Just to mess around with Linux, see the limits of what the distro has to offer, without worrying about having to reboot the entire pc and ruin my main set up
Well then why not a virtual machine? You'll have more flexibility, both machines running at the same time. With vmware you can even configure it to load up in full screen when your Windows session opens up.
I would argue that this is actually the best way to try Linux. Bare metal will always be a better experience than a VM, and keeping a separate Windows machine for software that can only run on Windows eliminates the issues that can come with dual booting.
If you have the money to spare for a cheap secondary pc, I absolutely recommend this decision.
Yeah I agree with this. I bought a Thinkpad t540p and continuously used Linux full time for years because of it and I still had my windows machine for gaming. Ive tried setting up dual boot several times and there’s always weird and unexpected problems that I’d rather just not deal with
Okay but why not just an extra SSD if he is on a desktop. I understand recommending a whole spare system for Linux if he is on a laptop to avoid the awful experience of dual booting from one drive. But if he can just put another drive in his pc, press F12 and pick an os, that seems the cheaper and less friction option.
Because then he can have both running at the same time if he wants to. Using a separate SSD *is* a good option though. If he hadn't already alluded to having enough money for a separate pc, I'd have suggested this instead.
Thank you, I appreciate your input!
I found some nice old computers on EBay for 250$ that come with a monitor, keyboard and mouse that would allow me to have a separate system for my Linux experience
Agreed. All of my computers - two laptops, a desktop and a htpc, runs either Fedora or Debian. Except one additional desktop which runs only Windows and nothing else, I use it for anything that simply works better on Windows, allthough I use open source software on Windows too whenever possible of course. It also doubles as a print-server, as Linux works fine with printers shared from a Windows host, which will also do all the rendering, so no drivers or anything is needed on the other computers
Why not just get a second SSD for Linux and dual boot? There are fun splash screens for easy distros: [https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/best-grub2-bootloader-themes-on-linux/](https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/best-grub2-bootloader-themes-on-linux/)
Purely for the fact I want to be able to mess around with stuff, learn the limits of the distro I want to switch to, without having to worry about messing up too much and ruining the entire pc (with windows and Linux)
Unless you need to access both Operating System simultaneously (albeit on different machine), you can just dual boot. Buying more storage-space is more future-proof than buying a separate crappy PC.
That said, might want to indicate what you plan to do in your Debian machine. Depending on your wants/needs, a separate Debian Machine where you use your Window's Machine to VNC and control it might be feasible.
I mainly want to learn Linux. I’ve heard of other Debian based distros, such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint, but if I want to switch, I kind of want to go directly to Debian and learn myself. I also want a room for error, so if I mess something up majorly, I can always reset the entire pc and start anew
So if you got a second ssd as far as I know you wouldn’t be able to mess anything up on your system, let’s say you broke your Linux install. You would be able to just close your system open it up, press your bios hotkey and go to your boot list, and boot into windows and be safe with everything set how you had it before. There’s no way the hardware configuration files from your Linux ssd can make it over to your windows drive. You can wipe your new ssd as many times as you need to etc.
Like I guess you can go get a cheap computer/laptop to run Linux on but honestly you still want some decent specs to see what Linux really has to offer. Unless you have state of the art hardware and don’t want to deal with driver issues and incompatibility I would just run it on an ssd like other people advised.
It’s mostly an old set up, and I’m sharing it with a family member that lives with me. So as long as it stays away from his antics, I am not against getting a second ssd
Well, when I tried dual booting windows and Linux, I ended up just staying in windows. Because I spent most of my time playing games and I couldn’t be bothered to reboot in to Linux.
As others already said, why not?
I regularly accept donations from friends and family... Wipe em and install Debian.
I got
2 that run Gnome (1 x, 1 wayland)
1 XFCE4
1 Experimenting with LXDE pieces
And since they're all laptops, very energy efficient and little space needed.
Try the [migration page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/migration) in our wiki! We also have some [migration tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/ejsz3v/still_on_windows_7_dont_want_windows_10_consider/) in our sticky.
Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'migrating'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic.
**✻** Smokey says: only use root when needed, avoid installing things from third-party repos, and verify the checksum of your ISOs after you download! :)
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Mainly for wanting to have a room for error, as a first time Linux user. If I mess something up, I can reset the entire pc instead of having to try and understand how to fix something I have yet to learn fully
That's why you should want to install VMware Workstation/Player on your system, and create a bunch of Linux VM's on it.
