Linux: an alternative to Windows 10

[greybeard]

I have used Linux for quite some time.
Its free.
The way it manages files makes itso easy to find what you want effortlessly.
Software is free.
Libre Office is as good as the Windows expensive word

You can use it alongside Windows in a separate partition
All done for you.
I like it

Chris

Linux Mint 19 For Windows Users


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7QQqnV1P8&t=378s

Linux Mint 19 Tara Cinnamon - A Perfect Blend Of Beauty & Spice


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJyFrVBzx8M&t=296s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI7QQqnV1P8&t=378s



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSIvq9KvPp0

[greybeard]

I use the laptop for Word Processing, @mail, downloading u tube videos --surfing the net.
Im not into games.
So Linux out of the box so to speak meets all my requirements at no expense to me.
The first video posted is possibly the best advice as is the third one.

Chris

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

Thank you Chris, this is interesting and timely. I was recently worrying about the impending end to Win 7 support, which effectively forces an upgrade to Win 10. No thanks. I already have Win 10 on my laptop, and it is top to bottom inside out hideous. That's just the user experience, forget the terrible privacy issues.

I've been a Windows user since 3.1. The idea of moving to another platform is a bit scary. But I'm liking the look of Linux Mint 19, probably because the general nuts and bolts of it looks so familiar. That's a big selling point for me. My one concern is the compatibility of my software, particularly with how Libre handles MS Office documents. I need to look into that.

[Hervé]

See this post (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?100764-Tip-For-Computers-Exhibiting-Symptoms-of-Having-a-Mind-of-Their-Own&p=1193275&viewfull=1#post1193275) (<---) for some comparisons between various OSes.

[greybeard]

Thank you Chris, this is interesting and timely. I was recently worrying about the impending end to Win 7 support, which effectively forces an upgrade to Win 10. No thanks. I already have Win 10 on my laptop, and it is top to bottom inside out hideous. That's just the user experience, forget the terrible privacy issues.

I've been a Windows user since 3.1. The idea of moving to another platform is a bit scary. But I'm liking the look of Linux Mint 19, probably because the general nuts and bolts of it looks so familiar. That's a big selling point for me. My one concern is the compatibility of my software, particularly with how Libre handles MS Office documents. I need to look into that.
Like you I used Windows since the very first one came out.
The latest really sucks--It trys to be helpful but it hides my files in the most unlikely places.

You dont need to be an expert with Linux--everything is very logical.
As far as handling MS Office documents I cant give you and answer but the font can be modified in Libre --I think that is mentioned in the first video.

I downloaded Linux Mint from the same source as on the first video--put the ISO on a usb stick. inserted that into the laptop, turned it on an followed the simple instructions--trouble free install and relatively quick.

If you have reservation you are given the choice to try it --then decide--you can then install without removing Windows--or go the whole way and windows and all files will be deleted--for safety sake I put everything I needed on a separate device.

I was going from an earlier version of Linux--which I removed completely by choice--all done by the Linux software ion the USB stick.
I have the older version on another USB stick so if I did not like it I could reinstall that.

Have no fear Linux is the real deal--It does the job effortlessly--its simple--anyone can use it.

Chris

[greybeard]

See this post (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?100764-Tip-For-Computers-Exhibiting-Symptoms-of-Having-a-Mind-of-Their-Own&p=1193275&viewfull=1#post1193275) (<---) for some comparisons between various OSes.

Hi Herve
That post is virtually a year old--valid then.
The latest Mint runs cool--a big step up from earlier versions.

Chris

[edina]

I use Linux, Ubuntu, I know you're focusing on Mint, greybeard. :)
Been using it for about 10 years now.

I tried Windows 10 once, lasted about an hour. It's been completely removed from my computer.

[Hervé]

The latest Mint runs cool--a big step up from earlier versions.
Well, then, check it out: https://linuxmint.com/


:)

[greybeard]

The latest Mint runs cool--a big step up from earlier versions.Well, then, check it out: https://linuxmint.com/


:)

This is the latest edition but its a different system.
I would not recommend this---yet.
The one I am promoting is an evolution of tried and tested---safe bet so to speak.
It has regular updates and i fully supported.
Chris

LMDE 3 Cindy (https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php)

LMDE is a Linux Mint project and it stands for “Linux Mint Debian Edition”. Its main goal is for the Linux Mint team to see how viable our distribution would be and how much work would be necessary if Ubuntu was ever to disappear. LMDE aims to be as similar as possible to Linux Mint, but without using Ubuntu. The package base is provided by Debian instead.

There are no point releases in LMDE. Other than bug fixes and security fixes Debian base packages stay the same, but Mint and desktop components are updated continuously. When ready, newly developed features get directly into LMDE, whereas they are staged for inclusion on the next upcoming Linux Mint point release.

[greybeard]

As said Im not into games but for those who are--there is a multitude of free games available on Linux and its possible to use Windows related software and games within the system. I haven't but here is a video and loads of other Linux Mint videos on u tube.

Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wb9RupIkhQ8

[gord]

Good informative thread.

I've used linux since 1996, starting with Slackware by downloading 54 5.25 floppy images at 9600 baud and dual booting with window 3.11. Slackware quickly bit me in the butt due to 3 unacknowledged and automatically installed no-password root accounts.

Windows XP is the last one I had as part of dual boot system. I'm not sure exactly when I went exclusively linux, but what held me back was the lack of a music notation program sufficiently useful for even the very simple tunes I occasionally write. I've tried about 20 distributions and eventually settled on Debian as the one most useful for me. I may eventually putter around with Linux Mint Debian Edition "because it's there"

[greybeard]

Good informative thread.

I've used linux since 1996, starting with Slackware by downloading 54 5.25 floppy images at 9600 baud and dual booting with window 3.11. Slackware quickly bit me in the butt due to 3 unacknowledged and automatically installed no-password root accounts.

Windows XP is the last one I had as part of dual boot system. I'm not sure exactly when I went exclusively linux, but what held me back was the lack of a music notation program sufficiently useful for even the very simple tunes I occasionally write. I've tried about 20 distributions and eventually settled on Debian as the one most useful for me. I may eventually putter around with Linux Mint Debian Edition "because it's there"

Im going off topic
As a Musician I use the Presonus Studio One 4 professional DAW they have a chord track which is helpful for those who write their own music--I dont--also an additional purchase of Notation to write music--unfortunately it only works on Windows or Mac.

Chris

[greybeard]

Running Windows Programs on Linux

This not something I have done but its nice to know its possible
Chris

ExplainingComputers
Published on 5 Nov 2017
Running Windows software on Linux using Wine, PlayOnLinux, Winetricks and CrossOver, and demonstrated on the distros Zorin OS and Linux Mint.

The Wine website is at: https://www.winehq.org/

The PlayOnLinux website is at: https://www.playonlinux.com/en/

The Winetricks website is at: https://wiki.winehq.org/Winetricks

The Codeweavers CrossOver web pages are at: https://www.codeweavers.com/

If you are interested in the free Windows programs I ran in this video, they were:

NoteTab: https://www.notetab.com/ -- the free version is NoteTab Light

Sculptris: http://pixologic.com/sculptris/

Sketchup: https://www.sketchup.com/ -- the free version is Sketchup Make.

You may also be interested in videos:

Seven Linux Distros: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYFcT...

Embracing Linux: Mint Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EAes...

Embracing Linux: Bootable USB Drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vq_v...
More videos on computing and related topics can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/explainingcomp...



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZDuKB949U

[ThePythonicCow]

Im going off topic
As a Musician I use the Presonus Studio One 4 professional DAW they have a chord track which is helpful for those who write their own music--I dont--also an additional purchase of Notation to write music--unfortunately it only works on Windows or Mac.

Chris
Needing to do some serious gaming, and serious multi-media work, are two of the use cases in which I might power up my Windows box that has been sitting unused on my floor for the last few years. LibreOffice, formerly called Open Office, provides high quality (well, good enough for my modest needs) handling of Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations on Linux.

I've used and done serious programming on Unix, then Linux, since I was getting it on 9-track tapes from Ken Thompson, inside Bell Labs, in the 1970's. I've used DOS, then Windows, since I was my company's DOS networking guru in the 1980's.

I deeply prefer Unix/Linux over Windows. All the computers I regularly use are running some variant of Linux: my desktop PC (runs Gentoo), the Avalon server (runs CentOS), my own web servers (run Ubuntu), and my tablets (run Android).

For someone who is more familiar with Windows and considering moving to Linux, the following three Linux distributions (distros) look interesting. I generated this list of distros just now by doing a Google search for "best linux distribution for windows users", and then matching up some of the distros mentioned in the first few Google hits with which distros are currently most popular, according to Distrowatch.com (https://distrowatch.com/):

Mint (https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint)
Elementary (https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=elementary)
Zorin (https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zorin)

These three distros are three of the top ten most popular distros listed in Distrowatch.com (https://distrowatch.com/). Migrating from Windows to Linux is a very popular activity these days.

The distro that I currently prefer to use in my home PC, Gentoo, is way down that Distrowatch.com (https://distrowatch.com/) list, at number 48. I use Gentoo because I can avoid systemd, and because Gentoo is deeply customizable. This would be rather like an old car buff saying that he only uses custom built engines in his car so that he can use Weber carburetors and avoid the overly computerized ignition and injection systems found in most cars these days.

[Michelle Marie]

How complex would it be to get my new laptop that is running Windows 8.1 to move to Linux (distro)?

Also, what are the advantages? And how big of a learning curve would it be?

I only used Linux briefly in the 90s.

I did use to use DOS back in the day!

Thanks in advance. :)

MM

[greybeard]

How complex would it be to get my new laptop that is running Windows 8.1 to move to Linux (distro)?

Also, what are the advantages? And how big of a learning curve would it be?

I only used Linux briefly in the 90s.

I did use to use DOS back in the day!

Thanks in advance. :)

MM

Dear Michelle
Watch the first video it all in that.
I installed Mint 19 two days ago and it was so easy and relatively quick.
No big learning curve--its so logical you dont need any instructions--the opening page gives you all you need.
Just check out the first video.

Chris

[Michelle Marie]

How complex would it be to get my new laptop that is running Windows 8.1 to move to Linux (distro)?

Also, what are the advantages? And how big of a learning curve would it be?

I only used Linux briefly in the 90s.

I did use to use DOS back in the day!

Thanks in advance. :)

MM

Dear Michelle
Watch the first video it all in that.
I installed Mint 19 two days ago and it was so easy and relatively quick.
No big learning curve--its so logical you dont need any instructions--the opening page gives you all you need.
Just check out the first video.

Chris

Ok, I will. I started at the last post first, and I'm catching up on the other posts right now.

Just found this thread. Thank you!

MM

[ThePythonicCow]

Ok, I will. I started at the last post first, and ...
Ah - if by "last post" you mean my Post #14 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104110-Linux-an-alternative-to-Windows-10&p=1245901&viewfull=1#post1245901), above, then that is probably the "last post" you should read on this thread. My perspective is, shall we say, not the same as that of those who will most appreciate greybeard's starting this discussion.

:) :cow: :)

[gord]

getting it on 9-track tapes from Ken Thompson, inside Bell Labs, in the 1970's.

As an amateur geek who didn't get very far, and really doesn't know much, I'm still going to say "Wow!"

[Michelle Marie]

Ok, I will. I started at the last post first, and ...
Ah - if by "last post" you mean my Post #14 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104110-Linux-an-alternative-to-Windows-10&p=1245901&viewfull=1#post1245901), above, then that is probably the "last post" you should read on this thread. My perspective is, shall we say, not the same as that of those who will most appreciate greybeard's starting this discussion.

:) :cow: :)

Well, what interested me is that you said LibreOffoce can handle Microsoft Office documents, AND that you prefer Linux over Windows.

I really didn't want Windows 8.1, and since I just got it yesterday, this is very timely information. I don't have any files on the laptop yet.

However, I have a desktop which I run Windows 7. It is NEVER on the Internet. But I do often create things that I transfer onto a thumb drive, then send over the Internet. My laptop with Vista just went haywire, and that's what I've replaced.

It might be good to create a partition and run it alongside Windows. I'll have to decide about that.

I did see the first video. It definitely seems easy enough to set up.

I'll learn a bit more and pick up an extra thumb drive before I load it. But Linux seems safer; more private.
Windows 8.1 doesn't feel quite right, and Windows 10 definitely creeps me out!

I do like Windows 7 the best.

MM

[TomKat]

Thank you Chris, this is interesting and timely. I was recently worrying about the impending end to Win 7 support, which effectively forces an upgrade to Win 10. No thanks. I already have Win 10 on my laptop, and it is top to bottom inside out hideous. That's just the user experience, forget the terrible privacy issues.

I've been a Windows user since 3.1. The idea of moving to another platform is a bit scary. But I'm liking the look of Linux Mint 19, probably because the general nuts and bolts of it looks so familiar. That's a big selling point for me. My one concern is the compatibility of my software, particularly with how Libre handles MS Office documents. I need to look into that.

You'll probably like Linux Mint Cinnamon, which is a GUI similar to WinXP. I like the Cinnamon GUI better than any other, by far, but it does crash once in awhile on bootup. I used Mint for years till I recently switched to Debian Cinnamon which runs more slowly and surely. Although this post is being written on a Mac -- in my opinion Mac has the worst GUI around. But it's also possibly the most stable OS out there, system-wise.

[TomKat]

How complex would it be to get my new laptop that is running Windows 8.1 to move to Linux (distro)?

Also, what are the advantages? And how big of a learning curve would it be?

I only used Linux briefly in the 90s.

I did use to use DOS back in the day!

Thanks in advance. :)

MM

Most painless way to switch to Linux is dual boot -- Linux Mint DVD give you that option. Eventually, you'll find you're booting to Windows less and less.

¤=[Post Update]=¤




Ok, I will. I started at the last post first, and ...
Ah - if by "last post" you mean my Post #14 (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104110-Linux-an-alternative-to-Windows-10&p=1245901&viewfull=1#post1245901), above, then that is probably the "last post" you should read on this thread. My perspective is, shall we say, not the same as that of those who will most appreciate greybeard's starting this discussion.

:) :cow: :)


I do like Windows 7 the best.

MM

then go with linux mint cinnamon

[meat suit]

Thank you Chris, this is interesting and timely. I was recently worrying about the impending end to Win 7 support, which effectively forces an upgrade to Win 10. No thanks. I already have Win 10 on my laptop, and it is top to bottom inside out hideous. That's just the user experience, forget the terrible privacy issues.

I've been a Windows user since 3.1. The idea of moving to another platform is a bit scary. But I'm liking the look of Linux Mint 19, probably because the general nuts and bolts of it looks so familiar. That's a big selling point for me. My one concern is the compatibility of my software, particularly with how Libre handles MS Office documents. I need to look into that.

You'll probably like Linux Mint Cinnamon, which is a GUI similar to WinXP. I like the Cinnamon GUI better than any other, by far, but it does crash once in awhile on bootup. I used Mint for years till I recently switched to Debian Cinnamon which runs more slowly and surely. Although this post is being written on a Mac -- in my opinion Mac has the worst GUI around. But it's also possibly the most stable OS out there, system-wise.

this is a good and timely thread for me, Mozilla have stopped firefox support for XP a few weeks ago and its really time for me to move on. I have bought a win 10 laptop but it hasnt seen much use yet. I will try the Cinnamon route....

[greybeard]

It would be helpful if anyone who has recently moved from Windows to Linux Mint shares their experience on this thread.

Chris

[greybeard]

TOP 5 Reasons Why I ONLY Use Linux Mint (Best Linux Distro Ever?) Geekoutdoors.com EP698

Linux Mint has been my go to Linux Distro and quite simply, is the best operating system out there for this Geek! So what are my Top 5 reasons why I only use Linux Mint versus other Linux distributions or even Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIfEKnxD3Nk

[TomKat]

TOP 5 Reasons Why I ONLY Use Linux Mint (Best Linux Distro Ever?) Geekoutdoors.com EP698

Linux Mint has been my go to Linux Distro and quite simply, is the best operating system out there for this Geek! So what are my Top 5 reasons why I only use Linux Mint versus other Linux distributions or even Microsoft Windows or Apple's Mac?


For everyday use (email, internet mostly) I use Linux. For digital audio workstation, I use Mac. For my employment, I use Windows.

[norman]

Most of the people I hear singing the praise of Linux don't seem to do much more than browse the internet and manage a few files their gadgets produce. If my needs were so simple I'd be a linux convert in a heartbeat.


I've installed a couple of distros in the past and found them to be quite likable to use but I soon abandon linux when I need to get on with something serious because even if there are linux apps that sort of cover the same territory I work in, the steep learning curve would cripple my productivity and drive me nuts.


If I could do it all over again, I'd have gone straight from MS DOS 6.22 to Unix/Linux and invested my whole 25 year journey time in that open source world and, hopefully, have a decent linux software landscape I was up to speed and productive with.

[greybeard]

Most of the people I hear singing the praise of Linux don't seem to do much more than browse the internet and manage a few files their gadgets produce. If my needs were so simple I'd be a linux convert in a heartbeat.


I've installed a couple of distros in the past and found them to be quite likable to use but I soon abandon linux when I need to get on with something serious because even if there are linux apps that sort of cover the same territory I work in, the steep learning curve would cripple my productivity and drive me nuts.


If I could do it all over again, I'd have gone straight from MS DOS 6.22 to Unix/Linux and invested my whole 25 year journey time in that open source world and, hopefully, have a decent linux software landscape I was up to speed and productive with.

What ever woks for you norman.
Have you had a look at Pauls post here?
Chris
http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?104110-Linux-an-alternative-to-Windows-10&p=1245901&viewfull=1#post1245901

[ExomatrixTV]

I use it next to windows and installing went perfect ... but somehow Linux Mint fused the dependencies of 2 Hard Drives during booting ... I made a shadow copy of 1 of the 2 from SATA Drives to Super Fast SSD Drive (Same Size) Both 500Gb ... now I can NOT boot anymore :( ... So I had to use the old 500Gb SATA-Hard Drive Again :/ ... Not Sure why I can not replace 1 in to SSD HD Drive With Same Size!



But Linux Mint is by FAR the Best FREE Linux Out There!

[greybeard]

I use it next to windows and installing went perfect ... but somehow Linux Mint fused the dependencies of 2 Hard Drives during booting ... I made a shadow copy of 1 of the 2 from SATA Drives to Super Fast SSD Drive (Same Size) Both 500Gb ... now I can NOT boot anymore :( ... So I had to use the old 500Gb SATA-Hard Drive Again :/ ... Not Sure why I can not replace 1 in to SSD HD Drive With Same Size!



But Linux Mint is by FAR the Best FREE Linux Out There!


