Hello!
I’ve bought new parts and I am awaiting their arrival so I can build my brand new computer. I’ve decided to go for Arch Linux with KDE plasma or perhaps Gnome as my desktop environment but that’s as far as I’ve come.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Xw4sRv
I figured I would ask the community if they have any tips or suggestions, thanks!
Don’t start with Arch unless you’re looking for a trial by fire. It’s a distro intended for advanced users who already know a few things about Linux. I don’t even use straight Arch, and I’ve been using Linux for years. I do use EndeavourOS as my daily driver though, and that’s basically a pre-configured Arch with a GUI installer.
Ubuntu, or one of its variants like Kubuntu or Xubuntu, is a better pick for someone who’s just starting out. Mint is supposed to be decent for new users too.
You made a wise choice picking a Radeon, btw. Nvidia support on Linux isn’t the greatest. AMD, on the other hand, is nearly plug and play since the drivers are built into the kernel. You may or may not need to install extra drivers for proper Vulkan support though.
Another thing I should mention; if you decide to dual boot with Windows, it may seem like a smart idea to share your steamapps folder between OSes, but this doesn’t usually work out well because of the way Proton uses symlinks. You’re much better off having separate steamapps folders for each OS, even if it uses more disk space that way. (Proton is the compatibility tool Steam uses for running Windows-only games on Linux. It even works better than running Linux-native games in a lot of cases)
I mention the steamapps thing, because it’s a common newbie mistake to try sharing a steamapps folder between Windows and Linux.
Linux is a pretty deep rabbit hole to dive into, and it’s not for everyone. But don’t let this discourage you; it can be rewarding if you’re willing to learn how to use it.
I’d say that Ubuntu is a great choice because there is a lot of support out there, in articles/support forums and apt repos for most things that you can just drop in. Even if you want to run the latest bleeding edge kernels the ppa support is excellent. For me it’s a pragmatic choice of distro even if ideologically I’d prefer to run plain Debian.
I’m rooting for OP, though. Starting their Linux journey on hard mode is something to be lauded!
Truthfully, I think the amount of support Ubuntu has is a double-edged sword, because while it is easy to find resources for it, it’s also easy to find outdated information that doesn’t apply to newer versions. Similarly, with PPAs, they can be quite useful, but you also have to be careful not to hose your system with them.
If OP is willing to stick with Arch, and learn to work with it, then I say kudos to them. The main reason I don’t encourage new users to dive right into it is because I don’t want them to get discouraged and give up, People learn things different ways though, and for OP, this may just be the ticket for them.