A Year On Linux... And I'm Already Leaving Linux!

[rossdv8]

OH MY GOD!!!!
I made a very humorous "where am I now on this journey so far" post, and thus far I've been accused of being: a liar, a troll, a paranoiac, a techie posing as a n00b, a noob posing as a techie, and a political agitator!

I'd call that a 'well rounded individual'. Sounds like a fun life?

Seriously though, it is interesting how people perceive their experiences, not only with Linux and Windows, but with other aspects of technology.
I see no reason to avoid discussing that on a forum - that's part of the reason for a 'Chat about' section on most forums.

As long as people don't start ridiculing or abusing others about their belief or opinion too much..

Many people here have seen me apologise for something I wrote that was proved to be obviously wrong - and not apologise for something I firmly believe is right. Only this week I posted a script I was using in the hope that it might be useful.
that was followed by a couple of people pointing out that I had been lazy, and slack in posting it without changing a couple of things that would have made it better. No sarcasm, just a nudge.

We all have strengths and faults, and lucky for us - different experiences.

[RollyShed]

So the OP lost a lot of documents because of Microsoft and lack of backups. He has tried Linux and now suggests leaving it. To what?
I'm suspicious, has the disk with the deleted files been checked thoroughly? Did a Microsoft virus called an Update simply reconfigure things and hide things away?

I have zero idea what happened to my docs, I "googled" the problem and found several pages of people who had the same experience with Ms-Word. That was good enough for me. And no, I didn't backup, my bad - but who the heck is expecting such a bizarre thing to happen?

So you used WORD to write a document. Then you saved it? Where? Presumably you have looked in that (those) folders in the past so what happened to the folders?

MS, so what did you expect? This deleting problem has been going on for 2-1/2 years at least. The kernel has nothing to do with it. Plug the Windows disk in via a USB cable and SATA adapter to your Mint computer.

When Microsoft destroyed my partner's computer, digging around in the disk with Linux Mint, I found the missing items in a folder called "files1" and "files2". Note, a bit of digging but they actually were still on the disk. The digging was recent as everything had been backed up to a Linux Mint system before MS got at the primary disk. Now she only uses Mint, for the past 2-1/2 years, and never has a problem.

This is all presuming you haven't over-written the Windows disk.

[tenfoot]

Why have a Tesla (or an Ionic 5) when it's still possible to find a Morris Minor

Or even a Morris Marina or a Reliant Robin...lol...lol...DAMIEN

I used to own a Berkley car.Is that allowed? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Cars

[Moem]

OH MY GOD!!!!
I made a very humorous "where am I now on this journey so far" post, and thus far I've been accused of being: a liar, a troll, a paranoiac, a techie posing as a n00b, a noob posing as a techie, and a political agitator!

No one has called you a political agitator. I assume you are being humorous again?
I've just, as a moderator, reminded you that politics (including talking about various governments and their doings) is outside the scope of these forums and not permitted. That was all. You're welcome.

Here's another reminder: in an international context such as this forum, humour is difficult because there are people present with many different cultural backgrounds and many different levels of English proficiency. In other words, it will often not come across well. Handle with care.

[MurphCID]

I just wish Apple would release iTunes for Linux, then I could pretty much convert (I can use GIMP instead of photoshop in a pinch). I would go Mint 100% of the time.

[TheOmniad-2020]

So the OP lost a lot of documents because of Microsoft and lack of backups. He has tried Linux and now suggests leaving it. To what?
I'm suspicious, has the disk with the deleted files been checked thoroughly? Did a Microsoft virus called an Update simply reconfigure things and hide things away?

I have zero idea what happened to my docs, I "googled" the problem and found several pages of people who had the same experience with Ms-Word. That was good enough for me. And no, I didn't backup, my bad - but who the heck is expecting such a bizarre thing to happen?

So you used WORD to write a document. Then you saved it? Where? Presumably you have looked in that (those) folders in the past so what happened to the folders?

MS, so what did you expect? This deleting problem has been going on for 2-1/2 years at least. The kernel has nothing to do with it. Plug the Windows disk in via a USB cable and SATA adapter to your Mint computer.

When Microsoft destroyed my partner's computer, digging around in the disk with Linux Mint, I found the missing items in a folder called "files1" and "files2". Note, a bit of digging but they actually were still on the disk. The digging was recent as everything had been backed up to a Linux Mint system before MS got at the primary disk. Now she only uses Mint, for the past 2-1/2 years, and never has a problem.

This is all presuming you haven't over-written the Windows disk.

1. The files weren't deleted, they were either merged or corrupted, found out it had happened to a lot of MS-Word users. That happened before I started using Linux, I was on Windows 7. I didn't know it had happened to other people until after it happened to me.
2. My first response was to switch to LibreOffice, that's how I started to learn about free software. I've always used free software (even in the 80's/90's) but I didn't know what it was, I thought it was just... free, for some reason. I never thought about computers at all, I was just forced to use them. I'm more about books & nature hikes LoL I think I could live happily in the late 19th century.
3. I didn't know how data was stored a year ago. I just helped a friend, who does web management and is way more versed than me in all this stuff, rescue data from a disk he thought was dead. A year ago, I wouldn't have had a clue.
4. The only data loss I've had with Linux was temporary - this is really complicated, I fixed it & forgot it, maybe you can explain what happened: I stored some directories off a laptop with BTRFS on it (I wanted to try it out) on a Debian-formatted EXT4 external HDD. After a few days, the stuff off my Debian machine vanished when I plugged it into Debian (the folders literally faded out and vanished as I was trying to use it)! I looked it up and fixed it but that was 3 months ago and now I can't remember!

