Messing around with Linux
After getting a new PC and ditching Windows, I've been messing around with Linux and have been enjoying it.
At first, I was a bit scared. Up to this point, I had been using Windows all my life. From that computer my parents owned, to the computers at school, and to the laptop I got at home. It was all Windows. Windows Windows Windows. From XP to 8 to 10.
However, as I got more tech savvy, I kept hearing about Linux. It sounded cool. This interesting, more secure, less bloaty and less demanding operating system. Window's cool, older sibling. In my dumb, young mind, Linux was analogous to computer programmers, scientists, and hackers. Nerds, really (no offense).
I didn't even realize "distros" is a thing. Linux was an exotic, amorphous blob in my haze-filled mind. Like Windows, I thought Linux was singular and updated. Instead, as I soon realized, there are literally hundreds of distributions of the big-L.
So when the opportunity came up to make the switch, I did. I wanted something easy-to-use and beginner friendly. Something with a sizable community and good support. After searching, I opted for a distro called "CachyOS" and have settled in nicely.
However, I also came across "ricing." This, in the Linux landscape, is like spicing up your operating system with fancy bells and whistles. Ricing can be cosmetic, such as adding different themes and styling your windows. It can also alter and add functionality, such as a music player with neat audio visualization.
Folks can get very serious about ricing. If you're interested, check out r/unixporn to see the kinds of crazy, cool things one can make. And yes, that's the subreddit's name. It's safe for work, I promise.
I... was not good at ricing. Not then, not now, not ever, probably. I am, after all, a scaredy-cat. I'm deathly afraid of messing something up. Even more-so considering I'm new to Linux. I had enough trouble trying to add in additional language inputs so you best believe I'd have trouble with something that changes or adds functionality.
That said, I dabbled my toes. Got my little nubs wet to maybe satiate my appetite. And it did, because I realized I don't actually need anything fancy.
I'm currently running the KDE desktop, which is fairly similar to Windows. It's got the bar on the bottom, with a logo on the left that'll give a menu for applications when clicked. On the right, you have the time, date, and other information. Basic, but familiar. If you're used to Windows, like I was, you'll feel right at home.
And, truth be told, that's all I really need. I don't need fancy, customized bars. I don't need a music player with audio visualizations or widgets telling me the weather or what have you. I don't need to customize the look and feel of windows. I don't need a keyboard-focused workflow. Just the default is good enough for me.
And I thought this was fun. I learned something about myself in regards to my computer tastes. I thought I'd have to power on ahead, keeping my fear about messing things up in check, while I modified and customized to my heart's content. I wanted to be someone who was into ricing and could show off a slick desktop. But nope, that ain't me. As much as I like looking at other's work, it just didn't click for me when I tried it. And that's just fine.
That being said, I am interested in "distro-hopping," or trying out different distributions. But that's a whole 'nother beast. Maybe I'll do that later.