It’s official ..... I’m not a computer nerd !!!

[Newbie221]

My decision to switch to the Linux ecosystem has been very rewarding while at the same time being very frustrating. Changing an old laptop over was actually quite easy and I had Mint up and running rather quickly. Then the “fun” began.

A little background. I got my first computer shortly after Windows Vista was released. (early/mid 2007) About the only thing I knew about computers was I could access this thing called the World Wide Web and I no longer needed film for my camera if I stepped into the digital age.
I quickly learned some things I could do and some things you shouldn't do. Never the less nothing catastrophic. I eventually got to the point where friends and family would often ask for help and advise. I was successful in helping and guiding most of them. Although being self taught, I got a good understanding of navigating and using Windows, I however am definitely not an IT person. And I knew that !

So back to my Linux journey.
After using an old laptop as a guinea pig to do some distro hopping and learn about Linux, the decision was made. After MS stops support for Win10 I’ll no longer have a Windows computer.

So I decide the best path forward for me (after watching some videos) would be to purchase a new SSD for the computer I’m planning to convert. This way if I had any regrets or serious issues I could just swap back. I look up what drive I have, and purchase the new 2.5 SSD. I open up the computer to do the swap and guess what..... M.2, Turns out Micron uses the same part number for 2.5 and M.2 (grrrrrr) I end up swapping it into my secondary laptop.

So at this point I got Mint up and running, install some additional software and basically enjoying the experience.

Time to delve into it a little deeper.
Hmmm, system software, flatpaks, snaps and downloads from the software makers themselves. Well that turns out to be a bit of a controversial subject! Hey wait a minute, these ain’t exe files. Bam!!! I’m confronted with “this don’t work nothing like Windows”
Ok, time to dive deeper into using the terminal. Conclusion, this is gonna take me a looooooong time to use in a proficient manner.
I got an idea, I’ll set up a external drive on my router, backups and file transfers between computers will be easier. Four days later, working on Windows, can’t get the Linux computer to see it.
I need a solution to rid myself of One Drive. Yes! Syncthing will work perfectly. Another 3 days later, somebody please remind me why I’m doing this.
WPS office is up and running. Ok I can now delete Libre. All of Libre and it's support is installed separably not as a package. Start deleting. Wow there's 20 some things I need to delete. I can do this in the terminal ..... almost 2 hours later I'm back to deleting them 1 by 1.
Next day I have one of the issues with Syncthing. Smart me uses Timeshift to start over. Guess what..... I need to delete Libre Office again.
It's staying until I figure out how to do it in the terminal.

So last night at dinner I ask my wife to ask around at work if anyone has a desktop they want to get rid of. She ask why? I respond telling her I’m considering building a duel boot system so I still have a windows system until the transformation is completed.(I’m converting my primary laptop to Mint without a new drive)
Her response was priceless..... “After a month of banging your head against the wall you haven't figured it out yet?” Figured out what I said. “ Your just not a computer nerd”

So yes my wife is correct. I lack the understanding and knowledge that would make this a lot easier. I however will not give up on Linux. I have Mint up and running doing a lot of what I did on Win10.



Thanks for your time
Newbie221

[MurphCID]

From another newbie; the best way to learn is to play around and break things...often. You learn a lot that way. No one can crash an OS install as fast as I can! But I always learn something. Also you learn a lot by re-installing Mint, getting it configured, loaded, and where you want it to be. Get an el cheapo laptop from the Best Buy or Amazon refurb, and install distros on it. A lot of distros. Never Virtual box, but on the bare metal. You really learn a whole lot that way.

My wife says similar things: "Haven't you broken that thing enough?" " When are you going to quit playing around and just stick to one?" "What is the point of all that distro-hopping?" "Don't you have other things that need to get done?"

[AZgl1800]

IF,
you learn to use LibreOffice, you can do away with the other MS Office look alikes.
I save every LO Writer document with the Extension .docx because that allows anyone in the world to use my documents.
Spreadsheets are always saved with the *.xls extension.

I went down that path, even purchased a license from Code Weavers so that I could keep using MS Office.

that was a waste of money, it never worked reliably.

IF, it is NOT in Software Manager, I almost refuse to install it.
that goes a Long Ways to protecting you, and making your install Solid as a Brick Wall.

I have several old Laptops that I experiment with other Distros on....
in the end, I always stay with Cinnamon.

