Linux Mint newbie help

[Pistom]

I installed Mint a few weeks ago and I'm really impressed with it. I think I will continue using it for my personal computing needs as it feels so much nicer to use than Windows 10/11.

I'd like to learn more about how to get the most out of it and have somewhere to go if I have any issues.

Can anyone suggest which forums are worth joining?

[megaphone]

It's my go to Linux distro, good choice! Sorry can't help with forums etc, I just use it for basic stuff and running some servers.

[Pistom]

megaphone said:

It's my go to Linux distro, good choice! Sorry can't help with forums etc, I just use it for basic stuff and running some servers.

It's my first entry into Linux as I had an old laptop I wanted to revive and it works perfectly.

I then put it on my daily laptop. I was really impressed to see it connected with my wireless printer/scanner with non of the faff that was experienced with Windows. Then there is the fact that everything works so much faster.

I've not had a need to go back to Windows so far. Let's see how it goes!

[colin79666]

https://www.learnlinux.tv/

Found this recently on YouTube. Great source of information.

The guy behind it also appears to have written a book on Mint: https://www.packtpub.com/product/linux-mint-essent...

As for forums, Linux Mint has its own which is probably the best place to start and find help with issues. https://forums.linuxmint.com/

Edited by colin79666 on Thursday 23 December 13:15

[beko1987]

I find it best to start with what you want to acheive with Linux, then google how to do it! I've learnt a fair bit over the years (MX Linux is my default distro of choice though) but a google usually brings up a nice how-to guide for what you want to do. THen by doing enough of those you'll become familiar with the terminal, and doing basic things, then just grow on that.

I set up my pihole in an unraid docker, and I have a few thinkpads in my collection running Linux, and not having an optical drive in my main w11 PC means occasionally their called upon to rip a dvd/ burn one or some other little task. Have an MX VM on my work PC too for accessing internal systems under my responsibility from the 'customer' side (as you can use different network cards with Virtualbox, so I can go out over the office wifi rather than the proxied up LAN) and other tasks (youtube-DL works VERY well under the terminal) Always a how to guide for it!

Otherwise you need to learn the entire unix/linux universe which sounds like a grim way to spend christmas...

[dundarach]

Been my daily now for over a year, absolutely brilliant and rock solid.

Remember you can instal VirtualBox for a Windows VM machine if you need one.

As for help, just work as you would, and whenever you get stuck, google it

[Zumbruk]

Happy to help, if I can.

I've been running Unix/Linux at home for decades, and Mint for several years.

[rainmakerraw]

The official Linux Mint forums (see their website) are the best bet. The developer, Clem, posts there regularly and it’s the best place to start, especially if you run into an issue. Mint is nice and easy, you’ll like it. I’ve been using Linux for about 20 years and still fire up Mint occasionally when I need something that just works for a quick live environment. Merry Xmas.

[Freeperson]

Ive looked at Linux Mint a few times. Even installed it on old laptops that I needed to sell to prove they were working.

Interesting to know people use it daily - is Microsoft office available? Or do you have to use the web versions?

I get fed up of Microsoft updates... if it's not the OS, it's another office product.

[Zumbruk]

Freeperson said:

Ive looked at Linux Mint a few times. Even installed it on old laptops that I needed to sell to prove they were working.

Interesting to know people use it daily - is Microsoft office available? Or do you have to use the web versions?

MS Office is not available natively for Linux. I expect the web versions work, although I've never tried it. It may run under Wine. Again, I don't care enough to find out. This may be helpful;

https://www.howtogeek.com/171565/how-to-install-mi...

I use Libre Office, which works perfectly well (better than MS Office in some ways - I've used it before now to recover MS Word documents that were damaged beyond Word's ability to edit them).

Doubtless someone will be along momentarily to tell me I'm wrong and insult me for suggesting it, but since I used Libre Office to develop thousands of pages of technical documentation in my last job and none of my Word-using colleagues ever noticed, I'll ignore them, and so should you. Install Libre Office and give it a go.

Sadly, the same tribalism that affects most of humanity extends to word processors and spreadsheets.

Edited by Zumbruk on Tuesday 28th December 11:23

[AJB88]

Cant really help with Mint as I haven't used it for years.

I went Knoppix > Mandrake > Open Suse > Fedora > Mint > Ubuntu and I now use a mix of elementary OS (on ChromeOS devices) and Manjaro on other devices.

Literally just Googling "how to do xxx" will get you results though, Google "tips and tricks for Linux Mint Version xx" there's usually a list or video.

[Pistom]

Thank you for the replies, comments and suggestions.

I'm trying to learn more about how I can use Mint (or any other distribution) for regular use.

The only issue I've not been able to resolve by Googling so far has been an ACPI Bios error message which I get on boot up which is more of an annoyance than an issue as the machine seems to run fine despite the error message.

