EDIT: I am thrilled with so many awesome responses! I’m taking notes and looking into all the recommendations. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to help me out (and many others, i’m sure), i’m glad i asked!

Hi,

I’m getting ready to switch to Linux. I’m looking for a kind of checklist of what to do beforehand. When i search online, there is a lot of advice on which distribution to choose and how to set it up, which i already know, but my question is the step before. I made a list of which programs i currently use (almost all have a linux variant or i can use them in the browser) and i am making screenshots of their settings. I have basically everything important backupped, both on my ProtonDrive and on a private server in the house. Is there anything else i need to prepare before switching? I wouldn’t want to overlook something.

(I already have the distribution and am trying it out, but my plan is to actually install debian and without dual boot. Also, many, many years ago i already used debian but then i had the luxury of someone who basically arranged everything for me)

Currently, i run windows 10 with Nvidia GeForce. I already am in the process of degoogling and de-microsofting so to speak, so i don’t use google drive or onedrive, or MS Office anymore (nor a lot of other things).

Apologies if this is not appropriate for this community. Have a great day :-)

  • be_excellent_to_each_other
    6•7 months ago

    Been a few years since I did a Debian install, but IMO it’s fairly daunting for a noob unless it’s changed a lot. I found Arch easier to install (this is not me suggesting you use Arch, just making a comparison - I currently don’t use Arch btw.)

    I would disagree with the prior poster urging you to use Debian testing/unstable partially because saying it like that as they did implies they are the same, which they are not.

    Suggest if you stick with Debian (which is a fine and foundational distro, I’m just not sure it’s a good choice for a noob - but again haven’t touched vanilla debian in years), you read this page first (and the page for each of the branches) to decide which release to use. https://wiki.debian.org/DebianReleases