Hello. I am considering switching to linux OS for my laptop to focus on Web Development and Programming in general. One of the reasons is windows is at least for me is not suitable for programming. And i already started to use linux from a bootable USB. I started to like it. What should i take in consideration before installing Ubuntu on my HDD. I am using Lenovo g50-80 and i think i have a GPU Amd i think. Please give me your opinions. thanks
I recently made this exact switch because I accidentally killed my windows boot loader.
If you decide to dual boot, ensure you have the appropriate recovery media for your windows, just incase you ever want to remove Linux. I didn’t, hence no more Windows
If you just want to do a clean install and have Ubuntu be the only OS, make sure you have copies of all the important docs you want to keep. I transferred all my data over to a 1TB external drive beforehand.
When installing, you’ll probably need a wired internet connection to handle your internet until you have all the network drivers you need sorted. It took me a little while to find the right Broadcom wireless card driver. Ubuntu is very well supported, so finding the right drivers is usually quite easy with a bit of googling.
I had some issues with my Nvidia GPU when I installed Antergos a while back, since the proprietary drivers are actually not as good as the Linux open source ones. I think this time around I just skipped proprietary drivers until I knew I needed them. I have had fewer problems this way. That said, Nvidia is a bit notorious on Linux, you may find it’s a non issue with your card.
I have not regretted the move at all
I always recommend creating a separate home partition. By doing this, you create a safe place for your personal files so you can reinstall or change the operating system, even formatting the OS partition, and not have to worry about setting up your home directory again. I would go so far as to say that if you should put your /home
partition on a separate hard drive, if possible (the hard drive containing your OS can be small and fast, like an SSD, while your personal files can be on something much larger, slower, and cheaper).
Ubuntu is alright for programming. Got tons of dev-related programs you can install from the official repo. And if that’s not enough then you can add 3rd-party repo and install programs from that repo. You can also clone github repo, which has tons of scripts and programs.
Most of the vps providers offers Ubuntu server, so it’s a plus if you play with the terminal and got comfortable with it.
The community is super helpful too. So if you got problems, you can go to their official irc and they will help you with it.
Well then, I just asked you this question too. it would be really nice to start fresh. I would rather do almost anything other than continue to battle with windows.
Ubuntu is a nice way to learn Linux. I haven’t tried the latest release yet (18.04) but I believe it’s even easier than 16.04 was to use. Nowadays I do all my development on Mac for work, but if I were buying a new computer for myself I’d pick something that could run Ubuntu really well as my highest priority - I really love it!
You can ease in to Linux with Usb versions, VM versions, dual booting, or just going all in and installing it as your only OS.
It should probably be pointed out that even if you removed windows entirely it can be reinstalled if you end up regretting it
It’s not like as a decision it’s permanent, so don’t worry about it
Download the ubuntu iso. Then copy it to a usb using something like ImageUSB. Don’t forget to free some space.
I am in the same boat as you are. I’ve got a Lenovo T560 I’ll be setting up Linux on Dev purposes. Being an IT guy I still need a windows box for when I go to customer sites so I’ll look into setting up VM’d windows 10 on it as well. I took a quick look at the Lenvo g50 specs, not sure how computer savvy you are but I would recommend getting a new storage drive since most likely you running a stock g50 with a super slow old storage disk. Right now is a great time to purchase a Solid State storage drive (much much much faster) with all the holiday sales going on. Swapping the drive is super easy, I’ll link a video below. Using a SSD drive as your linux drive will not only give you blazing fast speeds with your new OS, but you can keep your data safe on the original drive.
Link to vid:
I’ve been using Linux Mint on my laptop for a couple years, really happy with it! Similar in quality to Ubuntu but more “windows” like.