this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2025
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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It just works.

I'm kind of shocked how easy it was to set up. I used ventoy to make a bootable iso of Linux Mint Cinnamon on my Mini PC (Ser5 Pro), and I had zero issues with anything. Ventoy even plays nice with secure boot.

Where's the setup?

There really wasn't any. I booted into Mint, synced my keyboard/trackpad combo and my earbuds then was off to the races. It detected all my hardware including my Elgato HD60 X without any steps. The only thing I had to work around was downloading the deb build of Discord Canary to enable audio output in Discord streams since it was only recently added to Discord's dev/beta build (Canary).

Speaking of which Elgato's capture software doesn't support Linux (shocker), so I simply installed OBS, pointed the audio/video to the capture card, and it worked. Easy.

My Use Case

I have the aforementioned mini PC mainly to be jockied by a capture card for streaming Nintendo Switch to Discord. Aside from that I use it as a productivity machine in my living room for internet browsing (omg webtv!) and Kodi. The Ser5 uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5850u with integrated graphics, 16GB DDR4, and a 500gb M.2. All of the ports, HDMI audio out, etc were automatically detected by Mint.

Conclusion

Linux Mint feels premium compared to Windows 11. It's snappier, more modular, and offers a Linux GUI that's familiar/easy to use. Plus now I have the benefit of no preinstalled spyware or bloatware. Feels good to actually own my computer.

Thanks for reading!

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[–] rodneylives@lemmy.world 1 points 23 minutes ago

The secret of Linux is, if all your hardware works, it's actually easier to use for casual users. Most people nowadays use computers for web browsing and maybe playing media and light office tasks. A Linux Mint setup will have everything you need for that either preinstalled or ready to get fun the software store. If you don't need anything else, then it gets it of your way and just works. No viruses, little danger of malware, no crud to uninstall, no Microsoft account, no nagging apps, no ads, no attempts to upsell to paid cloud services or Pro, and no AI.

The problem arises when you want to go beyond that, and there's no obvious path ahead,v then people not used to the Linux way of doing things may run into trouble. But 90% of users, if someone sets it up for them, will do fine.

[–] hash@slrpnk.net 2 points 3 hours ago

I put mint on a separate drive over the weekend. My two outstanding issues are my already-niche pieces of hardware. My KVM doesn't pass USB devices to my other device for some reason. I'm reasonably confident I can figure that one out. My other issue is my HID NFC reader for my Yubikey. No official driver for Linux so I expect that one to be more tricky, though I'd appreciate if anyone can point me in the right direction.

[–] Sarcasmo220@lemmy.ml 5 points 5 hours ago

Welcome to a world outside of enshittification!

[–] belit_deg@lemmy.world 6 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Cool! Out of curiosity, what was the trigger and/or motivation to make the switch?

[–] AfricanGrey@lemmy.zip 9 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Microsoft locked me out of my Microsoft account which has a large collection of games, an active game pass subscription, and ms365. They unlocked it after I appealed and claimed it was for "potential spam" from my outlook account which I hardly ever use.

Ridiculous. Just locked me out of all my purchases on a whim from some horrible AI moderating glitch. Done with them.

[–] Comptero@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

You maybe got hacked and spam got sent. Anyways congratulations for the switch.

[–] supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 12 points 16 hours ago
[–] mugdad1@lemm.ee 6 points 15 hours ago

welcoms man

[–] jacecomix@sh.itjust.works 5 points 15 hours ago

While I love Elgato hardware from a design/price standpoint, it's a shame it doesn't all work on Linux. I had my Wave XLR for a year or so, but replaced it with a Scarlett Solo so I could use it on Linux.

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 7 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

Next stop will be your privacy journey which would completely break your chains towards Discord which gave you trouble.

[–] JackAttack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

A better way to word this is "Next will be your privacy journey which will send you down an inifinte rabbit hole that you consumes you".

Lol no but seriously, it's a fun rabbit hole, but can get out of control if you're not careful.

[–] Quique@lemmy.world 2 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

If you go to deep you’ll get paranoid lol. Atleast that is my experience.

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 3 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

But also be proven right several times a year when data leaks & corporations are shown again to be evil.

[–] JackAttack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

Oh for sure. Fuck these big companies. Unfortunately some offer services that just can't be beat yet by open source/privacy companies.

[–] toastal@lemmy.ml 1 points 5 hours ago

This is sometimes true, but I would rather have a slightly worse UI and/or have to use 2 applications for more specific tasks than trading off data just to have everything under one bloated umbrella.

[–] JackAttack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 15 hours ago

Been there lol. I think it's a common thing for privacy newcomers. Not focusing on threat level and instead trying to optimize every bit. It got me too.

[–] AfricanGrey@lemmy.zip 2 points 16 hours ago

Once Revolt gets screen sharing.

[–] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 2 points 13 hours ago

Welcome! So happy to see new converts, and even more when they have an "it went well" story!

[–] juipeltje@lemmy.world 5 points 19 hours ago

From what i remember my experience was the same when i started my journey with PopOS. Ofcourse it probably did help that i was already an amd user when i was still using windows, i already hated nvidia years before switching lol. I went down the rabbithole and now i'm on Void linux. Also used arch and NixOS in the past. I love being able to setup these minimal distros to my liking, and after that it just works and gets out of the way.

[–] loon@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

Welcome to stability. You are in control. sudo responsibly.

[–] LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago)

I started on Mint, then went to Arch Linux with Gnome. Now, I spend hours a day every day editing the dozens of config files for my Arch + Hyprland setup. I discovered NVIM plugins and decided to figure that out on my own instead of using one of the pre-made plugin packs. Now 90% of the software I use is cli. You can do anything from a terminal, and once you start it's hard to justify using bloated GUI applications instead. Especially once you make your TE and prompt pretty.

