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Looking to change to a Linux-based OS on a laptop, but I don't really understand coding so I haven't tried any of them. Is LinuxMint a good place to start? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) by Penny7@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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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!

ETA: Because it's come up a few times and after the first time I didn't want to reply the same thing a over and over, I associate Linux with coding because everybody I've personally known that uses Linux is a programmer by trade, by hobby, or at least has a CompSci degree and understands this stuff on a level a million times higher than I do (even if they didn't end up in the field). Clearly I misunderstood something about what they were doing with Linux somewhere along the way. It looked like coding to a layperson at any rate so that's what stuck in my mind.

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[-] HubertManne@piefed.social 2 points 2 days ago

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.

[-] swordgeek@lemmy.ca 49 points 6 days ago

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.

[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 44 points 6 days ago

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."

[-] SeekPie 7 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

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.

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[-] Adderbox76@lemmy.ca 14 points 5 days ago

I haven't once in fifteen years needed to do any coding whatsoever to use my Linux computers day-to-day.

[-] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

Mint is a great distro for beginners. Coding is not required, but coders prefer Linux because it makes our lives easier in some ways.

I would like to take the opportunity to give you two advices that I think everyone who wants to use Linux should hear:

Install from package manager

In windows the way to install something is to look it up on a browser, open a sketchy website, downloading a binary and executing it on your machine. That is definitely NOT the way to do stuff on Linux. Think on Linux the same way you do Android (which is actually a Linux distro), if you want to install something you look it up on the play store, and only if it's not there you consider alternatives like downloading a random .APK from the internet. Linux should be the same, except there are several alternatives before downloading a binary from the internet, like adding a PPA in debian based distros (Mint is based on Ubuntu which is based on Debian, so this applies to you) which essentially gives extra packages to the package manager or using flatpak/snaps (two different technologies that try to do the same, i.e. a new way of packaging software for Linux)

Keep /home in a different partition

In Linux any folder can be in any hard-drive/partition. So it's possible when you're installing your system to have what you would normally think as C:\ (which is called / in Linux) in one partition and /home (i.e. the folder home inside /) in another. This is great because it allows you to reinstall or change your Linux distro without losing your personal data.

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Ok, wait...I thought a partition meant that it was in effect a wall between different OSs if you had multiples on one computer, not like separate folders like in Windows Explorer (which is what I'm getting from this comment, if I'm wrong please let me know).

[-] Nibodhika@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

A partition is a dedicated space on a disk. In windows there's not much use to partition a disk, but it can be done, and you would have a C: and D: drives with only one physical disk. I used to do that back in the day to have a partition for backups.

If you only have one disk and want to have multiple OS, you need to partition the disk, so that each OS can write their data without interfering with one another. Essentially what you're doing is, like you said, putting a wall between areas in the disk, but you can do that regardless of having different OS in each side.

In Linux things are a bit different, the representation of your disks is a file inside /dev, for example the first disk (non-nvme) Linux finds will be /dev/sda, the next one will be /dev/sdb so on and so forth, but since disks can be partitioned the first partition in your first disk is /dev/sda1, then /dev/sda2, etc. Then there's a file called /etc/fstab that has lines like /dev/sdb3 /home, this means that the 3d partition in the second disk will be accessible in the folder /home. You don't really need to worry about this file in general, during the installation there will be a nice GUI to let you say which partition goes where.

How is that useful? Well, if you have the system in /dev/sda2 and your /home folder in /dev/sda3 you can format /dev/sda2 and reinstall the system or change the distro entirely without losing your data stored in /home.

PS: I'm simplifying some stuff, but for reference :

you might see partitions jump from 2 to 6 in older systems, this is due to limitation in partitioning schemes for old disks
if you have a really old computer you will see /dev/hda1, this is because the s in sda refers to SATA, which essentially all disks are nowadays
nvme drives are /dev/nvme0n1
/etc/fstab has other parameters to tell it certain flags like mount read-only. Also it rarely used /dev/sda1 style naming because that might change if you swap the cables in your computer, instead it uses a unique identifier that's points to the correct partition regardless of order.
Partitions are not really a wall, instead the first bytes of a disk contain a table saying stuff like byte 0-61648716832 partition 1, bytes 61648716833-9274816418393 partition 2, etc. Old drives had limited space in that table so you had to create one partition for the rest of stuff and repartition that again, which is why partition numbers jumped from 2 to 6.

but all that's besides the point.

[-] Eldritch@piefed.world 23 points 6 days ago

Linux mint is a good compatible baseline yes.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

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.

[-] stiephelando@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 6 days ago

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.

[-] OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network 16 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Mint is a good option, yeah. Should feel familiar if you're coming from windows.

Note that coding experience isn't really relevant. Only the most advanced users ever really need to write code for their system. 99% of linux users, including the experienced and power users, don't have to regularly code, per se. Note that I'm referring to actually writing programs, not terminal use. Using a terminal isn't coding but that may be what you were thinking of, it's similar but imo not the same. If you wanna do more advances stuff, you'll definitely want to learn the terminal, but for most stuff you'll get by just fine with GUIs like you're probably used to. Mint is particularly good at keeping stuff to GUIs.