[Newbie221]

From another newbie; the best way to learn is to play around and break things...often. You learn a lot that way. No one can crash an OS install as fast as I can!

I use to often joke about just hitting the enter key to find out what happens !
I only had one severe episode, never crashed but it was on it's way. Ended up needing to do a reinstall. Lucky for me I had already adopted a backup plan.


Thanks for your time
Newbie221

[Lady Fitzgerald]

My experiences are similar, such as starting out with an old laptop to experiment on, etc. The big difference for me is I don't have a spouse criticizing me. It's one of the advantages of being single.

I have nothing against the institution of marriage. I just don't want to be institutionalized anymore.

[Newbie221]

IF, you learn to use LibreOffice, you can do away with the other MS Office look alikes.

I'm aware of Libre's success in the Linux community. I thought about using it but it's ribbon is completely different. I'm having enough issues figuring things out, I don't need another needlessly.
I've using WPS now for over 4 years. It has been compatible with all my encounters with others using MS Office. I will note that I do very little in comparison to a business environment. So I guess YMMV.


Thanks for your time
Newbie221

[Newbie221]

The big difference for me is I don't have a spouse criticizing me.

Just so everyone understands, her comment wasn't degrading in any way. It was poking fun at my knowledge base. She is completely supportive of what I'm doing.


Thanks for your time
Newbie221

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The big difference for me is I don't have a spouse criticizing me.

Just so everyone understands, her comment wasn't degrading in any way. It was poking fun at my knowledge base. She is completely supportive of what I'm doing.


Thanks for your time
Newbie221

Exactly.

[AndyMH]

I'm also not a fan of libre office, but don't bother deleting it. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't take up that much space. I also went down the road of deleting it, it wasn't worth the effort.

I use softmaker office (German), I think it is better than WPS office (Chinese) - I did try it a while back. I think softmaker's docx files are more compatible with word than WPS. The UI is pretty close to word/excel. Someone else is likely to pitch in and suggest onlyoffice. Your choice.

Don't use timeshift with the defaults, save your snapshots on an ext4 partition on another drive (or, second best, another ext4 partition on the same drive). Default is to save in /timeshift, i.e. your / partition.

Timeshift does nothing for your data (content of home), lots of choices for backing up home. I use backintime (install from software manager), works just like timeshift, takes snapshots, and just like timeshift, save your backups on an ext4 partition on another drive.

For "belt & braces" take an occasional image backup. Occasional as in it is more hassle - you have to boot from a usb stick. I suggest foxclone, but then I would, I'm the dev, there are others:
https://foxclone.org/

With backups you know work, you can play to your heart's content secure in the knowledge that when you break it, you can get it back up and running reasonably quickly. Breaking stuff is how most of us learn, and some of us still do it!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...Don't use timeshift with the defaults, save your snapshots on an ext4 partition on another drive (or, second best, another ext4 partition on the same drive). Default is to save in /timeshift, i.e. your / partition...

I agree and go one step further. I create and save a weekly snapshot to the Timeshift folder on one of the data drives in my computers. At the same time, I create a second weekly snapshot that gets saved to an external backup drive. The first snapshot can be easily accessed for restoring. The second one is for if the data drive in the computer has gone belly up, I'll still have the snapshot on the external backup drive.

I also create a snapshot before making changes to a computer, such as installing or removing a program, installing potentially problematic updates,or making changes to settings that might (for me, usually) be easier to reset by restoring a snapshot (I don't keep any data in /home so I can include /home in my snapshots to also backup my settings). However, I don't bother with creating a second snapshot of these "unscheduled" snapshots and save it on the external backup drive.

...Timeshift does nothing for your data (content of home), lots of choices for backing up home. I use backintime (install from software manager), works just like timeshift, takes snapshots, and just like timeshift, save your backups on an ext4 partition on another drive...

Again I agree but my "weapon" of choice is FreeFileSync, which doesn't have to be saved to an ext4 drive. I have a set of four external ext4 backup drives for each of my two main computers and four sets of external NTFS backup drives that backup both computers (I keep two sets at home and two in my safe deposit box at my financial institution; I swap them out with each other no less than one a month).

...For "belt & braces" take an occasional image backup. Occasional as in it is more hassle - you have to boot from a usb stick. I suggest foxclone, but then I would, I'm the dev, there are others:
https://foxclone.org/...