Im not an expert so I havent clue why What happened perhaps Paul would have an answer or the Linux community
help with his
I have never had a challenge with the Linux OS.

Chris

[greybeard]

I dont know why that post went coloured.
At least its not mint coloured
Not intentional.
Half asleep--smiling.

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

I use it next to windows and installing went perfect ... but somehow Linux Mint fused the dependencies of 2 Hard Drives during booting Dual booting installations can get tricky, as the second installer might not decide to do with your disks what you expected.

I usually avoid them, or at least I physically remove the disk with the first installation, before even starting the second installation.

It has taken me hours, hands on, to debug such problems. The last time I did that was probably 10 or 20 years ago, and I've long forgotten the details ... which is just as well, as the details have no doubt changed anyway.

Usually I just use different PC's for different OS's ... which is easy for me, as I have several PC's laying around somewhere here. One of my hobbies ... building PC's, whether I need them or not.


Im not an expert so I havent clue why What happened perhaps Paul would have an answer
Sorry ... no useful answer.


I dont know why that post went coloured.
Color removed - you had managed to mark your comment as PHP code :).

[greybeard]

Recovery boot drive
If you type this into the bottom left panel on windows 10 it will make a full recovery USB drive --you need 16GB of space on the USB stick or drive.
Its sensible to do this before making a major change like a dual install.
However most times it goes just fine.

One another thing I like about Linux is that its maintenance free.
It does not get slower over time--no de-frag necessary--it has a firewall but tends not to attract mischief makers.

Chris

[TomKat]

Best way to install dual boot with linux is to physically remove any other hdds other than your C drive with windows on it. Linux will ask you if you want to keep windows and do a dual boot. After you're successfully dual booting, you can put your other hdds back in

[greybeard]

Best way to install dual boot with linux is to physically remove any other hdds other than your C drive with windows on it. Linux will ask you if you want to keep windows and do a dual boot. After you're successfully dual booting, you can put your other hdds back in

That really makes sense Tom Kat.
If you only have C drive then there is no problem and thats true for most.
Its only if you have more than one drive in the PC there might be a challenge.

Thanks Chris

[enigma3]

I am a classic computer clutz. I want point and click, not typing some command to use it. I am used to Windows but want to go to Mint. I want a book, not a video, to instruct me. How do I configure favorites/bookmarks? How do I manage pictures and files? Can I use Avast to clean my Mint computer? Does TOR run smoothly? I only do basic things. The book has to tell me those things. Please, you computer knowledgeable Avalonians, recommend a book that will make the migration easy. I should add - I tried this about a year ago and did not find ANY book that was helpful.

One basic thingy going on with me is that I want to remain anonymous, even down to my user name. I am aware that DARPA knows how to access a computer even if it is turned off. You may have a computer in your home that is not plugged into the internet but plugged into your home electrical grid. They can access that computer using another computer in your home that IS attached to the internet. And both computers may be turned off. Anyways, I would be concerned that if I were running Windows and Linux Mint on the same computer I could be tracked based on the Windows program. So I will only migrate to Mint on a new computer devoid of Windows. Therefore, said migration must be easy enough for a computer beginner like me to follow using a book. Then I will set the computer up like Bill Ryan does. Linux Mint using a VPN and TOR to surf the internet. I go all over the place. That would be about as anonymous as a person could get.

[greybeard]

I am a classic computer clutz. I want point and click, not typing some command to use it. I am used to Windows but want to go to Mint. I want a book, not a video, to instruct me. How do I configure favorites/bookmarks? How do I manage pictures and files? Can I use Avast to clean my Mint computer? Does TOR run smoothly? I only do basic things. The book has to tell me those things. Please, you computer knowledgeable Avalonians, recommend a book that will make the migration easy. I should add - I tried this about a year ago and did not find ANY book that was helpful.

One basic thingy going on with me is that I want to remain anonymous, even down to my user name. I am aware that DARPA knows how to access a computer even if it is turned off. You may have a computer in your home that is not plugged into the internet but plugged into your home electrical grid. They can access that computer using another computer in your home that IS attached to the internet. And both computers may be turned off. Anyways, I would be concerned that if I were running Windows and Linux Mint on the same computer I could be tracked based on the Windows program. So I will only migrate to Mint on a new computer devoid of Windows. Therefore, said migration must be easy enough for a computer beginner like me to follow using a book. Then I will set the computer up like Bill Ryan does. Linux Mint using a VPN and TOR to surf the internet. I go all over the place. That would be about as anonymous as a person could get.

Hi enigma3
I dont think you will find a book because it is so easy.
The system is self cleaning --no additional software required.
When it is set up there is a Home folder on the desktop--click that and you have access to folders for documents, pictures, downloads., music, videos and desktop.
Its all drag and drop --no need to type anything--experts do but not necessary for me and many others.
There is a menu at the bottom for installed software --that really has all you need installed already.
If you can cope with Windows you will find Mint so easy..
No complex questions to get started--one pass word and that's it.

As said im no expert--others may have better advice, but really its simple.

Chris

[Michi]

I got myself recently a new PC which is smaller and faster than my old one. (I like small and fast computers).
It came with Windoze :p
But as I am an old-timer Linux enthusiast I set it up with CentOS 7 (my favored choice) with a simple and clean look.
Linux is often not plug-and-play - well at least not my distro - especially when it comes setting up a DVB-C stick (a TV USB stick) but I like the challenge and always find a solution. For me it's like a play ground for grown-ups. :happy dog:

[norman]

(I like small and fast computers)





I generally like big and expandable, so I can fit high quality components into them, like a soundcard with a high quality DAC. USB audio interfaces can be good but I tend to have problems integrating them into the windows mixer to get full duplex functionality. It's partly to do with the age/generation of software app I use and partly because until a rework in Win 10 the windows mixer hadn't been updated since before there was such a thing a USB audio interface. But of course, Win 10 is a horribly stupid OS, so that defeats the whole point, for me.

[greybeard]

One of the things I like about Avalon is the sharing of experience on a multitude of subjects.
Thanks to all who posted.

Chris

[Hughe]

Linux Mint and other distributions are based on Debian Package Management System, which runs systemd.
Developers of systemd are complete idiot, shills under corporate paycheck such as Red Hat.
Genuine Linux distribution such as Devuan does not run systemd.

To end users who choose Linux over Windows, it is probably irrelevant issue.

[ThePythonicCow]

Linux Mint and other distributions are based on Debian Package Management System, which runs systemd.
Developers of systemd are complete idiot, shills under corporate paycheck such as Red Hat.
Genuine Linux distribution such as Devuan does not run systemd.

To end users who choose Linux over Windows, it is probably irrelevant issue.
Systemd ... bringing Windows-like monolithic feature creep and bugginess to Linux.

[greybeard]

Not within my understanding--Whatever works and it does beautifully.
Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

Not within my understanding--Whatever works and it does beautifully.
Well, yes, ... I am cursed for having watched the evolution of Systemd, and its many ancestors going back many decades, and for knowing the internals and evolution of the source behind the software.

On the surface, yes, Systemd variants of Linux dominate nowadays. Two of the three Linux systems that I administer on a daily basis run Systemd variants of Linux ... because it's there and most versions of Linux run it.

But the system that I count most on working, that "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" (as John Cameron Swayze said in Timex watch ads, long ago) ... that system does not have Systemd, and won't have it.

[greybeard]

We live in a world where if one thing does not get you another thing will.
Just a question of minimizing risk

For the majority of users Linux Mint does all that is required hassle free.
No need for additional expensive software--Anti Virus--system cleaner--and word processor that you dont own but have to keep paying for. .

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

We live in a world where if one thing does not get you another thing will.
Just a question of minimizing risk

For the majority of users Linux Mint does all that is required hassle free.
No need for additional expensive software--Anti Virus--system cleaner--and word processor that you dont own but have to keep paying for. .

Chris

Yes - I quite agree.

My anti-Systemd rant was not good advice for those reading this thread.

I let my inner-elitist-geek get away with me :).

[greybeard]

We live in a world where if one thing does not get you another thing will.
Just a question of minimizing risk

For the majority of users Linux Mint does all that is required hassle free.
No need for additional expensive software--Anti Virus--system cleaner--and word processor that you dont own but have to keep paying for. .

Chris

Yes - I quite agree.

My anti-Systemd rant was not good advice for those reading this thread.

I let my inner-elitist-geek get away with me :).

Believe me you are welcome Paul.
Lets face it you keep Avalon running regardless of all the challenges.

Thanks for all your input Paul--you make a difference.

Chris

[Spiral]

I ditched microsoft completely a few years back after trying a dual boot. For the dual boot I reduced the size of the space MS occupied on the hard drive & then added Ubuntu.

It got to the point where my laptop just wouldn't function properly with windows because it is just too big an operating system, and with where things have gone since with W10 there is no way I would go back to windows.

It's not hard adapting to one of the free operating systems, I'm not a geek & you don't need to be, just don't install one of the experimental systems that are for geeks, get one with long term support, like ubuntu 18 or linux mint.

The one thing I would suggest that hasn't been mentioned is to swap your hard drive for a new one, if it's a laptop try a solid state one for extra robustness, there are plenty of youtube tutorials on this & it's very straight forward, you can fit any 2.5" hard drive in a laptop & 3.5" in a PC, the make & size (GB) are down to preference & need as far as I can tell, having gone through quite a few.

I have got a new 2.5" SSD & linux mint on a usb stick in drawer for when my current OS becomes obsolete or some other problem crops up.

Keeping the old hard drives as they are allows me to keep all my photos, documents & vids & I can put old hard drives in a thing called an "external enclosure" (basically a box with sockets ) & access any I need whenever I want.

[greybeard]

Thanks Spiral, your practical advice appreciated.
Chris

[apokalypse]

full time mint for about 2 months and never looking back still learning...brought 250GB SSD when it on sales and have dual boot with Manjaro KDE+Kubuntu while Windows on other SSD only for gaming.

for windows users who want to jump to Linux encourage use Ubuntu Based like Mint for user-friendly, Ubuntu have great community. try it on virtual machine like virtual box get familiar with it. tried Linux few years ago i really hate Linux for commands much prefer windows installation of software but right now once into Linux don't want to go back to Microsoft world.

[greybeard]

Thanks apokalypse.
Maybe I should look at a ssd drive for thelaptop.
I have a tower for the DAW I use and that has one.

It cant be that difficult to put in a laptop.
However the Mint is working perfectly in my basic Lenovo Ideapad.

I got the Tower built by Ginger in Uk
Impressed by their service.

Chris

[greybeard]

I left Windows some years back and went to UBUNTU --That was good experience.
Pathwalker suggested Linux Mint and I found, for me, that this was a better system.
I could go on praising Mint but the bottom line is try it and see if it works for you.

Chris

[TomKat]

Linux Mint and other distributions are based on Debian Package Management System, which runs systemd.
Developers of systemd are complete idiot, shills under corporate paycheck such as Red Hat.
Genuine Linux distribution such as Devuan does not run systemd.

To end users who choose Linux over Windows, it is probably irrelevant issue.

Looks like Devuan is a recent fork off Debian. If it comes out in a Cinnamon flavor, I might try it. Otherwise, I'll stick with Debian Cinnamon.

[apokalypse]

for windows who want to jump to linux always use Ubuntu based and Mint is most popular one because of GUI-friendly-stable unlike Arch based which i'm using right now still trying to figuring out stuff.

[TomKat]

for windows who want to jump to linux always use Ubuntu based and Mint is most popular one because of GUI-friendly-stable unlike Arch based which i'm using right now still trying to figuring out stuff.

I tried Arch and found it to be unstable; last straw was when it started messing up files when I transferred them to USB stick. Could have been a bad stick but it first started doing it on Arch so I blamed Arch :-) But I didn't see any real advantage over Mint and I could never get the Places menu in Cinnamon configured the same way it comes on Mint and Debian.

But I appreciate the large community and amount of AUR programs available, almost as much as Debian-based OSes.

[greybeard]

Linux vs. Windows | The Fundamental Differences


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4xA7GRmf6o

[ThePythonicCow]

Linux vs. Windows | The Fundamental Differences
That's a good video - thanks.

Those who prefer to read, or skim, can see the full text of his comments. Just click on the Youtube link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4xA7GRmf6o).

[greybeard]

Hi Paul
Advice please.
Is it also possible to change to Linux from a MAC laptop.
Thanks
Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

Hi Paul
Advice please.
Is it also possible to change to Linux from a MAC laptop.
Thanks
Chris
I presume so, yes.

The opposite, running MacOS on non-Apple hardware, is a pain in the butt, or worse.

Apple makes its money selling hardware, so they don't get in the way of people using Apple hardware for unconventional purposes, such as running Linux, but they do get in the way, deliberately and in various ways, of running MacOS on cheaper PC hardware.

Try a google search for "running linux on a mac" to see some articles that consider this in more detail.

I've not personally done this nor studied this, so I am not a wealth of additional detail.

[norman]

A question to an expert.


Is there a very basic version of Linux, perhaps a very old version, that is like MSDOS and console cammand driven, that I can teach myself a few basics with ?

[ThePythonicCow]

A question to an expert.


Is there a very basic version of Linux, perhaps a very old version, that is like MSDOS and console cammand driven, that I can teach myself a few basics with ?
There are some very small Linux distributions, yes. Some of them are described here: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-distro-space/

If you need Linux to work on a small system, with say a few hundred MByte of disk and one or two hundred MByte of RAM, then these distributions might be appropriate.

Usually the best way to "try it out" is to get a Linux distribution that loads directly into RAM from the installation CD (or USB stick), without putting anything permanently on your hard drive. These are called "Live" distributions; most major distributions can be installed either way, "Live" or permanently onto your disk drive. Of course, when you power down a "Live" distribution, all is lost (which can be a good idea, if you don't want your mistakes to last.)

On almost any Linux distribution, whether installed live or permanently, if you want to play around at a "DOS-like" prompt, open up a terminal window in that system, which will give you a shell prompt (analogous to the CMD prompt in DOS) and you can start typing classic Unix/Linux commands.

Here's what looks to me to be a pretty good list of Linux distributions to consider for such uses: http://www.linuxandubuntu.com/home/8-best-linux-distributions-for-new-linux-users

Here's a list from distrowatch.com (the most complete site for finding the details of Linux distributions) of all Linux systems that can do a "Live Desktop" installation: https://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Live+Medium#simple

[greybeard]

Paul, your input is really appreciated.
Im just an enthusiastic user--
Ive never had to use the command prompt with Mint, though several tines with early UBUNTU under expert guidance.
Any average user will find all that comes, or is available free with the version of mint in the first post, is more than sufficient.

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

Ive never had to use the command prompt with Mint,
For most modern day users, not having to use the command prompt is like not having to open the bonnet and short some wires and turn a crank to start the engine ... a good thing not to have to do.

For those of us who grew up designing and assembling Model T cars and its myriad competitors of the time from hand forged metal parts, not being able to get to a command prompt would be like driving a car with the bonnet welded shut, a dreadful limitation.

[greybeard]

Ive never had to use the command prompt with Mint,
For most modern day users, not having to use the command prompt is like not having to open the bonnet and short some wires and turn a crank to start the engine ... a good thing not to have to do.

For those of us who grew up designing and assembling Model T cars and its myriad competitors of the time from hand forged metal parts, not being able to get to a command prompt would be like driving a car with the bonnet welded shut, a dreadful limitation.

Gone are the days the armature mechanic could fix things, I remember it well.
However Linux Mint gives both--The expert can fiddle to his /her hearts content with the command prompt.
Me, I dont have to open the bonnet but If I did there is expert advice via Linux forums.
I really appreciate all the posts on this thread.

Chris

[Michi]

You can basically download any Live-Distro with a graphical user interface and use the Terminal program to experiment and learn commands for any action.
If you want to run that distro on old hardware, you could try Damn Small Linux.

[TomKat]

I was glad to know the Linux command prompt when I started using a Mac. The GUI is geared towards children, but if you're familiar with Unix directory structure and commands, you can control IT instead of being controlled BY it.

[ExomatrixTV]

The Culture Wars Have Come to Linux

Oxbexh7wGj4

https://yt3.ggpht.com/a-/AN66SAwjEaLhtgPoUI4PKF2HVAbSCZ-nci4pzJ749w=s48-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no (https://www.youtube.com/user/LACK78)Computing Forever (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT9D87j5W7PtE7NHOR5DUOQ)

[greybeard]

10 Reasons why Linux is Better Than MacOS or Windows

There are many reasons to like Windows, MacOS or Linux, but which OS offers more potential for the user in the long run? Here’s 10 reasons why Linux is better than MacOS or Windows.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH3v41JmyIg

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 19.1 codenamed ‘Tessa’

The second release in the Linux Mint 19.x series will be named “Tessa”.

Linux Mint 19.1 is estimated to be released around November/December 2018 and will be supported until 2023.

Linux Mint 19 users will have the ability to upgrade. This upgrade will be both easy and safe and it will be performed via the Update Manager.



https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3642

These upgrades are free
Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

These upgrades are free
... and these updates happen when, and if, you ask for them, not when some automated Microsoft program decides to download them (perhaps over an expensive bandwidth limited data plan) and install them (perhaps when you needed to be using the computer for something critical, such as performing surgery under anesthesia or giving a presentation to a large audience.)

[greybeard]

Yes its your OS, your choice.
What I love about Linux is the logical way files are stored--so easy to find documents--music--videos--downloading from u tube is via a free extension.

Moving to Linux is a no brainer.
Chris

[norman]

--downloading from u tube is via a free extension.




Tell me more about that. I might have to set up a mint machine just for youtube grabbing.


I have firefox on Windows but I can't get any of the so called youtube downloaders to do anything for me. The one I used to use, that worked perfectly for most streams from most sites, including audio, won't work with the newer windows/firefox versions.


I found an online service called genyoutube that works, but it tries to spam me and load dodgy web pages.

[greybeard]

Hi Norman
It comes with Yahoo Mozilla Firefox ( Mint edition) as an extension to that.
You probably have to get another addition to the down loader to get all variety of files.
I did that it works fine
There is the usual "We are The Oath" ---you need to say yes to that
Whats new!!!!

Obviously Im sold on Mint---loads of free soft ware if your of the mind to get that.
The Libre Office is great--free but you can donate which I did.

Best wishes
Chris

[norman]

What's extention called Chris. It might even work in my windows version.

[greybeard]

Hi Norman
Downloads/net.downloadhelper.coapp-1.2.4-1_amd64.deb

Now thats for linux system probably.
the downloader worked as it was but then some u tube files required this extension--the process then was more or less automatic--Ijust ticked the boxes so to speak.
I have window10 on a tower PC for my Presonus studio one DAW
just all sorts of challenges getting files downloade--I just dont use Windows now for anything other than recording our music through the DAW even then it misplaces my files.

