cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/16676119

I am seriously considering pulling the trigger on a switch to Linux. Looking for advice and discussion

In terms of hardware, what are some good cost effective resources and what what things might I want to consider differently than what I am used to in both the Mac and Windows worlds? I need smart home management, a plex hub, and photo editing, as well as the usual other stuff.

EDIT: When I say photo editing, I am talking about working with RAW files to optimize the image according to my taste and style. I also make use of software that has good library organization capabilites. In this case, I use CaptureOne. I do not generally do the sort of editing people do in photoshop, putting unicorns in their pictures or whatever people do these days. I’m not opposed to cool creative images or anything, I just don’t go down that route terribly often.

  • MrSoup@lemmy.zip
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    8 months ago

    Linux supports a lot of hardware, the problem rise mostly on wireless cards. Thinkpads should be the most supported, other than linux first laptops. If you are building one, take a look at https://linux-hardware.org (where people uploads probes of their hardware). If you want to save you a headache, avoid nvidia. I never used it, but I’ve read a lot of issues related to it. Maybe someone else here can say more about it.

    For distro choosing, nowaday almost all the biggest distros should be able to do anything. So the choose is about desktop environments (DE). Are you coming from Windows or from Mac?

    If you are coming from Windows, then I would recommend Linux Mint with Cinnamon DE, because:

    • It is based on Debian (so it gets a lot of support)
    • Windows like GUI
    • Good default settings
    • Flatpak preinstalled
    • Good customization

    If you are coming from Mac, then I would recommend Fedora Linux with Gnome DE, because:

    • MacOS like GUI
    • Good default settings
    • Flatpak preinstalled
    • Good customization (thru extensions)

    But on Fedora you should install mesa and codecs from rpmfusion.

    Remember: always prefer the software store to install apps.