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Arch or NixOS?
(self.linux)
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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My honest opinion? Neither. Just go with something that works out of the box like Linux mint until you're done with school then you'll have time to mess with your system. That's what I did for a friend of mine when he went to college. Gave him a laptop with mint on it and never heard a single complaint from him. It has everything he needs. Focus on school now and worry about distros later.
School is a time to learn and both Arch and NixOS provide plenty of opportunities for that.
While true, but they also need a system that they don't need to mess with so they can focus on their school. Unless they're going into w degree that utilizes Linux then I guess it makes more sense.
I have to agree, if you're late or have assignments that don't work correctly because of your special Arch/Nix install, you're going to be in for a very rough time. College is when you need to focus on learning exactly what is prescribed by the professors and instructors. Anything else you learn is secondary, and your free time is best spent on extracurriculars and trying to make friends because thats the stuff that's really hard to do after college. Y'know what's not hard to do after college? Scavenge a junk computer for next to nothing and install NixOS and Arch on it
I guess I'm not crazy after all for looking out for OP. I am getting downvoted for it. 😁
Not crazy at all. Came here to say the same thing. My vote would be to pick a distro that'll let you focus on the schoolwork. Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, or even just Linux Mint.
My instance has downvotes disabled so as far as I can see you have a positive score :)
That's pretty nice. I don't really care about downvotes, especially on Lemmy. They don't mean anything anyway.
I don't know about everyone else, but I had a lot more spare time to tinker with linux when I was a student than after, having a full time job. But I guess if you only have the one computer and need it to work, then tinker in a VM or something. Don't wait with tinkering and learning about linux if it is interresting to you and something you want to spend time on. You might not have the time for it in a few years.