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 2 points 17 hours ago

Same thing with Ubuntu.

[–] CapriciousDay@lemmy.ml 5 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago)

Yeah I used to use Ubuntu as a Linux desktop a few years ago. I just came back to install Fedora on my desktop and the whole process was super easy. Even for gaming, Nvidia drivers, Steam with proton, etc. all set up with zero command line interaction, troubleshooting or even looking up guides or anything. It was intuitive and works.

Literally the hardest part was I couldn't find my USB stick and ended up improvising with an old SD card as installation media.

The compatibility for gaming on Linux today is generally really good. The whole experience is really polished.

[–] ParlaMint@lemmy.ml 89 points 1 day ago

The sense of ownership and control the Linux experience offers is something I've never felt with Windows.

[–] badbytes@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Welcome! We are happy to have you. Remember, RTFM. ;)

[–] Lurkerino@hexbear.net 4 points 23 hours ago

Im gonna switch now when support for win 10 ends too, I would switch now but I have work to finish.

[–] electric_nan@lemmy.ml 22 points 1 day ago (1 children)

My brother recently texted me asking for advice about installing Mint on an old laptop. He is the one that got me into computers as a kid, and he has worked at Microsoft for maybe 25 years. It made me so happy lol.

[–] propter_hog@hexbear.net 2 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

Microsoft has a whole Linux division now. They're fully in the "extend" portion of their plan:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish

[–] MisterD@lemmy.ca 43 points 1 day ago

I got 35+ years into Windows. I'm the guy they get to "fix" stuff in PROD. I fight Windows all day. I'm not doing that at home anymore.

[–] 5411ym4nd4@hexbear.net 6 points 1 day ago

Good on you! It's a pretty good time to be transiting to linux. I transitioned a few years ago, and there were a lot of things that sucked back then, that just aren't an issue anymore.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 day ago

Welcome to the dark side, we have cookies

Having said that, just as a suggestion, take a look at KDE. It feels a bit more windows like, is extremely customizable and as such can be made to work exactly how you want it

[–] JoeBidet@lemmy.ml 18 points 1 day ago

welcome home! <3

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 52 points 1 day ago

This is why Mint is what I always recommend to people who are switching over for the first time. Congrats and welcome.

[–] SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

As someone who uses RHEL for work every time I have to set something up on a windows system I groan. It really boils down to the app, some are very easy to use but it seems anything that involves OS config, the registry and permissions becomes a royal pita. Linux isn't 100% pain free (looking at you package conflicts) and SSL config sucks on all OS's but the majority of the time it presents smaller hurdles because I can dig into any part I need to.

[–] Molten_Moron@lemmings.world 28 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Plus now I have the benefit of no preinstalled spyware or bloatware

Now you get to choose the bloatware and spyware yourself! /s

[–] secret300@lemmy.sdf.org 16 points 1 day ago

Real shit tho

[–] JoshuaBrusque@lemmy.world 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Linux Mint is terrific, also recommend it to new Linux users. I just want things easy, clean, and fast. Also, fuck Microsoft.

Debian + KDE

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 21 points 1 day ago

I bounced around to all sorts of systems and DEs and came to this same conclusion. Debian + KDE is where it all ended up after try easily over 20 different systems throughout the years.

It’s the most “we trust you, but also respect your time” combo I’ve found.

[–] northernscrub@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago (2 children)

Forewarning, wine appears to be a bit broken on Mint at the moment. I was recently experimenting with it in a VM, and I could not seem to get it installed properly - even after adding the winehq repo. Debian, by contrast, just works. I still use winamp for my music library, and play a few games that are windows based.

[–] AfricanGrey@lemmy.zip 3 points 19 hours ago

Fortunately I have no need for wine.

[–] kusivittula@sopuli.xyz 1 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

wine works without issues for me on mint 22.1. I use foobar2k, and most games I play are windose only. but I use proton for games, not wine.

[–] NutWrench@lemmy.ml 16 points 1 day ago

You'll probably be installing programs and changing a lot of settings over the next few weeks. Make sure you use TimeShift (pre-installed on Mint) to make system snapshots. (It works like System Restore on Windows. You can even run it from your Linux Live flash drive if you mess up something so badly that you can't boot from the hard drive).

LibreOffice comes pre-installed and you can use Thunderbird for email. And if you used Steam to play games on Windows, you're in for a nice surprise. Steam has a native Linux client and it uses Proton / Wine to let you play your Windows games on Linux. It's handled everything I've thrown at except for a couple of older games.

[–] pH3ra@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Welcome to the team.
I hope you brought your bouncing shoes because as soon as you'll get comfortable, you'll start hopping a lot

[–] Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago

Welcome to the club :D I did the same thing last summer and also switched to Mint and never looked back. So basically Im a fellow newbie. It was the best decision as everything just works minus the windows shenanigans.

Even gaming is almost perfect (apart from the occasional tinkering here and there) its more than great. All my games work great, some better than under win.

Im even in the middle of building my new gaming PC exclusively for Linux in mind.

As I have to use win 11 for work (work laptop) I can see switching was the right decision as every update makes it more annoying and bloated.

[–] ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 13 points 1 day ago

The only thing I had to work around was downloading the deb build of Discord Canary to enable audio output in Discord streams since it was only recently added to Discord's dev/beta build (Canary).

Keep in mind Linux is all about FOSS, if the software you use doesn’t have all the features you want look around for alternatives.

I encountered this same issue when installing Discord and opted to use Vencord instead.

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