I’m trying to build a workstation for my wife who is a graphic design by trade. She has only ever used Window so I thought that this would be a great way to introduce her to Linux. I just have some questions about getting this project off the ground.

  1. Am I better off buying a cheap, prebuilt desktop and adding some extra parts like a GPU and more memory or building it from the ground up?

  2. For a distro, I was thinking about Linux Mint but would other distros be better options?

  3. Other than GIMP, what are some essential software for graphic design and digital art on Linux?

  • RustyEnglish
    5•7 months ago

    1. If you buy a used office desktop, it can be worth it to just put in a GPU. You have to know what you’re looking at though. Some prebuilds include stuff like custom motherboards or PSUs that are very hard to upgrade or make it impossible to install a GPU. Otherwise DIY is cheapest.

    2. Debian is very stable, good for professional use.

    3. She already uses some software and she probably would like something similar. Maybe look for alternatives or ways to run her choice of software on Linux?

    • GIMP isn’t the most user friendly software and I don’t think it’s the best choice for graphic design.
    • Inkscape is good for vector graphics, but it’s still lackluster compared to Adobe Illustrator.
    • Krita is awesome for illustrations and digital art, but doesn’t have too many graphic design features that I found.

    Overall if she’s going to use it in professional capacity, switching to Linux could be a risk.