tl;dr: I used mainly Windows for a long time, not because I liked it, but because I was used to it and in many ways stuck with it. I eventually made the effort to switch to Linux, I love it, and I want to Linux all the things. Here I document all the things I do to install and configure Linux systems and make them slightly more awesome than they already are.
- Arch Linux on Lenovo 720S-15IKB
- Arch Linux on Lenovo P50
- Arch Linux ARM
- Other applications on Arch Linux
- PulseAudio on Arch Linux
- Descent on Arch Linux
- Palo Alto GlobalProtect VPN with Okta authentication
- Epson printers on Arch Linux
For now, I won't go into all the many reasons for ditching Windows. Chances are, if you're here, I would be preaching to the choir anyway.
Which Linux distro? I've been using Arch Linux. I don't think it matters much, though, because any distro of Linux can be customized to your heart's content. However, Arch is simple and minimal to start, and the AUR lets you install all kinds of software with ease, including proprietary software, and update and manage it the same way as all other software on the system. It's also rolling release, so I will never have to do a full operating system reinstall. Arch does not have an easy installer, but you can enjoy all the goodness of Arch with an easy installer by using Manjaro.
Which desktop environment? I like KDE Plasma. It's like Windows in all the right ways. It's also very customizable and looks pretty. Yes, it's one of the heavyweight desktop environments, but you can also install just the plasma desktop without all the KDE applications, and it's pretty light weight that way.
My primary machine is a Lenovo 720S-15IKB. It's a thin 15" laptop with a 4k screen, descrete NVIDIA graphics card, 1TB SSD, and 16GB RAM. I also plan to install it on a Lenovo ThinkPad laptop at work. I am also using Arch Linux ARM on Raspberry Pi for various purposes.
A lot of this documentation is very specific to my needs. After all, detailed general documentation is plentiful over at the Arch Linux wiki. This is mainly for me and anyone who might happen to be wanting to do the same thing. I also decided to do this in the form of a GitHub repository in order to enable potential collaboration.
Copyright © 2019 David Meyer
GNU General Public License v3.0