Greetings to Julia, by way of the Darkstar

[bitmason]

Hello all!

I am computer technician from Arizona, and now the proud owner of a great little mid-line rig. with Mint 10 purring along nicely.

I started my foray into linux a little over three years ago, with ubuntu Intrepid running on a dell optiplex 170l:

• Celeron D 2.4 Mhz
  onboard intel 82865 graphics/sound/net
  1 Gb DDR ram
  80 G hd
  NO ODD !!

on which, I tried everything - debian, opensuse, fedora, mandriva, zenwalk, salix.. and then, finally, Slackware. I used slackware almost exclusively for 2 years now. and have loved every minute of it. From this setup, I learned a lot about Linux in general - from organizing my desktop, to building a custom kernel from source.

And then, I put together my mid-line rig:

• Athlon II x4 440 (propus, 3.0Ghz)
  2 Gb DDR3 1333 RAM
  ATI Radeon HS 4670 (HIS)
  2x Super-Multi ODD
  320 GB HD

I initially installed Slackware 13.1 x86_64, mostly out of tradition, and set about customizing it - newest kernel, latest drivers for wifi devices, dual head/multi-desktop support, multi-lib support for making,installing and running 32 software. And then, I looked back at what I had done, and realized that I had a great computer and OS - and that was it. no extra software, no games, nothing. I also had trouble getting connected to wireless networks. I spent about three weeks trying to get the OS right, and had nothing more than a wide open system. I still wasn't happy.

I decided that, with this new rig, I needed a new OS. one that was for x86_64 platforms had support for all of my hardware out-of-the-box,a lot of software already available, didn't mind some non-free software hanging around, and looked good doing it.

I had heard of Mint, and have even had a friend try it out, and he had good things to say, so I gave it a try... and well,...

I Love it.

I will probably go back to Slackware someday, but just not exclusively anymore.

[Habitual]

Welcome to the LinuxMint Community!

There is a lot of useful information for new and not-so-new users here -> http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 5&start=20
We have a Community site http://community.linuxmint.com/

For real-time help and discussion there are IRC channels,open MintMenu>Internet>XChat and you will be automatically connected to #linuxmint-help and #linuxmint-chat

Enjoy the Minty goodness!

Personally, anyone who uses Slackware as an "everyday OS" has my respect. Using it requires a brain.

[dawgdoc]

Welcome bitmason.

It is nice, isn't it? I think Clem and the other developers did a great job.

[Old Ruler]

Yes, a warm welcome from me too. I was attracted to your first post by the quality of your second.

Hoping you stay, but will understand if the slack draws you back...

[bitmason]

I should just clarify that I am using mint because it is.. well, mint. I can't quite put it to words, really, but most of my Linux skill-set lies dormant while using mint. Then again, I now have a computer that I can use - something that is much more modern (my old hard drive was eight years old!). I may not be doing the same things with mint, but my awareness of my operating system is much more acute then I ever thought it would be, and I have slack to thank.

I will be keeping up with Slack, but as far as everyday use, I'm finished for quite a while.

It's time for me to start being a user again.

[The-Wizard]

welcome to the mint family and its forums

wizard

[Oscar799]

Hello bitmason,
Welcome to Mint Forum

[tdockery97]

Hi bitmason, and welcome to the Linux Mint Forums.

[jesica]

hallo, welcome to the forum