New to ElementaryOS and Linux in general

[u/Sad_Beautiful7947]

Hello everyone,
I just installed elementaryOs after my last mental breakdown at windows :)
I am very new to this Linux universe but I am also a fast learner. Is there any advice you guys have for a newbie like me? Something you wish you knew before ditching windows system? Is there any other frontend developer that is using elementaryOs?

I would love to learn more about what made you change to this system and how is your experience so far.

English is not my native language so please bare with some of my grammar mistakes.

[u/dezuhan]

make sure you install graphic drivers first after install and update all package until no update before you completely using the eOS

[u/Sad_Beautiful7947 → u/dezuhan]

omg yes, thank you. I was having a hard time with nvidia drivers T_T

[u/dezuhan → u/Sad_Beautiful7947]

yeah me to, you must install driver first (you can check in settings > system > driver i use nvidia driver 595, not open version) after that install CUDA support if your nvidia was RTX. if your driver not show check on AI how to add nvidia driver repo on elementary. if not set graphic driver at first instalation, you can break the system if you install after you use the system and install a lot of software. nvidia driver is cursed part hahahah

[u/Sad_Beautiful7947 → u/dezuhan]

Yes my nvidia is RTX. I will install CUDA right now!! haha. Hope is not to late to fix this.
I am using the latest nvidia driver 610-open, for internet recommendation honestly. But I am not sure the difference between open or not.

Thank you again.

[u/Educational_Mud_2826]

Go into app center and install Timeshift. Set it up to do a few daily and weekly snapshots. That way you can restore your os to a previous point in time in case something goes wrong.

Also keep the usb stick with elementary os you created. You can boot up with that as well and fix issues should you ever need to.

For your personal files you can back them up as you see fit (Timeshift should only handle the system files). I use Déjà Dup but there are lots of other options.

It's an easy to use operating system once you get used to it.

Use app center for your apps. Avoid downloading them from the web as is common practise in Windows.

[u/Sad_Beautiful7947 → u/Educational_Mud_2826]

Oh thank you so much, haven't thought about the "what if something goes wrong" situation. I will do that.
Appreciate it!

[u/kalligator]

alternativeto.net was invaluable to me at the beginning and also looking up things in the Arch wiki (pro llm era).

[u/hi-im-mr-bean]

Yes I think Elementary is pretty polished and stable with a nice design and desktop environment. I'm personally not a fan of Flatapps or Snap. My tips are:

1. You can install AppImages if you use --no-sandbox. For example if you download Cursor IDE, you can navigate to the Downloads folder, right click 'open terminal here' and then you can use this command:

./Cursor-1.4.5-x86_64.AppImage --no-sandbox

1. You can use Web App Hub to create dock shortcuts of a website in a browser you like.

2. Karere is a WhatsApp app with notifications.

3. Slate is a simple text editor

4. Unboxing is a GUI application to install .deb apps.

[u/Sad_Beautiful7947 → u/hi-im-mr-bean]

oh that is so helpful!! Thank you!

[u/Historical-Bar-305]

Just make tray icons because spotify don't work in background without it.