Linux Mint

I found it couldn't be easier. Once you have downloaded it do likewise with Balena Etcher. You only need to install Etcher, and it's literally a few clicks to write it all to a flash drive. In fact you can boot into your flash drive and sort of run Mint in a bubble before you install it, if you prefer. Just to give you a feel. It sort of reminds me of a love child between Mac and Windows.
 
Plain Nev said:
I found it couldn't be easier. Once you have downloaded it do likewise with Balena Etcher. You only need to install Etcher, and it's literally a few clicks to write it all to a flash drive. In fact you can boot into your flash drive and sort of run Mint in a bubble before you install it, if you prefer. Just to give you a feel. It sort of reminds me of a love child between Mac and Windows.
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It's always a good idea to try the distro live off a stick before committing - Gnome desktop can take a lot of getting used to, for example.
 
lindsay said:
And of course OSX is based on a version of Unix, using X-Windows I think, at one time.
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Are you thinking of Steve Jobs's company, NeXT?

Their operating system was based on a BSD style Unix and had a GUI based on Display PostScript but I knew of at least one user site that used X-Windows instead.
 
I briefly used NeXT terminals for a job at Lloyds Bank in about 1991 but don't remember much about them now except they were superb for what we wanted - monitoring live systems for exceptions, pattern recognition of the issues and auto-selecting a fix script for them, A sort of early AI I guess.

OSX definitely has some relationship with a Unix core, though I don't know details.
 
I upgraded to a Z50ii mirror less last week from my venerable d5300. I was quite surprised to find the default HE raw files didn’t work in Rawtherapee or Darktable, switching back to lossless raw has worked but glad I found it promptly.
 
lindsay said:
OSX definitely has some relationship with a Unix core, though I don't know details.
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My terminal app on Sonoma runs Z shell, definitely Linux down underneath there!
 
Mozthecat said:
I upgraded to a Z50ii mirror less last week from my venerable d5300. I was quite surprised to find the default HE raw files didn’t work in Rawtherapee or Darktable, switching back to lossless raw has worked but glad I found it promptly.
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It's not unusual to find new cameras and file formats take a little longer to become usable with open source software. These are usually maintained by volunteers, and so there's no commercial imperative and full-time resource available to quickly turn out updates. Good that you had an option that did work.
 
lindsay said:
OSX definitely has some relationship with a Unix core, though I don't know details.
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Indeed, very much so, as Toni pointed out.

I was thinking about your reference to X-Windows. I don't think OS-X ever used it, and thinking back to my original Macintosh, "Classic Mac OS" certainly didn't. However, the NeXT box I worked on for a short time, was using X-Windows or a very close relative. I remember that quite clearly because my second screen was plugged into a VAX and I was initially surprised to find both machines came up with X-Windows sessions.To be fair, I wasn't at the system level so, for all I knew, one or both machines might have been passing through a session on another box.
 
Mozthecat said:
I upgraded to a Z50ii mirror less last week from my venerable d5300. I was quite surprised to find the default HE raw files didn’t work in Rawtherapee or Darktable, switching back to lossless raw has worked but glad I found it promptly.
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I've persevered with Rawtherapee. I still think it perhaps has too many sliders and buttons, but in actual fact I find it very useful, now that I have got used to it. It sort of reminds me of the free version of Capture One, and does everything I need it to do. I'm not photo heavy, so I don't miss the more sophisticated programs. Even if I'd ever used them. :D
 
I must say I'm really enjoying Linux Mint. It's given my old laptop a new lease of life. I imagine that's because it has a smaller footprint than Windows, but it's easy to use and seems quite perky. It's little things that seem a lot simpler. It just does it. I can't honestly say I'm missing W10 particularly. I'd recommend it to anyone who is not sure which direction to go in now. If you're not too heavily invested in Windows, and want to freshen things up, I'd say give it a try.
 
I think Mint is excellent. I have a laptop that is nearly 10 years old and it's still very quick on Mint.

Increasingly it's possible for 'most' people to access nearly all they need via a web browser. Even office software can be accessed through a browser - google docs or the free version of Microsoft office - if you don't want to use Libreoffice.

However, I occasionally game. And I use lightroom (I did play around with Darktable but eventually decided to give lightroom a go and preferred it). So I use windows 11 on my current main laptop for gaming and photography. I note lightroom is accessible on the website too but not yet as fully featured or slick as the desktop apps. Give it 10 years though....
 
