[SOLVED] Decision Time

[Shanasman450]

I've been using linux for a while now. Started with mint 18.3 then went to ubuntu 16.04 where I stayed until yesterday when I picked up mint 19.

I picked on an hp 17 inch laptop for school this past spring that had windows installed and I decided to leave it and get a cheap 120gb ssd for linux and used an adapter for a 2.5 inch drive in place of the CD drive. Ive kept it like this since. I play a couple of games (mostly MX Simulator) and the user made content is starting to add up.

I've decided I want to delete windows from the 1tb hdd the computer game with and use it for storage. What do y'all suggest though? I haven't had to boot into windows at all for months now so I'm confident I don't need it anymore, but the notion of windows being the superior OS and the only choice for anyone has been beaten into me seeing as I grew up knowing only of windows and mac (and you all know which one is more widely implemented).

So what do yall say? Yea or nay?

[Moem]

I can't decide for you. I can only tell you how many times I booted into Windows on my dual boot laptop:

Twice. During the first week.
After that, not one single time in two years.

So I removed it completely. That's a year ago and I haven't missed it once. But your usage may be different, so like I said, I can't decide for you.

[richyrich]

Just a thought . .
If you ever plan on re-selling the laptop, it may be worth it to have a way to re-install windows so the laptop will be as originally purchased.

[JerryF]

I would make absolutely sure you don't need Windows for school (programs that can only run in Windows).

Don't rely on Wine for a substitute for Windows.

Plus, you could partition the 1 TB that has Windows on it and keep it aside, using the rest for Linux.

[Shanasman450]

I would make absolutely sure you don't need Windows for school (programs that can only run in Windows).

Don't rely on Wine for a substitute for Windows.

Plus, you could partition the 1 TB that has Windows on it and keep it aside, using the rest for Linux.

Honestly glad I posted this for this response alone. I hadn't thought of that.

Just a thought . .
If you ever plan on re-selling the laptop, it may be worth it to have a way to re-install windows so the laptop will be as originally purchased.

No plans to resell now, but I guess you never really know for sure. Which is why I also considered an m.2 app I could keep the original drive with windows (m.2 so I could put the CD drive back in its place)

[MScott]

Since we can't provide no more than an opinion, only you know what's best for you...

If it were me, assuming my Windows OS hdd is in good working order, boots fine and all, I would yank the Windows drive out, and set it aside, store it away in a safe place (properly marked HP HDD Win10x64)... whatever.

I'd spend the money (or use what I have), install a new drive, and install Linux clean -- no dual booting.

[phd21]

Hi Shanasman450,

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

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

You can always make an image backup of the MS Windows partition using a bootable disk imaging application like "Clonezilla Live" of the whole drive and or just the MS Windows partition(s) to an external USB drive. You can then restore that if you ever want to.

When I first switched from MS Windows to Linux Mint years ago now, I dual-booted MS Windows and Linux Mint for around 6 months until I realized I could do everything I used to do in MS Windows in Linux Mint. So, I removed MS Windows and I have not used it since.

You can always install Virtualbox with a version of MS Windows in that with any applications that require MS Windows and run them while still in Linux Mint without dual-booting or using Linux Wine.

There are good to excellent applications available for Linux Mint for almost anything you can think of that anyone used in MS Windows, just ask here, or search this forum and elsewhere.

Are there any specific school-related classes that would require you to use anything in MS Windows?

FYI: There are various game and gaming options for Linux including the Steam for Linux system, gog, etc...
MX Simulator Downloads
https://mxsimulator.com/download.html


Hope this helps ...

[Shanasman450]

Hi Shanasman450,

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

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

You can always make an image backup of the MS Windows partition using a bootable disk imaging application like "Clonezilla Live" of the whole drive and or just the MS Windows partition(s) to an external USB drive. You can then restore that if you ever want to.

When I first switched from MS Windows to Linux Mint years ago now, I dual-booted MS Windows and Linux Mint for around 6 months until I realized I could do everything I used to do in MS Windows in Linux Mint. So, I removed MS Windows and I have not used it since.

