[Solved] Is Linuxing easy?

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JerryF
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by JerryF »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm ...
Browsing the web. At the moment I use Firefox for this and from what I have read it should work well with Mint. If I have hat wron please tell me!
Firefox comes already preinstalled when you install Mint. :wink:
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm Word processing. A do alot of writing, and at the moment I use OpenOffice most of the time, maybe 95% of the writing I do. Because I have used it for years, and it is very simple. The rest I do in MS Word, but could live without that until my skills improve and I find a way to run (gasp!) a "virtual box" (which would be a XP. Just because.)
Openoffice is available for Linux. You can download it from their website and install it similarly to Windows.
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm A decent media player is essential. I quite like the Windows Media player because it is easy to use but Moem says Mint comes with them so I will give them a try and hopefully I will like them.
There are several apps that you can install using Software Manager. It's like an app store. Rhythmbox is what I like to use.
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm I use my laptop to store photos and videos until they can be backed up at home. To be honest, after they are backed up I tend to forget to free up the disc space and they live on the laptop but unless I run out of space I am ok with that.
Moem also mentioned that I should install some "add-ons" to the web browser. I am afraid I do not know what add-ons are or how to install them so if anyone would be kind enough to expand on that I would be grateful. (I have a seperate Firefox question but I think it should be a new topic).
I don't use Firefox, so I can't expand on that.
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm I would really only want one folder to be encrypted, the one that will hold unfinished work. Obviously I'd want it VERY encrypted but that would be the only one.
Then you won't want to use the encrypt when doing the Mint installation. I believe there are software apps that can encrypt folder by folder.
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm Michael Louwe mentions that 8th gen Intel's require Linux "kernel 4.17 or higher" and that LM19 does not have it. Is it bad that I do not know what a "kernel" is? Am I not going to be able to do this? He says I may need to "manually install 4.17 or higher". Is that difficult? Will Mint not work at all if I do not do that? Will Mint do it by itself in future when I update it?
It is not bad that you don't know what a kernel is. When I first started, I didn't know what one was either. Using the Update Manager, you can easily install kernel and delete ones that you don't want or need.
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by smurphos »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm Michael Louwe mentions that 8th gen Intel's require Linux "kernel 4.17 or higher" and that LM19 does not have it. Is it bad that I do not know what a "kernel" is? Am I not going to be able to do this? He says I may need to "manually install 4.17 or higher". Is that difficult? Will Mint not work at all if I do not do that? Will Mint do it by itself in future when I update it?
You'll be alright - the i5-8250U processor in your laptop is certified by Ubuntu for Ubuntu 16.04 with kernel 4.13 and above. I've seen a few reports on the forum of people running this processor with Mint 19 and kernel 4.15.
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DaveMcSu2

Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by DaveMcSu2 »

smurphos, thank you, that is very reassuring! Where did you find this out?
michael louwe

Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by michael louwe »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 5:54 pm Moem also mentioned that I should install some "add-ons" to the web browser. I am afraid I do not know what add-ons are or how to install them so if anyone would be kind enough to expand on that I would be grateful.
.
Web-browser addons are also called web extensions. You need to at least install browser extensions/addons to block ads and coin-miners, eg Adblock Plus, uBlock Origin and No Coin.
http://www.accessfirefox.org/Addons_Ins ... _Guide.php - Firefox Add-ons Installation Guide
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by lsemmens »

Welcome to Linux Mint forums. As you have probable already discovered, the members here are very friendly and will bend over backwards to help you out. You'll find that many of the apps that you use in Windwoes land are already installed as part of your Linux install anyway. Libre Office is almost identical to Open Office anyway and every bit as good the M$ product. I've not long moved into Linux and cannot find any real reason to go back unlike my previous forays into the *nix world.

