recommendation for a forum

[karlchen]

Hello, linux.

Pardon me for being so direct, but the main issue in your case is your own attitude towards Linux Mint confirmed by yourself in another thread:

i really hate linux mint 20.2...its not as stable as windows..i highly regret my purchase.free is never good ;(

In case you do not like Linux Mint, then this is ok, because it is your decision. In case you are not prepared to play Linux Mint in the way Linux Mint works, then this ok, because it is your decision to try and apply Windows rules to Linux Mint. But it will not work. Whenever you start playing a new game, you have to learn the rules, which apply to the game. If you do not wish to go through the learning curve, then this ok, because it is your decision.
Only do not put the blame for your decision on Linux Mint or on the forum users, who try to help you resolve the issues, which you report.

everyone has been nice and tried to help but the answers don't quite get there.

To be quite clear. We are not sitting in front of your machine. We cannot solve the problems, which you encounter. All we can do is helping you solve your problems yourself. The more precisely you desribe your issue, the more precise your questions are, the better and more helpful our answers will be.

Again understanding how to ask for help in an efficient way is a learning curve. A learning curve, which seems to exceed your patience.

As a consequence, I cannot recommend you any other Linux Mint forum. The more so as you ask for a forum supporting "Linux Mint 20.2 xfce". There will be no forum, which is specialized on one single Linux Mint release with one specific desktop environment. Would be a pretty short lived forum by the way, because end of April 2025 Linux Mint 20.2 xfce will reach the end of its supported life time.

You have joined the right forum for getting support on Linux Mint 20.2 xfce. But you may have to spend a thought or two on what you can expect in a users-help-users forum and what you cannot expect.

Best regards,
Karl

[SMG]

i've made a few posts on here and can't find the answers i need. its because theres so many flavors of linux

There is only Linux Mint Main Edition and Linux Mint Debian on this forum. Most posts and the section to which you have been posting all your questions is the Main Edition. That is only one "flavor".

Linux Mint is the operating system. Xfce is the desktop environment. There are three different desktop environments available for Linux Mint, Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce.

can someone please recommend a forum that supports XFCE - Mint - 20.2

This is the official Linux Mint forum. We support the Xfce desktop environment. There is a specific location for questions that only apply to that desktop, but it does not appear your questions are really Xfce specific. They mostly seem to want to know how to make your Xfce install be like Windows.

I do not know who gave you the impression that Linux Mint is just like Windows, but that is not true. They are different operating system so there will be a learning curve. You did not know how to use Windows right away. Windows is not an intuitive operating system. One has to learn how to use it and it can take quite a bit of time to know how to use Windows. Perhaps you have forgotten that. When you switch to a different operating system, you should expect they would be different.

It is your choice as to what operating system to use. If you do not currently have the time to learn something new, then maybe this was not a good time for you to switch operating systems. That is something only you can decide.

[Michael_Hathaway]

i have to relearn everything

I answered your VLC thread with instructions. Part of the learning process is learning how to search for items in this forum and being patient for an answer. The forum staff here is excellent and the community support is very good. We will help you.

Linux Mint is very stable compared to Windows and in my opinion and you have made a good choice coming to Linux Mint.

I started programming 43 years ago, so it would not be fair for me to sit here and say 'I understand how you feel'. However, from what I have experienced from other new Linux users, Linux Mint is far easier to learn than any other distribution of Linux, especially for Windows users. But there is a learning curve. You just need to be patient, take one day at a time and continue learning.

[Michael_Hathaway]

hi hathaway - yes i remember you. thx for responding. but it was just too much for something so simple. i do miss having an audio player on linux and looks like i will be without it. i will try again later, right now i got more linux fires to put out. but i promise you i will attempt to get an audio working on linux

I responded to your VLC post. Also there are other music players available like Rhythmbox, Audacious, Clementine and I may even be able to install Winamp and get it to run in Mint.

[edit] Yes, I just checked, can install Winamp with Winetricks.

[SMG]

sorry for the delay. i hadn't seen a response because i'm stupid and i forgot to check "notify me when a reply is posted". can someone please tell me why its not checkmarked by default. why would the originator of a post not want to be notified of a topic reply, at least to have it turned on by default in the origination post.

I actually thought it was, but maybe I made it a default so long ago that I have forgotten. You can set the default for all topics or change from your default setting for individual topics when you create the topic.

