I'm making the leap from Windows 10 to Debian Linux and have a few questions to help with my transition! First off, I'm concerned about saving my Steam local files since I've noticed that not all games save in the Steam directory. Any tips on how to find those files?
Also, I plan on using dual monitors, but do I need to configure anything, or will they just work right away? On that note, I've heard that installing NVIDIA drivers on Debian can be tricky – I'd appreciate a breakdown of how to do that. Can I also use dual monitors if I go for a tiling window manager?
For storage, I have an SSD and an HDD. I know I can install Debian on the SSD, but how do I access the HDD afterward? I've heard it involves mounting it to a directory. Could someone explain that process?
Regarding installation, I saw a video suggesting not to set a root password for security reasons, but I'm not clear on what that means. I've used Ubuntu before and set a root password. Should I skip it this time? If I do need one, should it be different from my user password since I'm the only user?
I'm also looking for recommendations on tiling window managers that are compatible with Debian, and if they support full-screen applications because I enjoy gaming.
Lastly, I chose Debian for its solid community support and stability. I'm not looking for a distro focused only on gaming or programming, so I think Debian is a good fit. If anyone has tips or advice that could help, feel free to share!
(And sorry about that typo in 'Debian' from earlier!)
3 Answers
For tiling window managers, definitely look into i3! I tried using Hyprland, which is all the rage, but honestly, it was a hassle to configure compared to i3, which has been reliable for me. If you prefer a full desktop experience, GNU/Linux variants like GNOME and KDE also have tiling extensions you might find useful.
You've got the name wrong; it's Debian, not Dabian. Just double-check the spelling when looking up support. It'll make searches for solutions a lot easier!
To access your drives in Linux, you'll need to mount them. Your SSD will typically mount at the root directory "/", while your HDD can be mounted elsewhere, like "/mnt/hdd". You can manually mount it with a command like `sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/hdd`.
For tiling window managers, I'd recommend trying i3. It's quite popular on Debian, though be ready for some initial configuration. You can also run i3 alongside other desktop environments like GNOME or KDE without issues, which is pretty sweet!
Thanks for the info! That helps a lot.
Oops, my bad – thanks for the heads up!