Plug in a live version of Linux and try it out. The beauty of it is that is it isn't going to cost you anything but a little time.
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phd21
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by phd21 »

Hi DaveMcSu2,

I just read your post and more of the good replies to it. Here are more of my thoughts on this as well.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:Browsing the web. At the moment I use Firefox for this and from what I have read it should work well with Mint. If I have that wrong please tell me!
Firefox is already installed in all editions of Linux Mint. I would still recommend installing another browser like Google Chrome or Slimjet, Opera, Brave, etc... because some websites may not work properly with Firefox and yet would with a Chrome-based browser (and visa-versa), and any software could have a temporary problem with updates and you could simply use another browser until a correction update fixes the other browser.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:Word processing. A do alot of writing, and at the moment I use OpenOffice most of the time, maybe 95% of the writing I do. Because I have used it for years, and it is very simple. The rest I do in MS Word, but could live without that until my skills improve and I find a way to run (gasp!) a "virtual box" (which would be a XP. Just because.)
LibreOffice is already installed and is an excellent Office suite and getting better all the time. There are also many additional add-ons and plugins available for LibreOffice in the "Synaptic Package Manager (SPM)". There are also a few other office suites available that you could install and use as well.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:A decent media player is essential. I quite like the Windows Media player because it is easy to use but Moem says Mint comes with them so I will give them a try and hopefully I will like them.
There are various media players (multimedia players) like "VLC" and "SMplayer". VLC is probably already installed. And although the media players can play videos and music, there are many excellent music applications available for Linux like "Audacious" and one is probably already installed.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:I use my laptop to store photos and videos until they can be backed up at home. To be honest, after they are backed up I tend to forget to free up the disc space and they live on the laptop but unless I run out of space I am ok with that.
I think almost everyone has multimedia files (videos, music, pictures, etc...) on their computers as well.

FYI: You can even install and use a "media server" which can stream your videos, pictures, and or music from your laptop to smart TV's and smart Blu-Ray players, smartphones, tablets, other computers, game consoles, etc... that are DLNA / UPnP enabled (most are or can add a application for this).
DaveMcSu2 wrote:Moem also mentioned that I should install some "add-ons" to the web browser. I am afraid I do not know what add-ons are or how to install them so if anyone would be kind enough to expand on that I would be grateful. (I have a seperate Firefox question but I think it should be a new topic).
+1 for doing this first. Absolutely install some security extensions and add-ons into your browsers and restart them afterward: Some browsers already have good ad-blockers but for Firefox "ublock origin" is excellent, privacy badger or privacy protector plus, https everywhere, I also really like "Disconnect".

I also highly recommend installing the superb sandboxing applications "Firejail" and "Firetools" fromthe Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM) which protect your system from malware from Internet-enabled applications like browsers. You can launch a sandboxed Firefox from the Firetools application.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:I would really only want one folder to be encrypted, the one that will hold unfinished work. Obviously I'd want it VERY encrypted but that would be the only one.
If you selected encrypt the home folder during the installation, then everything is already encrypted. Whether you encrypt the home folder or not, anyone can encrypt folders and files using various applications like "veracrypt" (container or vault encryption), Sirikali, archiving applications, gpg/pgp encryption, etc... There are some really good posts in this forum on this.
DaveMcSu2 wrote:Michael Louwe mentions that 8th gen Intel's require Linux "kernel 4.17 or higher" and that LM19 does not have it. Is it bad that I do not know what a "kernel" is? Am I not going to be able to do this? He says I may need to "manually install 4.17 or higher". Is that difficult? Will Mint not work at all if I do not do that? Will Mint do it by itself in future when I update it?
Not bad that you do not know what a Linux Kernel is. Easy to update Linux Kernels if wanted or needed. Wait until you see how your new Linux Mint system works before updating the Linux Kernel. Linux Mint will offer to update software and Linux Kernels for you when they are available. But, to install a Linux Kernel above the 4.15.xx series may require using an alternate method like the "Ukuu" application or manually downloading and installing the Kernel deb files (easy to do too).

The Linux Kernel: An Explanation In Layman's Terms
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/linux-ker ... ans-terms/

Linux kernel - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_kernel

DaveMcSu2 wrote:So... given the 8th gen intels / kernel thing, do people think Minting my new laptop will work?
Yes, you should be able to use your new laptop right-away with Linux Mint.