Something to note: coming from windows, you'll be used to getting programs by finding downloads on the internet. On linux, that's generally best avoided - you should always look on your distro's package manager first. On mint is believe it's called something like "software center" or "software manager," can't remember off the top of my head but it will be preinstalled for you.

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Why would it be an issue to download a program if it's not for Windows or Mac? So long as there's a Linux-based option that works with your version, that is. There is one program I use multiple times a week that I doubt would be on any basic install package and the only place to find it is online. (Not an issue for the computer I'll be trying it out on as it's not my main, but if I find a version of Linux I like a put it on my main then it's something I'd have to consider.)

[-] OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network 1 points 1 day ago

It's not necessarily a problem, it just shouldn't be the first thing you try. On windows people are used to always downloading the program directly from the internet first thing, but on linux you'll have a better time if you check the package manager and/or flathub first for programs. Then, if it's not there, then yeah download direct from the internet.

[-] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 14 points 6 days ago

First and foremost, you don't have to stay on the distro you start with. You can try a few, spend a week running it, and then reinstall with something else. Distro hopping is the process if changing distro frequently and is in my opinion a very useful start for learning Linux.

Second, Ubuntu is a perfectly fine distro. I don't like or use it, but I also don't really like chocolate but love licorice, it really is a matter of preference. If you never try it you will never know if it is good for you.

I think the best path would be to either use virtual machines on your main system or try a few distros out on your Windows 8 machine. I would recommend trying a few of the most popular distros including Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, EndeavourOS, elementary, and maybe Pop!OS. That should cover most of the different desktop environments, packaging systems, and overall design methodologies and give you a really rounded sense of what is out there. It should also give you opportunities to have things break a little and for you to try to solve those problems. I find that different distros present failures a little differently and their solutions also work differently, so finding one that works well for you is key.

I personally ended up switching from a vanilla Arch install to EndeavourOS a year or two ago because it had great sane defaults, good packaging, and fantastic performance. The clarity of the logs was better in my mind than what was available in Ubuntu based distros and while I love Arch it was a bit too demanding of my time to figure out each and every choice of package. EndeavourOS gave me good solid defaults and reduced my work load.

Just remember, your choice of distro is like your choice of underwear. You have to wear it, make it comfortable for you and your junk, not for someone else's.

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

The sound of virtual machines on my main doesn't sit well with me. If I do something and brick my main laptop I'm fucked and I can't replace it and some of the programs I use won't run at all/run well on my old Windows 8 machine because it doesn't have the processing power. (I got a gaming laptop so I could have the video processing I needed for video editors to not take a day to render a 15min video on Windows 10, never mind and older Windows 8 laptop. sigh) Experimentation and tech FAFO'ing will happen on the Windows 8! lol

I've seen Pop!OS come up in a few comments here, so if I don't end up liking Mint maybe I'll try that one out next. :)

[-] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I would ask how many times you have bricked your Windows machines in the past? That said, if you did stop it from booting it would be the same as it not booting a native Linux install.

That said, I would recommend installing first on the older machine. New life for that machine will feel good and it is very low risk. Once you have done a few installs and not botched anything too badly you could give it a go on your new machine. I find the performance boost from using Linux over Window is enough to out weight significant hardware differences most of the time.

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

A Windows computer I had got massively fucked once like, 15ish years ago. No idea what happened. No new downloads or installs, I hadn't done anything different from any computer I've had before or since, just one day it stopped and it wasn't even that old, two years tops. Not a custom build, straight outta the box from Best Buy (maybe even Future Shop it was so long ago). My friend couldn't tell me what happened when they figured out how to get it at least booting up again. Only time it's happened. It was weeeeeeeiiiiird.

Glad to know about the performance boost. :)

[-] rowinxavier@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Yeah, I've had bad random things happen with tech, only with systems that are closed though. When they are more open you can get logs, see what is happening, and eventually modify things until they work again. I had a phone that just wouldn't stay online for more than 5 minutes if the screen turned off. Screen on, internet working just fine. Screen off for 4 minutes, perfectly happy most of the time. Then suddenly around 5 minutes it would just die. It was running Android so I could see some stuff but I simply couldn't get the information I needed to figure it out. Linux is much more forgiving with logs and such giving actual error messages which with a simple copy paste can get you to a reasonable next step.

[-] dajoho@sh.itjust.works 6 points 5 days ago

Do:

Mint if you're coming from Windows
Ubuntu if you want lots of help online
Fedora if you want strong and stable
Bazzite Gnome if you want indestructible, grandma-safe and Apple-like.

[-] Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Regarding the lots of help online:

Linux Mint is made so that they take the most recent Ubuntu, make certain alterations to it and then ship it as Linux Mint.

Because of this, over 95 % of advice for Ubuntu works on Linux Mint out of the box. But of course, sometimesthe few changes Linux Mint has done causes the advice to not work. So, first look for

Computer physically explodes killing me when I launch Solitaire Linux mint

But, sometimes that doesn't work and you find no solutions. Then try

Computer physically explodes killing me when I launch Solitaire Ubuntu

...and you almost surely find a solution that solves the problem.

