So like it says in the title. I’m looking to make a change. The only coding I ever did was like, some very light HTML on stuff like LiveJournal 20 years ago (because I’m ancient in internet years, haha) and even that I barely remember.
I’ve seen people talk about LinuxMint in other comment sections and how that one might be closest to something like Windows (in that a layman like myself can use it out of the box like buying a new laptop from Best Buy or whatever store). Is that actually a good one or is there something better for somebody like me?
I’ve seen enough people go ‘NO UBUNTU!!!’ to steer me away from that one, but otherwise I have no clue what would actually be good for somebody in my shoes.
I have a laptop that still technically runs Windows 8 that I just use for downloads so I’d be trying it on there so that if something goes wonky I’m not fucked. After looking at the LinuxMint website, the specs on that laptop meet the requirements for it.
Thanks so much!
depending on how complicated it is to swap out the hard disk, i’d swap out the windows drive and put in a new one (preferably an ssd, they make a big difference even in older computers) - this way you’ll keep the option to put it back if you’re really lost, you can back up stuff there
mint is a good place to start, no need for coding.
you do need to get adjusted a bit, the complaints about “how difficult it is to do things on linux” is often because people try doing stuff exactly like they did on windows, and sure, you can do exactly the same thing but you need to set up, sometimes compile tools for it - or you can search in the software manager or search on the web for “xy linux alternative”
for instance file sharing - yeah linux supports samba (the windows file sharing protocol), it works, but imo it kinda sucks (but tbf it sucked on windows too), so i started looking for alternatives and just allowing an ssh connection allows you to directly connect to machines with your username, and also allows sftp file transfers, and it works so much betterI don’t trust myself with swapping out hardware, but maybe one day that might be an option for me, lol.
it depends on your pc/laptop, some models are super easy, usually the ram and disk is on the more easily available side. try looking up a youtube video like “<my model> hd swap” or “<my model> disassembly” if the first doesn’t work
for example fujitsu-s are super simple, they have a compartment for the disk, just unscrew the cover, unscrew the hd, screw in the new one and pop it back in
others are more complicated, but it’s usually just removing the back cover
in case you do it, keep track of the screws, where they come from, where you temporarily store them. it’s a common issue that one ends up with a couple “extra” screws
You don’t have to code for most any linux distro. command line and config files is not the same as writing a bash script, much less compiling something. That being said I use zorin because its great out of the box. Its based on ubuntu like mint but comes with software that I honestly sorta expect my laptop to have out of the box. That being said it uses gnome and I finally pulled the trigger and added kde/plasma and oh man I should have done that to begin with. kde/plasma is way better. Still annoys me the zorin guys don’t move the distro default to kde/plasma.
I have several older laptops that would not perform well on windows 11 running Linux mint, Debian, Ubuntu with no problem. If you stick with distributions that let you try the os from a bootable usb first, this should increase your comfort level and help you feel better about your decision.
One note, depending on your laptop BIOS, you may have trouble booting a live USB. I experienced this with Ubuntu and Pop-os, but the issue is solved by creating the bootable USB with a GPT partition instead of the default MBR. The only reliable way I have found to do this is using Rufus on Windows, so keep in mind you may need a Windows machine around for this purpose.
Good luck and have fun!
This worked for me when I was first setting up Proxmox.
dd bs=1M conv=fdatasync if=./proxmox-ve_*.iso of=/dev/XYZOk, I’m assuming that a ‘live boot’ is something you plug in anytime you want to use it rather than the installed OS that automatically boots? Yes?
Yes, exactly. You would choose your Linux distribution that has a “live boot” option, download the appropriate .iso file, and then make a bootable usb drive using that file, via software like Rufus. When that’s all complete, you would plug in the usb drive and reboot. (You may need to press a key or access your system’s BIOS settings to ensure your system boots from the usb as well - sometimes this is not automatic.)
The chosen OS will load directly from the USB and give you a chance to try it out. You may not have access to the data from your existing system in this mode, but you may not need that if you’re just kicking the tires.
This exercise also helps focus you more on what you actually need/want your system to be able to do. Most of my personal use is web browsing, media consumption, and basic documents and Linux is more than capable of delivering on all of that right out of the box.
If you get stuck on a step, there are probably hundreds of posts out there where someone had the same problem, so you should be able to find solutions to any problems that occur with some patience.
I have found the journey to be very freeing and rewarding, and hope you find the same.
Linux Mint is a solid place to start I’d say.
Ubuntu/Canonical has…issues to say the least.
- A primary concern being the ever eternal cursed Snap packages.