If you click your username in the upper right of the page there is a drop-down from which you can select User Control Panel.
The Overview tab (far left) comes up at the default. Select the Board Preferences tab. On that tab is a "Edit posting defaults" option. Click it to see the options of which the last one is "Notify me upon replies by default".

How you are notified is the last option for the Board Preferences tab and is "Edit Notification Options". There are two options, Notifications and Email. Notifications means you will only see the notifications when you are logged in. There will be a red circle with a white number in it letting you know how many notifications you have. Click the word Notifications to the left of the red circle to see the drop-down listing the notifications. You can also opt to be notified by email.

Remember to click the Submit button if you make any changes on the tabs so the changes are saved for your profile.

hi smg - thx for listing the desktop env...can u please tell me what uma 20.04 is and it's alternatives

The short answer is there is no such thing as uma 20.04.

If you check the Linux Mint: All versions Downloads webpage there is a grid which has the version number, the codename, the edition (desktop versions), the package base, and the status.

Each version of Linux Mint has a codename and that is what "uma" is. It is the codename for Linux Mint 20.2. Some people remember names better than numbers so each version has both a codename and a number.

Each version of Linux Mint main edition is based on a version of Ubuntu. On the webpage this is referred to as the "Package base". Linux Mint 20 is based on Ubuntu Focal.

Ubuntu has codenames like Linux Mint does. "Focal" is the codename for 20.04 so Ubuntu Focal = Ubuntu 20.04. Linux Mint 20 versions are all based on Ubuntu 20.04.

There is also a version of Linux Mint which is based on Debian (instead of Ubuntu). LMDE4 (Linux Mint Debian Edition #4) is listed as Debbie at the very bottom on the webpage. Buster is the codename for the Debian version on which LMDE4 Debbie is based.

[Hoser Rob]

The reason that many beginners, like the OP, do not get satisfactory answers to their questions is simple. They don't have a clue how to ask questions in a comprehensible way. I know it can take a little while to get to the point where you do know how to ask questions. Not all will have the patience to do so, esp. when they figure out Linux isn't just a free version of Windows.

You also have to understand that the REAL gurus on this forum and others tend to have real, paying computer jobs. They don't have the time or patience to wade through a lot of drivel. You want proper support, be clear and add relevant system info.

There are only 2 Linux distros I'd recommend to a rank beginner, Mint and Ubuntu. This is because they have the best support forums for newbies. You aren't going to find a better forum for Mint than this one, and the OP isn't going to have better luck on ubuntuforums either.

[decrepit]

>>>> and the OP isn't going to have better luck on ubuntuforums either.

One of the things I found when I switched from Ubuntu to mint, was how much more responsive this forum is.
Possibly because it's not as busy, so I agree with all that's been said here. As far as my experience goes this is the best forum for linux beginners, for a start it's specifically designed for it. There's even a sticky at the top, advising how to ask questions, to get the answers you want. But it seems not a big percentage of questioners read it.

[RollyShed]

i hadn't seen a response because i'm stupid

OK, it is you that said that.
One question is why use XFCE and not Cinnamon?

i do miss having an audio player on linux

What do you mean no audio player? I often have music playing while doing something else on the computer. I often plug it into the hifi audio system for better sound than the laptop's speakers. I'd recomend Audacious as it is simple to drag a multitude of tracks into its box for it to play sequentially.

i will keep linux for now

Repeat after all of us "Linux is more reliable than Windows" ... and again...

[Hoser Rob]

>>>> and the OP isn't going to have better luck on ubuntuforums either.

One of the things I found when I switched from Ubuntu to mint, was how much more responsive this forum is.
Possibly because it's not as busy, so I agree with all that's been said here. As far as my experience goes this is the best forum for linux beginners, for a start it's specifically designed for it. There's even a sticky at the top, advising how to ask questions, to get the answers you want. But it seems not a big percentage of questioners read it.

I don't really disagree with this but this forum needs more experts. There are a ton of well meaning newbies here giving bad advice very eagerly, with no expert input on those threads because they read the question and just sigh and exit the thread.

[Schultz]

I don't really disagree with this but this forum needs more experts. There are a ton of well meaning newbies here giving bad advice very eagerly, with no expert input on those threads because they read the question and just sigh and exit the thread.

But that's the nature of forums. Everybody should know that. It's usually easy to tell who knows what they're talking about, even when you're new to a forum (at least for me).

[decrepit]

well the "level" indicator is very misleading. It bares little relation to expertise, being only total number of posts. I guess there's no easy solution to that.

[ivar]

[But that's the nature of forums. Everybody should know that. It's usually easy to tell who knows what they're talking about, even when you're new to a forum (at least for me).