If you have a spare PC laptop I would try Mint--I dont think having it alongside windows in the same machine is a good idea, but you could try it out that way without actually installing.
I downloaded from the Linux site and put it on a usb stick--so you can temporally operate it from that or put in on a DVD

Really worth a try Norman--so hassle free compared to Window

Chris

[norman]

Yea, it must be something different on Linux because I tried Downloadhelper on my system and it was useless.


Thanks for the replies Chris.

[greybeard]

Your welcome Norman
I download a lot from u tube in order to watch it in my own time--virtually a daily occurrence.

Its faster to download than to watch online.
Im fortunate the deal with Taltalk is just £20 a month in UK and the internet comes with that at no additional cost--so no limit to the time on line.
Im sorry for people who have to pay according to their time on line and GB download.

Chris

[norman]

I downloaded Mint a couple of weeks ago.


I just haven't decided what to do about it yet. I've got plenty of old computers here to play with. I downloaded a version of Ubuntu Studio a couple of years ago too, I never did anything with that either, but it's still here somewhere, on one of my many hard drives.


That's a point ! . . . can I still access NTFS or Fat32 external hard drives from Linux ? I think not.

[greybeard]

I downloaded Mint a couple of weeks ago.


I just haven't decided what to do about it yet. I've got plenty of old computers here to play with. I downloaded a version of Ubuntu Studio a couple of years ago too, I never did anything with that either, but it's still here somewhere, on one of my many hard drives.


That's a point ! . . . can I still access NTFS or Fat32 external hard drives from Linux ? I think not.

Within Linux there is a facility --software-- to run Windows programs--I have never used it so I cant say how effective it is.
Maybe some one else could inform us regarding your question.
Chris

[ExomatrixTV]

Programmers REVOLT Against Social Justice Rules in Linux

v5VvJiNUCIA

[ThePythonicCow]

That's a point ! . . . can I still access NTFS or Fat32 external hard drives from Linux ? I think not.
The Linux kernel understands both NTFS and FAT32 file systems; both can be mounted and accessed.

[greybeard]

Paul you are a treasure.
Thanks--with the greatest respect.
Chris

[greybeard]

Im promoting Linux mint rather than knocking Windows.
To credit Windows it took us out of having to use DOS to be user friendly.
The first version were good.
Ive just had a Windows upgrade --that took over 30minutes to download and install
How come Linux upgrades take little time?

If its affordable, I would suggest two machines--one dedicated to Linux, the other to Windows.

Chris

[greybeard]

Windows just did a long upgrade and now the software Addictive drums 2 does not work even though i tried reinstalling.
Its a paramount software to what I do.
Im in touch with the maker of AD2 to see what they recommend --it is never possible to get a person at Mirosoft to personally deal with anything.
Another reason for using an alternative OS

ch

[ThePythonicCow]

now the software Addictive drums 2 does not work even though i tried reinstalling.
Its a paramount software to what I do
dang :).

Many a time, even now that I've retired from serious programming for over a decade, that I still enjoy being able to interact with, observe, and even contribute to whatever software I happen to depend on critically.

[greybeard]

How To Connect To The FREE INTERNET And Live As A CRYPTO LIFER with FREOS

Nothing to do with Linux but interesting.
Maybe some who know about these things could comment.
Chris




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulDAF7RtW30

[ThePythonicCow]

How To Connect To The FREE INTERNET And Live As A CRYPTO LIFER with FREOS

Nothing to do with Linux but interesting.
Maybe some who know about these things could comment.
Chris
His USB stick in a red pill is a tails live boot distribution ... with an unusual package and an over hyped sales pitch.

One thing I recommend NOT doing is attaching any USB stick that I got at a conference to any computer that I cared the slightest about. If I want to run a tails distribution (that uses TOR, which most likely is an NSA compromised tool), then I'd download tails from a trusted site and check the MD5 checksum of the resulting image before putting it on a USB stick.

By "over hyped" I refer to his bold claim that every computer is compromised, before offering his red pill remedy. The compromises are various, and their relevance depends on what you're doing and what threats you're worried about. Using tails is only the right answer in certain use cases, and to defend against certain threats. He is skipping right past all that essential security basics and selling fear.

I gave up listening to him a few seconds into his second sales pitch, at about the 3 minute mark, when he starting pitching cryptocurrencies over fiat currency, with a similarly overstated fear pitch.

I did not listen long enough to determine what his motivation is, but I presume he's selling something or some such.

P.S. -- His website appears to be http://www.freosglobal.com/, which has the same sales pitch, almost verbatim. It has no obvious clues, at least not on the front page, as to the underlying motive ... the actual "business model".

[greybeard]

Your input greatly appreciated Paul.
I cant form an opinion as I dont have the necessary knowledge experience etc.- but you do.
Perhaps I should remove the video--I dont want to be seen to promote this.

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

Your input greatly appreciated Paul.
I cant form an opinion as I dont have the necessary knowledge experience etc.- but you do.
Perhaps I should remove the video--I dont want to be seen to promote this.

Chris

No need to remove - it's harmless. I doubt that his sales pitch will distract many.

[meat suit]

well, I found myself a usb stick with 9 gig spare space and turned it into a bootable drive with linux mint cinnamon using 'etcher'
little did I expect that it would get rid of all the files on that drive... I guess that I didnt need them in the future... hopefully..

now, I dont seem to find the keys to press on boot up to get to linus boot from that usb stick. I have an Acer one cloudbook..
tried delete, esc, f10,f12.. any ideas?

edit

ah, found it .. f2 key

[greybeard]

well, I found myself a usb stick with 9 gig spare space and turned it into a bootable drive with linux mint cinnamon using 'etcher'
little did I expect that it would get rid of all the files on that drive... I guess that I didnt need them in the future... hopefully..

now, I dont seem to find the keys to press on boot up to get to linus boot from that usb stick. I have an Acer one cloudbook..
tried delete, esc, f10,f12.. any ideas?

As I think you know the BIOS has to be able to boot from a USB stick
Some laptops will only boot from a cd.
Yes when you put ISO on a stick it re-formats the stick--seems you cant have anything on the the stick but the ISO
Im not an expert you might find online how to access your laptop so that it will accept boot up from the USB
I have LENOVO and there is a tiny hole left side where you can insert a pin --needle and that leads you to where you can change boot up options.
All laptops different--may be someone who has a similar laptop to yours would know.
Some need the correct key to be pressed repeatedly as you do a boot up to access.
Good luck
Chris

[norman]

well, I found myself a usb stick with 9 gig spare space and turned it into a bootable drive with linux mint cinnamon using 'etcher'
little did I expect that it would get rid of all the files on that drive... I guess that I didnt need them in the future... hopefully..

now, I dont seem to find the keys to press on boot up to get to linus boot from that usb stick. I have an Acer one cloudbook..
tried delete, esc, f10,f12.. any ideas?

Try pressing the DEL key or the F2 key during the first boot logo screen.

If that gets you into the BIOS setup page, you have to find the boot options section and make USB the first boot option.

[meat suit]

thanks guys, f2 got me there...

[greybeard]

Great let us know how you get on

Chris

[greybeard]

EMERGENCY VIDEO: Latest Windows Update May DELETE ALL YOUR FILES
Speaking of deleting


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZNOE4qSaDc


The Windows 10 upgrade has caused massive problems for some--files being deleted.
It has stopped my "Addictive Drums 2" from working not only that every song that is in the Studio one now has no working drums.
An error code came up which I sent to XLN Audio via screen shot the supplier--they sent suggestions which have not worked--that was two days ago I @ them to say their advice did not work--no response as yet.
Normally they are quick to respond.

I have uninstalled and reinstalled--same error message.
I can only thiink that the ubgrade has changed the system and it keeps AD2 in a non working state.
Big Sigh.

If only Linux operated with the DAW--no wonder for everything else I stay well clear of windows

[norman]

Win 10 doesn't feel like an operating system should feel. It's more like a specialised corporate internal system that controls it's employees.

Personal sovereignty is obviously not in the plan Microsoft is following.

First principles are long gone. It's now in the realm of "get with our program" or p**s off.

But, this isn't a Windows knocking thread, is it Chris :)

[greybeard]

Win 10 doesn't feel like an operating system should feel. It's more like a specialised corporate internal system that controls it's employees.

Personal sovereignty is obviously not in the plan Microsoft is following.

First principles are long gone. It's now in the realm of "get with our program" or p**s off.

But, this isn't a Windows knocking thread, is it Chris :)

Ha ha
It wasn't intended to be then "update" happened.
I agree with your comments--W is a money making machine unfortunately most software uses that system or MAC
Im sorry Idid not get MAC for the DAW but MAC is expensive and that may no be problem free I dont know.
My son swears by it and he is a commercial artist--a lot of musicians use it.
No matte all will be well.
Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

ah, found it .. f2 key
Sometimes (for some PC's) it's F2, and for some it's DEL (aka 'Delete').

So my habit is to tap the DEL key with my right hand, while tapping the F2 key with my left, during early boot, if I want to enter the BIOS screens (for things like choosing an alternative boot or for adjusting voltages and frequencies for manual overclocking).

[greybeard]

I had to reinstall Windows and even though I had a back up I also had to reinstall the Studio one DAW and all associated software.
The backed up files would no work with reinstalled software --sigh
Microsoft of course does not accept any responsibility for anything.
They are like kids playing with matches.
Just as well I know what im doing but many are new to the Microsoft game--heaven help them.

Chris

[meat suit]

ok guys, I like really mint running of the usb stick, so persued with the wipe of windows 10 and installed mint on the pc.
now it wont boot from the pc, telling me 'no boot device'.. I booted of the usb again and reinstalled a few times.. same thing.
in bios the boot section is whitend out and the arrows wont let me change the boot order... the other bios sections are changable but not the boot section..
any ideas? do I need to reinstall bios? if so, how does that work?

[greybeard]

ok guys, I like really mint running of the usb stick, so persued with the wipe of windows 10 and installed mint on the pc.
now it wont boot from the pc, telling me 'no boot device'.. I booted of the usb again and reinstalled a few times.. same thing.
in bios the boot section is whitend out and the arrows wont let me change the boot order... the other bios sections are changable but not the boot section..
any ideas? do I need to reinstall bios? if so, how does that work?

Sorry you are having a challenge.
Im not an expert but it seems the boot order that you had to change to install needs to go back to starting from hard drive.
If there is a default section in the bios I would click that.
Most laptops if the USB is the priority but not available cause you removed the stick will go to the next boot option.

Chris

[meat suit]

ok guys, I like really mint running of the usb stick, so persued with the wipe of windows 10 and installed mint on the pc.
now it wont boot from the pc, telling me 'no boot device'.. I booted of the usb again and reinstalled a few times.. same thing.
in bios the boot section is whitend out and the arrows wont let me change the boot order... the other bios sections are changable but not the boot section..
any ideas? do I need to reinstall bios? if so, how does that work?

Sorry you are having a challenge.
Im not an expert but it seems the boot order that you had to change to install needs to go back to starting from hard drive.
If there is a default section in the bios I would click that.
Most laptops if the USB is the priority but not available cause you removed the stick will go to the next boot option.

Chris

thanks Chris,
restored bios to default and done another couple of installs.. but still wont boot...

[greybeard]

A couple of other things that come to mind.
When you finish installing ,if my memory serves me correctly, i tells you take out the install medium--thats before the lap top turns off.
Another possibility is that the ISO you downloaded was faulty--incomplete.
The USB should have been reformatted in the process of intstalling the ISO any residue of olfd files would get in the way.
Because its running properly on the stick it really should be ok.
There really should not be this hassle.
Its always been effortless the few times I have done it.

Chris

[Hughe]

@meat suit

Do you intend to run Linux and Windows 10 in one hard drive?
To do this, you create two partions. One for Windows 10, the other for Linux.
Install Windows 10 on the 1st partition that will be recognized as C drive.
Install Linux on the 2nd partition.
Install a boot loader that supports Linux and Windows 10, i.e GRUB.
After GRUB installtion, rebooting the computer will boot in Linux system.
Then modify GRUB configuration file to load Windows 10 on the boot menu.
When you rebooting the computer, GRUB will show a menu that has Linux, Windows 10 in the menu list.
I will post my GRUB configuration file by tomorrow.

[meat suit]

@meat suit

Do you intend to run Linux and Windows 10 in one hard drive?
To do this, you create two partions. One for Windows 10, the other for Linux.
Install Windows 10 on the 1st partition that will be recognized as C drive.
Install Linux on the 2nd partition.
Install a boot loader that supports Linux and Windows 10, i.e GRUB.
After GRUB installtion, rebooting the computer will boot in Linux system.
Then modify GRUB configuration file to load Windows 10 on the boot menu.
When you rebooting the computer, GRUB will show a menu that has Linux, Windows 10 in the menu list.
I will post my GRUB configuration file by tomorrow.

thanks Hughe, just linux, got rid of windows...

[Ron Mauer Sr]

I recently installed Linux Cinnamon on an old Asus laptop. My biggest problem was getting the laptop to boot from USB. (Hold down Esc then power on worked).


The graphics appear to be very similar to Windows. Should be easy to adapt. A little concerned that Malwarebytes does not run on Linux.

[greybeard]

I recently installed Linux Cinnamon on an old Asus laptop. My biggest problem was getting the laptop to boot from USB. (Hold down Esc then power on worked).


The graphics appear to be very similar to Windows. Should be easy to adapt. A little concerned that Malwarebytes does not run on Linux.

Hi Ron go into software manager and type malware and you will find software you can download for free
if you type virus other software available.

In truth Linux is not subject to hackers virus spreaders etc--not enough people use linux yet to attract thheir attention.
Im surprised though that people have any challenges installing Linux Mint
Depends on the laptop probably.
Ive used Acer and of course now LENOVO for second time and never a challenge --I just down loaded put the ISO on a disc or USB set the laptop boot priority and that was that--I did not have to go back and change boot priority back--it just booted after instal troublr free..
Im not an expert just an ordinary user
Chris

[PathWalker]

ok guys, I like really mint running of the usb stick, so persued with the wipe of windows 10 and installed mint on the pc.
now it wont boot from the pc, telling me 'no boot device'.. I booted of the usb again and reinstalled a few times.. same thing.
in bios the boot section is whitend out and the arrows wont let me change the boot order... the other bios sections are changable but not the boot section..
any ideas? do I need to reinstall bios? if so, how does that work?

Sorry you are having a challenge.
Im not an expert but it seems the boot order that you had to change to install needs to go back to starting from hard drive.
If there is a default section in the bios I would click that.
Most laptops if the USB is the priority but not available cause you removed the stick will go to the next boot option.

Chris

thanks Chris,
restored bios to default and done another couple of installs.. but still wont boot...
Greetings guys.

You probably have problems with type/format of disk, or MBR section.
The install process is formatting the disk before writing the Mint OS into it. It must be correct disk format for Mint

It is also possible that since you erased the Windows partition from the disk,the disk has no MBR section (section at address 0, telling where is the OS located on the disk). So you need to use the GRUB disk formatting application and initiating using the Mint USB stick first.
Here is a relevant article
http://linuxbsdos.com/2014/07/02/manual-disk-partitioning-guide-for-linux-mint-17-kde/

Hope this helps.

Joy and happiness
PathWalker

[greybeard]

Thanks PathWalker--as said I never had a challenge--Linux Mint install went without me having to worry about formatting--the installation ISO did it all.

You input greatly appreciated

Chris

[apokalypse]

i'm full time Linux Users full time right now and love every minutes of it...brought 250GB m2 stick running 2-3 linux on Virtual Machine. thinking reorganise PC, thought of having 500GB running 2-3 Linux(1 main manjaro kde-Backup(ubuntu based)-Testing/secondary) which mostly hosting virtual machine..250GB hard drive for WIndows specifically playing games. i have legit windows 10 but hated it so going back to windows 7.

On Virtual Machine gonna run few linux for different reasons.. Cinnanon favour linux for office processing stuff/work matters- Manjaro KDE for surfing-Linux Mint for privacy matters like bankings/ebay/-Backup Linux OS.

i always have back OS, few days ago for some reason unable to run manjaro and lazy fixing it so i run Backup OS.

[TomKat]

Arch (Majaro's based on it) is really for geeks, in my opinion. Geeks don't mind fixing their OS -- they probably hope it will break so they'll have the opportunity!

[ThePythonicCow]

Geeks don't mind fixing their OS -- they probably hope it will break so they'll have the opportunity!
Yes ... :)

[apokalypse]

Arch (Majaro's based on it) is really for geeks, in my opinion. Geeks don't mind fixing their OS -- they probably hope it will break so they'll have the opportunity!

yes, very true...gone back to Ubuntu based -KDE Neon for daily usage of web surfing, having all kind of problem on Vmware workstation especially all of sudden drop out PIA VPN. Arco Linu(arch based) for work/word processing purpose. thought of Install Mint aswell for privacy usage...

[greybeard]

The great things about Linux is that it is all things to all people.
The geek can contribute towards its on going development and fix the more complex OS

Me, Im an average user and therefore the Mint version suits me fine--reliable and good free software more than enough to meet my needs.

Thanks for all the input on this thread.

Chris

[greybeard]

Running Windows Programs on Linux
Disclaimer
I have never done this but its good to know its possible
Chris


Running Windows software on Linux using Wine, PlayOnLinux, Winetricks and CrossOver, and demonstrated on the distros Zorin OS and Linux Mint. The Wine website is at: https://www.winehq.org/ The PlayOnLinux website is at: https://www.playonlinux.com/en/ The Winetricks website is at: https://wiki.winehq.org/Winetricks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZDuKB949U&t=468s

[A Voice from the Mountains]

thanks Hughe, just linux, got rid of windows...

Any luck yet?

Windows switched from a BIOS system to UEFI, around Windows 8 I think, which is a total pain in the butt, and it's like that on purpose. Windows doesn't want you trying to install a different OS, so they created the UEFI system to give you hell.

I've installed Linux over top of Windows 8 and Windows 10 systems, but I had to totally delete all of the existing partitions first, including the boot partition. I had to delete everything. You can do this during the Linux install process when it asks you which partition you want to install into, or if you want to create new partitions, etc. Just select the existing Windows partitions and delete all of them.

After you do that, if you try to do a clean install of Linux over the whole disk, it should work... provided there aren't any other unexpected hiccups you have to work around.

I also used a CD instead of USB. I've had bad luck with installing from USB. CD drives are older tech and seem to be more reliable, at least in my experience.



A little concerned that Malwarebytes does not run on Linux.