- Second being the replacement of existing tools with Rust alternatives without the proper FOSS licenses, so Ubuntu becomes less reciprocal over time and more proprietary over time.
anyways, choosing Linux Mint is a great place to start🤗👍 and I say this as someone that’s tried:
- Ubuntu Server
- Raspberry Pi OS
- Linux Mint
- Arch Linux
- NixOS
- Kali Linux
Well, that’s true in my case. Years of using Ubuntu, and finally I decided to move to Mint when they FORCED firefox to run via snap. I followed some guides to download firefox with apt and disable the snap version, and somehow Ubuntu ended up using snap again without my authorization. Also snap was not able to read/write /tmp folder, which I used a lot. Flatpak doesn’t have that problem.
So, yes, I recommend mint, for me it has the best of Ubuntu and fixes exactly what I didn’t like.
The Ubuntu user base is huge and helpful, and almost all of that applies directly to Mint.
Does it even matter that it’s Mint in particular? I’ve never used mint, but isn’t the DE (or WM if you abhor DEs) more important? They all come with a package manager. And it’s pretty much all the same from there.
Except maybe Nix, from what I’ve heard
Does it even matter that it’s Mint in particular?
Yes somewhat because the devs of Linux Mint has created a reputable high quality First User’s Experience to Linux setup.
I’ve never used mint, but isn’t the DE (or WM if you abhor DEs) more important?
Somewhat yes but it’s mostly the combination of all the ingredients that can make or break the lasagna dish.
If we’re comparing the DEs with each other than Plasma would win hands down over Cinnamon but for introductory users looking to switch from Windows or Macs to Linux than DEs are less likely to be an immediate concern.
They all come with a package manager.
Linux Mint would use the APT package manager which is good for beginners as you’d be able to use the same troubleshooting steps as Ubuntu or Debian.
Except maybe Nix, from what I’ve heard
NixOS is complicated to say the least, in which I’ve previously discussed here
but isn’t the DE (or WM if you abhor DEs) more important?
Yes, the most important thing is actually the DE/WM, most mainstream distros are exactly the same in how they are structured/configured, and the variations if you ignore the DE/WM come mostly from package manager, same packages with different names, and different default apps/configuration installed by default.
Pop! OS is also a good beginner distro.
I got the chance to install Mint recently for a couple of people who were totally new to Linux. It went pretty smoothly, seems to work for them so far.
Mint is good. It might be worth trying a few different desktop environments to see what you like - you can probably run all of the major ones from a LiveBoot device.
BUT, and this is VERY important, ypu do not need to do any programming or coding on a Linux desktop. Ever.
If you’re not a programmer then you are never forced to peel that onion. You can do EVERYTHING from a GUI if you want.
You’ll lose the ability to run some games and software, but between alternatives and emulation, that list is getting smaller.
You can do EVERYTHING from a GUI if you want.
Until you run into any sort of problem and all the solutions you can find are “do this command that i won’t explain and that and paste this cryptic series of letters here and this there and chant this unspeakable spell to summon dread cthulhu and then run this command with these arguments. it’s very human design.”
Commands are usually just easier ways of doing the thing, so that is usually what is told to people with problems.
Like you can browse through 5 menus and find the thing or paste the command and be done. If you don’t want to paste the command, then just look through settings/menus.
Cool, I’m not against that. It’s just the opposite of beginner-friendly.
Like you can browse through 5 menus and find the thing
I sure would’ve appreciated a guide on how to do that for, I don’t know, something so exotic und unusual like installing my tablet driver, just to get the thing working. So that next time I can find things on my own, learn the structure of the system by exploring stuff and see what else there is, instead of just mindlessly copy pasting some command. Efficiency in doing things can come later, after I’m settled in.
Using the command prompt is not coding. You sometimes need to use the command prompt in Windows to solve certain problems, the terminal in Linux is just easier to use and more powerful so it’s often an easier way to solve problems or get information.
Also, they’re all explained, you just don’t care to read the explanations. One of the best things about the Linux terminal is that most commands have exhaustive and clear documentation.
Using the command prompt is not coding.
Ackshually, whenever you write something into the command prompt and it works, you’re writing valid Bash (or whatever shell you’re using) code. Bash is a programming language, so technically you are coding.
For example, try typing the following into a terminal:
for ((i = 0; i < 10; i++)); do echo $i; doneYou just counted to nine using a loop and a variable!
False, everyone knows that each program contains at least one branching, one loop and one bug. This “code” has only one loop. Therefore it is not a code, therefore it is not considered programing.
/s just in case
…a loop that breaks is technically has branching…
The command prompt is not a GUI.
I WOULD have cared to read the explanations, there just weren’t any or they sent me down a billion rabbit holes. Just yesterday in fact I did try Linux Mint (after having tried various Linux distributions over the years, ending in confusion every time). I hate (HATE) just following instructions without knowing why I’m doing what I’m doing so I tried very hard to understand every step. It was nothing but frustrating because my earlier post is only a slight exaggeration.
