Is It a Good Idea to Use Linux for Personal Use?

What is Linux?

Most of the readers here would already be familiar with the word “Linux” even if their knowledge about this great invention is rudimentary. Linux is often mistaken to be an operating system which it is not. Linux, in its nature, is an open-source kernel. The kernel is a part of the operating system, and it is the most crucial. When the Linux kernel is packaged into a distribution or popularly called a “distro,” it becomes an operating system.

A brief history of Linux

A Finnish student Linus Torvalds created Linux because of his personal project which began in 1991. His motto was to create a new free operating system kernel. The project was a success and was adopted by many organizations and businesses to make their own Linux-based operating systems.

Linux Distribution/Distro

A Linux distro is a proper OS (operating system as it contains the tools required to manage all the applications and acts as an interface for the user to interact with the hardware of the computer. There are countless distros available on the internet to download and each of them targets a certain section of computer users. For instance, Ubuntu Desktop is a Linux distro that is made specifically for personal and office computers due to its user-friendliness and easy setup.

My personal selection of Linux distros

Ubuntu Desktop

Zorin OS

Elementary OS

Linux Mint Cinnamon

If you want to see the list of most popular Linux operating systems currently then you can go to DistroWatch and look there.

Linux Ecosystem

Due to the nature of Linux and its distros being open source, there are plenty of native Linux applications which are community-operated, and some even are maintained by private companies. For instance, GIMP is a free and open-source raster graphics editor which has capabilities like Photoshop.

Must Install Linux applications

VLC player

GIMP

Krita

Kdenlive

Native Linux alternatives of popular Windows software

Photoshop - GIMP

Illustrator – Inkscape

Microsoft Office – LibreOffice

But can it run .exe?

Even though most popular Windows applications have their native Linux applications. However, there are exceptions and a majority of these come from less popular Windows programs. Let’s say there is a Windows application that your organization uses that you need to use urgently on Linux, well there is a way to run .exe on Linux. To run a .exe application on Linux, you need to have “Wine” installed on your Linux distro. Wine is a compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows programs on Linux.

How to install and use wine?

Almost every Linux distro has Wine preinstalled in their package repository. In this guide, Wine will be installed on Ubuntu as a reference, however, these commands will also work in other distros that are based on Ubuntu. If you are using any other distro then check on the web if your distro is based on Ubuntu, if it is then follow this guide.

Open the terminal in Ubuntu
Copy the commands, paste them, and run them on the terminal.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install wine
sudo dpkg –add-architecture i386

The last command will allow you to run 32-bit Windows applications on your Linux distro and is hence optional.

What is the terminal?
Terminals, also known as command lines or consoles, allow us to accomplish and automate tasks on a computer without the use of a graphical user interface. It is also sometimes the most efficient way to do things on Linux.

Wine Application Database has almost 28,000 applications rated with different statuses depending upon how well those applications run in Wine. If you want to quickly check the rating of the application you want to use in Wine, you can look there. Here is the meaning of those ratings:

Platinum: These applications install and run flawlessly in out-of-the-box Wine.
Gold: These applications work flawlessly with some special configurations.
Silver: Applications with minor issues are tagged as Silver.
Bronze: The Bronze ones have major issues that seriously affect usage.
Garbage: These simply won’t run on Wine.

Just click browse apps on the Wine Application Database website and search for your application. Here we will install 7zip on Ubuntu as it has a Platinum rating.

Configure Wine:

Open terminal
Enter the commands below

winecfg
$HOME/.wine/c_drive

Installing an Application with Wine:

Open Wine configuration (winecfg) and set the windows version to Windows 7.
Right-click on the 7-zip installation file and select Open With Wine Windows Program Loader.
Click Install
Finish the installation and go to the installation directory [$HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program Files/7-zip/ ] from the file browser.
Right-click on 7zFM.exe and go to Properties > Open With.
Select Wine Windows Program Loader and close the window. Double-click on 7zFM.exe.
For creating a shortcut on your desktop, right-click on the file.
Now move the Link to Desktop.
Now, you can run 7-zip just from your desktop. All you have to do is double-click on the icon.

If you want to access your files on Linux, they are generally located in Z: Drive.

How do I switch to Linux?

Switching to Linux is easy. All you need to do is to follow my steps:

Grab a flash drive of preferably 8GB or more.
Make a backup of the flash drive elsewhere because all the data on the flash drive will be erased.
Most of the readers here would have a Windows computer so I will create a bootable Linux drive using Windows.
Insert the flash drive on your Windows computer.
Download a program called Ventoy from GitHub.
Extract the zip
Run the application Ventoy2Disk.exe and click yes on the UAC.
In the options menu, make sure partition style is set to GPT and secure boot support is disabled.
Make sure that the correct flash drive is selected in the Device list.
Now click install and then click yes to the warning.
Once the installation finishes, Download the Linux distro that you want to use (In this case we will install Ubuntu).
Copy the Ubuntu iso to the flash drive.
Shut down the computer.
Once the computer starts, immediately press the F2 key on the keyboard to open the BIOS menu on the computer and then disable secure boot, then click save and exit.
Again, start your computer then press the F10 key or the key that opens the boot menu
Then select your flash drive.
Select Install Ubuntu.
Choose Keyboard layout and then click Continue.
Select Normal Installation, Download updates while installing Ubuntu and Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware, and additional media formats.
Click Continue.
Next, you will be presented with an Installation Type dialog. You can wipe the hard drive clean prior to installing Ubuntu by clicking Erase disk and install Ubuntu and then click Continue.
or
If you’d rather create your own hard drive partitions, click Something Else. Click Continue to apply your changes to the drive partitions. You will be asked to Write changes to disks? None of the options you have selected are permanent until you click Continue on this screen. Click Continue to proceed.
Select Time Zone and then click Continue.
Create your user account and then click Continue to install Ubuntu.
Once the installer finishes, remove the Ubuntu installation media. You will be prompted to Restart Now,.

The system should boot into your fresh install of Ubuntu.

Is it tough to use Linux?

Answer: No, it's Easy.
If you stick to a widely used Linux-based operating system such as Ubuntu, then it would be easy as it is targeted toward ordinary users just like Windows.

Why should you use a Linux distro instead of Windows?

Open Source: Due to the open-source nature of Linux, one can look at the written code and contribute to its development which is not the case in proprietary operating systems such as Windows.
Secure: Linux Distros do not require an Antivirus to help protect the system as it is a lot more secure than Windows. Antiviruses use up a lot of system memory in Windows and that makes it slow whereas Linux does not face such issues.
Great for older hardware: Linux helps to revive computers as old as 15 years due to the lightweight nature of Linux operating systems.
Software updates: Linux Distros update faster and do not require you to restart every time an update is completed.
Customization: You can customize every part of your Linux Distro to make it look and function as you want.
Variety of Linux operating systems: Linux has a lot of flavors or distributions that a person can try. Once you find a distro matching your needs you can install it.
Free to use: Linux operating systems are free to use and do not require purchasing a license key as in the case of Windows.
Live Use: You can use a Linux Distro without installing it on your computer by making a bootable Linux drive and clicking on the live environment in the grub menu.

Linux is just too powerful!

You can use Linux to retrieve data from a Windows hard drive infected with a virus as the viruses programmed to attack Windows cannot attack Linux which has different coding. Linux also does not need to restart to finish updating like in the case of windows. Linux runs fast even on older hardware as compared to windows. Linux provides freedom because it is open-source software so people can probably contribute toward its development and can help find its vulnerabilities.

~Harmohit Singh
Co-founder