this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
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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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Get the installation image you want to use. Fedora has a lot of different flavors, I think they call them "spins," so it's important to know the difference and choose the right one for you.
Install it on a VM in VirtualBox. Play around with it, figure out what all the installation steps do, don't be afraid to break the VM.
Play around with the VM in fullscreen just to get a feel for it. Don't blame the OS for performance issues, that's probably just the resource limitations of a VM.
Repeat steps 1-3 as necessary to find an OS that is comfortable enough to be your daily driver.
Use a program like Rufus to make a bootable USB out of the installation image.
Run the installer like you practiced. MAKE SURE YOU SELECT THE CORRECT HARDDRIVE, DON'T OVERWRITE YOUR WINDOWS DRIVE. Otherwise, besides MAKING EXTRA SURE ABOUT WHICH HARDDRIVE YOU INSTALL IT TO, use defaults for settings you aren't sure about.
I cannot stress the above warning enough: formatting the drive is the one step in installation that cannot be undone. If you format your windows drive, you cannot ever recover that data anymore.
Since it's work related hardware, I have 2 pieces of advice; you should follow one or the other:
Don't. Don't fuck around with work hardware. It should be a separate PC that you literally only ever use to get work done. Whether it's owned by a company or you're self-employeed, mixing your hobby/leisure/gaming/tinker/daily driver with your work computer is a baaaaaad idea. You will get something all fuzzed up, you will try to fix it by reinstalling the OS or otherwise doing disk formatting/partitioning, and you will end up corrupting windows.
Okay, so you decided not to heed my warning because you like gaming (or whatever) too much and can't afford a separate desktop/tower rn. i get it, I did the same once and lived to tell the tale (i do have separate machines now, fwiw). In that case, before you install fedora, simply disconnect the Windows drive. Yank it right out and don't reinstall it until you've got linux up and running just how you like it. Not just after the installation, but after the configuration. Then there's no chance you accidentally format/corrupt your drive.
If the installer gives you the option, simply install Grub on the same drive as Linux. When you select the linux drive in your BIOS' boot options, it will run grub, which will give you options, including booting into windows if you want. When you select the windows drive in your BIOS' boot options, it will use the windows bootloader (which boots straight into windows, unless you have multiple windows installations).