Works straight out of the box

[Robint]

If only

But seriously LM sarah starts well enough till you connect periherals, took me an afternoon to get a modern Brother laser printer to work (on USB not through the router - another job.

But the above was Apples proudest boast, because they made their own hardware and when you bought their stuff you got a complete package (unlike M$ - welcome to years of misery and wasted time)

But what Ive been through the last 10 days with LM - Im not a whinging noob, I can listen and learn as I have from this great board of supporters, Im afraid it would disaffect most average pc users who already struggle with windows

I dont know what the answer is - get more gui and less nerdy and of course some need to pay the rent on their basement as well

Take the NHS (UK), its been stuck with long outdated XP systems on an insecure network for decades. No money for M$ maintenance,so its just cranks along and gets hacked disastrously. Since then its paid mega$ to get M$ to come in a do a security audit

Maybe we need the PRC to come in and sell us their own version of networked systems - great leap forward

Its all crystal balls, but we allow their systems to control a new nuke powerstation hinkly point so lets get in bed and make chop suey

[Hoser Rob]

Most of the WIndows users here who complain about how hard Linux is to install have NEVER installed Windows from scratch. That ain't so easy either. Not saying that applies to the OP but it's true in most cases.

[jimallyn]

took me an afternoon to get a modern Brother laser printer to workl:

Did you follow the instructions found here:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/15

[MintBean]

Brother laser printer: Not that tough but their installer could be better. This really is Brother's fault. Contact them and ask for an improved Linux installer. If enough of us do it, it can make a difference.
USB HDD: This wasted a lot of your time but turned out not to be a Linux issue at all.
Running from USB stick: This is more involved, but it's your choice to take that route. No doubt it would be more difficult to do that with Windows.

What else?

..and think of the time you won't spend fighting viruses and malware and attending Microsoft's stupendously slow updates.

[bob466]

One of the best things about Mint is it Works straight out of the box...is easy to install and use. I've found everything plugged into a USB port works...I have a new 4TB External HDD (GPT) plugged it in...opened and worked straight away. I've installed Win XP...Win 7 many times over the years and Win 8/10 in VMs and they don't work straight out of the box...far from it as many people know...so thank God for linux Mint.

The same new 4TB External HDD (GPT) plugged into Windows gets a massage saying...Windows needs to install the driver...this could take several hours...please go and see a movie and when you come back the driver might be installed.

Printers are another thing...I couldn't get my printer to work in Mint 17.3...it installed but that was that. When I turned my printer on in Mint 18.2 it was detected and the generic driver was installed and it now works...unfortunately the scanner and ink levels don't...so my printer is also installed in my Win7 VM where everything works.

Like many things...printers are designed to run in Windows so you can't blame Linux but you can get around the problem...thanks to Virtual Box.

[Pierre]

Most of the WIndows users here who complain about how hard Linux is to install have NEVER installed Windows from scratch. That ain't so easy either. Not saying that applies to the OP but it's true in most cases.

That is So True

it's surely Not Easy to accomplish that Simple Task.. .. Drivers .. Drivers .. Drivers
- now where is the Driver for That Hardware
Erk - - this Online Download is not Right Either.

I've Spend Days chasing those Darn Drivers

Now,, which is First - - Video Card - - Ethernet Card - - Audio Card ? ?
( Ethernet - - then you can get online )

[Robint]

took me an afternoon to get a modern Brother laser printer to workl:

Did you follow the instructions found here:

https://sites.google.com/site/easylinuxtipsproject/15

Indeed I did but for some reason I couldnt find my printer in the drop down list which is odd cos its quite new and a standard type, i had to go another route to a more generic pcl driver and eventually got it to work, took a morning

[Robint]

IMHO if anything were desperately needed in the next LM issue, its a one button sytem backup and way to restore

At the moment its all a nightmare of conjecture and nerdiness

Ive spent hours on configs, I dont want to lose all that at some hiccup which linux is prone to

At least windoz - wash your mouth out - has a restore point feature that automatically reacts when you add a new app.

robin

[MintBean]

IMHO if anything were desperately needed in the next LM issue, its a one button sytem backup and way to restore

At the moment its all a nightmare of conjecture and nerdiness

Ive spent hours on configs, I dont want to lose all that at some hiccup which linux is prone to

At least windoz - wash your mouth out - has a restore point feature that automatically reacts when you add a new app.

robin

What hiccups? I'm genuinely interested to know as in my experience Mint is solid as a rock, whereas Windows self terminates on a regular basis.

[majpooper]

I don't doubt people have problems installing LM.
I read all the problems:
Install = difficult
AMD = Bad
WiFi = doesn't work
Printers = don't work
networking = can't do it
live USB image = impossible create
And so on and so forth
I don't mean to imply just because I have not had any of these issues doesn't mean they do not exist.
But for me this gets back to:
1) What version of LM noobs should start out with
2) What is the minimum level of experience necessary to install LM
3) What extent do they follow directions.

For 1) I strongly would recommend noobs be steered towards 17.3
For 2) I am not sure - if you don't know your way around the BIOS and how to, say for example, change the boot order or even how to research basic issues then . . . .
For 3) It speaks for itself.

I get it - folks coming from Windows just want to power up, point and click. Sometimes (not in every case, I concede there are legit problems) it seems that they want the security, stability and performance of Linux without doing their homework or understanding there is a learning curve.

[catweazel]

But seriously LM sarah starts well enough till you connect periherals, took me an afternoon to get a modern Brother laser printer to work (on USB not through the router - another job.

That will be a Brother problem. I have a Fuji Xerox colour laser and all I had to do was plug it in and turn it on.

[BG405]

USB was originally touted as "Plug and Play" but with every edition of Windows I used, it was more like "Plug and Pray". And totally port-specific. Connect something to a different port and it has to reinstall the driver. Linux doesn't seem to care which ports you use, makes life much easier.

As for OS installation, ugh. No networking so can't get on the Net to download the drivers, stuck at 640x480 for same reason, have to use 2nd machine to download them, IF they exist. As mentioned earlier, sometimes need to install drivers in a certain order (although that's not unique to Windows).

And yes, the agonizingly slooooooooooooow updates .. I can feel my blood pressure rising due to all these bad memories resurfacing, so I'll have to get off my soap box.

At least Ethernet usually works OOTB on Mint, often wireless too. Including a Toshiba NB520 for which Windows WiFi drivers are unobtanium .. a machine which came with Win7 so drivers evidently do exist but had not been made available


The above comments regarding most never having done a Windows installation are spot on, I'm surprised this isn't mentioned more often.