You can always install Virtualbox with a version of MS Windows in that with any applications that require MS Windows and run them while still in Linux Mint without dual-booting or using Linux Wine.

There are good to excellent applications available for Linux Mint for almost anything you can think of that anyone used in MS Windows, just ask here, or search this forum and elsewhere.

Are there any specific school-related classes that would require you to use anything in MS Windows?

FYI: There are various game and gaming options for Linux including the Steam for Linux system, gog, etc...
MX Simulator Downloads
https://mxsimulator.com/download.html


Hope this helps ...

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm in my second semester as a programming major. We've used Adobe dreamweaver, as400 (now acs), unsure what we used for visual basic, eclipse (there's a new version but I cant remember the name of it), notepad++, packet tracer, and wireshark. I have or know where to get either a native version or replacement for each. I think there was mention of net beans the android app development course this coming semester. Not sure if theres a native version or if I'd have to find a replacement (but, then again, I haven't exactly looked into it yet).

In any case, it's not necessary that I have any of that on my personal computer because we have access to the computer lab almost any time of day. Sometimes I wonder if I even needed to get my current computer in the first place considering that.

That being said, I think I'm just going to look into getting an m.2 ssd and just save the old drive as a couple of you suggested.

[phd21]

Hi Shanasman450,

You are welcome...

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm in my second semester as a programming major. We've used Adobe dreamweaver, as400 (now acs), unsure what we used for visual basic, eclipse (there's a new version but I cant remember the name of it), notepad++, packet tracer, and wireshark. I have or know where to get either a native version or replacement for each. I think there was mention of net beans the android app development course this coming semester. Not sure if theres a native version or if I'd have to find a replacement (but, then again, I haven't exactly looked into it yet).

In any case, it's not necessary that I have any of that on my personal computer because we have access to the computer lab almost any time of day. Sometimes I wonder if I even needed to get my current computer in the first place considering that.

That being said, I think I'm just going to look into getting an m.2 ssd and just save the old drive as a couple of you suggested.

It would still be super convenient to have your computer be able to do 95%-100% of anything you want it to do without having to go to the "computer lab".

I would also highly recommend a good notes application like "CherryTree". This can store programming code as well.
cherrytree – giuspen
https://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/

These suggestions below may already be in the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM). FYI: I prefer to use the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" because I can search for an application, see related packages, and I can right-click that application and install any recommended and suggested packages.

There are also many Linux and cross-platform programming options like "QT", Python, Ruby, Basic (gbasic), C+ C++ (gc+ and gc++), etc... search the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)".

Eclipse Editor (various versions)/IDE and Netbeans are usually in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)", but I would read the articles I linked below first.

There are many editors of every type available, text editors, programming editors (Atom, Bluefish)
Notepaddqq – Linux Alternative to Notepad++ – Here’s How to Install on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 | Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/notepadd ... -04-17-10/

Bluefish Editor : Home
http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html

How to Install and Use Wireshark on Debian 9 / Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10
- use the PPA for newest versions
https://www.linuxtechi.com/install-use- ... -9-ubuntu/

"traceroute" is also in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)", search for "packet tracer".

*** How to Install Eclipse Oxygen IDE on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 / 18.04 Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/how-to-i ... -10-18-04/


*** How to Install NetBeans on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 / 18.04 with Oracle JDK 8 Support Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/how-to-i ... -10-18-04/

Get Started with Android application development using Linux and Android SDK - LinuxConfig.org
https://linuxconfig.org/get-started-wit ... ndroid-sdk

How to Install Android Studio in Ubuntu And Linux Mint [The Easy Way] | It's FOSS
- There are 3 installation options described in this link.
https://itsfoss.com/install-android-stu ... ntu-linux/

Fix Android Studio /dev/kvm device: permission denied in Ubuntu - Linuxslaves
https://www.linuxslaves.com/2018/10/fix ... buntu.html

3 Ways to Emulate Android Apps on Linux
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/emulate-a ... pps-linux/


Most Adobe products would require VirtualBox with MS Windows or dual-booting. But, there are many web design options including Google's Web Designer for Linux.