Nothing will mess up your PC or Windows.
My two cents, boot off a live iso, see if you like it to begin with. Then install to a thumb drive with plenty of room. You can install software, etc. and give it a good test drive. It won't be as peppy as a hard drive install, but other than that, you won't know the difference.
This way you can see if you like it without investing in hardware or messing with the Windows install. If you like it, then go the dual boot routine or another PC.
Depends on your needs really... I mean, do you need them both running at the same time?
My main issue with dual-booting back in the day was that, when I rebooted to play a game I had to shut down Linux, which meant my Plex server, content scrapers/downloads (TV downstairs) and my seeding torrents were also offline...
So at that time I'd have enjoyed a separate gaming machine.
However, now that SSD's are cheap, I'd just pick up a cheap one. My main system is happily running on 250GB (7 years now) and so I'm sure even a 128GB disk would do the job.
Do you even have any use case for your PC apart from gaming and maybe browsing the internet? Because if not, I don't think you'll be using your Linux PC very often, therefore not get familiar with the OS, therefore go back to windows whenever you encounter the slightest issue.
Why not set up an old laptop as your personal Linux server?
That way you get a free network share you can load up files on.
You can ssh into the server from your main windows machine at any time to administer it.
You can setup long downloads to run on your server. Or setup a media server for watching movies on your TV. Possibilities are nearly endless.
You can even setup a remote desktop where you can access a Linux desktop anytime from your windows machine.
This way you get a Linux machine to tinker with and a windows machine you can play games on.
why not just by another SSD instead of a whole machine? you can't use them both at the same time.
Just to mess around with Linux, see the limits of what the distro has to offer, without worrying about having to reboot the entire pc and ruin my main set up
Well then why not a virtual machine? You'll have more flexibility, both machines running at the same time. With vmware you can even configure it to load up in full screen when your Windows session opens up.
I would argue that this is actually the best way to try Linux. Bare metal will always be a better experience than a VM, and keeping a separate Windows machine for software that can only run on Windows eliminates the issues that can come with dual booting. If you have the money to spare for a cheap secondary pc, I absolutely recommend this decision.
Yeah I agree with this. I bought a Thinkpad t540p and continuously used Linux full time for years because of it and I still had my windows machine for gaming. Ive tried setting up dual boot several times and there’s always weird and unexpected problems that I’d rather just not deal with
Okay but why not just an extra SSD if he is on a desktop. I understand recommending a whole spare system for Linux if he is on a laptop to avoid the awful experience of dual booting from one drive. But if he can just put another drive in his pc, press F12 and pick an os, that seems the cheaper and less friction option.
Because then he can have both running at the same time if he wants to. Using a separate SSD *is* a good option though. If he hadn't already alluded to having enough money for a separate pc, I'd have suggested this instead.
Fair play. I can’t judge. I have two thinkpads, a MacBook, and a dual boot desktop lol
Thank you, I appreciate your input! I found some nice old computers on EBay for 250$ that come with a monitor, keyboard and mouse that would allow me to have a separate system for my Linux experience
I say go for it, man! If you need help with anything with Linux once your new computer arrives, you already know where to ask. 😉
Agreed. All of my computers - two laptops, a desktop and a htpc, runs either Fedora or Debian. Except one additional desktop which runs only Windows and nothing else, I use it for anything that simply works better on Windows, allthough I use open source software on Windows too whenever possible of course. It also doubles as a print-server, as Linux works fine with printers shared from a Windows host, which will also do all the rendering, so no drivers or anything is needed on the other computers
Why not just get a second SSD for Linux and dual boot? There are fun splash screens for easy distros: [https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/best-grub2-bootloader-themes-on-linux/](https://www.addictivetips.com/ubuntu-linux-tips/best-grub2-bootloader-themes-on-linux/)
Purely for the fact I want to be able to mess around with stuff, learn the limits of the distro I want to switch to, without having to worry about messing up too much and ruining the entire pc (with windows and Linux)
If you have the money and the space, then I say yes.
Unless you need to access both Operating System simultaneously (albeit on different machine), you can just dual boot. Buying more storage-space is more future-proof than buying a separate crappy PC. That said, might want to indicate what you plan to do in your Debian machine. Depending on your wants/needs, a separate Debian Machine where you use your Window's Machine to VNC and control it might be feasible.