Same here
But, some patience is required..

[jsb]

>>>> and the OP isn't going to have better luck on ubuntuforums either.

One of the things I found when I switched from Ubuntu to mint, was how much more responsive this forum is.
Possibly because it's not as busy, so I agree with all that's been said here. As far as my experience goes this is the best forum for linux beginners, for a start it's specifically designed for it. There's even a sticky at the top, advising how to ask questions, to get the answers you want. But it seems not a big percentage of questioners read it.

I agree about Ubuntu. When I started my migration from Windows 7, I first tried Xubuntu and any questions I posted there were completely ignored and rapidly "disappeared" without any response, due to the volume of postings there. So I thought I might do better to start with a small distro, that I would get more attention that way. I needed something light and happened to find Peppermint, which also had an statement on their web page that was very welcoming to newbies. The folks there provided fantastic support and I really learned a lot from them. I have no idea if it would still be like that on the forums for that distro, but at the time it was great for me.

FWIW, they do still have a statement there like the one that had led me to give it a try:
The notion that in order to use, enjoy and be proficient with Linux is that you will need uber-geek hacking skills is completely False. And, this is just the stigma surrounding Linux that needs to be erased once and for all with Peppermint. There hasn’t been one person we have shown Peppermint OS to who hasn’t understood how to operate it as a desktop environment by just putting it in front of them and turning it on…

Team Peppermint is committed to welcoming new Linux users, offering them a product that is fast, easy to understand, and offering them an arena to experiment with Linux and all the while offering avenues to educate them further.
https://peppermintos.com/about/

I came to Mint from Peppermint mainly because of the ability to update, rather than reinstall, when there is a new version. I have found the forum here to be very helpful, as well. There is also the advantage with Mint, due to the large number of users, that I often don't even have to ask a question, I can usually just ask google and find an answer.

[Hoser Rob]

... When I started my migration from Windows 7, I first tried Xubuntu and any questions I posted there were completely ignored and rapidly "disappeared" without any response, due to the volume of postings there. ...r.

It's just not true that Ubuntuforums has lower volume than this forum. The problem with many Linux forums is that if you don't know how to ask a question in a way that makes any sense, the serious gurus there will ignore it. Whereas here, you'll get a LOT of well intentioned but incompetent advice. I'll take quality over quality.

The truth is that I've gotten 95% of my useful Mint advice from ubuntuforums.org and askubuntu.com, but I know what to look for. Raw Linux newbies don't. I don't have an answer for this quandary, I doubt anyone does. And FWIW, in most all of the few times I've asked a support question here, clearly stated, all the answers I got were from utterly clueless users who insisted I must have screwed the system up. Which I hadn't.

[t42]

Person asking a comprehensive question containing enough data to get the helpful answer immediately doesn't need to go the forums at all.

[jsb]

... When I started my migration from Windows 7, I first tried Xubuntu and any questions I posted there were completely ignored and rapidly "disappeared" without any response, due to the volume of postings there. ...r.

It's just not true that Ubuntuforums has lower volume

To be clear, I meant the opposite, that the large number of postings there meant things disappeared rapidly, if no one responded.

Also, I was not comparing Ubuntu to here, but to Peppermint, where the gurus were extremely patient and helpful to all. Part of that was, of course, because the much smaller user base made it possible. In particular, it was Mark Greaves (PCNetSpec) there who was very active in helping everyone who posted on the forum for that OS, sadly I just learned that he passed away nearly two years ago.

[legacypowers]

hi everyone

i've made a few posts on here and can't find the answers i need. its because theres so many flavors of linux

can someone please recommend a forum that supports XFCE - Mint - 20.2

everyone has been nice and tried to help but the answers don't quite get there.

i don't have this much time to waste on such little things

My suggestion is don't wait for someone to reply to your support threads, be pro-active towards your problem, post you support request, open up your favorite search engine and look it up the problem that you are facing.
if you are confused by the forum layout, i can help you by guiding you to the XFCE Desktop Environment sub-section that is located here viewforum.php?f=57

Also there are other communities where you can ask question and people can help you like https://reddit.com/r/linuxquestions/ or https://askubuntu.com/

[SimonPeter]

....Moderation has taken a draconian and authoritarian turn in the last few years here....

I disagree.
The moderators on the Mint forums give MUCH more freedom than that we get on most other forums.
This forum (and distro) is also more newbie-friendly (say, compared with ArchLinux).