Like Greybeard said, it's probably not necessary. I've never had a problem with malware or viruses on Linux. I just have "uBlock" installed on Firefox to block unnecessary scripts, etc. Imo the whole virus/anti-virus industry is just a racket to take your money, and Windows facilitates it by having a crappy product prone to abuse.




You probably have problems with type/format of disk, or MBR section.
The install process is formatting the disk before writing the Mint OS into it. It must be correct disk format for Mint

It is also possible that since you erased the Windows partition from the disk,the disk has no MBR section (section at address 0, telling where is the OS located on the disk). So you need to use the GRUB disk formatting application and initiating using the Mint USB stick first.

Not sure what the big deal is, but I've intentionally deleted the boot partition during installs at least twice while installing Linux Mint on different computers, and it never gave me any problems. In fact, I was forced to do it on one of them. I was skeptical about deleting it, but Linux wouldn't install until I did.

I've also had bad luck trying to manually install Grub. If I just use the install CD, while installing the OS, everything is fine. But when I was setting up dual-boot, and tried to do the Grub stuff manually... once again, UEFI is a huge pain in the butt. It randomly reverts to UEFI through Windows updates or any ridiculous non-reason.

[norman]

I came across this today. It seems to be an idea for taking back some power from the internet tech giants but it's an advert in disguise.

Sir Timothy Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web and the Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) that underpins it in March, 1989. Today, the father of the web is “devastated” and “sickened” by what has been done with his brainchild. But he has a plan to change all that. Read on for the details…

https://askbobrankin.com/the_webs_creator_is_doing_us_a_solid.html?rankin-webfuture=&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=october_newsletter_4&ad_id=505741&share-ad-id=1

[greybeard]

Hi Norman
Is it a good thing or otherwise?
The challenge is that Widows has the market sewn up as far as software providers of some things go.
The only thing I use it for is the DAW ( Digital Audio Workstation)

Chris

[apokalypse]

Manjaro KDE updated and screwed everything up, rolling distro can be a bad thing old bug solve but new bug occur... going back to Linux Mint soon but need to try out Mate-XFCE favours.

Host PC already have Kubuntu-Manjaoro, having ago at Mint Mate also XFCE how it goes on VM,...considering have it multi-boot along side with other 2.

[norman]

Chris, this might be the kind of truth about microsoft you can relate to very well.

https://askleo.com/microsoft-we-deserve-better/

[greybeard]

Thanks Norman--he makes sense.
Microsoft seems like kids playing with matches then surprised when there is a fire.

There is no responsibility.
Is there actually some one there as it seems all automatic response to any question.

Chris

[ExomatrixTV]

9 Best Free Video Editing Software for Linux In 2018

https://itsfoss.com/best-video-editing-software-linux/

[greybeard]

For put u tube concerts on DVD I use Bombono DVD which is free software included.
You have to go to software manager then when the selection comes up type in the search bar Bombono
It converts formats to PAL or the other one.
Its the most efficient one I have found.
Its open source software so typing in any search engine should find it.

Mint is due for an upgrade in November/December (free)

Chris

[greybeard]

I never thought this subject would get so much attention and positive input.
An education.
Thanks again to all contributors.

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

A couple of articles that might be of interest to those enjoying this thread:

Why MX Linux Is the Windows Alternative You’ve Been Waiting For (https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mx-linux-windows-alternative/)
The Best Linux Distros of 2018 (https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/best-linux-distros/)

The first of these articles is a new article recommending MX Linux for those looking for a Linux distribution that looks and feels close to Windows, and the second of these articles (written back in April 2018) describes several of the various major Linux distributions and what uses they are each best suited for.

[apokalypse]

refurbished lenova t480 laptop delivered and very happy with it, thought of dual boot with windows but running into problem dealing with secure boot thing and can't dual boot, end up get rid of windows for good and very happy with it. I love virtual machine and can't live without it...alot of people running VirtualBox and considering using it it on laptop, for some reason having issue so running everything on VMWARE.

[greybeard]

A Look at Linux Mint 19.1 "Tessa"

"This is the upgrade now available.
I have done this and its good!!
Took a fraction of the time that a major windows upgrade does.
Chris


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFMGPE5sEe8

[greybeard]

Why Is Linux Mint So Popular? - the History of Linux Mint


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfIfwAwniqk

[A Voice from the Mountains]

Apostles of Linux are doing the Lord's work, Greybeard, Paul, and the rest of you guys. Thank you. :thumbsup:

It took a buddy of mine a couple of years to convert me, but I'm very happy now.



refurbished lenova t480 laptop delivered and very happy with it, thought of dual boot with windows but running into problem dealing with secure boot thing and can't dual boot, end up get rid of windows for good and very happy with it. I love virtual machine and can't live without it...alot of people running VirtualBox and considering using it it on laptop, for some reason having issue so running everything on VMWARE.

Same. I managed to get dual-boot to work for a while, until one of those forced Windows updates screwed everything up again. So I found great satisfaction in nuking Windows, and it's VirualBox for me, if I need Windows for anything (which isn't much, basically only Adobe InDesign).

If I do have to boot Windows in VM though, I can pick from Windows 98, Windows XP, or Windows 7, and have it booted in no time. :)

[Strat]

I've been on the Linux bandwagon for a few years now. My old PC ran Ubuntu. I avoid all things Microsoft like the plague. Somewhat of a shame, I used to be a fanboy.

Nowadays I don't really have a PC. I use a Raspberry Pi for whatever I need.

[happyuk]

I am a keen user of Xubuntu, but unfortunately there are one or two things about the Linux community that are unsettling to me and the Linux community does seem to be in some denial about the reasons for the continued Ubiquity of Windows.

The things that techies value are not the same as in the wider world and we are a small minority. Those who see Linux zealots as Jeff Albertson sanctimonious bores are not always that far wrong. A different attitude and approach is needed.

I'd love Linux to do better in the world but the supercilious Jeff Albertson attitude and the total delusion is seriously holding it back - some of the Linux world in my experience has been less than friendly and pretty condescending.

As a rule non-Linux users are not interested in open source and free choice and superior architecture. They just want to get on and get their work done.

I am not a advocate of any one operating system over another. I use all three main desktop options daily, interchangeably .

[greybeard]

Hi happyuk
I just dont integrate or even see the need to mingle with the Linux community
To quote an expression, "It works straight out of the box"
Only once ever I asked for help that was for "Ubuntu" the help was instant helpful and understandable to a non expert.
That was years ago.

Chris

[ThePythonicCow]

ZDNet (the online version of what used to be Ziff Davis' "PC Magazine") has a new article out: How to replace Windows 7 with Linux Mint (https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-replace-windows-7-with-linux-mint/), which begins:

============

Windows 7 has less than a year of supported life left. If you really, really don't like Windows 10, it's time to consider running Linux Mint instead.

Many of you are Windows 7 users. I get it. Windows 7 just works. But the clock is ticking for Windows 7. In less than a year, Windows 7's free support ends (https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-windows-7-has-one-year-of-free-support-left/).

Come that day, you'll have a choice: You can either run it without being certain you'll get vital security patches (that would be really stupid), or you can pay for Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESUs) (https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-to-offer-paid-windows-7-extended-security-updates/) on a per-device basis, with the price increasing each year. We don't know how much that will be, but I think we can safely assume it won't be cheap. Or, you can migrate to Windows 10 (https://www.zdnet.com/article/hands-on-with-windows-10-upgrading-installing-and-activating-in-the-real-world/#anchor0). And, yes, for now, you can still update to Windows 10 for free (https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/) from Windows 7.

But Windows 10 came out in July 2015. If you haven't upgraded by now, I'm sure you don't want any part of Windows 10.

I actually sort of, kind of like Windows 10. Yes. Really. Well, I did when it first came out. My affection for it waned with every Windows 10 failed update (https://www.computerworld.com/article/3312796/microsoft-windows/what-the-heck-is-it-with-windows-updates.html). Take the infamous Windows 10 October 2018 Update, aka version 1809. When it first came out it deleted user files, would sometime fail at unzipping compressed files, and could fail while opening files on networked drives.

Quality assurance? What's that?

It's only now, three months later, that Windows 10 October 2018 is finally being automatically rolled out (https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-october-2018-update-finally-shifts-to-automatic-rollout/) to users. So, maybe Windows 10 isn't really what you want to "upgrade" to right now. In that case, I have another suggestion: Linux Mint.
Advantages and disadvantages of a Linux desktop

But, wait, say you need Microsoft Office. Fine. Run Office Online (https://products.office.com/en-gb/office-online/documents-spreadsheets-presentations-office-online?irgwc=1&clickid=xrwWPm2FUXzCwHx076wbZxmXUkgQDa1p2T6BzE0&OCID=AID728155_AFF_10078_3327__243952&WT.mc_id=AID728155_AFF_10078_3327__243952). There you go. Welcome to 2019, when you don't have to be running Windows to run "Windows" programs.

For all your other desktop software needs, there's usually a free open-source program that can do just as good a job. Gimp (https://www.gimp.org/), for example, instead of Photoshop. Evolution instead of Outlook. Or LibreOffice (https://www.libreoffice.org/) for full-featured Microsoft Office.

That said, there are some programs you can't replace on Linux. If I were making videos, for example, I'd be using Corel's Pinnacle Studio (https://www.pinnaclesys.com/), which only runs on Windows. If you're locked into such a program, you'll need to move to Windows 10.

On the other hand, desktop Linux tends to be far more secure than Windows. Oh, you can run into trouble, but it's not like Windows where having an antivirus program is a must.
============

The article goes on to provide straight forward, clearly written, instructions for converting your PC from Windows to Linux Mint.

[greybeard]

I use BOMBONO for video DVD making a rare event --sometimes a concert on u tube.
So its open source and converts all kind of formats--best ive found.
Its in software manager.
Good to see Linux being recommended.

Chris

[bogdan9310]

Linux has been a good alternative to windows for a very long time.

[greybeard]

Window 10 May upgrade.
My PC crashed during this upgrade.
Im too quick to click on upgrades.
Cost me £75 to fix.
I never have the slightest challenge with Linux.
Just a pity I have to use Windows for some music software--programs--DAW
Sigh
Chris


Windows 10 version 1903, May 2019 Update, official demo with the 10 best new features, including Light mode, Windows Sandbox, Reserved Storage, Recommended Troubleshooting, automatic Active hours, disable Windows updates for Windows 10 Home users, quick access to symbols, Windows Search, mouse pointer color and sizes, quick brightness control. ** Important: Windows 10 version 1903 (May 2019 Update) is expected to release in late May. More info ➤ https://pureinfotech.com/windows-10-1...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkQMAE48XqQ


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpcxYn-n9IA

[dim]

Use windows 10 LTSC

[ThePythonicCow]

Use windows 10 LTSC

LTSC: What is it, and when should it be used? (Microsoft) (https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Windows-IT-Pro-Blog/LTSC-What-is-it-and-when-should-it-be-used/ba-p/293181)

[petra]

Window 10 May upgrade.
My PC crashed during this upgrade.
Im too quick to click on upgrades.
Cost me £75 to fix.

May upgrade in April? No wonder it crashed... ;-)
I've had Windows updates cause problems plenty of times, in which case I resort to the 'System Restore'.
I've never heard of an update crashing a PC though - sounds like that update was really out to get you! Next time (if there IS one lol) try getting in via safe mode and restore that way, might save £75

I'm going to be switching to Linux also - that's a definite. I've also had enough of Windows and it's BS updates.

[greybeard]

The last time I used system restore petra, but that upgrade deleted some files--I had to reload software.
This time I could not access the Pc to get safe mode.
Th engineer saved me a lot of frustration.
To be honest I may have switched it off inadvertently when it was installing--late at night
Such is life

Chris

[TomKat]

Hi Paul
Advice please.
Is it also possible to change to Linux from a MAC laptop.
Thanks
Chris

You should be able to install Linux on a Mac laptop. I had no problem booting to the Live version of Mint on a USB stick. But you may hate the absense of a Right Click button on the Mac.

[Hervé]

...

Windows 10 Keeps Getting Worse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIQNr0mOCpg)

https://yt3.ggpht.com/a/AGF-l78aFZYiPNrgXEqhwQT5Ywg9T-RZHfbDN6Hx=s48-mo-c-c0xffffffff-rj-k-no (https://www.youtube.com/user/homergfunk) Chris Titus Tech (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6gPGh8HU2U01vaFCAsvmQ) Published on Jul 6, 2019

In this video, I go over what has happened to Windows 10 over the past couple years and why it keeps getting worse.


-Post [update] 1803 there is no registry backup



- Microsoft recently confirmed they did this to save space



-More Bloat on startup



- Candy Crush



-Forced Microsoft Accounts, They made offline accounts harder and more cumbersome to create



-Less Polish on each update, with some updates deleting files and blue screening computers



-Even more forced updates



MIQNr0mOCpg

[Frank V]

I've been exclusively running GNU/Linux for over 20 years straight now ─ from before I even had an internet connection at my home. :)

I am currently running Manjaro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manjaro) as my distribution. It's a curated rolling-release distribution based upon Arch Linux (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arch_Linux), which means that once you've installed it, you never have to reinstall it again, because every update process brings the system on par with the latest release. At the same time ─ and this is why it's a curated rolling-release distribution, unlike with Arch proper ─ updates are only pushed out after everything has been thoroughly tested, so as to minimize the amount of bugs.

Manjaro comes in four official flavors:


Manjaro Xfce
Manjaro KDE
Manjaro GNOME
Manjaro Architect

The Architect version is a command-line-driven network installer, whereby you start off in a very minimal command-line environment, and then you install software out of the repositories, straight over the internet. It's intended to give you greater control over what software you wish to install and what not.

There are also several community releases, with the following desktop environments and/or window managers:


Manjaro Cinnamon
Manjaro LXDE/LXQT
Manjaro Deepin
Manjaro Budgie
Manjaro i3

Myself, I am using KDE Plasma 5 as my desktop environment, but heavily tweaked and themed. Below are a couple of screenshots. :)



http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.14_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_Dolphin.jpeg


http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.12_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_Konsole.jpeg


http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.13_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_JuK.jpeg


http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.14_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_KSysGuard.jpeg


http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.14_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_LibreOffice_Writer.jpeg


http://users.telenet.be/stryder/Linux/KDE5/2019.06.14_-_Manjaro_with_KDE_Plasma_5_-_LibreOffice_Calc.jpeg

[greybeard]

Linux will be upgrading soon.
Chris

[apokalypse]

i love Manjaro Architect Installation to install minimal version and never look back since, i used Ubuntu based or Original Linux but too bloated where alot of application i never touch...On my HDD right now have few Manjaro for different purposes like Manjaro KDE for web surfing, Manjaro Cinnamon for word processing/offices, Mint XFCE but soon will be Manjaro XFCE for personal stuff like Banks, paypal, ebay..ect.

Manjaro might not for everyone because of bleeding edge, Manjaro went blank screen once after update so i create new VM and transfer all the data from old VM's.

[Frank V]

Manjaro might not for everyone because of bleeding edge, Manjaro went blank screen once after update so i create new VM and transfer all the data from old VM's.

Manjaro Stable isn't really "bleeding edge" ─ more like "cutting edge". Arch Stable is "bleeding edge", but it corresponds to Manjaro Unstable, and for software to become adopted into Manjaro Stable, it must first pass though Manjaro Testing, where it will be evaluated and patched if necessary, and only after about two to three weeks of testing will it trickle down into Manjaro Stable.

The Manjaro community (https://forum.manjaro.org/) is also great. ;)

[greybeard]

To upgrade Mint click on edit and scroll down from there.
I did-- took about fifteen minutes and no need to reboot.
Chris
ps its all here
https://www.linuxmint.com/start/tessa/

[greybeard]

How to Upgrade to Linux Mint 19.2 Tina


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brtl2izcAkc

Chris

[Ron Mauer Sr]

I am running Linux Cinnamon on a backup laptop.

Is there a significant difference between Cinnamon and Mint?

[greybeard]

I am running Linux Cinnamon on a backup laptop.

Is there a significant difference between Cinnamon and Mint?

Cinnamon is just the version of Linux Mint
The upgrade is named Tara.
There is no need to upgrade Ron is your happy with the version you are running.
Regards Chris

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 19.2 Final Release


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dd2UKT0OKc

[TomKat]

Linux Mint 19.2 Final Release


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dd2UKT0OKc

19.2 is the final release? Why is it being discontinued?

[Frank V]

I am running Linux Cinnamon on a backup laptop.

Is there a significant difference between Cinnamon and Mint?

Mint is the name of that GNU/Linux distribution. Cinnamon is one of several desktop environments you can use. ;)



Linux Mint 19.2 Final Release


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dd2UKT0OKc

19.2 is the final release? Why is it being discontinued?

It's not. ;) It is however the newest release. :)

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 19.2 "Tina" Review (Cinnamon Edition)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnZe7z7Vpy4

[apokalypse]

i'm so happy that i make the move..i'm trying to install application on Windows VM and came up some sort of missing files and error., this remind me why i leave first place and become Linux Users.

some Windows Application also install Norton or some other crap...F you Microsoft and f you Schools only teaching students using windows.

[frankstien]

I use Ubuntu Mate on 2 of my laptops to connect with the internet and Windows XP on my 2 offline computers. There is an older version of Libre Office, GIMP, and other media tools that runs fine on XP. Otherwise, I have tried later Windows versions, but didn't like them, XP is light nimble enough for my offline tasks and Ubuntu Mate is great for the rest online.

[greybeard]

The latest version of Linux will be out later this month.
Considering all that is coming out about Windows Mr Gates I think this is a good time to leave Windows behind.
I have been using Linux for many years and I prefer it to Windows any day.
Its simple and the files are so easy to find.
Chris

Linux Mint 20 has been approved and wow is it a distro. It gives us the same Linux Mint feeling, restored the traditional panel, gave us Snap and Chromium documentation, and another smooth transition.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlebbRt5kIw

[palehorse]

Interesting thread, as a Linux freak I feel committed to write here.. :happythumbsup:

I start using Linux in the beginning of 1999, after decided to get rid of the infamous Win98, even though I kept using Win98 in my work that time, but I remember getting home after work very excited to play and learn more from the new installed Slackware (yes, that was my first Linux), since then I had used countless different Linux distributions for many different purposes like Trisquel, Knoppix, Gentoo (this is the most difficult and complex Linux I ever touched) and Tails more recently, even OpenBSD and FreeBSD, they are great UNIX operating systems, not very user friendly (I would not recommend for Desktop users, but it was years ago, probably they have KDE or Gnome to make life easy ;D ). For the last 2 years or so I am using Manjaro Linux with i3 as a desktop environment, I am happy with Manjaro just to say, before Manjaro it was using Gentoo, Arch, Fedora, and Debian.
Today I have 3 favorites distribution:
- for desktop: Manjaro and Debian (both are really great, with i3 or openbox or awesome -- My hardware has low ram, KDE or Gnome sink my boat pretty fast)
- for server: Debian and Centos

Debian still slightly my favorite one, but I want try soon: Parrot (people said it is a bloated Linux, I have to see by myself), BlackArch (some say it is another Kali Linux, also have to see by myself) and Qubes (heard good things about this one).

