So i really wanted to ditch windows once and for all so i’ve tried Linux for a week trying different distros (debian, manjaro, ubuntu, opensuse, mint) and first of all why? Why are there so many distros out there? What’s the difference between debian + kde and manjaro + kde? They look the same, they work the same. I don’t get it. Also why do things have to be complicated? I’ve installed debian, installed calibre to manage my ebooks, created a library from an existing library on my hard drive (not the one with debian installed), ERROR! All the files are read-only. What??? I’ve followed multiple guides on how to change permissions and finally solved the problem. Now let’s restart my pc. files on the hard drive are read only WHAT??? Fuck debian, let’s go on manjaro. No problems at all on calibre. Managed to create the library as easy as i did on windows. My question is: where’s the fun in this? It’s just problems, after problems, after problems and i didn’t even start gaming. I mean i tried installing retroarch and importing my saves but of course nothing works. Read this guide, read that guide. Nope. Nothing works. Ok, fuck retroarch let’s customize the appearance of my desktop: move some icons on the panel, center this, adjust height, move this on the left, spent 30 minutes tweaking, very nice… kde crashes, all back to default. Let’s download some apps. I want as many apps that i already know as possible. Let’s see if jdownloader is available for linux. Yep there’s one. Nope, not for manjaro (officially). There’s a AUR package available. Nice. What do i need to do to install a AUR package? A wall of text on the wiki, 20 minutes videos, yay. Ok let’s call it a day. Do i need to live another life to make linux work?
First of all, welcome.
Don’t try to install many different distros in a short span unless you are a distro-hopper. Just pick one and do everything on that. Manjaro would cause problems especially if you enable AUR. If you want cutting-edge and still want to use GUI for management, I suggest OpenSUSE Tumbleweed.
For hard disk read-only situation, that happens with NTFS partitions for safety reasons. You can change that with Gnome Disks by setting auto mount and user options. Know that NTFS is a Windows file system and runs on a compatibility system on Linux.
It’s better to start with beginner friendly distros. Some people even settle with one distro and use it without changing ever. Unless you want to discover under-the-hood features, most distros will look the same.
Also, things work differently on Linux. Once you get used to them, you’ll find them more straightforward comparing to Windows. However, getting used to them might be a challenge for some people. Get ready to read Wikis.
Don’t be hasty. Continue to use Windows until you feel ready while creating your ideal workspace.
Go for functionality before starting customization anything, you can do that anytime.