[RollyShed]

1. The files weren't deleted, they were either merged or corrupted, found out it had happened to a lot of MS-Word users. That happened before I started using Linux, I was on Windows 7. I didn't know it had happened to other people until after it happened to me.

Did you recover them? My first thought would be to look at such a document with Text Editor and if text visible simply copy and paste. Obviously use LibreOffice. Decades ago it was Open Office, also free. These are a lot more powerful than Microsoft's Office suite.

2. My first response was to switch to LibreOffice, that's how I started to learn about free software. I've always used free software (even in the 80's/90's) but I didn't know what it was, I thought it was just... free,

If you always used free software why were you using WORD?

for some reason. I never thought about computers at all, I was just forced to use them. I'm more about books & nature hikes LoL I think I could live happily in the late 19th century.

Forced? You mean for work? Maybe the wrong type of work. You should be working for Parks & Reserves or some such.

3. I didn't know how data was stored a year ago.

You've used computers for 3 decades and never bothered to figure out what was behind the keyboard?

Yes, go back to the 19th century, digging the dirt, moving the cows.

[TheOmniad-2020]

1. The files weren't deleted, they were either merged or corrupted, found out it had happened to a lot of MS-Word users. That happened before I started using Linux, I was on Windows 7. I didn't know it had happened to other people until after it happened to me.

Did you recover them? My first thought would be to look at such a document with Text Editor and if text visible simply copy and paste. Obviously use LibreOffice. Decades ago it was Open Office, also free. These are a lot more powerful than Microsoft's Office suite.

2. My first response was to switch to LibreOffice, that's how I started to learn about free software. I've always used free software (even in the 80's/90's) but I didn't know what it was, I thought it was just... free,

If you always used free software why were you using WORD?

for some reason. I never thought about computers at all, I was just forced to use them. I'm more about books & nature hikes LoL I think I could live happily in the late 19th century.

Forced? You mean for work? Maybe the wrong type of work. You should be working for Parks & Reserves or some such.

3. I didn't know how data was stored a year ago.

You've used computers for 3 decades and never bothered to figure out what was behind the keyboard?

Yes, go back to the 19th century, digging the dirt, moving the cows.

1. That's what I did, a painstaking reconstruction.
2. Habit. Word was what I had been using since 1999. It's just an application, one that everyone uses. As I said, I never investigated free software, it was sort of just "there".
3. Very few people know how computers work. If I quizzed you about medieval literature or paleo-anthropology you'd probably say, "Don't know, don't care!": I wasn't a "techie", and I'd already learned how to do all that stuff with my hands and my brain: graphics, page layout, audio production, whatever, I didn't need a machine to do my work for me. Anyway, back in the day, I was a blindingly fast typist with above 90% accuracy, I went where I could make money easily. You speak as if computers haven't taken over everything in the past 30 years: I had to use email, I had to produce digital documents, I had to have internet access etc. etc. I don't remember being given a vote. I prefer snail-mail, typewriters and reference books myself.
4. Mud & cows? Ever hear of Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Leo Tolstoy, Alfred Tennyson, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, George Westinghouse, to name a few? I'd rather be among them than whatever is around today.

[RollyShed]

1. That's what I did, a painstaking reconstruction.

Good, at least not lost.

2. Habit. Word was what I had been using since 1999. It's just an application, one that everyone uses. As I said, I never investigated free software, it was sort of just "there".

I'd was using Open Office back then and the document writer on the Apple IIe before that.

3. Very few people know how computers work. If I quizzed you about medieval literature or paleo-anthropology you'd probably say, "Don't know, don't care!"

Actually both interesting topics. See Medieval Latin thread by dorset under general chat. An interesting thread.

: I wasn't a "techie", and I'd already learned how to do all that stuff with my hands and my brain: graphics, page layout, audio production, whatever, I didn't need a machine to do my work for me.

They all work so much better with a bit of technical knowledge. Especially audio production. I built the amplifiers too. As for page layout, publishing using computers for graphic layout makes life so much easier. Yes, I've done a few publications and hundreds of club newsletters for different clubs.
As for tools, paper isn't off a tree in the usable form. Pens, pencils, paint, all technology produced. Only thing being they are relatively simple.

You speak as if computers haven't taken over everything in the past 30 years

They are a tool, the same as the ball point pen. Do you still use a dip pen and an inkwell? I don't though I suspect I could find one of my old dip pens.

I had to use email. I had to produce digital documents,

Email saves time. digital documents saves chipping rock with runes.

I don't remember being given a vote. I prefer snail-mail, typewriters and reference books myself.

Snail mail still exists and we use it. As for books, of course I read books. Shelves full of books. I've even gone back to reading some of my father's books that I hadn't read. Books he bought when I was a child. What do I do at lunchtime? Read a book.

4. Mud & cows? Ever hear of Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Leo Tolstoy, Alfred Tennyson, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, George Westinghouse, to name a few? I'd rather be among them than whatever is around today.

Three of those are technologists at the forefront of technology of the day.

[Megafrog]

TheOmniad-2020: I know I'm late to the thread, but to answer the original question, have you looked up Qubes or Tails OS at www.distrowatch.com and seen the links? These two are very security oriented and are as close to being off the grid and secure as an OS can be with an Internet connection. I like Mint but I might put those in a VM to try someday as privacy abuses inevitably get worse, but Windows was getting unacceptablely slow to me. Right click to wait 20 seconds? No thank you. I really need a stable OS with wide support like Mint as I learn more about Linux in general. In the future perhaps I'll take privacy to the max in a different distro. But maybe Mint gives me everything I need already.