I have also a windows 10 desktop installed that I use in my work with specific programs installed that will not run/emulate with Wine on Manjaro or any other Linux, I do not have much to comment about windows, I use it 3 or 4 times a year for a few minutes to validate files from work and that's all I do with windows.

Almost forgot, I used Ubuntu with Gnome a few times at work, it is very user friendly, perhaps the most easy Linux to use, I do recommend for those coming from Windows.

[Frank V]

For the last 2 years or so I am using Manjaro Linux with i3 as a desktop environment, I am happy with Manjaro just to say, before Manjaro it was using Gentoo, Arch, Fedora, and Debian.

Fellow Manjaroo here, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. :)

I'm also a very active TL3 at the Manjaro forum, under my original screen name, Aragorn. If you happen to drop in there and you come across the avatar below, that'll be me. :)


43844

[TomKat]

Mint lacked stability. I settled on Debian Cinnamon several years ago. I like Fedora Cinnamon but, like Arch, is too much its own universe, fewer apps. Love the stability of Debian with the ability install anything that runs on Ubuntu or Mint. Also, I have no problem running a clover triple boot (macOS, win10, Debian) with Debian, but couldn't do it with Fedora, which wanted the whole hard drive for itself.

[ExomatrixTV]

Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” Xfce released (https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3930)!

Linux Mint 20 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2025. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop experience more comfortable.


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_xfce.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/xfce.png)

Linux Mint 20 "Ulyana" Xfce Edition

Warpinator

The star of the show in Linux Mint 20 is a new application called Warpinator.
10 years ago, Linux Mint 6 featured a tool called "Giver" which could share files across the local network. Without any server or configuration, computers would automatically see each others and you could simply drag and drop files from one to another. When the Giver project was discontinued it had to be removed from Linux Mint and we’ve been missing that functionality ever since.
Warpinator is a reimplementation of Giver. Server configuration (FTP, NFS, Samba) is overkill for casual file transfers between two computers, and it’s a real pity to use external media (Internet services, USB sticks, external HDDs) just to share files when there’s a local network which could do just that.
With Warpinator, Linux Mint 20 brings back easy file sharing across the local network.
The main window shows you the computers on the local network which are also running Warpinator:


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/warpinator1.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/warpinator1.png)
See the other computers on the network
By clicking on a computer you can see more information about it and exchange files with it:


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_warpinator.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/warpinator.png)
Send and receive files
No more USB sticks or external drive are needed just to send a file.
NVIDIA Optimus

Linux Mint 20 features improved support for NVIDIA Optimus.
The NVIDIA Prime applet now shows your GPU renderer and you can select which card to switch to straight from its menu.


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/nvidia.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/nvidia.png)
The NVIDIA Prime applet
The NVIDIA "On-Demand" profile is also now supported. When you run in that mode, it is your Intel card which renders the session. From the command-line, two new commands are available to offload to GLX or to Vulkan:


nvidia-optimus-offload-glx
nvidia-optimus-offload-vulkan

To boost compatibility and make it easier to boot Linux Mint 20 in live mode without NVIDIA drivers, "nomodeset" was also added to the "Compatibility Mode".
Tray

XAppStatusIcon received the ability to handle mouse wheel scrolling events and a new function similar to gtk_menu_popup() which makes it even easier than before to port applications from GtkStatusIcon.
In all editions (Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce) many of the tray icons were harmonized, given symbolic icons and HiDPI support.


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/tray.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/tray.png)
Better looking system tray
Blueberry, mintupdate, mintreport, nm-applet, mate-power-manager, mate-media, redshift, rhythmbox all use XAppStatusIcon and give the tray a consistent look in Mint 20.
XApps improvements

Xed received the ability to join lines together and to remove trailing whitelines before saving files.
Xviewer received fullscreen and diaporama toolbar buttons and remembers if its window was maximized.
In Xreader a print button was added to the toolbar.
To guarantee better support for modern Electron apps and indicators XappStatusIcon received mouse wheel support and SNI (StatusNotifier, libIndicator) support.
Other improvements

Gdebi, the tool used to open and install .deb files was given a new user interface.


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_gdebi.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/gdebi.png)
Gdebi
The login screen (Slick Greeter) supports stretching backgrounds across multiple monitors.
System improvements

Apturl switched backend from Synaptic to Aptdaemon.
APT recommends are enabled by default for newly installed packages (not for upgrades).
Snapd is disabled by default and APT packages are not allowed to install it.
Live sessions running under Virtualbox automatically get their resolution bumped to a minimum of 1024x768.
This release ships with linux-firmware 1.187 and the Linux kernel 5.4.
Artwork improvements

The Mint-Y theme provides a nice variety of colors. A community project was started on Github (https://github.com/linuxmint/mint-y-colors/issues/1) to gather feedback and fine-tune these colors to find the right balance between colorful vibrant hues and contrast levels which don't take the user's focus away from the content being shown on the screen.


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_aqua.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/aqua.png)
A vibrant version of Mint-Y-Aqua
Yellow folders are also available.



Yellow folders
As you enter the Linux Mint 20 desktop for the first time, the welcome screen will bring these colors to your attention and ask you which one you enjoy the most:


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_mintwelcome.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/mintwelcome.png)
Choose your favorite color in the welcome screen
Linux Mint 20 features a superb collection of backgrounds from Alexander Andrews (https://alexandrews.picfair.com), Amy Tran (https://unsplash.com/@avcreations), Bruno Fantinatti (https://500px.com/bfantinatti), Calin Stan (https://www.calinstan.com), Callum Wale (http://callumwale.co.uk), Dario Trajchevski (https://unsplash.com/@dacdt), David Marcu (https://www.instagram.com/marcu.david), Dean McQuade (https://unsplash.com/@diempic), Denys Nevozhai (http://dnevozhai.com), Elizaveta Dushechkina (https://www.facebook.com/dushechkinaliza), Jacob Heston (https://unsplash.com/@trend_io), Jan Kaluza (http://jankaluza.net), Jason Leung (https://www.instagram.com/xninjason), Jeremy Bishop (https://unsplash.com/@tidesinourveins), Juergen Donauer (https://www.flickr.com/people/bitblokes), Robert Bock (https://unsplash.com/@robertbock), Sezgin Mendil (https://500px.com/sezginmendil), Thomas Tucker (http://tentsandtread.com), Toa Heftiba (http://www.heftiba.co.uk) and Vinícius Orsi Valente (https://500px.com/viniciusov).


https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/thumb_backgrounds.png (https://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/ulyana/backgrounds.png)
An overview of the new backgrounds

Main components

Linux Mint 20 features Xfce 4.14, a Linux kernel 5.4 and an Ubuntu 20.04 package base.
LTS strategy

Linux Mint 20 will receive security updates until 2025.
Until 2022, future versions of Linux Mint will use the same package base as Linux Mint 20, making it trivial for people to upgrade.
Until 2022, the development team won't start working on a new base and will be fully focused on this one.


Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” Xfce released! (https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3930)
Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” MATE released! (https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3929)
Linux Mint 20 “Ulyana” Cinnamon released! (https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3928)

[palehorse]

For the last 2 years or so I am using Manjaro Linux with i3 as a desktop environment, I am happy with Manjaro just to say, before Manjaro it was using Gentoo, Arch, Fedora, and Debian.

Fellow Manjaroo here, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. :)

I'm also a very active TL3 at the Manjaro forum, under my original screen name, Aragorn. If you happen to drop in there and you come across the avatar below, that'll be me. :)


43844

Hi, that's cool, I remember using the forum once looking how to roll back an upgrade that went very wrong (it was my bad), good info I remember, was able to fix the problem. :cool2:

My last uptime with Manjaro was about 8 months, I reboot it 18 days 7 hours 55 mins ago. :happythumbsup:

I am really happy with this distro, rock solid for work, it uses little memory, about 0.3gib for the OS alone, code editor, browser and a few other tiny programs it will use no more than 2gib, the same use behavior with Fedora/Gnome would top almost 4gib of my ram. :(

Your Tux with that pipe is amazing! :thumbsup:

[palehorse]

Mint lacked stability. I settled on Debian Cinnamon several years ago. I like Fedora Cinnamon but, like Arch, is too much its own universe, fewer apps. Love the stability of Debian with the ability install anything that runs on Ubuntu or Mint. Also, I have no problem running a clover triple boot (macOS, win10, Debian) with Debian, but couldn't do it with Fedora, which wanted the whole hard drive for itself.

Fedora is greed in many senses. I prefer Centos over Fedora, what I like about Fedora is the easy way to setup LUKS, they have a nice interface, unlikely with Debian 6, I wasted a few nights trying to do it properly, and I end up using Fedora. ;(

[greybeard]

You guys are getting expert needs met.
What turns me on with Linux Mint is its sheer simplicity.
I never have to "fidle" with it.
I turn it on I have shut off the need fo pass word. --I do the simple-- surf the net -- check the weather, post on Avalon, do @, print up chords for songs-- write a few letters -- do the banking ---turn it off> Thats it. Lol

[greybeard]

Installing Chromium on Linux Mint'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUqu4qheCpE

I would not bother with Chromium.
Firefox-- fine.
Chris

[Frank V]

For the last 2 years or so I am using Manjaro Linux with i3 as a desktop environment, I am happy with Manjaro just to say, before Manjaro it was using Gentoo, Arch, Fedora, and Debian.

Fellow Manjaroo here, with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. :)

I'm also a very active TL3 at the Manjaro forum, under my original screen name, Aragorn. If you happen to drop in there and you come across the avatar below, that'll be me. :)


43844

Hi, that's cool, I remember using the forum once looking how to roll back an upgrade that went very wrong (it was my bad), good info I remember, was able to fix the problem. :cool2:

TimeShift is an indispensable utility to have. :) I believe it now comes as part of the Manjaro ISO by default.


My last uptime with Manjaro was about 8 months, I reboot it 18 days 7 hours 55 mins ago. :happythumbsup:

Well, that's not very healthy, considering that Manjaro is a rolling-release distribution. It is recommended to update your system as often as needed.

There will on average be one to three major updates per month ─ updates are bundled together and have gone through testing first ─ about which there will also always be a dedicated announcement thread, plus that you've got an update notifier icon in your system tray, regardless of what desktop environment you're using.

Next to that, you may have packages from the AUR ("Arch User Repository") installed, and they have their own (and possibly chaotic) update schedule. I usually check for updates to the installed AUR packages every time I update the system from the main Manjaro repository. It's easy to do from the command line if you have an AUR helper like yay installed.

The command...



yay -Syyu --devel


... will first run pacman to bring in the regular updates ─ no need for sudo because it will ask you for a password in due time ─ and then it'll check the AUR for updated packages, including any -git packages you've installed.


I am really happy with this distro, rock solid for work, it uses little memory, about 0.3gib for the OS alone, code editor, browser and a few other tiny programs it will use no more than 2gib, the same use behavior with Fedora/Gnome would top almost 4gib of my ram. :(

Well, the Manjaro kernel is specific to Manjaro, but for most part, it builds upon the Arch underpinnings regarding configuration. This makes both Arch and Manjaro very lean and very fast.

Of course, with a fully-blown (and heavily customized) KDE Plasma running here, including the many applications I keep running all the time ─ KMail, KVIrc, JuK, Dolphin, Discord, Yakuake, Claws Mail (for Usenet only), KSysGuard (with a custom monitor tab) and at least one Konsole window ─ my memory consumption is a bit higher than yours.

This is what my desktop looks like...



https://forum.manjaro.org/uploads/default/original/3X/b/1/b1b845c8f4818401473ac13eff804db27c2d4db9.jpeg


The system starts with an empty session, with only Yakuake started automatically. At that point, I'm using about 800 MiB of RAM. However, once I've started everything I want to have constantly running, then I quickly get to about 1.5 GiB of RAM in use for applications and application data, but any modern web browser will easily drive that up to about 2.3 GiB after a few days. Firefox and Chromium are both notorious memory hogs.


Your Tux with that pipe is amazing! :thumbsup:

That avatar was created from my regular avatar by one of the Manjaro forum's resident graphics artists ─ an older and very kind German gentleman who goes by the name SGS over there. He took my original avatar ─ i.e. the same one as I'm using here at Project Avalon and at all other forums I'm on ─ and he created that Tux out of it. He's very talented.

He does it for fun ─ primarily with Inkscape, I believe ─ and he does it for just about every active forum member. He then posts it on a thread about his artwork with a mention ─ an "@" in front of your name will make sure that you get a notification when you log on ─ and then you are free to use his avatars or not. He also does wallpapers and funny badges that you can use in your posts.

:)

[ExomatrixTV]

Linux Mint 20: A Distro That Listens!
OlebbRt5kIw
Linux Mint 20 First Look: Fresh Cinnamon Looking Good
7knHfN-NUZk

[palehorse]

Hi, that's cool, I remember using the forum once looking how to roll back an upgrade that went very wrong (it was my bad), good info I remember, was able to fix the problem. :cool2:

TimeShift is an indispensable utility to have. :) I believe it now comes as part of the Manjaro ISO by default.


My last uptime with Manjaro was about 8 months, I reboot it 18 days 7 hours 55 mins ago. :happythumbsup:

Well, that's not very healthy, considering that Manjaro is a rolling-release distribution. It is recommended to update your system as often as needed.

There will on average be one to three major updates per month ─ updates are bundled together and have gone through testing first ─ about which there will also always be a dedicated announcement thread, plus that you've got an update notifier icon in your system tray, regardless of what desktop environment you're using.

Next to that, you may have packages from the AUR ("Arch User Repository") installed, and they have their own (and possibly chaotic) update schedule. I usually check for updates to the installed AUR packages every time I update the system from the main Manjaro repository. It's easy to do from the command line if you have an AUR helper like yay installed.

The command...



yay -Syyu --devel


... will first run pacman to bring in the regular updates ─ no need for sudo because it will ask you for a password in due time ─ and then it'll check the AUR for updated packages, including any -git packages you've installed.


I am really happy with this distro, rock solid for work, it uses little memory, about 0.3gib for the OS alone, code editor, browser and a few other tiny programs it will use no more than 2gib, the same use behavior with Fedora/Gnome would top almost 4gib of my ram. :(

Well, the Manjaro kernel is specific to Manjaro, but for most part, it builds upon the Arch underpinnings regarding configuration. This makes both Arch and Manjaro very lean and very fast.

Of course, with a fully-blown (and heavily customized) KDE Plasma running here, including the many applications I keep running all the time ─ KMail, KVIrc, JuK, Dolphin, Discord, Yakuake, Claws Mail (for Usenet only), KSysGuard (with a custom monitor tab) and at least one Konsole window ─ my memory consumption is a bit higher than yours.

This is what my desktop looks like...


The system starts with an empty session, with only Yakuake started automatically. At that point, I'm using about 800 MiB of RAM. However, once I've started everything I want to have constantly running, then I quickly get to about 1.5 GiB of RAM in use for applications and application data, but any modern web browser will easily drive that up to about 2.3 GiB after a few days. Firefox and Chromium are both notorious memory hogs.


Your Tux with that pipe is amazing! :thumbsup:

That avatar was created from my regular avatar by one of the Manjaro forum's resident graphics artists ─ an older and very kind German gentleman who goes by the name SGS over there. He took my original avatar ─ i.e. the same one as I'm using here at Project Avalon and at all other forums I'm on ─ and he created that Tux out of it. He's very talented.

He does it for fun ─ primarily with Inkscape, I believe ─ and he does it for just about every active forum member. He then posts it on a thread about his artwork with a mention ─ an "@" in front of your name will make sure that you get a notification when you log on ─ and then you are free to use his avatars or not. He also does wallpapers and funny badges that you can use in your posts.

:)


I didn't know about TimeShift sure I will take a look, my backups always being made via Cron to an external media and also manually.
I think I expressed myself wrongly when I said my uptime was 8 months, I really meant Manjaro was up and running for 8 months without any interruptions, always up to date, so far so good! all working ;D
As I have all my stuffs open to work I only update when I close it all to avoid any issue during update, I do not know if Manjaro allow the user to keep using the system when updating (I never tried), in other Linux I usually I close it all, then upgrade and shutdown for a few seconds, then bring it up again (old habits die hard ;D). With Manjaro I do not reboot or shutdown the OS, but I still close all applications when updating.

I do have a few AUR packages installed and I always skip their updates, because I normally use pacman only. Thanks for trick with `yay`.

Manjaro is more user friendly (I mean from installation, administration and daily use) than Arch or Gentoo and I need to rely on the OS to do my work (I can't reboot my system 3x or more per day like windows..), also it need to be light on resources, Manjaro fits very well. I found out that I was spending too much time fixing things in Arch and Gentoo years ago, I do like to learn more and more about OS, but my work do not allow me that for now (weekends only ;( )
But I know Linux has become more user friendly, lots of new distributions, and lots of new users coming.

Interesting you are using Claws Mail for usenet, I am using Pan nowadays since it comes installed by default with Manjaro if I am not wrong. Also used many others like Thunderbird and Argo (call me old, this one is already dead since 1997, but it was around until about 2005), also used Mutt with a plugin, but I spent more time learning how to use the dam thing than downloading content. ;D
I keep 4 shells always open, I am using Terminator to split it horizontally and vertically in a grid, since I am using 2 monitors, I was having a hard time doing it i3. Also using DeaDBeeF for music; MPV for videos; conky to monitor a few things like CPU and RAM/swap; PCManFM for file manager; for browsing I am using Brave, Waterfox and Pale Moon and I have Chromium installed but no use for it. Firefox I walked away when they change to the quantum edition, all plugins stop working and that was terrible that time.

Here is my desktop, I like to keep it at minimum, before i3 I was using awesome, and before that Gnome, but all 3 are kind of different from each other, awesome and i3 are more related due to tiling window manager but still different. I had to learn all the shortcuts again ;D

https://i.imgur.com/73G9bUK.png

As you can see in the tiny `i` icon I got updates available (945), probably today will run it.

Your memory usage is not that much, seems good, I like to keep it under 60% usage but sometimes it is just impossible.

About the Avatar, it is very creative and skilled to do that, very nice I like it, I will try to be around in the Manjaro Forum more often.

Cheers Frank!! :thumbsup:

[Frank V]

I didn't know about TimeShift sure I will take a look, my backups always being made via Cron to an external media and also manually.