[Derek Smith]

Zumbruk said:

Freeperson said:

Ive looked at Linux Mint a few times. Even installed it on old laptops that I needed to sell to prove they were working.

Interesting to know people use it daily - is Microsoft office available? Or do you have to use the web versions?

MS Office is not available natively for Linux. I expect the web versions work, although I've never tried it. It may run under Wine. Again, I don't care enough to find out. This may be helpful;

https://www.howtogeek.com/171565/how-to-install-mi...

I use Libre Office, which works perfectly well (better than MS Office in some ways - I've used it before now to recover MS Word documents that were damaged beyond Word's ability to edit them).

Doubtless someone will be along momentarily to tell me I'm wrong and insult me for suggesting it, but since I used Libre Office to develop thousands of pages of technical documentation in my last job and none of my Word-using colleagues ever noticed, I'll ignore them, and so should you. Install Libre Office and give it a go.

Sadly, the same tribalism that affects most of humanity extends to word processors and spreadsheets.

I use Word, Libre Office and Google Docs. Each has strengths as weaknesses. It's unlikely that, unless you use a wordprocessor professionally, it won't make much difference which you choose. I know someone who runs a stable of dozens of writers for website content and email marketing, and all her writers use Google Docs. I use word because one of my contractors wanted copy supplied on a specific year of Word, and I use their access code. If it is ever withdrawn - now running nearly 2 years since I lost the contract, so unlikely - I doubt I'd bother buying another. I'd stick with Libre, which, in some ways, I prefer.

It's the same with all software. If it works for you, go for it.

[Zumbruk]

Derek Smith said:

I use Word, Libre Office and Google Docs. Each has strengths as weaknesses. It's unlikely that, unless you use a wordprocessor professionally, it won't make much difference which you choose. I know someone who runs a stable of dozens of writers for website content and email marketing, and all her writers use Google Docs. I use word because one of my contractors wanted copy supplied on a specific year of Word, and I use their access code. If it is ever withdrawn - now running nearly 2 years since I lost the contract, so unlikely - I doubt I'd bother buying another. I'd stick with Libre, which, in some ways, I prefer.

It's the same with all software. If it works for you, go for it.

Troo, dat.

The only thing I would say is that my experience of Google Docs has not been entirely satisfactory.

[Derek Smith]

Pistom said:

I installed Mint a few weeks ago and I'm really impressed with it. I think I will continue using it for my personal computing needs as it feels so much nicer to use than Windows 10/11.

I'd like to learn more about how to get the most out of it and have somewhere to go if I have any issues.

Can anyone suggest which forums are worth joining?

Most of the software I use has Linux alternatives, and most are free. My laptop cannot be 'upgraded' to Win11, so come the stopping of support, I'll go back to Linux. I used it, Debian in my case, in the past on an old Dell laptop and I liked it. I've a friend who went for Win11 and came back to 10 because he could not have his choice of browser as default. I thought the EU made such things illegal.

I'll use Gimp, Blender, Libre Office, Resolve and that's about it. I'm already weaning myself away from my current, subscriber-format video editor and playing with Resolve.

[Zumbruk]

Derek Smith said:

subscriber-format video editor and playing with Resolve.

Thoughts on Resolve? Video Editors have always been a bit poo on Linux.

[AlexC1981]

When support for the current version of Mint ends, can you simply upgrade it to the latest version without losing all your files and settings?

My mum used to use an old laptop of mine with Lubuntu or Xubuntu on it, but when support ended we had to wipe the entire machine because we could not upgrade the web browser any more.

Are things better now or was I just not aware of the correct upgrade procedure? I am aware of the long term support versions.

[David_M]

AlexC1981 said:

When support for the current version of Mint ends, can you simply upgrade it to the latest version without losing all your files and settings?

Yes. Broadly speaking all Ubuntu derivatives are easily upgradeable. There are LTS versions every 2 years (20.04 latest and soon to be replaced with 22.04 = April 2022) and for general users these seem most sensible.

The laptop that I am typing this on has gone from 16.04 to 18.04 to 22.04 quite happily although the mantra of always take a backup is there for a reason.

AlexC1981 said:

My mum used to use an old laptop of mine with Lubuntu or Xubuntu on it, but when support ended we had to wipe the entire machine because we could not upgrade the web browser any more.

Are things better now or was I just not aware of the correct upgrade procedure?

I can't think of any reason why this would be necessary. There must have either been something very wrong with the install, or user error.

[AJB88]

Most distro can be upgraded without wiping, ElementaryOS being one requires wiping up until the latest version.

I use Manjaro now which is a rolling release.

[AlexC1981]

Thanks. I'll be turning to Linux myself for my PC I use as a media player for my TV in 2025 when Windows 10 is no longer supported. Microsoft have chosen to exclude my perfectly good PC from Windows 11. Not worth upgrading a machine that is only used for surfing the web, streaming and downloading TV.