I relate. There’s a lot of people on Lemmy that feel Linux is better in every way over MacOS or Windows and it’s simply not true. I’m following some vague instructions right now to bring a device up-to-date that appear to be re-compiling kernel unexpectedly. I just wanted my display to rotate correctly, and be able to play some games.
(sorry, rant incoming)
See, I’d be absolutely willing to learn that Linux is indeed “better” than Windows (in fact, I do suspect it probably is - once you know your way around it). What annoys me absolutely endlessly is how people go on and on about how eeeeasy it all is and modern distros are juuuust like your current OS, really, and there’s absolutely zero need to be intimidated because it’s all so very intuitive and you can’t do anything wrong*! It isn’t easy. And it doesn’t have to be easy, I’d be okay with looking shit up - if explanations and guides didn’t assume you already know your way around the OS (“do cryptic thing xYz, duh”), if they weren’t out of date because they were published an entire month ago and if people didn’t pretend.
* I almost broke my display tablet in my Mint experiment because while trying to get the driver to work, I followed a guide that explained nothing (so for every step I looked up another guide which lead to another guide to another guide to another guide…). No I don’t know what went wrong because I don’t know what the guide was making me do. Luckily, I’m tech savvy enough to fix it on my own - under Windows.
Thank god I’m not the only one. I was convinced it was me! i used Mint for two months, and when everything works it’s good, but the second you encounter a problem it becomes a nightmare.
It’s been great for standard use, but yeah some things just get weird sometimes in every OS. 2 mint cinnamon OS’s acted different, over and over with power and lid settings. pop-os had stupid shit with an old laptop that no matter what I did the airplane mode would enable when you opened the screen, not closed. I use RustDesk for remote access across my machines and phone, where you install from matters, if you install from the software manager their website or the flatpack… You will have different results/features. Run your own server for it, now the docker container is continuously restarting. Fix that and my file server, jellyfin server, Pihole server, or something else is doing something wonky. It’s 100% my fault I’m trying to run to much off of one device, but once I get it all working I say hmm… What if I try to run a Piefed instance off of it, and realize no matter how I run the reverse proxy the incoming ports may have overlap. So I need to divide things up more.
Sudo I don’t accept your lies.
Try installing mint! Make sure you’ve cleared everything you want from the hard-drive before you start (and decide now if you’re going to dual-boot. If so, clear up space so you can do the partitioning you want before you start the process.)
When I have the proverbial spoons to this I will be backing everything up that I want to keep - no worries there!
I think dual-booting and having two OSs on one computer is something that is beyond my wheelhouse, so no worries there either. Just one OS on the computer. That’ll be easier for my brain, lol.
Parroting the no need to code.
Follow the comments about trying a distro/type of Linux.
Something you may not know is what is called a live disc. You can run a type of Operating system without installing it. This lets you try it out without actually installing anything. However know that if you install a program to try out it will it safe when you reboot or shut down.
Please use this. NetBoot.xyz
It essentially lets you burn a cd that you boot from. This then lets you try out countless types of Linux before you install them. This way you don’t need to burn 20 discs or flash a new usb drive each time you want to try a different Linux.
I run immutable Fedora distros (Bluefin, Bazzite) and they are the most stable distros I’ve ever used. Immutable distros restrict writing to sensitive parts of the OS so you’re less likely to break things. You’ll mostly install Flatpaks which looks pretty similar to using the Windows app store.
I’ve seen some people say that immutable distros aren’t good for beginners. I’m really not sure why. My best guess is because they’re not the norm and you might run into support issues if things do go wrong.
If all of that sounds too scary then Linux Mint is a good choice. Never used PopOS myself but I hear that’s a good starter OS too.
Yes. I main Mint in my laptop, and it’s been my go-to for general purpose use (gaming included) for the past 10-15 years. On servers I prefer other distros, but Mint has consistently been the one that works best out of the box in a laptop desktop environment.
Pop os
How did you use Windows without understanding coding? lol
You don’t need to know how to code to use Linux. It helps to know how to use the terminal, but you don’t even really need to know that anymore either.
Mint is a great choice. Fedora is another great choice, and it’s what I use. IMHO, Cinnamon (Mint) and KDE are easier to use coming from Windows than Gnome (Fedora). So yeah, I’d agree with the sentiments you’ve read and cited in your post. You can also use Cinnamon or KDE on Fedora if you like though.
Agree with everything you’re saying. I’m using Mint for a year now and never had to open the terminal. It’s a great distro.
Mint is a great starting point. I might also recommend having a look at KDE (the desktop environment) which will feel very familiar coming from windows and is available on quite a few distributions. I use it with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed - less beginner friendly than Mint, but still an ok plafe to start.