TimeShift can be used both from the command line and by way of a GUI. It can be run manually or via cronie, and it can use either rsync or btrfs snapshots. ;)


I think I expressed myself wrongly when I said my uptime was 8 months, I really meant Manjaro was up and running for 8 months without any interruptions, always up to date, so far so good! all working ;D
As I have all my stuffs open to work I only update when I close it all to avoid any issue during update, I do not know if Manjaro allow the user to keep using the system when updating (I never tried), in other Linux I usually I close it all, then upgrade and shutdown for a few seconds, then bring it up again (old habits die hard ;D). With Manjaro I do not reboot or shutdown the OS, but I still close all applications when updating.

It is always best to shut down all running applications when applying updates, and I myself always completely log out of my graphical session, and I do the updates from a character-mode virtual console. That way, just about everything has been shut down, and you don't run into any trouble with libraries that are being overwritten while in use.

You do however have to reboot after every major update, because in Manjaro, every major update also replaces the kernel and the kernel modules. So you do have to reboot in order to load the new kernel and the new modules.


I do have a few AUR packages installed and I always skip their updates, because I normally use pacman only. Thanks for trick with `yay`.

Keeping your AUR packages updated is just as important as keeping the rest of the system updated. You don't have to check for updates to them every day ─ as a genuine Arch or Gentoo user would ─ but it still deserves recommendation to check for updates to those packages whenever you're updating the rest of the system.


Manjaro is more user friendly (I mean from installation, administration and daily use) than Arch or Gentoo and I need to rely on the OS to do my work (I can't reboot my system 3x or more per day like windows..), also it need to be light on resources, Manjaro fits very well. I found out that I was spending too much time fixing things in Arch and Gentoo years ago, I do like to learn more and more about OS, but my work do not allow me that for now (weekends only ;( )
But I know Linux has become more user friendly, lots of new distributions, and lots of new users coming.

I've never really been into Microsoft Windows. I've only used Windows 3.0 on MS-DOS for about six months back in 1991, pending the commercial release of IBM OS/2 2.x, which was the operating system I had already wanted to have from before I ever had a computer of my own. I then used OS/2 for over five years, and after that I ran Windows NT 4.0 Workstation for two years, even though I would actually have wanted a UNIX system. But then I discovered GNU/Linux, and ever since then, I've been exclusively running GNU/Linux on my own computers.

I've used various distributions over the now 20+ years, both on my own computers and on the servers that we were using in the IRC network I was running with a couple of friends between 2002 and roughly 2008-2009. I've also dabbled with Gentoo, in combination with the Xen hypervisor.


Interesting you are using Claws Mail for usenet, I am using Pan nowadays since it comes installed by default with Manjaro if I am not wrong. Also used many others like Thunderbird and Argo (call me old, this one is already dead since 1997, but it was around until about 2005), also used Mutt with a plugin, but I spent more time learning how to use the dam thing than downloading content. ;D

Well, I've tried Pan ─ I had been using that when I was running PCLinuxOS, and it's a decent newsreader ─ but for some reason, it always segfaulted in Manjaro when downloading large quantities of headers. I even tried the version from the AUR, but it had the exact same problem. I then tried Thunderbird, but its functionality as a Usenet newsreader is abominable. It doesn't recognize cross-posted threads and its filtering is just horrible.

Claws Mail is definitely better than Thunderbird, but it too is not a dedicated Usenet client, and although it does work, it will also regularly segfault here, albeit not every day, which leads me to suspect that the problem might actually be related to GTK ─ Pan and Claws Mail are both based upon the GTK widget toolkit. I've never liked GTK anyway ─ I'm a Qt fan ─ but for now, Claws Mail it is.

:)

[palehorse]

I didn't know about TimeShift sure I will take a look, my backups always being made via Cron to an external media and also manually.

TimeShift can be used both from the command line and by way of a GUI. It can be run manually or via cronie, and it can use either rsync or btrfs snapshots. ;)



I think I expressed myself wrongly when I said my uptime was 8 months, I really meant Manjaro was up and running for 8 months without any interruptions, always up to date, so far so good! all working ;D
As I have all my stuffs open to work I only update when I close it all to avoid any issue during update, I do not know if Manjaro allow the user to keep using the system when updating (I never tried), in other Linux I usually I close it all, then upgrade and shutdown for a few seconds, then bring it up again (old habits die hard ;D). With Manjaro I do not reboot or shutdown the OS, but I still close all applications when updating.

It is always best to shut down all running applications when applying updates, and I myself always completely log out of my graphical session, and I do the updates from a character-mode virtual console. That way, just about everything has been shut down, and you don't run into any trouble with libraries that are being overwritten while in use.

You do however have to reboot after every major update, because in Manjaro, every major update also replaces the kernel and the kernel modules. So you do have to reboot in order to load the new kernel and the new modules.


I do have a few AUR packages installed and I always skip their updates, because I normally use pacman only. Thanks for trick with `yay`.

Keeping your AUR packages updated is just as important as keeping the rest of the system updated. You don't have to check for updates to them every day ─ as a genuine Arch or Gentoo user would ─ but it still deserves recommendation to check for updates to those packages whenever you're updating the rest of the system.


Manjaro is more user friendly (I mean from installation, administration and daily use) than Arch or Gentoo and I need to rely on the OS to do my work (I can't reboot my system 3x or more per day like windows..), also it need to be light on resources, Manjaro fits very well. I found out that I was spending too much time fixing things in Arch and Gentoo years ago, I do like to learn more and more about OS, but my work do not allow me that for now (weekends only ;( )
But I know Linux has become more user friendly, lots of new distributions, and lots of new users coming.

I've never really been into Microsoft Windows. I've only used Windows 3.0 on MS-DOS for about six months back in 1991, pending the commercial release of IBM OS/2 2.x, which was the operating system I had already wanted to have from before I ever had a computer of my own. I then used OS/2 for over five years, and after that I ran Windows NT 4.0 Workstation for two years, even though I would actually have wanted a UNIX system. But then I discovered GNU/Linux, and ever since then, I've been exclusively running GNU/Linux on my own computers.

I've used various distributions over the now 20+ years, both on my own computers and on the servers that we were using in the IRC network I was running with a couple of friends between 2002 and roughly 2008-2009. I've also dabbled with Gentoo, in combination with the Xen hypervisor.


Interesting you are using Claws Mail for usenet, I am using Pan nowadays since it comes installed by default with Manjaro if I am not wrong. Also used many others like Thunderbird and Argo (call me old, this one is already dead since 1997, but it was around until about 2005), also used Mutt with a plugin, but I spent more time learning how to use the dam thing than downloading content. ;D

Well, I've tried Pan ─ I had been using that when I was running PCLinuxOS, and it's a decent newsreader ─ but for some reason, it always segfaulted in Manjaro when downloading large quantities of headers. I even tried the version from the AUR, but it had the exact same problem. I then tried Thunderbird, but its functionality as a Usenet newsreader is abominable. It doesn't recognize cross-posted threads and its filtering is just horrible.

Claws Mail is definitely better than Thunderbird, but it too is not a dedicated Usenet client, and although it does work, it will also regularly segfault here, albeit not every day, which leads me to suspect that the problem might actually be related to GTK ─ Pan and Claws Mail are both based upon the GTK widget toolkit. I've never liked GTK anyway ─ I'm a Qt fan ─ but for now, Claws Mail it is.

:)

Hi, I was reading earlier about TimeShift and it really seems to be a great application, I am using snapshots with a host company for the last 6 or 7 years, but I am not sure they are using TimeShift. I am planing my major update this week and after that to install TimeShift. ;D No more manual backups, the snapshots with rsync are just perfect, all I need here, and also I am a big fun of rsync.

I copy that, we need to reboot after a Kernel upgrade, well I guess I will keep my old habits then, usually I always reboot it after system updates.

Regards AUR packages I have a file in my Desktop called `Manjaro Maintenance` in this file I have a list of tasks I perform from time to time to keep my system clean and in good shape, I just added the
yay -Syyu --devel command to the file. :thumbsup:

My teacher used to speak about OS/2, he is a very esoteric person, he forced his students to write programs using a "language" called Brainf**k, nobody ever created anything meaningful of course.

I love IRC, I still using it for many things, also had an IRC server many years ago, I used `inspircd` that time. I never found a perfect Usenet client for Linux, but I am satisfied with what is available today, a friend used to have one dedicated machine with windows XP running a program called NewsLeecher I remember he saying one of the best Usenet client available, I do not know nowadays.

I tried to use Thunderbird because I want to keep all in one, IRC, Usenet and Email.. that was a very poor decision I made and now i am back using 3 different programs, I guess that is it.. :happythumbsup:

GTK ahahah I used to write GUI using the extension for PHP language (PHP-GTK) back in 2005 and it was a completely mess, I prefer Qt it is much cleaner and understandable code.


Frank If you allow a quick question, do you know any application to autostart other applications at boot time, I am aware I could use cronie for that, I am already using it for a few programs, but I would like to find something more like drag & drop app, any idea?

Cheers!

[greybeard]

MX Linux Full Review



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XjnoQBSjik

[Frank V]

[...]

Regards AUR packages I have a file in my Desktop called `Manjaro Maintenance` in this file I have a list of tasks I perform from time to time to keep my system clean and in good shape, I just added the
yay -Syyu --devel command to the file. :thumbsup:

Don't forget to install yay first. It's not installed by default, but it's in the repository. There are also other AUR helpers in there, among which trizen, which is similar.


[...]

Frank If you allow a quick question, do you know any application to autostart other applications at boot time, I am aware I could use cronie for that, I am already using it for a few programs, but I would like to find something more like drag & drop app, any idea?

Well, the first thing we have to regard in this context is the distinction between starting something at boot time and starting something at login time. ;)

Unprivileged processes should not be started at boot time but at login time. For the boot-time initialization of processes, you commonly use the operating system's init system, and in Manjaro, that's systemd. You then have to create a systemd service file ─ it's a plain text file, and the syntax is well-documented.

However, when it comes to user-level applications that must be started automatically, those should be started at login time. Every desktop environment has its own mechanisms for doing that, so you're going to have to look into the documentation for your own graphical environment. In KDE Plasma, it's as simple as adding it to System Settings → Startup and Shutdown → Autostart, but you're using i3 and I'm afraid that's a little more hands-on.

:noidea:

[TomKat]

TimeShift is an indispensable utility to have. :) I believe it now comes as part of the Manjaro ISO by default.


For "bare metal" drive image backups, my all-time favourite is Terabyte. It costs, but not very much. For data backup, I just use the copy command.

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 20 | Review and Final Thoughts


I recently looked at the beta versions of Linux Mint 20 across the 3 desktops that they offer. Now that the stable release is upon us it’s time for that full review. The main desktop Cinnamon is what I’ll be basing this review on though you’ll find most of the new features also apply to their XFCE and MATE versions too.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJAmwwbT25s

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 20 "Ulyana" Cinnamon Edition, Full Review


Linux Mint 20 "Ulyana" was recently released, and in this video we'll explore some of the highlights and even some of the controversial changes as well. The installation process, Warpinator, and the anti-snap changes are explored, and more.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyCxjl9-nqM

[palehorse]

[...]

Regards AUR packages I have a file in my Desktop called `Manjaro Maintenance` in this file I have a list of tasks I perform from time to time to keep my system clean and in good shape, I just added the
yay -Syyu --devel command to the file. :thumbsup:

Don't forget to install yay first. It's not installed by default, but it's in the repository. There are also other AUR helpers in there, among which trizen, which is similar.


[...]

Frank If you allow a quick question, do you know any application to autostart other applications at boot time, I am aware I could use cronie for that, I am already using it for a few programs, but I would like to find something more like drag & drop app, any idea?

Well, the first thing we have to regard in this context is the distinction between starting something at boot time and starting something at login time. ;)

Unprivileged processes should not be started at boot time but at login time. For the boot-time initialization of processes, you commonly use the operating system's init system, and in Manjaro, that's systemd. You then have to create a systemd service file ─ it's a plain text file, and the syntax is well-documented.

However, when it comes to user-level applications that must be started automatically, those should be started at login time. Every desktop environment has its own mechanisms for doing that, so you're going to have to look into the documentation for your own graphical environment. In KDE Plasma, it's as simple as adding it to System Settings → Startup and Shutdown → Autostart, but you're using i3 and I'm afraid that's a little more hands-on.

:noidea:

Hi, I got `yay` working, cool.
In my environment (i3) it is also the Autostart, there is folder located in `~/.config/autostart/`, I will play around with it, I got a few programs there like tox and keybase, but they still not starting at boot time, i guess will have to learn how to use it properly, it was the same when I found out `cronie` and realized that it was not the same as crontab in debian.

I will look into systemd as well, thanks.

[UPDATE]
Installed TimeShift and already used it once, great program, no more cronies or manual backups, it will do the image which is easy to restoration. :thumbsup:
I am saving the backups images in a separate media just in case, cool thing is it doesn't only backup settings and system files, but also is possible to include the entire /home folder, which in my case is where I keep the majority of the data I am working with.

[ExomatrixTV]

Programmers REVOLT Against 'Social Justice Rules' in Linux:

v5VvJiNUCIA
Source (https://www.bitchute.com/video/v5VvJiNUCIA/)

[Hughe]

https://www.eutimes.net/2021/01/thousands-are-uninstalling-firefox-after-developers-demand-total-internet-censorship/


Thousands are Uninstalling Firefox after Developers Demand Total Internet Censorship


Mozilla, developer of the Firefox internet browser, has argued that more must be done to keep Donald Trump and other “bad actors” out of cyberspace, prompting many to vow to never use the group’s services again.

In a blog post titled ‘We need more than deplatforming’, the open-source software community said that Twitter’s decision to permanently ban Trump from its platform didn’t go far enough in weeding out “hate” on the internet. While blaming Trump for the “siege and take-over” of the US Capitol on January 6, the non-profit tech group argued that “white supremacy is about more than any one personality.”

“We need solutions that don’t start after untold damage has been done. Changing these dangerous dynamics requires more than just the temporary silencing or permanent removal of bad actors from social media platforms,” Mozilla wrote.

It's truly disturbing movement from FOSS community. Who is behind the Mozilla foundation?

I replaced Firefox with Brave browser.

Brave installation in Linux is https://brave.com/linux/#linux

[TomKat]

To install Brave

Debian 9+, Ubuntu 14.04+ and Mint 17+

If you get gnutls_handshake() errors after adding the Brave repository on Debian 9, you may need to uninstall old conflicting packages.

sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl gnupg

curl -s https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/brave-core.asc | sudo apt-key --keyring /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/brave-browser-release.gpg add -

echo "deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list

sudo apt update

sudo apt install brave-browser

[greybeard]

Linux for an Old Laptop


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJcWcQ8ew6Q

[TomKat]

Linux for an Old Laptop


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJcWcQ8ew6Q

Unless you have an app that only runs on Windows or Mac, and there's no Linux equivalent app, there's no reason not to dump your old OS and run Linux. And it's especially great for old computers. I've got Lubuntu on an old (Atom processor) netbook (Mint worked but I couldn't get it to stop complaining about the screen).

[greybeard]

Windows 10 very frustrating.
It keeps freezing when I go to play Video Download Helper files.
I have to use Ctrl Alt Delete to get the laptop to shut down.
Its only a year old and it wont let me instal Linux.
I cant get it to boot from USB which has Linux on it -- this is something I have done with two other laptops in the distant past -- they are past their sell by date now.
I have a desktop which runs Linux and Window 10.
The laptop is more convenient to use.
I never have any problems with Linux.
Chris

[TomKat]

Windows 10 very frustrating.
It keeps freezing when I go to play Video Download Helper files.
I have to use Ctrl Alt Delete to get the laptop to shut down.
Its only a year old and it wont let me instal Linux.
I cant get it to boot from USB which has Linux on it -- this is something I have done with two other laptops in the distant past -- they are past their sell by date now.
I have a desktop which runs Linux and Window 10.
The laptop is more convenient to use.
I never have any problems with Linux.
Chris

What model is it? There is an "S" version of Windows 10 that only runs apps from the Windows Store. I wonder if it also blocks installation of other OSes.

[greybeard]

Thanks TomKat.
Not sure which model.
If I only have a couple of downloads its ok but if I have say ten saved then it is as though it has to check the whole list before it will play.
Yes I suspect it makes it awkward to use non Windows accessories on purpose.
How many of the younger generation even know about CTR ALT DELETE?
The only alternative would be to hold the on button down and thats not good for the system.
Im not really looking for a cure!!! just pointing out how good Linux is by comparison.
Chris

[gord]

Windows 10 very frustrating.
It keeps freezing when I go to play Video Download Helper files.
I have to use Ctrl Alt Delete to get the laptop to shut down.
Its only a year old and it wont let me instal Linux.
I cant get it to boot from USB which has Linux on it -- this is something I have done with two other laptops in the distant past -- they are past their sell by date now.
I have a desktop which runs Linux and Window 10.
The laptop is more convenient to use.
I never have any problems with Linux.
Chris

You might have a setting in UEFI disallowing booting from usb.

[greybeard]

Windows 10 very frustrating.
It keeps freezing when I go to play Video Download Helper files.
I have to use Ctrl Alt Delete to get the laptop to shut down.
Its only a year old and it wont let me instal Linux.
I cant get it to boot from USB which has Linux on it -- this is something I have done with two other laptops in the distant past -- they are past their sell by date now.
I have a desktop which runs Linux and Window 10.
The laptop is more convenient to use.
I never have any problems with Linux.
Chris

You might have a setting in UEFI disallowing booting from usb.
Ive gone in there and it has boot from USB but I cant move it up to the top --ie first choice.
The up down keys should shift it.
Will look again
Thanks.

[TomKat]

Windows 10 very frustrating.
It keeps freezing when I go to play Video Download Helper files.
I have to use Ctrl Alt Delete to get the laptop to shut down.
Its only a year old and it wont let me instal Linux.
I cant get it to boot from USB which has Linux on it -- this is something I have done with two other laptops in the distant past -- they are past their sell by date now.
I have a desktop which runs Linux and Window 10.
The laptop is more convenient to use.
I never have any problems with Linux.
Chris

You might have a setting in UEFI disallowing booting from usb.
Ive gone in there and it has boot from USB but I cant move it up to the top --ie first choice.
The up down keys should shift it.
Will look again
Thanks.

Try hitting F12 or some other Function key on POST, to get to the boot menu where you can choose your boot device.