Again I agree. I make and verify a Foxclone image first thing every Saturday morning (I let it run while "taking care of business" in the bathroom, etc.). Weekly may be overkill for more experienced users but I'm a cowardly klutz.

I highly recommend Foxclone but Rescuezilla is a good alternative. Clonezilla is far more versatile for experienced users but its unintuitive GUI can cause serious problems for most other users so I don't recommend it for most people.

...With backups you know work, you can play to your heart's content secure in the knowledge that when you break it, you can get it back up and running reasonably quickly...

Again, I agree.

...Breaking stuff is how most of us learn, and some of us still do it!

Going by that, I should be an expert by now!

[Newbie221]

When it comes to backups I think I do things a little different than most do !!!

My files are all backed up manually in 3 laptops and 2 external drives that’s kept in 2 different locations. The only exception is my documents folder. It currently also incorporates One Drive which will be replaced with a local solution. If I were a power user I’d probably do things differently though. As for the OS itself, I’ve always had a path to a clean install if needed. Linux makes this even easier than in the past.



Thanks for your time
Newbie221

[MurphCID]

I have a very different view of LibreOffice, it works pretty darn well for me, so I also have it on the Windows box as well as all the Linux computers. It also worked well on the Mac.

I used to have a distro testing computer that I zorched pretty often, and it was great. I learned a great deal, and it was a spare laptop, so I did not care how bad I borked an installation, just format and do it all over again.

[ivar]

“After a month of banging your head against the wall you haven't figured it out yet?” Figured out what I said. “ Your just not a computer nerd”

I'd say keeping at it and not giving up, that's at least nerd potential

[billyswong]

I need a solution to rid myself of One Drive. Yes! Syncthing will work perfectly. Another 3 days later, somebody please remind me why I’m doing this.
WPS office is up and running. Ok I can now delete Libre. All of Libre and it's support is installed separably not as a package. Start deleting. Wow there's 20 some things I need to delete. I can do this in the terminal ..... almost 2 hours later I'm back to deleting them 1 by 1.
Next day I have one of the issues with Syncthing. Smart me uses Timeshift to start over. Guess what..... I need to delete Libre Office again.
It's staying until I figure out how to do it in the terminal.

For bulk software delete that doesn't need to be scripted and repeated in other computers, I usually work with Synaptic. One can search, check, mark, unmark packages until feeling comfortable, then press apply.

If I ever do some system config that I think it may mess up the computer and require me to use Timeshift to start over, I set up a latest copy of Timeshift snapshot right *before* I do the config.

[MurphCID]

I with the Lady Fitzgerald school of; "I wonder what this does when I hit enter?" school of distro testing. I recall a spectacularly borked Arch attempt which probably should be legendary.

[diyliberty]

I made many mistakes early on and still do on occasion. As a result I got good at using Timeshift to restore everything after I borked it up. I have it set to do daily backups. That has saved me from doing a reinstall several times.

[motoryzen]

Indeed...adding to MurphyCID's point...

..Is what led me to learn how to , and I am still refining to this day, a " install and setupPC.sh" bashscript. Automates all my clicks and keypresses setting up a fresh Mint install on first boot saving literally days of manual work downloading and installing all applications/games and setting everything like I want it.

[AZgl1800]

Indeed...adding to MurphyCID's point...

..Is what led me to learn how to , and I am still refining to this day, a " install and setupPC.sh" bashscript. Automates all my clicks and keypresses setting up a fresh Mint install on first boot saving literally days of manual work downloading and installing all applications/games and setting everything like I want it.

using the APTIK app is far easier, although it is not a free app.
it retains your Preferences.

[motoryzen]

using the APTIK app is far easier, although it is not a free app.
it retains your Preferences

** " Note: Aptik doesn’t backup and restore everything on your system. Otherwise there would be no point of reinstalling your OS. Any configuration changes in system folders like /etc, /opt will not be saved and you will need to redo these changes on the new system. " ***

That is per the official site https://teejeetech.com/aptik-3/

Now, is it an extremely close enough option compared to a customized " install and setup pc " bashscript file for most people? Probably, but just know it isn't 100%. You may still have to launch specific programs and re-set certain settings options.

[Peter Linu]

Probably, but just know it isn't 100%. You may still have to launch specific programs and re-set certain settings options.

I am relatively new to Aptik. Will each program alert me to changing settings?