Back again haha, I asked a little while ago about making the switch from Windows to Linux and general consensus was maybe don’t, as I use my PC for work doing voice acting, music production, and digital art.
Anyway, my PC has been crashing lately so I may be at the point soon of re-installing my OS, so I may as well bite the bullet if/when that happens. Right now I’m making some backups, making a list of Linux programs I’ll need, and just trying to get my ducks in a row so I’m not scrambling if I wake up one morning and have to do the thing. Which brings me to Distros.
I’ve done some research into it but already but there are a bunch of options (thinking maybe Bazzite or Fedora?), and I’d rather know what I’m going with if my PC dies so I don’t have to waste time trying to figure it out then. My PC specs are:
Processor 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11400F @ 2.60GHz 2.59 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.9 GB usable)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
Obviously the priority is to get up and running but I’d really like to use a distro that I can learn some as well. I’ve installed Mint on an old laptop (recommended for being similar to Windows) but ideally I’d like a distro that’s a bit more Linux-y. I’m ok taking some extra time getting up and running, though I’m not at a point for something like Arch yet haha.
If you list what specific software you use and whether you’re willing to try alternatives to any of it, people may be able to give you guidance on how your Linux experience may be. There are lots of people doing music production and digital art on Linux, but it depends on your specifics whether it will work for you or not.
Regarding distros, I’ve seen many people here make the argument that immutable/atomic distros like Bazzite are not ideal for newbies or more complex use cases. If you’re considering immutables because of the comfort that comes with their being more easily recoverable from OS update or configuration issues, I would suggest looking into one of the OpenSUSE distros, either Tumbleweed or Leap. Those two give you many of the advantages of easy recovery without the disadvantages of immutables.
They do this by taking a different approach to recovery. Instead of making the OS root immutable/atomic, which forces you to do a lot of workarounds in certain circumstances, they used the approach of automatic and transparent system snapshots whenever you update or install any software, plus hourly (I believe?).
This is the main factor that led me to choose OpenSUSE for my own personal use. There are other positives such as a reputation for stability, excellent integration of KDE, and YaST, which is their easier to use configuration tool for many system tasks. I’m only at the beginning of my journey though, so I can’t fully endorse it yet because I haven’t fully settled into it and spent much time daily driving it.