[greybeard]

Thanks I get into the boot menu easy enough but the normal way of selecting boot priority does not work.
Now I have a problem with the latest version Linux.
The moment I click to open a music file it starts playing -- it should just open and then I can select what I want to play. --Same with videos -- I cant find anything in the menu that controls opening files and play back.
Chris

PS I fixed it --looked at default settings I had it set at VLC media player It should be set at files --to open all that is in that file -- the other just plays automatically.
You live and learn.
Chris

[greybeard]

Discover the new ProtonMail and our new VPN app for Linux


https://mail.protonmail.com/u/0/inbox/3yzuyZyqdcji3fS2xo6SaXa7zHmEpBqcU-DEFFvxGyLE2pZCRx3_3OzybT6zt059YhGXbjDxggek0yKE3NY54g==

[apokalypse]

has been like 3 years now i'm totally on Linux and i still have windows but on VM....only one thing i have is awsome and glad i freaking did it moved to Linux completely. Right now using Manjaro KDE for 2 years and when i first started jump around alot finding right one also have alot of issues.

for windows users want to have a shot then try Ubuntu Based like Cinnamon Mint for new user...,

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 21: The Best Distro. Better.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s74cta1cpRY

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 21 keeps the crown, but for how long? Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE review



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnEo_rkamqQ&t=55s

[Mike Gorman]

I too have given up on Windows10, I think Microsoft had a development team with someone's sweetheart at the lead, and the Win10 project was favoured despite being a dog...this is what it reminds me of, it has been a complete fiasco from the outset.
Anyway I have installed Cinnamon on my old Lenovo Thinkpad, and it works VERY well, I have always liked UNIX, and Linux is a natural choice if you want top performance and minimal nagging. Good call.

[Vangelo]

I'm wondering if I should switch to Linux but have a few questions.

Is there a guide for dummies available?
I presume I will need to install a VM to run Quicken. Are their guides to do that?
Web browser - I'll use anything other than chrome (I won't use any google product given the privacy issues). Are there any web browsers to avoid?
I also use a few cloud based applications like Adobe Creative Cloud. Do they run as expected or will it be hit or miss for each of these applications?

Thanx for your help.

[TomKat]

You can (slowly) run Wine insiide Linux for Windows apps, but if you want to run Windows apps I think yo're better off doing a dual boot so you can boot into Windows or Linux.I checked in Synaptic package manager and typed in quicken and it shows a Linux app called GNU Cash. Of course, LibreOffice VCalc can do the spreadsheet if you want to export your Quicken data to a delimited text file then import it into Calc.
As to books-- I had a command-line Linux book, but I always found it easier to just search for what I needed to know.

[Spiral]

I'm wondering if I should switch to Linux but have a few questions.

Is there a guide for dummies available?
I presume I will need to install a VM to run Quicken. Are their guides to do that?
Web browser - I'll use anything other than chrome (I won't use any google product given the privacy issues). Are there any web browsers to avoid?
I also use a few cloud based applications like Adobe Creative Cloud. Do they run as expected or will it be hit or miss for each of these applications?

Thanx for your help.

I'd try specific linux forums for those questions, depending on which linux (or debian) OS you are thinking of using. Linux Mint is the most popular with ex-windows users & is made to be similar in a lot of ways to make it easier to use.

There are lots of browsers btw, no shortage there.

As mentioned above dual boot is another option, that is two OS's on one hard drive.

[gord]

I use Debian and have Windows 10 installed in Gnome Boxes. I rarely use it, but it works just fine without any dual booting.

[s7e6e]

My mom lives in a building where 90% of the residents are senior citizens. After using big desktop computers with Windows her whole life, I've decided to change things a bit when time finally came to upgrade her rig.

I went for a HP Thin Client on ebay. Fanless design in a 1L envelope. i5, 4GB Ram, 60GB ssd. VESA mounted on the back of a 24" monitor. Combined price: $100aud, including shipping, a pair of headphones, a mouse and a keyboard. Linux Mint flies on this thing.

This was back in 2019. Since then, I've bought 9 more units for my mom's neighbors.
Open Office, Netflix, VLC, Spotify and they are all set.

[Mike Gorman]

I have to say that I dislike the thin client type notebooks, sealed format which you cannot access to repair anything unless you destroy the casing, they are a nightmare to fix, designed for 1-2 years operation then you buy another one. I can see where your choices make sense for senior citizens, they work seamlessly when in good order, it is only when they start going wrong that this frustration enters the picture, disposable computers really, not my cup of tea, but each to their own.

[Hughe]

Any Linux distribution that uses systemd is compromised at the system level. Most end users do not aware of it or don't care about FOSS's philosophy anyway. Systemd-ed Linux is close to M$ Windows. Private company such as Red Hat invested a lot of resources to push systemd on Linux community, and it had been successful. By the way the mastermind of systemd, former Red Hat employee Lennart Poettering just moved to Microsoft recently.

[ExomatrixTV]

10 Things To Do on Linux Mint 21 after (super easy) install ...

KCV8VyYA8f4
This is a quick guide on what to do after installing Linux Mint 21 'Vanessa' as well as a quick overview of the new features of the release.


0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=0s) Welcome to Mint 21
1:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=60s) Updates, Mirrors, Kernel
4:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=240s) Backups, Snapshots
5:29 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=329s) Drivers
6:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=370s) Appearance, Widgets, Extensions
9:46 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=586s) Web apps (Office, OneNote)
10:23 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=623s) Gaming (Steam et al.)
11:02 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=662s) Enable online accounts/storage
13:56 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCV8VyYA8f4&t=836s) App recommendations

[ExomatrixTV]

Linux Mint 21.1 "Vera" is like WINDOWS, and I'm fine with that!

AEaDbbweDIY
Open Source & 100% FREE


00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=0s) Intro
00:32 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=32s) Sponsor: Stream any desktop, OS, or app to your browser with Kasm
01:38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=98s) Mint's new Windows-like theme
05:47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=347s) Software Management improvements
07:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=470s) Desktop Changes
11:24 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=684s) Is Linux Mint still Mint?
13:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=831s) Sponsor: Get a device that runs Linux perfectly with Tuxedo
14:44 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEaDbbweDIY&t=884s) Support the channel

The default look is completely different. First, the green accent color is gone. It's now a very usual blue. Gone are the colored folders, now they're your basic manilla yellow color, with a stripe on top of them to use your favorite accent color. Even window controls have changed icons. You can still use the older themes, that they call "legacy". That default look is also complimented by a new cursor theme called Bibata. Sounds received an update as well, and are now using Material design v2 sounds. The second big change in Mint 21.1 is its Flatpak support.

The update manager now supports flatpak applications and runtimes. Mint's Software Manager also gets the usual dropdown menu to let you pick between the flatpak package or the regular deb package from the repos. Mint uses Flathub by the way, so you should get everything you need from there. It's really not perfect, though, as searches will return multiple instances of the same application. Another change is the way Mint handles drivers. First, the driver manager, the tool that lets you see if there ARE drivers you could install and install them, well that now runs in user mode, so you don't need to enter your password just to open the application.

If you're offline, you'll also get a dedicated screen to let you know why the app is empty, and you can also now use USB drives to install drivers, for example if you plug in a live USB, Mint will be able to detect it, and offer to mount it, so you can install drivers from that. Cinnamon 5.6 comes with a new corner bar, which is another callback to window's default layout: it's a small vertical applet, stuck to the far right of the default panel.

Hovering over it allows you to peek at the desktop by hiding all windows, complete with a blur effect if you want, but you can also click that corner bar with the left mouse button, or the middle mouse button, and configure what which click does, between either showing the desktop, showing the desklets, showing the workspace selector or showing the window selector.

In the context menu when right-clicking on the desktop, you can also now directly access the display settings, and the default desktop icons were cleaned up, with the removal of the home folder, Computer, Trash, and Network. Nemo, the file manager, also gets a few changes, like showing the dates in list view in a monospaced font, improving the path bar, by letting you click on the current path to toggle the location URL bar, while navigating to a different folder will bring the path bar back.

Smaller changes include a search entry in the shortcuts settings so you can look at all the various shortcuts you might want to change, preferred applications are now featured by categories, you can configure the duration for which notifications will stay visible, the themes list is now sorted between dark and light themes, and current and legacy themes, and you also get window placement mode back in the window manager.

Oh and also, Mint won't bug you for your password as often as it once did. For example, uninstalling a flatpak app that you installed for your user and not the whole system won't require a password. The same goes for removing local shortcuts and local applications you only installed for yourself. And Synaptic and the Update manager will also remember if you entered your password recently, so they won't ask for it for every single action.


linuxmint.com (https://linuxmint.com)

[Journeyman]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.

[ExomatrixTV]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux


7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)

[Spiral]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux


7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)


They don't mention "Brave" ( I see you have, I'm on that right now) or "Vivaldi", both excellent browsers, as good if not better that all of those on that list, brave even has the option to open a link in Tor.


As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .

[palehorse]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux


7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)


They don't mention "Brave" ( I see you have, I'm on that right now) or "Vivaldi", both excellent browsers, as good if not better that all of those on that list, brave even has the option to open a link in Tor.


As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .


Do you mean the drivers not showing in the file manager GUI?
Is your hard drives mounted? you can easily check if they are mounted somewhere on the filesystem.


mount | grep /dev/sd

lsblk

findmnt
just open the terminal and type in any of the above commands.

Another useful way, but only if you know what the filesystem is, that would be:

mount -l -t file_system just replace the `file_system` string by the filesystem from that drive for example `fuseblk`, `ext4`, `ntfs`, `fat32`, and so on...

It will list mounted and unmounted drivers. If it is not there you can try to mount it first to create the device file (e.g. /dev/sda) and check if it shows up in your filesystem, if it is already mounted and it still not showing up in the filesystem, maybe the issue is somewhere else related to the file system GUI.

If it is mounted, try to list the drive using the terminal with the command:

ls -l /run/media/your_user/drive_name/

The above path is my Linux Manjaro, the mount point differ from Linux to Linux.

[gord]

I've been using debian forever, and that's not likely to change any time soon. As most linux users know, it lags behind the other distributions, but I use older hardware, and have no real need for cutting edge anything, so that works fine for me.

[ExomatrixTV]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux



7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)



They don't mention "Brave" ( I see you have, I'm on that right now) or "Vivaldi", both excellent browsers, as good if not better that all of those on that list, brave even has the option to open a link in Tor.


As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .


"I can't" versus "I can" depends on how much effort you use to find solutions via multiple search-engines using specific key-words that helps finding what you are looking for to solve the issue!

[Spiral]

Does it seem stable John?

I have a laptop with Mint Vanessa xfce and Win 10 on a dual boot but have been back to Windows since chromium browser crashes drove me nuts. May give this one a go though, maybe a clean install will get me going again.


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux


7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)


They don't mention "Brave" ( I see you have, I'm on that right now) or "Vivaldi", both excellent browsers, as good if not better that all of those on that list, brave even has the option to open a link in Tor.


As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .


Do you mean the drivers not showing in the file manager GUI?
Is your hard drives mounted? you can easily check if they are mounted somewhere on the filesystem.


mount | grep /dev/sd

lsblk

findmnt
just open the terminal and type in any of the above commands.

Another useful way, but only if you know what the filesystem is, that would be:

mount -l -t file_system just replace the `file_system` string by the filesystem from that drive for example `fuseblk`, `ext4`, `ntfs`, `fat32`, and so on...

It will list mounted and unmounted drivers. If it is not there you can try to mount it first to create the device file (e.g. /dev/sda) and check if it shows up in your filesystem, if it is already mounted and it still not showing up in the filesystem, maybe the issue is somewhere else related to the file system GUI.

If it is mounted, try to list the drive using the terminal with the command:

ls -l /run/media/your_user/drive_name/

The above path is my Linux Manjaro, the mount point differ from Linux to Linux.

I have old HDDs with old OS's on, when I start a new OS I put it on a brand new HDD, (now moved on to a SSD ). This in a laptop that can only accommodate one hard drive.

I wanted to retrieve old files from the old HDDs , which I could always do with Ubuntu, I put the old HDDs in an extension box & connect it with a usb cable.

However this time I updated the OS I went with Linux Mint , not expecting this problem..... but having gone on the forums etc it's a real head ache, no one has a clear answer (unless somethings come out very recently). I'm not an IT person, I'm not confident in doing much through the command terminal tbh, I tried to follow someone "advice" the first time I had ubuntu & ended up having to reinstall the entire OS & wipe everything.

I'm thinking its going to be easier to re-install each HDD one at a time with the laptop off line, and put all the files I want ( pics of my late dog) on a thumb drive.

[Blastolabs]

This in a laptop that can only accommodate one hard drive.


Does that laptop have a DVD drive?
If so then you can most likely remove the DVD drive and insert slot for another hard drive.

This works because on most laptops the DVD drive uses the same type of connection as the DVD drive did.

I've done it on more laptops than I can count and it always worked, all have been running linux, and you can even have a different operating system on each one, or use it as storage, it shows up just like a normal hard drive.

I am 95% sure these things are universal, meaning they work on any laptop with a DVD drive, but I could be wrong, I would look to see if these things are compatible with your specific laptop to be safe.

I can't explain things well, the pictures might do it better.

This kind of thing doesn't seem to have a standardized name, but on Amazon they call one a





Universal Internal HDD Caddy for SATA 2.5 Inch Hard Drive SSD HDD Caddy, Computer Hard Drive Enclosures for CD/DVD ROM


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71jxycVhrJL._AC_SL1300_.jpg

[Spiral]

This in a laptop that can only accommodate one hard drive.


Does that laptop have a DVD drive?
If so then you can most likely remove the DVD drive and insert slot for another hard drive.

This works because on most laptops the DVD drive uses the same type of connection as the DVD drive did.

I've done it on more laptops than I can count and it always worked, all have been running linux, and you can even have a different operating system on each one, or use it as storage, it shows up just like a normal hard drive.

I am 95% sure these things are universal, meaning they work on any laptop with a DVD drive, but I could be wrong, I would look to see if these things are compatible with your specific laptop to be safe.

I can't explain things well, the pictures might do it better.

This kind of thing doesn't seem to have a standardized name, but on Amazon they call one a





Universal Internal HDD Caddy for SATA 2.5 Inch Hard Drive SSD HDD Caddy, Computer Hard Drive Enclosures for CD/DVD ROM


https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71jxycVhrJL._AC_SL1300_.jpg

Wow, that looks doable, thanks !

EDIT; this type of thing ? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bewinner-Adapter-Enclosure-Optical-DVD-ROM-9-5mm/dp/B07MFYGJ8Y/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=hdd%2Bsata%2Bcaddy&qid=1674856858&sr=8-4&th=1

[Michi]

As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .

I would go back to Ubuntu as this apparently worked well for you.
In my old days I used to use CentOS but changed two years ago to UBUNTU since it's a more recent and modern kernel.

You can always test other systems first by running it "live" from a USB stick.
With that you keep your stable linux on your hard drive untouched.

[palehorse]

Does it seem stable John?

....


chromium browser?


Why not Firefox or Brave browser for Linux


7 best Linux web browsers for 2023 (https://cloud7.news/article/best-linux-web-browsers/)


They don't mention "Brave" ( I see you have, I'm on that right now) or "Vivaldi", both excellent browsers, as good if not better that all of those on that list, brave even has the option to open a link in Tor.


As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .


Do you mean the drivers not showing in the file manager GUI?
Is your hard drives mounted? you can easily check if they are mounted somewhere on the filesystem.


mount | grep /dev/sd

lsblk

findmnt
just open the terminal and type in any of the above commands.

Another useful way, but only if you know what the filesystem is, that would be:

mount -l -t file_system just replace the `file_system` string by the filesystem from that drive for example `fuseblk`, `ext4`, `ntfs`, `fat32`, and so on...

It will list mounted and unmounted drivers. If it is not there you can try to mount it first to create the device file (e.g. /dev/sda) and check if it shows up in your filesystem, if it is already mounted and it still not showing up in the filesystem, maybe the issue is somewhere else related to the file system GUI.

If it is mounted, try to list the drive using the terminal with the command:

ls -l /run/media/your_user/drive_name/

The above path is my Linux Manjaro, the mount point differ from Linux to Linux.

I have old HDDs with old OS's on, when I start a new OS I put it on a brand new HDD, (now moved on to a SSD ). This in a laptop that can only accommodate one hard drive.

I wanted to retrieve old files from the old HDDs , which I could always do with Ubuntu, I put the old HDDs in an extension box & connect it with a usb cable.

However this time I updated the OS I went with Linux Mint , not expecting this problem..... but having gone on the forums etc it's a real head ache, no one has a clear answer (unless somethings come out very recently). I'm not an IT person, I'm not confident in doing much through the command terminal tbh, I tried to follow someone "advice" the first time I had ubuntu & ended up having to reinstall the entire OS & wipe everything.

I'm thinking its going to be easier to re-install each HDD one at a time with the laptop off line, and put all the files I want ( pics of my late dog) on a thumb drive.


It is strange, since Mint is based on Ubuntu and it works on Ubuntu.
Blastolabs suggested a very good solution too, I had done that to an old HP laptop, it works as expected.
Another solution would be to go back to Ubuntu since it proved to be reliable for you.

