Hello From Ireland

[OldSchoolTech]

Hi there everyone. I only joined this forum a few days ago and I'm still fairly new to the world of Linux. I know a little about it from experimenting over the last couple of years a little, but I've only recently gotten into properly trying it out. I feel like the OS is a lot better than Windows, especially from a learning point of view such as compiling and learning terminal commands etc.

Everyone hates Windows 10 and a lot of people are making the switch due to that reason. The only thing that is stopping me from making a full switch is game compatibility though with the likes of Proton, that has even taken a huge leap in the right direction now. I know Windows is much easier to use because everything has a GUI and is all downloading and executing the files, but there's something about entering in the terminal command and having it install the program that I rather enjoy

I've been trying to use it Mint a lot for the past couple of weeks and even trying to run games on it just to experiment. I finally feel like I can use it and have it feel like a comfortable OS where when I had tried it previously, I just kept saying nah I can't and then going back to Windows. Currently I'm just dual booting with Windows 10 (bleh I know, but it's needed for a couple of the games) and Linux Mint 19.

Anyway, I hope I can learn more about the Linux OS and become better at using it (or at least learn all of the basics)

[catweazel]

Welcome aboard!

[lsemmens]

HI, steocullen91, you'll find that most things in Linux can also be achieved using a GUI. The only reason that the Terminal comes into to play in most cases is because it's clearer and easier to tell someone to type a command in the the terminal than it is to describe each little icon along the way. That, is just one advantage over the Windwoes way of things.

[OldSchoolTech]

That's what I meant yeah sorry, you can't type "sudo apt install etc." into Windows and have it install software for you

I have installed a few .deb files in Mint and seen some of the standalone programs you can execute, but I find being able to do stuff in the terminal and learning about it all really cool

Linux can basically do everything I want except play certain games and it's looking promising for the future of gaming on it at this stage. I've even gotten the Cemu emulator to work better for me in Linux that it does in windows even though I have to use Wine, all because the Mesa drivers are better for OpenGL than the WIndows drivers. I have a Vega 64 by the way.

I'm hoping to just learn a few things along the way instead of being a complete noob and bothering everyone by asking simple questions

EDIT: Also thanks for the warm welcomes

[phd21]

Hi steocullen91,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum!

[OldSchoolTech]

Thanks @phd21

I'm also using the Cinnamon environment by the way. I chose that one because the Mint download site literally says if you're not sure which one, most people choose cinnamon

[WharfRat]

Hello steocullen91

Welcome to Linux Mint and the Linux Mint forum

[OldSchoolTech]

Hello WharfRat, thanks for the welcome

[Tandrias]

Welcome to Mint! I myself finally gave up windows for good about a year ago, and about 2 months who made mint my only distro. I play League of legends, overwatch, Diablo 3, Wow, FFXIV, GW2, tons of steam titles including Middle Earth, Dying Light, Even the Whitcher 3.... All running at 60 fps in mint.. Some things take some tweaking but thats true of any os..
The community here has been amazing!

[OldSchoolTech]

Hi Tandrias.

Yeah that's totally true. There's also something satisfactory about getting non native games to run properly. I'm glad I have found this place also and I would love to get everything I want working properly then also ditch Windows. I think now is as good a time as any with how much better it's starting to become for gaming also.

It's nothing short of amazing that the non native games can even launch, let alone be playable. I have tried to use Linux in the past but couldn't understand some simple things about it until lately. I also had it in my head that it was just for weaker systems, but I realised that just because it's not a resource hog like Windows doesn't actually mean you can't run it on your monster machine. All it will do is run better/more efficiently

[kc1di]

Hello steocullen91 and Welcome to the Forums,
Enjoy

[deepakdeshp]

Hello and welcome aboard.

[OldSchoolTech]

Thanks and hello to kc1di & deepakdeshp

[JerryF]

Welcome steocullen91!

I've found that Cinnamon is a good choice if you're not sure which to choose.

I switched from Cinnamon to Xfce on my laptop because it ran faster, but our desktop has Cinnamon.

[OldSchoolTech]

Hi JerryF. I wonder if it would be worth using xcfe on my laptop then. The laptop has a HDD but if I'm making the complete switch and staying on Linux then I could put one of the SSD's into the laptop. I'll still have the NVMe SSD running Mint on my desktop then.

[lsemmens]

I'm running XFCE on an Atom laptop, and, so far have not noticed too many differences to Cinnamon on my more powerful machines. The only omission that I found was setting up network shares but that was a minor problem. Try it and see how it goes.

[deepakdeshp]

Hello welcome to the forum.

[OldSchoolTech]

Hi deepakdeshp

I also used Mint on an Atom years ago, but that was MATE I was using back then and I knew nothing about Linux.

I didn't even notice I typed xcfe instead of XFCE

[Mick-Cork]

Hi Hello steocullen91,

Welcome and hope you enjoy LM. I've been using it exclusively since V13 (non games user) and have never felt the need to wander away. Yep the occasional hiccup, but have always found ways round things either from tips/info from the forum or Googling in general.

As an aside it might be closer to home than you think. The founder, Clem, is based in Ireland (possibly Westmeath?), not that i'm suggesting knocking on doors

Sláinte,

Mick

[OldSchoolTech]

Hello Mick-Cork

That's pretty amazing, I didn't know the founder lived in Ireland. That's pretty cool to know

But yeah I'm just trying to make the games work on it for the sake of it and to try stick to it 100%. I tried to use Linux a few times and I felt like I was limited, but now that I have a basic idea what I'm doing, I feel like it's a very comfortable OS and so customisable too. Linux Mint is just perfect to me if I put games aside and even then a lot of them will work if one puts in the effort to get them running.