Just remember, it is impolite to go ask for help on Ubuntu forums if you're using some other distribution, such as Mint. But, sometimes it could be the only good option. In those cases begin with something akin to "I am running Linux Mint which is based on Ubuntu and nobody on the Mint forums was able to help, so I'm trying my luck here."

[-] princessnorah 2 points 4 days ago

If gaming isn't a priority, Bazzite's cousins Project Silverblue (GNOME) or Aurora (KDE) are pawbably better choices. Much more grandma-safe in my opinion, both having automatic updates enabled by default.

https://universal-blue.org/#images

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[-] Libb@piefed.social 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

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.

Hi,

Fear not: I switched to Mint when I was already in my 50s... and before that I had been a lifelong Apple user (got my first Apple computer back in the early 80s).

I tried a few distro before settling on Mint and the only reason I picked it up was because, back then at least, it was the only one that would let me use my... Airpods, seriously. Fast forward a few years, to this very day, and you can be assured I would not want to go back to Apple. And I still am using Mint, as I never had any issue with it, not a single one (beside me doing stupid things, but hey that's how one learns :p). It works perfectly well for me.

Not saying that as way to push you to use Mint. I mean, like others have already suggested there are plenty excellent GNU/Linux available and Mint is just one of them, but to let you know there is no need to be an expert in order to use it.

BTW, Mint is based upon Ubuntu (which is based upon Debian), the hate towards Ubuntu is because they force certain tools/choice onto their users which, unlike with Apple or Microsoft, is not something a lot of people in the Free Software world will agree with (I certainly don't, as that's the main reason I quit using Apple ;). Ubuntu is still an excellent distribution, just their policy doesn't sit well with the freedom & choice Linux is supposed to be promoting.

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

I don't like how certain things are being forced onto us through almost every goddamn tech thing so yeah...I get that sentiment. Good to know that about Ubuntu.

[-] junkthief 12 points 6 days ago

I don’t understand coding either and I’ve installed different Linux distributions before! You can do it! Are you perhaps confusing coding with running commands in the command line? Because even running commands may not be necessary for a graphical installations like the aforementioned Linux Mint, Pop OS or similar.

I will say the nice thing about picking a popular distribution like Ubuntu, Mint, or Pop! OS, is that it’s easier to find solutions to problems, because it’s more likely that someone has posted about it online and found a solution

[-] recursive_recursion@piefed.ca 12 points 6 days ago

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

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[-] rozodru@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago

The only time you might have issues with Ubuntu is when it comes time to update/upgrade it. I've seen people on Mastodon, every time an update rolls out, say that its broken something. But I think those cases are few and far between.

Mint is a good choice to get your feet wet. Install it with KDE Plasma so it will at least feel familiar to you. Cinnamon is fine but I always found it a little bit wonky. When I first started on linux I got kinda carried away with customizing Cinnamon and it totally just wrecked my install.

There's a lot of documentation and support for Mint/Ubuntu so you can pick up stuff pretty quickly. Once you get comfy with it you can always switch your distro to something else. But yeah there's nothing wrong with starting on Mint to get a feel for it.

[-] defuse959@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 days ago

Just lost a Mint install to a bad kernel update. I don’t bother to fix my OS failures anymore. I just load ventoy through refind and start over.

It’s not a common occurrence but I’m just not precious about my OS installs anymore. Keep a script around to backup anything important to a network share and let it rip.

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[-] gedaliyah@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

I think the Ubuntu haters are overly enthusiastic. It's perfectly fine. Actually pretty good.

Mint is extremely popular as a recommendation for good reasons as well.

Both have excellent support communities, which is important. Linux in general has become a lot more "plug and play" in recent years, meaning that it will do more of what you want right out of the box. In all likelihood, you will want to do something with it that requires help, so having a robust community makes a big difference.

[-] SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

Pop! OS is also a good beginner distro.

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[-] bubblewrap@piefed.ca 7 points 6 days ago

I'll go against the grain here and suggest Kubuntu. It's an official variant of Ubuntu which swaps out the GNOME desktop environment for KDE Plasma. KDE feels much more Windows-like than GNOME, so it's a great migration option for Windows users.

KDE also really focuses on creating a cohesive desktop environment, much more than other DEs. There are over 200 applications built specifically for KDE (https://apps.kde.org/) which try to maintain a common look and feel. You can of course run any Linux application on KDE, but there's something quite nice about having applications built specifically with the DE in mind.

[-] Iceblade02@lemmy.world 6 points 6 days ago

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.

[-] Notamoosen@lemmy.zip 7 points 6 days ago

Some great responses here. One thing I'd add is while Mint is considered "beginner friendly", it's still a Linux based os. If you decide you want to get into more advanced topics in the future (programming, networking, etc.) you can absolutely do those things with Mint if it's the distro your comfortable with. You wouldn't be stuck with an os with limited functionality in that regard.

[-] kbal@fedia.io 7 points 6 days ago

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.

[-] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 7 points 6 days ago

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!

[-] Penny7@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Ok, 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?

[-] paddythegeek@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

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.

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