musicman34 the advice is to stay well clear of corporate monopoly Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Redhat. Those are the equivalent spyware to Microsoft Windows . Do not ever put your trust in mega greed spyware corporations.
Ubuntu and Red Hat can be good starting points for many people, or Linux Mint, or MX Linux, or variants of any of these. I don't think the "corporate monopoly Linux distributions" are comparable to spyware. I see them as potential starting points, after which, one can find a distribution that is more suitable.
musicman34 The only Linux choice are distros based on Debian.
If you're new to Linux, Debian can sometimes be more difficult to start with than Ubuntu. I think Ubuntu is a great starting point because it will mostly just work, or Linux Mint, etc. For a beginner, I think it's best to start with distributions that work easily on most machines, so that one doesn't get a bunch of errors or problems and then give up. Ignore the politics, tribalism, or fearmongering, at first, just get stuff working with any beginner distribution, and use it for several months, then experiment with others.
For a beginner, you want everything to work without much effort, just so you know that it will work on your computer. After you know that everything works, then is a better time to experiment with other distributions, where some things might not work so readily. Then at least you know that these things are not a hardware limitation, but simply a configuration issue that you can then learn how to fix. If you start with an advanced distribution, and nothing works, you don't know if it's because of "Linux", or if it's a hardware issue, so I recommend starting with the basic/starter distributions until you're comfortable with the working environment, then trying others that might take some extra research to get working properly.
And BTW, one day later in your journey, you might no longer see "distros based on Debian" as "The only Linux choice." π
musicman34 I'll be using Live CD install distros, to check if my PC hardware is compatible before fully committing to a full install.
This is a good idea, but once you've found one that you think will work, I still think it's worth installing any beginner distro, and using it for several months before trying another distribution. Each time you switch to a new distribution, you will probably learn a lot of new things, and over time, you'll get more comfortable with everything. Good luck!
musicman34 I read that ideally it's best to have two separate hard drives, one to install Linux on and the other for Windows 10 (LTSC) instead of dual booting on the same hard drive, which is not advisable.
I'd recommend separate dedicated machines, one for each OS or Linux distribution.
musicman34 Like many, the reason I'm converting over to the Linux side is privacy. I'm fed up of my privacy being abused by the greed corporations. Full control over our systems and when we choose to update etc without being spied on and our personal data being thieved and sold on to marketing and shady black markets. Linux and it's excellent opensource software is the only future we can all put our trust in to not be puppets on strings to the most evil world monopolies.
You might be able to reduce being "spied on" by using Linux instead of Windows, but depending on how you use your computer, what software you use, what websites you visit, it might not be a solution. I'd guess that far more information is being collected/sold about users from basic website usage, than from MS spying on Windows users, which might not be as sinister as many think, at least, up until the AI stuff takes over. π πΎ