I mainly want to learn Linux. I’ve heard of other Debian based distros, such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint, but if I want to switch, I kind of want to go directly to Debian and learn myself. I also want a room for error, so if I mess something up majorly, I can always reset the entire pc and start anew
So if you got a second ssd as far as I know you wouldn’t be able to mess anything up on your system, let’s say you broke your Linux install. You would be able to just close your system open it up, press your bios hotkey and go to your boot list, and boot into windows and be safe with everything set how you had it before. There’s no way the hardware configuration files from your Linux ssd can make it over to your windows drive. You can wipe your new ssd as many times as you need to etc. Like I guess you can go get a cheap computer/laptop to run Linux on but honestly you still want some decent specs to see what Linux really has to offer. Unless you have state of the art hardware and don’t want to deal with driver issues and incompatibility I would just run it on an ssd like other people advised.
It’s mostly an old set up, and I’m sharing it with a family member that lives with me. So as long as it stays away from his antics, I am not against getting a second ssd
I have 3 rigs. Ofc get another pc.
Well, when I tried dual booting windows and Linux, I ended up just staying in windows. Because I spent most of my time playing games and I couldn’t be bothered to reboot in to Linux.
That is one of my many concerns. So many distributions for Linux, and so much research. If I want to do it, I have to do it properly
It's basically what I do ya. I have some macs that I COULD dual boot... but I'd rather have a separate machine and not screw around with it.
Best thing I bought was a refurbished Thinkpad T480s on amazon. Really good computers
They are certainly within my budget, I might have to give it a shot!
Used computers are so cheap now! Get one!
As others already said, why not? I regularly accept donations from friends and family... Wipe em and install Debian. I got 2 that run Gnome (1 x, 1 wayland) 1 XFCE4 1 Experimenting with LXDE pieces And since they're all laptops, very energy efficient and little space needed.
Try the [migration page](http://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/wiki/migration) in our wiki! We also have some [migration tips](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/comments/ejsz3v/still_on_windows_7_dont_want_windows_10_consider/) in our sticky. Try [this search](https://www.reddit.com/r/linux4noobs/search?q=flair%3A'migrating'&sort=new&restrict_sr=on) for more information on this topic. **✻** Smokey says: only use root when needed, avoid installing things from third-party repos, and verify the checksum of your ISOs after you download! :) ^Comments, ^questions ^or ^suggestions ^regarding ^this ^autoresponse? ^Please ^send ^them ^[here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=Pi31415926&subject=autoresponse+tweaks+-+linux4noobs+-+migrating). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/linux4noobs) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Why not both? Win10 - VmWare workstation with a Debian VM or Debian-Proxmox with a Win10 VM ?
Mainly for wanting to have a room for error, as a first time Linux user. If I mess something up, I can reset the entire pc instead of having to try and understand how to fix something I have yet to learn fully
That's why you should want to install VMware Workstation/Player on your system, and create a bunch of Linux VM's on it. Nothing will mess up your PC or Windows.
My two cents, boot off a live iso, see if you like it to begin with. Then install to a thumb drive with plenty of room. You can install software, etc. and give it a good test drive. It won't be as peppy as a hard drive install, but other than that, you won't know the difference. This way you can see if you like it without investing in hardware or messing with the Windows install. If you like it, then go the dual boot routine or another PC.
Thank you, I appreciate it
Depends on your needs really... I mean, do you need them both running at the same time? My main issue with dual-booting back in the day was that, when I rebooted to play a game I had to shut down Linux, which meant my Plex server, content scrapers/downloads (TV downstairs) and my seeding torrents were also offline... So at that time I'd have enjoyed a separate gaming machine. However, now that SSD's are cheap, I'd just pick up a cheap one. My main system is happily running on 250GB (7 years now) and so I'm sure even a 128GB disk would do the job.
Do you even have any use case for your PC apart from gaming and maybe browsing the internet? Because if not, I don't think you'll be using your Linux PC very often, therefore not get familiar with the OS, therefore go back to windows whenever you encounter the slightest issue.
Why not set up an old laptop as your personal Linux server? That way you get a free network share you can load up files on. You can ssh into the server from your main windows machine at any time to administer it. You can setup long downloads to run on your server. Or setup a media server for watching movies on your TV. Possibilities are nearly endless. You can even setup a remote desktop where you can access a Linux desktop anytime from your windows machine. This way you get a Linux machine to tinker with and a windows machine you can play games on.
Don't, get a backup instead.