7 Open source HTML/CSS editing tool options | Opensource.com
- read the user comments too
https://opensource.com/alternatives/dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver Alternatives for Linux - AlternativeTo.net
https://alternativeto.net/software/adob ... form=linux

Google Web Designer
https://www.google.com/webdesigner/

BlueGriffon
http://bluegriffon.org/

Kompozer, libidl0, Mint 18 - Linux Mint Forums
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=232031&hilit=web+design


A lot of people like the "SeaMonkey" browser's HTML composer - instructions to install in link above and below. You can create a shortcut to go right into the composer without bringing up the entire browser.

How can I install Seamonkey on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS? - Ask Ubuntu
https://askubuntu.com/questions/1081382 ... -18-04-lts


Hope this helps ...

[Shanasman450]

Hi Shanasman450,

You are welcome...

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm in my second semester as a programming major. We've used Adobe dreamweaver, as400 (now acs), unsure what we used for visual basic, eclipse (there's a new version but I cant remember the name of it), notepad++, packet tracer, and wireshark. I have or know where to get either a native version or replacement for each. I think there was mention of net beans the android app development course this coming semester. Not sure if theres a native version or if I'd have to find a replacement (but, then again, I haven't exactly looked into it yet).

In any case, it's not necessary that I have any of that on my personal computer because we have access to the computer lab almost any time of day. Sometimes I wonder if I even needed to get my current computer in the first place considering that.

That being said, I think I'm just going to look into getting an m.2 ssd and just save the old drive as a couple of you suggested.

It would still be super convenient to have your computer be able to do 95%-100% of anything you want it to do without having to go to the "computer lab".

These suggestions below may already be in the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM). FYI: I prefer to use the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)" because I can search for an application, see related packages, and I can right-click that application and install any recommended and suggested packages.

There are also many Linux and cross-platform programming options like "QT", Python, Ruby, Basic (gbasic), C+ C++ (gc+ and gc++), etc... search the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)".

Eclipse Editor (various versions)/IDE and Netbeans are usually in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)", but I would read the articles I linked below first.

Notepaddqq – Linux Alternative to Notepad++ – Here’s How to Install on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 | Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/notepadd ... -04-17-10/

How to Install and Use Wireshark on Debian 9 / Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10
- use the PPA for newest versions
https://www.linuxtechi.com/install-use- ... -9-ubuntu/

"traceroute" is also in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)", search for "packet tracer".

*** How to Install Eclipse Oxygen IDE on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 / 18.04 Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/how-to-i ... -10-18-04/


*** How to Install NetBeans on Ubuntu 16.04 / 17.10 / 18.04 with Oracle JDK 8 Support Website for Students
https://websiteforstudents.com/how-to-i ... -10-18-04/

Get Started with Android application development using Linux and Android SDK - LinuxConfig.org
https://linuxconfig.org/get-started-wit ... ndroid-sdk

How to Install Android Studio in Ubuntu And Linux Mint [The Easy Way] | It's FOSS
- There are 3 installation options described in this link.
https://itsfoss.com/install-android-stu ... ntu-linux/



3 Ways to Emulate Android Apps on Linux
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/emulate-a ... pps-linux/


Most Adobe products would require VirtualBox with MS Windows or dual-booting. But, there are many web design options including Google's Web Designer for Linux.

7 Open source HTML/CSS editing tool options | Opensource.com
- read the user comments too
https://opensource.com/alternatives/dreamweaver

Adobe Dreamweaver Alternatives for Linux - AlternativeTo.net
https://alternativeto.net/software/adob ... form=linux

Google Web Designer
https://www.google.com/webdesigner/


Hope this helps ...

Thank you very much for the links. You've just made my day a whole lot easier.

[phd21]

Hi Shanasman450,

You are welcome, again...

I just updated my last reply with more information for you.

Don't forget as a student, you may be able to get discounts on software that has paid for upgrades for more features.

[Moem]

FYI: good old Dreamweaver 8 works well on my Mint machine, with Wine.
https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager. ... on&iId=183