Plain Nev said:
I must say I'm really enjoying Linux Mint. It's given my old laptop a new lease of life. I imagine that's because it has a smaller footprint than Windows, but it's easy to use and seems quite perky. It's little things that seem a lot simpler. It just does it. I can't honestly say I'm missing W10 particularly. I'd recommend it to anyone who is not sure which direction to go in now. If you're not too heavily invested in Windows, and want to freshen things up, I'd say give it a try.
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That's the reason I installed Mint about 15 years ago. Was really pleased with how it brought the laptop back to life and let me use it for capturing astronomy images from my astro-cameras. I still edited those images on a PC as the software I used needed the power of the PC.

No longer use it but glad to see it is still a healthy option.
 
It is. It's certainly given my old laptop a new leash of life. I do sort of miss Windows. I used it for years, and knew my way around it. It's such a pity that Microsoft has turned it into such a hostile environment.
 
I find Windows 11 to be really good tbh.

But I also think having Mint (or other Linux distros) available to keep machines going is helpful. And some like it as their main o/s

I installed it on my mother in law's computer when it would no longer run Windows (pre W10) and that machine is still going now. She's elderly and not IT literate but finds it fine
 
Well, a few months down the line and Mint is going strong, and upgraded to the latest version. Anyone who has used Windows Update will know that it takes the age of a little pig to install updates, but Mint just does it. I fact it's quicker at just about everything.
 
I was bored and decided to install Mint on an old late 2012 MacBook Pro retina. I set it up dual boot macOS and Mint. I’m well impressed, it was a very easy install, Mint looks and runs a dream. Only problem is I can’t find a driver for the integrated nvidia GT650. Video runs poorly, I’m hoping when I find the proper driver it’ll improve dramatically.
 
jimgallaher said:
I was bored and decided to install Mint on an old late 2012 MacBook Pro retina. I set it up dual boot macOS and Mint. I’m well impressed, it was a very easy install, Mint looks and runs a dream. Only problem is I can’t find a driver for the integrated nvidia GT650. Video runs poorly, I’m hoping when I find the proper driver it’ll improve dramatically.
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There is a means of updating drivers. I know because I was looking at it this afternoon. Darned if I can remember where though. But that's an entirely different problem. :D
 
jimgallaher said:
I was bored and decided to install Mint on an old late 2012 MacBook Pro retina. I set it up dual boot macOS and Mint. I’m well impressed, it was a very easy install, Mint looks and runs a dream. Only problem is I can’t find a driver for the integrated nvidia GT650. Video runs poorly, I’m hoping when I find the proper driver it’ll improve dramatically.
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It's probably going to need a 'non-free' driver. There should be something in the system control panel that lets you update drivers (sorry, don't have mint running in front of me right now).

For those installing mint for the first time, generally it's best to choose the optin to include all the non-free drivers & stuff, rather than going for the free only install.
 
ancient_mariner said:
You can use Rufus or BalenaEtcher (my preferred version, both good).

To make an install 'disk you must first download the Mint ISO file and store it somewhere you can find it.

Plug in a USB stick or pop a DVD in the writer.

Start the software to create your bootable stick/disc. Usually it will first ask for the location of the ISO file, then it will confirm where you want it written. There will be a warning pop up telling you that the volume will be erased - TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY and check you're not overwriting a fixed drive.

Click on the 'go' button and it will take just a couple of minutes.

To try your 'live' OS, restart your computer and tap the F12 key as it starts to post, before the OS boots. It will ask you which drive you wish to boot from, and you should select the one with new OS installed.

Easy. ;)

BTW for those trying different distros, I've recently tried CachyOS - based on Arch linux, this runs very fast even with a heavier desktop like KDE Plasma installed. Booting from an SSD plugged in through a USB port takes 20sec on 10 year old mid-spec hardware, and the system is very responsive when running.
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How is KDE working? I have Kubuntu installed and the OS keeps freezing up on me. I love the look of KDE too. I need to fix it really, windows was only meant for photoshop. Think I will look into CachyOS. I have a similar aged Workstation.
 
I'm new to this. I have just [today] changed my laptop from Windows 11 to Ubuntu and only now I've found there there are many flavours of Linux and I have no idea whether I have got the right one. Why is one better than another? For example, why (on this thread) have people gone for Mint rather than Ubuntu? Just asking in my ignorance.
 
GetBusyLiving said:
I'm new to this. I have just [today] changed my laptop from Windows 11 to Ubuntu and only now I've found there there are many flavours of Linux and I have no idea whether I have got the right one. Why is one better than another? For example, why (on this thread) have people gone for Mint rather than Ubuntu? Just asking in my ignorance.
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I think it all comes down to window dressing, really. There are subtle changes, but I think you'd have to be an expert for it to make much of a difference. It's purely down to Mint being the smoothest, best looking, as far as I can make out.
 