Hope this helps ...
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by smurphos »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:08 am smurphos, thank you, that is very reassuring! Where did you find this out?
Google.... :wink:

I searched your laptop model N750WU, found the processor type then searched i5-8250U Ubuntu and i5-8250U in the forum.

https://certification.ubuntu.com/catalo ... 401.60GHz/

https://openbenchmarking.org/s/Intel%20Core%20i5-8250U

It's the processor used in the Dell XPS machines that can be pre-installed with Linux. System76 also use it for some of their Linux laptops. So whilst there are no absolute guarantees I very much doubt you'll have any showstopping issues with support for the hardware with Mint 19.
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tellymandeus
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by tellymandeus »

Hey, I just want to throw out that I am a non-techie (I rarely use the terminal, occasionally for installing something) user of linux (mostly mint) since about 2014 or so and I love it and find it very easy - sure you run into occasional problems but no more (and probably less) than windows, and this forum has always been very helpful.

I mostly use it for web and office apps, though recently I have been doing some graphics and video with no problems. I connect to all my various workplace wifi's with no problem (except one, but I think they have upgraded their system so I need to go try again...)

Compared to my wife's windows machine, I find using linux to be much simpler - in a way it's kind of like using windowsXP back in the day, it does what you need without a whole load of unnecessary bells and whistles to slow it down.

Only drawback: one drawing app (comicstudio) that is so wonderful to use (for me - I spent a lot of time with it and know it very well, and it has a few features that FOSS options don't) that I haven't found a genuine replacement, so I do still keep a windows installation pretty much for that one reason (I hope to ditch that eventually)

I hope that's of some help, good luck!
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by phd21 »

Hi tellymandeus,
tellymandeus wrote:Only drawback: one drawing app (comicstudio) that is so wonderful to use (for me - I spent a lot of time with it and know it very well, and it has a few features that FOSS options don't) that I haven't found a genuine replacement, so I do still keep a windows installation pretty much for that one reason (I hope to ditch that eventually)

FYI: "Krita" is one that a lot of digital artists seem to really like and use and various installation options, in the Software Manager or Synaptic Package Manager (SPM).

Krita | Digital Painting. Creative Freedom.
https://krita.org/en/#

"Inkscape" is another. "MyPaint" with drawing tablet.

MyPaint- About
http://mypaint.org/about/

How I became a webcomic artist in less than a month with open source tools - Opensource.com
https://opensource.com/article/17/4/webcomic-artist

open source - Free/libre comic strip creator for GNU/Linux - Software Recommendations Stack Exchange
https://softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/ ... -gnu-linux

7 Best Linux Tools For Digital Artists in 2018 | It's FOSS
https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-graphic-design-software/

linux comic strip maker - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?biw=1030& ... vCP4hOPabg

open source drawing software - Google Search
https://www.google.com/search?q=open+so ... 30&bih=675

Hope this helps ...
Last edited by phd21 on Wed Nov 14, 2018 6:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by tellymandeus »

thanks, it's probably about time I had another look at the options, last time I looked mypaint came closest tho lacked a free-form lasso tool....

tho comicstudio has a huge tone selection that is pretty specialist to comic drawing, and the ink-replication is to die for...
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by redlined »

michael louwe wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 11:05 am
DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:27 am I will purchase a Clevo N750WU FHD laptop.
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... amon-first - 10 things to do first in Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon (for the firewall, you should instal the graphical gufw from Software Manager)
viewtopic.php?f=90&t=245700 (Getting Started for Newbies)
hi DaveMcSu2, and welcome to LM forums!

I've read your thread and all the excellent replies to it, I find I have little to add other than some newbie to newbie advice 8)

I migrated fully to Linux Mint (after decades of windows use) this past Spring and have found this forum to be an incredible resource of fine minds and great and friendly folks sharing their knowledge. Any issue can be safely posted here (especially on the newbie questions board) and you will get helpful response. I encourage you to rely on this (forum) as a "first course of action" even if you search and find similar issues mentioned and resolved in forum or the greater internets. Asking about it first may save you headache if you try to follow advice given to others that seems similar but is not due to hardware differences, distro, desktop environment, etc. I've made a couple mistakes along the way thinking I figured it out but messed it up further or affected other things not realizing fully what I was doing following advice given to others.

