Pop! goes the install

I've been trapped in a Windows hole for a long time now, mainly for the desktop experience. I have been using mainly Debian on servers for a long time, but with edge hosting and Docker that is becoming fewer and far between, not that I am complaining about that as Docker has made the world a much simpler place.

But, I have been having a Linux itch. Many, many years ago, probably about 12 years ago, I set up a dual boot between Ubuntu and Windows, but if I am being honest I never put the time into using it properly. Recently, I have been working on a project and needed to check that it built in a Linux environment too. Yes, I could have used GitHub actions to check the build or span up a VM and worked there, but what better experience than bare metal?

I had recently upgraded the NVMe in my PC and had noticed that there was a spare slot in there. So, an Amazon order later, and I had a spare 1 TB drive in my machine doing nothing. Time for a Linux install again.

I did a bit of research to see what distro was the one to go for, and it seemed the choice was either Arch-based or Ubuntu-based. Seeing as the most experience I have is with Debian I decided that Ubuntu based was the way to go. I did some further looking and watched a fair few YouTube videos and discovered Pop! OS, which despite the stupid name has some sensible choices. It is an Ubuntu-based distro but with a few tweaks, like including Nvidia drivers out of the box, a nice tiling window manager, and a default audio setup that just works. So, I loaded the ISO up and gave it a go.

I have spent a bit of time tweaking GNOME and getting everything installed, and I am still using VSCode, I am not a hardcore vim user (yet). But I am really enjoying the way that GNOME helps you focus on the task at hand. The tiling is so nice and having better support for virtual desktops is awesome. It's great for a segregated workflow. I have a desktop for work, a desktop for personal stuff, and a desktop for music. I can easily switch between them and not have to worry about closing windows and constantly switching between them.

For now, I'm loving it. I'm sure I will find some issues, but for now, I am happy.