Interesting case happened to me years ago, and until now if I reinstall the OS I will face the same problem.. I have an old HP laptop and it has an intel wireless card on it (not very popular) which has no open source driver, hence distributions like Debian won't recognize the proprietary wireless card, because they ship open source software only.. my solution was to install a Linux that ship it as a package to be installed, for some reason I could not install the same package on Debian, I just picked another distro and it worked as expected. Sometimes the easy and fast way is just to change the OS.

~~~

I think worth to mention for other users interested in using Linux:

Manjaro is very user friendly, I would compare it with Ubuntu, except when things go wrong, Ubuntu still a better system for beginners in Linux, got a much better support for third parties, but it opens a breach for malicious code been installed, e.g. adding Unknown PPA reps

Debian is great, rock solid distribution, can't go wrong with it, but I think not for beginners, unless put some effort to learn it properly, which is not that hard really.

Always check for resolutions with the official documentation of the OS, unless the source is reputable, otherwise do not use search engines like Google to search solutions for you problem, because most blogs/websites out there they contain Ads. and they are click bait sort of thing and pretty much always contains very bad or incomplete info. Stick with the official documentation and forums of the OS community (this is really your best shot). If you got experience then just use your intuition of course :)

[palehorse]

I've been using debian forever, and that's not likely to change any time soon. As most linux users know, it lags behind the other distributions, but I use older hardware, and have no real need for cutting edge anything, so that works fine for me.

Great distro Gord, I am a big fan of Debian, but I switched to Manjaro years ago to try it and I really liked but I am thinking to go back to Debian this year, I think I got enough of rolling-release model system Arch-like.

[Spiral]

Ubuntu still a better system for beginners in Linux, got a much better support for third parties, but it opens a breach for malicious code been installed, e.g. adding Unknown PPA reps

Can you explain that for non IT speakers please .


Debian is great, rock solid distribution, can't go wrong with it, but I think not for beginners, unless put some effort to learn it properly, which is not that hard really.

Always check for resolutions with the official documentation of the OS, unless the source is reputable, otherwise do not use search engines like Google to search solutions for you problem, because most blogs/websites out there they contain Ads. and they are click bait sort of thing and pretty much always contains very bad or incomplete info. Stick with the official documentation and forums of the OS community (this is really your best shot). If you got experience then just use your intuition of course :)

I always use the relevant linux / ubuntu / mint forums and never those awful advise sites full of ads, plus I don't like google anymore than I like microsoft, both of which are nothing short of evil.

¤=[Post Update]=¤



As for Linux, I swapped from Ubuntu to Mint & I'm finding it not as good, one problem is that it won't see other HDDs in extensions, so can't swap files which is very frustrating as all my pics are on my old HDDs .

I would go back to Ubuntu as this apparently worked well for you.
In my old days I used to use CentOS but changed two years ago to UBUNTU since it's a more recent and modern kernel.

You can always test other systems first by running it "live" from a USB stick.
With that you keep your stable linux on your hard drive untouched.

I'm seriously thinking about it, it's only the amount of things I've got going on that's holding me back.

[norman]

What about a USB hard drive dock ?

Or was that the problem ( with Mint ) in the first place ?

I'm still struggling in windows land so I don't know what the issues are.


I've been using a couple of these (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155000624304) ( older version with card slots too ) for a decade. A 2.5" SATA drive fits the same slot as a 3.5" SATA drive.

I have about a hundred hard drives, so this dock is a vital bit of kit for me.


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OFoAAOSwl69jXzDy/s-l1600.jpg


Ignore me if I'm being stupid here.

[palehorse]

Ubuntu still a better system for beginners in Linux, got a much better support for third parties, but it opens a breach for malicious code been installed, e.g. adding Unknown PPA reps

Can you explain that for non IT speakers please .



Debian is great, rock solid distribution, can't go wrong with it, but I think not for beginners, unless put some effort to learn it properly, which is not that hard really.

Always check for resolutions with the official documentation of the OS, unless the source is reputable, otherwise do not use search engines like Google to search solutions for you problem, because most blogs/websites out there they contain Ads. and they are click bait sort of thing and pretty much always contains very bad or incomplete info. Stick with the official documentation and forums of the OS community (this is really your best shot). If you got experience then just use your intuition of course :)

I always use the relevant linux / ubuntu / mint forums and never those awful advise sites full of ads, plus I don't like google anymore than I like microsoft, both of which are nothing short of evil.

....




PPA stands for Personal Package Archives, they are not maintained by Ubuntu/Canonical but they are small software repository, usually created by developers, but anyone can create one and disseminate packages on internet. Debian and pretty much all the derivative distributions make use of it, including Mint and Ubuntu.



It is better that way. The PPA repositories can be found everywhere, quite a few on github and others software repositories across the web.

[Spiral]

What about a USB hard drive dock ?

Or was that the problem ( with Mint ) in the first place ?

I'm still struggling in windows land so I don't know what the issues are.


I've been using a couple of these (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155000624304) ( older version with card slots too ) for a decade. A 2.5" SATA drive fits the same slot as a 3.5" SATA drive.

I have about a hundred hard drives, so this dock is a vital bit of kit for me.


https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OFoAAOSwl69jXzDy/s-l1600.jpg


Ignore me if I'm being stupid here.

The problem with mint is it won't see those things. Ubuntu did no problem.

[greybeard]

Linux Mint 21.2 Proposals


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iNrZJug-rM

[ExomatrixTV]

The 40+ Linux Tier 2023 List


KyADkmRVe0U
The definitive Linux tier list. It will make many upset, but I explain why there are so many pointless distros that score so low on the tier list.

00:00 Debian and Arch
00:50 What are the Tiers
02:20 Alma Rocky Oracle RHEL Centos and Fedora
03:30 Ubuntu
04:20 Alpine Linux
04:55 AntiX
05:20 Arco Linux
06:25 Manjaro
07:30 Artix
08:05 Clear Linux
09:15 Deepin
09:50 KDE Neon
10:15 Elementary OS
11:20 Endeavor and Garuda
11:37 Feren OS
11:55 Gentoo
12:55 Kali Linux
14:00 Parrot
15:00 Kubuntu
16:10 Linux Mint 21.2 (https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php) :dog:
16:45 Lubuntu
17:10 MX Linux
17:35 NixOS
17:50 PCLinuxOS
18:17 Peppermint
18:30 PopOS
19:45 Puppy Linux
20:20 Slackware
20:55 Solus
21:30 SUSE and OpenSUSE
22:20 Tails and Qubes
23:10 Void Linux
23:30 TinyCore
23:45 Zorin
24:30 Nobara
25:45 What you should look for in a Distribution


100% related:

fR7KqCbnjfw
:Party: :Music: :beer: :cocktail: :cake: :sun:


Why I Deleted Windows For Good ...:

vj5bTJ8NXjw
MlJa7zFJcoo

[palehorse]

After using most Linux out there here I am with Slackware once again, one of the first and most stable independent Linux distros from 1993.
Unfortunately this is not your average distribution, in order to install new packages you will have to build, make or compile the sources and then install the binaries, but Slackware provide up to date builds for that which has all the instructions and it is relatively easy to deal with, you can learn more here:

http://slackbuilds.org/

I was going back to Debian but I had a change of heart in the last moment and the main culprit was the Init software used by Debian nowadays "systemd", back then Debian (wheezy 2013) used "SysV" as init software, the same as Slackware currently using.

Basically I would say for anyone moving into Linux, read and understand what is Systemd.
Here is a good start: https://without-systemd.org/wiki/index_php/Arguments_against_systemd/

Linux had been infiltrated by corporation since circa 2012 (perhaps earlier), the only way to keep things a bit sane is to avoid things like Systemd because they are sponsored by big corpos, companies like IBM, Microsoft, Google, etc..

I don't know much people giving these sort of warnings anymore, avoid anything with really appealing marketing (aka deception).

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I'm currently planning a new PC build. I've just about nailed down the hardware spec, which consists of some quite hefty kit, but concerning the OS itself I'm having serious doubts about Windows 11 (I'm still on Win 7!). I've been a Windows user since forever, but this maybe my first ever non-Windows system.

I welcome any advice or insight about making the Big Switch to Linux, particularly user experience with Linux Garuda (https://garudalinux.org/), as that's the one I'm looking at.

Here's a useful video all about it.

a9ZSLNbgF14

[ThePythonicCow]

If you're a gamer who likes to play Triple A games, and have an Nvidia (rather than an AMD) graphics card, then Garuda might well be my first choice for someone coming from Windows.

That's because, if you enjoy AAA games on an Nvidia card, then you'll be closer to the edge of what Linux handles with ease. Garuda seems (from my brief web search, not my personal experience, since I'm not a gamer) to focus more on smoothing those rough edges, and would be a fine first choice. When pushed hard, AMD video cards are less likely to have configuration problems on Linux than Nvidia, perhaps because Nvidia is more hostile to the Open Source culture of Linux than is AMD, making it harder for Linux kernel developers to seamlessly integrate Nvidia video drivers. A distribution focused on that sort of user can (I presume) completely handle that usage pattern (well, except, so I'm told, for some proprietary Nvidia and LED Lighting control panel applications which seem to be Windows only).

If you're a 'generic' Windows user, who maybe uses a browser, some email or chat applications, and some Office products, and who saves and views family video and pictures, then it's pretty hard to go wrong, though some distributions, such as Garuda, Pop!_OS, and Mint are solid choices, which are also well tuned for Windows exiles in their screen layout and configuration defaults .

If you're a hard core Linux developer with strong (perhaps negative) opinions on such topics as SystemD, btrfs, zfs, ... then that's like a long time driver choosing between a street racing car and a pickup for your farm, and so you'll be using various other, some less well known, distributions. In that case, I could share war stories with you, but neither of us would be expecting to persuade the other which distribution we'd be on next.

Since it doesn't sound like you're in that hard core Linux developer camp, you might want to search the Web for a few recent (last year or three) pages discussing Garuda, Pop!_OS and/or Mint. All three such distributions are surprisingly similar under the covers, so this will be like choosing between three family cars, all of which cost the same ($0 in the case of Linux) and have solid six cylinder engines, automatic transmissions, and front wheel drive, but which have different appearing bodies and dashboards, and whose salesmen have a different sales pitch.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

That's because, if you enjoy AAA games on an Nvidia card, then you'll be closer to the edge of what Linux handles with ease. Garuda seems (from my brief web search, not my personal experience, since I'm not a gamer) to focus more on smoothing those rough edges, and would be a fine first choice.

Many thanks Paul. I'm not really a big gamer, and don't own any triple A titles, but I do game from time to time (mostly Indie games on Steam), but I also do like to 'tinker' on the development side with some quite intensive applications like Unity and Blender, thus my requirement for a fast, solid system.

On the GPU side, I'm definitely an Nvidia man, have been since the beginning. Their cards are simply the best cards, although AMD beats Nvidia when it comes to pricing! My current machine is 8 years old (can you believe it) and still runs sweet as a nut, but I've been hitting so many Windows 7 brick walls lately with various new applications, tools, and updates that no longer support it, that it was time to build a new system.

One different solution I've also been looking at is AtlasOS. Do you have experience with that, or opinions? It's definitely caught my interest.

ZxOvySkvv4M

[ThePythonicCow]

applications like Unity and Blender
The key question I didn't know offhand was whether Unity and Blender ran on Linux. Likely you already knew they did, or you wouldn't be traveling down this path. A 10 second Google search found downloads or installation instructions for both these, so I don't immediately see a problem.

Windows 7 brick walls
Linux does a better job of maintaining compatibility across the years, is less buggy, less bloated, and more secure (not that I'm biased or anything <grin>).

AtlasOS
My pro-Linux bias is probably too strong, and I my history with Microsoft runs from DOS to Windows XP, but not recently. The Windows PC on my desktop has not been powered on in years ... it serves only as one of my cat's favorite perches. So I'm only good for the pro-Linux, anti-Windows side of this discussion.

So for the pro-Linux, anti-AtlasOS perspective:

AtlasOS removes Defender and Updates.
AtlasOS disables Spectre & Meltdown mitigations.
Steve Gibson (a Windows programmer for decades) complains weekly on "Security Now" about Windows' increasing bugginess and insecurity.
The performance and feature set of the Linux file systems, btrfs and ext4 are substantially better than Windows' NTFS.
Linux updates are left to your control, and less risky.

A quick web search shows me that there are plenty of people on both sides of this Windows vs Linux debate.

I'll leave the other side of that debate to others.

At least if you do find some Linux limitation that's a show stopper for you (what that would be I don't know), you can revert to a more recent Windows version (without cost unless Unity and Blender charge separately for those two licenses). Or for the price of a disk, you can keep both options open, installing Linux on one disk and keeping your Windows setup on another.

[norman]

That's because, if you enjoy AAA games on an Nvidia card, then you'll be closer to the edge of what Linux handles with ease. Garuda seems (from my brief web search, not my personal experience, since I'm not a gamer) to focus more on smoothing those rough edges, and would be a fine first choice.

Many thanks Paul. I'm not really a big gamer, and don't own any triple A titles, but I do game from time to time (mostly Indie games on Steam), but I also do like to 'tinker' on the development side with some quite intensive applications like Unity and Blender, thus my requirement for a fast, solid system.

On the GPU side, I'm definitely an Nvidia man, have been since the beginning. Their cards are simply the best cards, although AMD beats Nvidia when it comes to pricing! My current machine is 8 years old (can you believe it) and still runs sweet as a nut, but I've been hitting so many Windows 7 brick walls lately with various new applications, tools, and updates that no longer support it, that it was time to build a new system.

One different solution I've also been looking at is AtlasOS. Do you have experience with that, or opinions? It's definitely caught my interest.

ZxOvySkvv4M

I've been experimenting with CleanOS 11 since early this year.

I like it. Simple and bloatless. But, SDSearch&Destroy, which I ran as soon as I installed it the first time, found 3 lines in the registry that it screamed bloody murder about. I let it remove those 3 lines and continued with checking it out. For a long time I wondered if removing those 3 lines was a mistake or not. I thought maybe those lines helped to protect it from MS interference. As it is, MS fails to get in to change anything. It doesn't update and there are a few noticeably missing features that may be a deal breaker for some but I'm happy with it.

I found it at archive dot org. I'd first found a 32 bit version of Win 10 by the same customizer and loved it but as a 32 bit OS I couldn't run a couple of 64bit only programs I'd been wanting to dabble with. Then CleanOS 11 popped up on a search and I went for it.

After this time spent with it, I'm 99.999% confident that it's not doing sneaky stuff but I still have not used it to log on to websites with sensitive information at risk. Actually, I'm far more worried about my fully bloated, fully legit Win 10 system being a snooper than I am about CleanOS 11. I just wish I knew why the customizer added those 3 lines to the registry that I removed.

The last time I posted a link here to something a bit special, that source vanished very fast so I won't post a link but it's easy to find at archive dot org.

[Hughe]

@Mark

Unity supports Linux according to its website.
https://unity.com/releases/editor/archive

I've been using Blender since version 2.5x. It fully supports Linux.

[Mark (Star Mariner)]

I've been using Blender since version 2.5x. It fully supports Linux.

Yes indeed, Linux compatibility is not so much of a problem (as it was in the past), and is now a viable option for users of high end, premium applications.

But Windows is just insane now. The infuriating bloatware is one thing and quite bad enough, but my number one issue is the invasiveness, the snoopware under the hood, as Norman pointed out.

CleanOS, AtlasOS -- I'm not quite sold. Third party utilities may optimize services or eliminate tracking, but what exactly is being snuck back in (without your knowledge) with all those Windows updates, all those so-called 'essential security patches'? I simply don't trust microsoft anymore.

I've been on Windows since 3.11, I've used them all, but think it's time for a change now. Linux will be a BIG change, and a slightly frightening change. It's going to be terra incognita for sure.

A bit sad also. Windows 7 was so good. It's why I've been on it so long. It's like that classic car you've kept running for years and cannot bring yourself to give up. Hands down Windows 7 was the peak, the grand triumph of operating systems. That's the opinion of many many other users too, and the IT pros I've spoken to agree: Win7 was microsoft's best operating system, and maybe 'the' best period, certainly on the surface insofar as usability is concerned. Windows 8 was a piece of cr*p, and all it's been downhill since then.

This little meme about sums it up.

52267

[norman]

It turns out that NO OS (or browser) cares about your privacy.

'Security', yes, but not your privacy. Even deleting cookies on exit doesn't safeguard your privacy.

This youtuber tells all about it.

[ 21 minutes ]
spSdUSgAkKg

[dim]

Not entirely sure about that.
https://www.privacyguides.org/
https://discuss.privacyguides.net/

[Cruissser]

Thanks Greybeard!

I have been using mint for years now and love it. There is something about open source software that is very rewarding. Using support is much easier than with windows.

Nice to hear about the recording software. I have never tried it yet. I don't know if I could call myself a musician, but I enjoy playing piano and guitar for my own entertainment.

Do you know if there is any anti virus software that is easy to use on mint?

[ExomatrixTV]

Linux Mint 21.3 "Virginia" BETA RELEASED with MIND BLOWING Features! - See What's New! (2024):

WcnjUDju9fA


Is Linux Mint BETTER Than Windows?:

499jqHWZ-Ts

[palehorse]

After using most Linux out there here I am with Slackware once again, one of the first and most stable independent Linux distros from 1993.
Unfortunately this is not your average distribution, in order to install new packages you will have to build, make or compile the sources and then install the binaries, but Slackware provide up to date builds for that which has all the instructions and it is relatively easy to deal with, you can learn more here:

http://slackbuilds.org/

I was going back to Debian but I had a change of heart in the last moment and the main culprit was the Init software used by Debian nowadays "systemd", back then Debian (wheezy 2013) used "SysV" as init software, the same as Slackware currently using.

Basically I would say for anyone moving into Linux, read and understand what is Systemd.
Here is a good start: https://without-systemd.org/wiki/index_php/Arguments_against_systemd/

Linux had been infiltrated by corporation since circa 2012 (perhaps earlier), the only way to keep things a bit sane is to avoid things like Systemd because they are sponsored by big corpos, companies like IBM, Microsoft, Google, etc..

I don't know much people giving these sort of warnings anymore, avoid anything with really appealing marketing (aka deception).


Ok, I didn't know where to post the following information, so be it here, because it is related to Slackware and also Linux in general. The following recovery commands should work fine in any distro out there.

Yesterday during the storm my computers shutdown after a prolonged power outage, I noticed my power backup device was off, the power outage burned it, luck me it didn't pass to the computers, but they were off too. My old Thinkpad t400 with Slackware installed was booting in read-only mode while the other laptops with Arch Linux and Debian I could boot just normally. So I went into recovering mode for my Slackware, I will write the commands bellow because it is pointless for me to explain how I got to it in order to fix the issue, it took me hours.

Step 1 - boot as mono user, Linux has it for recovery situations, when booting you will have to edit your LILO prompt with the following `linux single`, just enter these 2 words in there and press return.
Step 2 - the system will boot and you will have to provide your root password (it will boot as root).
Step 3 - find about your devices, where your OS is installed using `fdisk`, the following command will only read your disk: `fdisk -l`
Step 4 - now you know what your device is, e.g. `/dev/sda2 `, you need to run `e2fsck` in your filesystem in order to fix all the issues, since it is a long task with many questions, we automate all the answers to YES. It is safe to proceed like that, since it is mono user, it won't affect other users or personal files in /home/ directory for example. run the following command: `e2fsck -y /dev/sda`
Step 5 - reboot and proceed with normal login.

Many Linux users when run into situations like this, they will just backup their data and reinstall the OS, because it is faster option to resolve such boring issue. But if you have these command on top of your mind, it will take just a few minutes and you are good to go again.

Note: Use the above commands only when your system is on read-only mode, DO NOT issue the command `e2fsck -y /dev/sda` with a mounted device, because it can cause data loss.


Another boring issue on Linux that happen from time to time, you try to login and the screen freezes or keep loading forever and you get nowhere (specially with KDE plasma). Next time that happen, try to open a terminal with `CTRL+ALT+F1`, then log in with your normal user and then type `startx`. It works most of the cases.





...
Do you know if there is any anti virus software that is easy to use on mint?

I myself never used any anti-virus for Linux, but I knew 2 corporations using ESET with their terminals, mostly for emails to catch phishing. If you are coming from Windows, that is one thing you can say goodbye :)