To be fair, I never really *enjoyed* Windows. I only really used it because the app support was much greater than Linux. I had Manjaro on my laptop, however I don't use my
laptop outside of travel or "i fucked up" moments. But, last week, I decided to change that.
I have now fully moved to Arch Linux on my daily driver, and honestly? It's not as bad as I thought it would be.
I have always been hesitant to make the jump due to well, sheer lesser app support (natively) on Linux compared to Windows. But well, with light of Microsoft's
... "decision" to go crazy on the AI hype train, I thought it'd be time to switch. Albeit my hand was also forced as trying to dual boot led to my Windows install
corrupting. But that's beside the point.
At first there was teething pains, i.e the root partition taking up little space, resulting in a few minutes in gParted Live to fix (god bless ventoy),
however in the end it was relatively a success. I have also decided at the same time to start migrating away from my Series S onto the Steam Deck and my PC itself.
Hence why this is called "the exodus", the exodus from Microsoft's ecosystem.
Now, anyone who's known me for a good while knows I've never been against Microsoft's products, however recently their jump on the AI hype train has been a bit...
excessive. Now sure, I'm not saying AI is bad, but I'm saying that it's not the be all end all. Especially with their addition of the Co-Pilot button and the
"AI-powered" file recovery in Windows 11. Because let's all be honest, it's not AI, it's just a glorified search bar. And the Co-Pilot button? It's just a
glorified ChatGPT prompt.
I have also recently picked up a copy of the book "Rebel Code" by Glyn Moody, which is a book about the history of Linux and the open source movement. Anyone who
knows me can also say that I am a massive advocate of open source and decentralisation, and this book is probably the main reason I decided to make the jump.
However, the Linux migration was not as smooth as I thought it would be.
To start, originally I was going to dual boot, however when using archinstall it overwritten the last sector of my Windows partition, resulting in a corrupt install.
The files were already gone and the only backups I had were my commisions folder, and anything from my OneDrive. So, I decided to go full in.
This was the first time I have installed Arch in a long time - last dating to 2018, and honestly? I was never aware of archinstall until now. It's a godsend.
The next problem which arose (outside of the root partition being too small) was the fact that I had to install the Nvidia drivers. Now, I upgraded to a 4060 over
the festive period - which was a massive upgrade from my 1660 Super. However, I completly forgot that Nvidia and Linux don't mix well. So, I had to debug for
about 2 hours using the base drivers, until I realised that I was installing the drivers for the wrong kernel. After that, it was smooth sailing.
Normally my go-to DE is KDE Plasma, however I decided to use GNOME this time around. As a first time GNOME user, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not as bad as
people make it out to be. After a few tweaks and extensions, I had a fully functional desktop.
My next "problem" was the fact Stellaris (my favourite game) is... highly unstable on Linux, especially when modded. I have yet to find a fix for this, however
ProtonDB states that a fix is to just use some launch arguments. Spoiler alert: it doesn't work. I've yet to find a fix so, if anyone knows a fix...
hit me up on Telegram.
I have also decided to use the Steam Deck as my main console, and I have to say, it's a massive upgrade from the Series S. The ability to play my entire Steam
library on the go is SUCH a massive upgrade, and with a dock it just feels like a fully fledged console. Alongside any game that runs on Linux which is a massive
plus. I've already modded my Deck with a 500GB SSD - compared to the stock 64GB, and I genuienly have no regrets. My main problem with the Deck so far is the fact
that most games I played on the Xbox as a whole I don't own on Steam, so I'm having to rebuy them all. But, it's a small price to pay for salvation. And
best of all? No subscription prices just to use the damn thing. Looking at you, big three.
I have yet to find a replacement for OneDrive or Office 365 as a whole due to the fact that I use it for school, however I am sure eventually through time, I will
fill the gaps in my workflow to make it fully Linux compatible (and open source (hopefully)).
The great conclusion to it all? I can now easily recover my stuff in a failure, I'm not tied to one device or one ecosystem, and I can now use my PC for what it's
meant to be used for - compiling AOSP and turning it into a glorified space heater. And for anyone who can't tell, yes that was satire. It's for gaming and
programming. And sometimes, compiling AOSP. But that's beside the point.