide what your install will look like
10:00 First Boot Configuration
13:30 Making things faster and changing packages to be newer
16:20 Debloating your install .

[gabood]

For anyone who can’t find the weekly builds folder, you have to go back to the root directory and it’s right at the bottom. They moved it since this video was made

[gdnoob]

Debian updated their website June 2023 :P
"UPDATE 10 Jun 2023: As of Debian 12 (Bookworm), firmware is included in the normal Debian installer images. USERS NO LONGER NEED TO LOOK FOR SPECIAL VERSIONS HERE."

[FirstnameLastname-wedh]

If you choose to install the desktop environment from within the install menu you'll get a very heavy version with a lot of bloatware like games. If you want a minimal desktop with the core utilities like your file manager, a video player etc you can do that by installing the core version of a desktop environment. As an example you can do that with gnome by just installing gnome-core trough the terminal by yourself.

[gxtarer]

That Debian download is so confusing & complicated if you're a beginner. If i first started learning about linux, i'd be so confused as well.

[hakunamatata]

5:22 you skipped one of the most important part.
When installing Linux, you should always use the manual method and have the partition /home separated.
That way, no matter what happens with the system like you did something silly and need to reinstall it, your files will always be there.
The next time you repeat the same process and uncheck "format", that will make the system to mount /home as it is or in another word, you can always reinstall Linux without loosing one single file.
To avoid any conflict tho, I always do a: rm -rf /home/USER/.*
That cleans your user partition to receive the new system being installed. If you are installing exactly the same version, you can skip that.

[rcbrush]

This is a nicely done, useful video for those who have distro hopped for years but never found satisfaction. Debian is a rock solid starting point from which to further refine. Thank you for taking the time to show how possible this is for enthusiasts.

[ProjectKneepads]

Probably the most useful thing I've learned about Linux that has helped prevent distro hopping is that a distribution is simply a collection of packages.

Literally. Just a collection.

(I run Debian stable because it moves slowly.)

[julianstephen]

Much love Chris...as a relatively new user its nice to have a breakdown of this "whole installing the base" side of things...makes things so much easier....truly appreciated this content...Loving these new vids

[ChrisTitusTech]

Also many are mentioning this does install a good bit a bloat with games and other programs. You can just install the base system without the desktop environment. Then install the desktop environment manually, or use 'tasksel' to install a more limited program selection. I like this method the best, but didn't feel like it would be a great jumping off point from those that just moved from downloading ISOs of distros since they won't know the package names.
I'll follow this video up with this more "advanced" method and a cheat sheet of all the DE packages that would be more beneficial than these stock package installs.

[donaldmickunas]

Hey Chris,

FYI…allowing the installer to install the DE will result in every recommended application for every application to be installed. For maximum control, deselect everything in the DE menu. This will give you a truly base install similar to Arch. This is the Debian I love. Doing this eliminates much of the dependency hell associated with the DEs otherwise. For example, sudo is not tied to the DE doing it my way. Otherwise, uninstalling sudo will wipe out the DE. Try it. You’ll like it. ;-)

[NebRadojkovic]

Chris, I really enjoy watching your videos. I always learn something new and I also have a few laughs, and that is always a good thing. Cheers!

[RandyHanley]

You're not kidding about the download being the hardest part! I've never tried this method, so this video is (of course) great. Thanks Chris!

[tylerdurden]

Literally can't even follow this video anymore, as Debian download page is COMPLETELY different now, and I don't know where to go HAHA!

[KennethJames]

A few months ago I had one of my crazy ideas to mix things up. I generally use my Dell/Windows laptop for tax season. I have an older MacBook Pro 2011 that I really enjoy using for work. Over the past couple of months I have noticed that none of the software I use was getting current updates; Microsoft, Adobe, Zoom, etc. I decided to upgrade the hard drive to a non-Mac hard drive. I ended up installing Elementary OS 6 to see how things go. Since installing Elementary OS 6, ; my MacBook has been brought back to life. I am back to using my MacBook Pro as a daily driver for work.

[nathanmiddleton]

Real solid suggestion. This is honestly the best "install Linux what should I do?" answer seen in awhile from my perspective. Debian has always been a good solid distribution, which is why so many others are based on it. The console installation method is flexible and has been around long enough to not break and there are no "gotchas" as you explained.

Thank you for a sane and level-headed non-partisan recommendation.

[adamduvick]

From the Debian site:
UPDATE 10 Jun 2023: As of Debian 12 (Bookworm), firmware is included in the normal Debian installer images. USERS NO LONGER NEED TO LOOK FOR SPECIAL VERSIONS HERE.

[muddyexport]

I did a bunch of distro hopping starting out with Linux until I figured out you can make whatever you want from any base. Your videos (and others) have been an invaluable resource.
Finally, for me, I did the opposite, that you mentioned towards the last of this vid, by first installing Linux Mint, testing the installed apps, keeping what I liked, subtracting what I didn't and the obvious the bloat, then adding the packages with which I wanted to learn.
Bottom line:
Thank you so much!

[rabid]

I'm really enjoying your series so far on this. It's encouraging me to re-visit and re-learn what I've used to get by. I think I really want to learn about booting from ramdisk and building my own version of what unraid does (with qemu/kvm, zfs, etc of course). If you have any knowledge to drop on us about boot to ramdisk I'd be all over that type of content.

[psz]

I highly recommend Ventoy to any distro hoppers out there, as an alternative to etcher or rufus. You create the bootable drive once with it, and after that you just copy whatever ISOs you want to the drive (yes, one or more!), and it will create a nice menu for you to pick which ISO you want to boot from

[davidwright]

I installed debian testing on my VM per the instructions provided on this post. This distro ran flawlessly for 3 months till the linux kernel was migrated to 6.0. Bookworm would boot up but the videos would not load. I kept up with the weekly updates and lo and behold after 1 or 2 weeks the last update added the codex and audio packages. The distro was back to its old self. This has been a valuable learning lesson. Thank you Chris!!!