Plain Nev said:
I think it all comes down to window dressing, really. There are subtle changes, but I think you'd have to be an expert for it to make much of a difference. It's purely down to Mint being the smoothest, best looking, as far as I can make out.
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Have done both now and yes, Mint does appear better at the outset.
AndrewFlannigan said:
You need to understand what Linux is and why there are so many versions. This might be a good place to start...

Comparison of Linux distributions - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
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Wow, that's a lot of distros! Things have come a long way from when I first used UNIX (but not very much) in the 90s.
 
One thing that did throw me initially was using Libre Writer and discovering that the font I had used previously wasn't there. I had thought a font was universal, but apparently it can only be used in a Microsoft environment. They must have some legal claim on it, which I find bizarre. Not even the various Web sites offering fonts to download have them. One of the most basic tools of the English language, and Microsoft appear to have copyrighted it! However, Linux allowed me to download a pack through their software manager, and Writer can find it now.
 
I used to use Ubuntu, then it changed the default to the Unity desktop. Recently I got a i5 NUC to replace my media PC, and the only distribution that would properly was Feren.
It is perfect, easy to use, and absolutely stable.

I started with Slackware around 1992, then it was quite a task to get going :)
 
CraigV said:
How is KDE working? I have Kubuntu installed and the OS keeps freezing up on me. I love the look of KDE too. I need to fix it really, windows was only meant for photoshop. Think I will look into CachyOS. I have a similar aged Workstation.
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I ran Cachy off an external SSD via usb port. Super fast at first, after a while various applications stopped opening and I couldn't make it update. I'd suggest running it experimentally for a few weeks and see if it behaves.
 
Plain Nev said:
One thing that did throw me initially was using Libre Writer and discovering that the font I had used previously wasn't there. I had thought a font was universal, but apparently it can only be used in a Microsoft environment. They must have some legal claim on it, which I find bizarre. Not even the various Web sites offering fonts to download have them. One of the most basic tools of the English language, and Microsoft appear to have copyrighted it! However, Linux allowed me to download a pack through their software manager, and Writer can find it now.
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Fonts are designs, like a digital picture in some ways, and required creation. We have friends, semi retired, who used to hand design fonts, and still have the remains of their business.

There's plenty of open source fonts available FOC.
 
CraigV said:
How is KDE working? I have Kubuntu installed and the OS keeps freezing up on me. I love the look of KDE too. I need to fix it really, windows was only meant for photoshop. Think I will look into CachyOS. I have a similar aged Workstation.
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KDE should be stable and reliable. It has been my DE of choice in the past, but that was a long time ago. Some distros seem to implement things better than others, and I'd probably go to the KDE site (KDE.org) and download their version of a distro. Mandriva used to do a good KDE too, but I'm not up to date with it.
 
CraigV said:
How is KDE working? I have Kubuntu installed and the OS keeps freezing up on me. I love the look of KDE too. I need to fix it really, windows was only meant for photoshop. Think I will look into CachyOS. I have a similar aged Workstation.
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If it keeps freezing check things like the amount of swap space available.
 
inquisitive_chap said:
Yuo can get microsoft fonts into Libre Office. Again, ask chat gpt how to do so for your own distro and it will tell you
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Thanks. They're available through the software manager. You have to search for MS Core Fonts and download the TTF file. Libre Office is then able to display them. When you're a few thousand words into a document you don't really want your font disappearing. ;)
 
For those who love Macs but would like to try Linux, have a look at Emmabuntüs. It's a relatively lightweight distro that installs easily with plenty of software available and has a dock that looks familiarish. I did a trial install on a removable SSD connected via USB on an intel box, and it ran well.

Go for version 6 with the XFCe desktop and non-free codecs etc if you try it.
 
The new version of Mint is worth the upgrade. I'm sure there have been changes under the bonnet, but I mainly see the cosmetic side of it. There are some subtle alterations to the menu system, which are nice, and feel a bit like W7. If Linux are smart they will eventually position it to become more mainstream now that they are hoovering up Windows users.
 
Plain Nev said:
If Linux are smart they will eventually position it to become more mainstream now that they are hoovering up Windows users.
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Do remember that a lot of distros are essentially a hobby for many of the people involved, and there isn't a 'linux' marketing itself. One of the things I enjoy about using it is the sheer variety, and being able to just try out something new - like Emmabuntüs - that isn't being sold to me.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Do remember that a lot of distros are essentially a hobby for many of the people involved, and there isn't a 'linux' marketing itself. One of the things I enjoy about using it is the sheer variety, and being able to just try out something new - like Emmabuntüs - that isn't being sold to me.
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I guess so. We should always be careful that we don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
 
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