Don't make these 7 mistakes when you're starting out on Linux!

Today, we're going to cover a few mistakes that people make when moving to Linux for the first time. You're all happy about making the switch, you want to do everything at once, discover this whole new world of computing, and then you ruin it all by making THESE beginner mistakes.

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00:00 Intro
01:33 Thinking Linux is Windows/macOS
03:29 Getting stuck on distros
05:27 Getting stuck on defaults
7:08 Not using the Live USB
08:20 Expecting previous software to work
09:56 Following CLI tutorials without thinking
11:34 Giving up too easily

## Trying to apply existing concepts to Linux

The first mistake that people make is generally trying to apply concepts from other operating systems to their Linux experience.

All of these pre-existing concepts are different on Linux: if you're moving to another system, you have to be willing to accept that things don't work in the exact same way, and be willing to learn how things work. Your pre-existing knowledge won't be totally useless, but it won't immediately give you superpowers.

## Getting stuck on distros instead of desktops

The second mistake people make is getting hung up on distributions. A distribution is just a specific way to package a kernel, some system tools, some programs, and a desktop. While distributions will serve different purposes, what users ultimately tend to settle on is a look and feel, and that has nothing to do with the distro.

What users should really look for, is desktop environments: if you find that a distribution looks really pleasing to the eye, find out what desktop environment it uses: KDE, GNOME, Pantheon, Cinnamon, XFCE...

Then, you pick a distro that's beginner friendly, like Linux Mint, Kubuntu, Zorin OS, or Fedora, and you install the desktop environment that you want, and you change the theme and layout to match what you liked.

### Thinking you're stuck with the defaults

This goes nicely with mistake number 3.
I often get comments from people telling me "I used distribution X", or "I used this desktop", but then I couldn't do THAT thing, and so I installed another distribution.

That all comes from the fact that proprietary OSes that people are used to, generally aren't customizable out of the box: you're pretty much stuck with the default, unless you're willing to use third party tools.

### Installing without testing

The 4th mistake beginners make is installing Linux without trying it out. There is a reason why Linux has Live-USB sessions: you can use them to try and make sure that all your peripherals and all your computer's components work well.

### Trying to stick to your programs

5the mistake is expecting to keep all your programs. Linux doesn't run windows or mac applications. It can run some windows apps, with Wine, but it's hit or miss, apart from a lot of Games, these tend to work really well.

### Following command line tutorials blindly

The 6th mistake people generally make is following tutorials online, blindly, without trying to understand what they do.
Most tutorials for Linux are written using the command line, even though you could do the same thing graphically in most cases. This is for convenience purposes, for the tutorial's writer, so they don't have to make graphical tutorials for every desktop environment there is.

As practical as it may be for the tutorial's writer, it also means that beginners will just blindly copy/paste terminal commands without understanding what they do.

When you're thinking about following a tutorial, try and look up the commands, and see what they actually do to your system.

[TheLinuxEXP]

CHANNEL IS BACK! Leave me a day or two to get my bearings and I'll treat you to a non destructive livestream with some explanations and some thanks for all the amazing people who helped <3

[SuprousOxide]

For anyone interested in learning Linux, I would suggest setting up dual boot. Then you always have the option to switch back to Windows if you can't figure out something and you can't spend more time figuring it out right now

[juanignacioaschura]

The "Giving Up Too Easily" mistake is so relatable. Reminds me of when I struggled with Debian XFCE or CentOS in the workplace three years ago. Ended up taking a day off to read some documentation, tried again to administrate the workstations that were up and months later I was the Linux SME at the IT department. When I left, they had CentOS equipment and no one up to the task of maintaining it. Oh well, I wasn't worth USD2400 a year.

[remigoldbach]

So happy the channel is back !
You deserve all the success !!

[chrisradtke]

Welcome back man! I was worried, starting to really hate YouTube, but I'm glad you got it straightened out.

[michaelc]

IMO, the major core difference between distros is the Package Manager:
Arch: Pacman
Debian: APT
Fedora: RPM (my personal favourite)

I found this the first major deciding factor in which distro to choose, because it affects so much: how many packages you have access to, how up to date are those packages, the documentation/support, are they official or community repos, etc.

Yes, I know there are flatpaks but still the package manager is super important to user experience, and I find it gets glossed over so often.

[danieldiaz]

Funny story, I got into Ubuntu when I discovered Linux and got so accustomed to the “unity” layout, that I had to “customize” the laptop I was given at work running windows by moving the taskbar to the left of the screen because the muscle memory would keep me looking that part of the screen for my apps. Great to see the channel back!

[carpandrei]

You are back!! Man, I am so glad! YouTube and the Linux community is just not the same without you!

[kote]

I completely agree with the essence of the first mistake. When switching to other OS, people often try to do the same things in the same way, but it doesn't work that way on a completely different system. In fact, this also happens when people switch from Linux to Windows. But this just happens not so often.

As for the change of distributions due to the appearance - a controversial issue. In theory, I can install debian and make it look and feel like ubuntu or manjaro. But it will take so much time and effort that it’s easier for me to completely reinstall the system. Any system can be customized to suit your preferences, but sometimes it makes no sense to do this, since most likely there already exist a distro configured that way.

Another beginner mistake is using unpopular distributions. Their repositories often lack the required software packages. They also contain many bugs that cannot be fixed due to the lack of developers. It is difficult to fix such problems on your own due to the fact that there are no ready-made instructions, and instructions written for other distributions often do not work (you already mentioned that).

[TechnoBoomer]

Thanks for the video. I would add another tip : if you have the opportunity to use a new machine, consider a brand that officially support Linux (i.e.Lenovo or Dell). You'll minimize hardware compatibility problems.

[botarnav]

Step 1: Installing arch while u strrugle with ubuntu

[altrogeruvah]

So happy you're back! I don't think highly of Youtube's capacity to be a respectable or even a likeable platform, but at least I'm glad you got stuff sorted out.

[doomnationalist]

I was so relieved when the channel came back, one of the few channels that stays as unbiased as possible.

[rnd]

Glad to see you're back!
This might be a somewhat unpopular opinion here but I'd also add completely uninstalling the previous OS to the list. There's no shame in dual booting and using Windows in areas where it's just easier to use than Linux (gaming for example). It's also good to have a backup option in case something breaks and you don't have time to fix it immediately. Plus it makes switching back to only using Windows a lot easier if you notice that you actually don't want to make the switch to Linux after trying it for some time

[GimblyGFR]

Man, it is great to have your channel back. Yours is my favorite Linux content on YouTube. Your perspective on the Linux community and ecosystem is refreshing and very realistic. On the video subject, you are 100% right, specially on the "giving up too easily" part. Linux takes time and work, but in the end is totally worth it.

[SnowyRVulpix]

I disagree with point two. While you are mostly right, i think a distro is more than just the software. A distro is the philosophy, community and team behind it. Best example of this is Mint’s stance against snap packages.

[VoidlessOne]

I can't believe you got punished for doing something good, I'm glad you're back!

[SteveWiFi]

I generally think a lot of people have a lack of patience these days and trying to encourage people to stick at it and work through the issues can be really difficult.

I appreciate you encouraging people to stick at it, because I think it's sorely lacking in the community at times.

[kalmonsalmon]

Nick, i am so glad your channel is back, and this quickly too! The community stepped up and it's so good to see see one of my favourite content creators get the treatment he deserves!

[drmaxhattan]

Glad this ended well and to see your channel back, you're special to the Linux Community, keep up your awesome work Nick.