I'm having a tough time with Linux—every time I try to do anything, I run into a ton of errors that I end up spending hours Googling to fix. For instance, when I attempted to install something on a fresh installation, pip wasn't recognized. I had to look up how to install it, and then when I finally tried again, I got hit with the 'Externally managed environment' error. I feel like I'm constantly battling issues instead of learning, and it's frustrating. I want to become proficient with Linux, but compared to Windows and macOS, it feels so much harder to navigate with all these errors. How do you all manage these challenges?
5 Answers
The 'pip not found' situation isn't really an error. It usually means you need to have Python and python-pip installed first. What distro are you using?
To start, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? A key tip for Linux newbies is to choose a user-friendly distribution like Pop!_OS. Remember, Linux operates differently from Windows. Learning those differences is part of the journey. For example, the pip issue can be complicated if you’re not familiar with Python's role in Linux. Just be careful with messing around with Python, as it can affect system services. Ultimately, many of the challenges you're facing with Python and pip are the same across operating systems, so it’s a matter of getting used to it.
The 'Externally managed environment' error might have had a fix right in the message—it’s so important to read those! More often than not, the solution is right there if you take a moment to check it.
You'll start to recognize these tasks with experience. After you get frustrated enough with installing 'pip', you’ll memorize that package name for your distro. When you learn your package manager inside and out, finding and installing packages will become second nature. Engaging with tools you use frequently will help streamline future issues. Spend time with resources like man pages—they can be super helpful! It’s a learning curve, but it does improve over time!
You shared a lot, but let's get specific. What Linux distribution are you using? Your challenges could stem from that. Overcoming these hurdles usually comes with understanding the environment better.
I get that it's frustrating! It feels like every little thing turns into hours of troubleshooting instead of just being straightforward. I usually manage to fix most problems by Googling, but I wish things would just work as expected.