I left quote from michael louwe above to emphasize that part of his response, especially that first link to easylinuxtipsproject. I strongly recomend you read through that most excellent and relevent website, even bookmark it to your bookmarks toolbar on firefox for quick and easy access. If you forget or lose the link look for forum member Pjotr (he also responded this thread:) and you will find it again in his signature- it is his website and just makes life simple when just getting started in Linux Mint!
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by vansloneker »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:27 amIs Linuxing easy?
The more experienced you get, the more problems you experience.
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Re: [Solved] Is Linuxing easy?

Post by tellymandeus »

phd21 I just wanted to let you know that I finally checked out Krita and it does pretty much everything I could want (and probably a lot more besides), so I think i might finally be able to break free from windows entirely (and certainly should no longer need to reboot to draw pictures) Not sure how I missed it before (probably because I found mypaint first) but thanks for the input, much appreciated!
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Re: [Solved] Is Linuxing easy?

Post by phd21 »

Hi tellymandeus,

You are welcome...
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Re: [Solved] Is Linuxing easy?

Post by pcpunk »

No, Linuxing is not easy. Wait, that's not what you wanted to hear is it LOL. The answer is actually No and Yes, in that order. Learning linux will be a totally new experience in some aspects, but in others it won't. Luckily many things are similar with interacting with the Net and using Word Processors etc. The basics are still pretty basic. You will have some things that are way better on linux, but then some will be very foreign and you will need to ask for help. The Linux community is a bit smaller so getting help may be a little harder at times.

Pros:
Quick Install
Really Quick Updates! Updates take minutes and are more frequent, rather than taking forever and only Twice a Month with Windows.
Almost No Malware
No Microsoft spying on you
A sense of freedom
Free, but donations are recommended
Command Line is way better than Windows IMO

Cons: I'll keep this very short as the above
Support
Graphics: Mostly Minor Screen Tearing, sometimes drivers can be a little difficult
Wifi: Can be a little problematic, but most work right out of the box.
Not all apps have a replacement for Windows apps
Not the best support for Audiophile's
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Re: Is Linuxing easy?

Post by jimallyn »

DaveMcSu2 wrote: Tue Nov 13, 2018 4:08 amIs Linuxing easy?
Yes. Years ago, you know, back when Linux was "hard to use" I employed a friend at my shop, where we used both Linux and Windows. His use of computers at my shop was the only computer experience he had. I decided to give him a computer that somebody had donated to me, and I asked him whether he wanted Windows on it, or Linux on it. No hesitation whatsoever, he wanted Linux.

Also, the local library has about 20 or 25 public access computers. Anybody can just sit down and start using one. When I go to the library, I often poke my head into the computer room just to see if anybody is using them. I have seen almost all of them busy at once, but I have never seen anybody having trouble using one of them. I asked one of the library staff if people had trouble using the public access computers, and he looked at me like I was from Mars or something. "Trouble? No, nobody seems to have any trouble."
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Re: [Solved] Is Linuxing easy?

Post by Joe2Shoe »

Linux is easy, as smooth as silk, IF you don't fubar it by downloading/installing apps other than from certified repositories, and you don't edit/delete OS files without any knowledge of what you are doing or of the consequences of "flying in the wind" without any oversight on your part. (Believe me, I have been there).
I have a programming degree (1980), and began using CLI (Command Line Interface) from way back. I have been building desktops and repairing desktops/laptops since 1985.
Linux (IMHO) is much easier than Windows, but both can be utterly destroyed by an imbecile at the keyboards.
I still repair both Linux/Windows PCs on a regular basis, because people still foolishly "monkey" with vunerable files in the OS.
Play it safe; if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
Linux is fun, free, and very efficient, especially Linux Mint.
Have fun.
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