Linux mint a good start?

[TwilightLink]

Hello! Recently i decided that i wanted to get into using a bit of Linux again (I used Ubuntu like 15 years ago for a while and I didn't hate it) and i was wondering if Linux Mint was a good starting point.

I intend to use Linux in a dual boot with windows 10 and basically just use it to surf internet and stuff.

 

So, is it a good choice to start with Mint? 

 

Thank you very much!

[Electronics Wizardy]

Yea mint is. pretty good start. GIve the live usb a shot.

[cso1337]

Mint or Ubuntu would be the best for new or people coming back to linux in my opinion

[TwilightLink]

14 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea mint is. pretty good start. GIve the live usb a shot.

 

12 minutes ago, cso1337 said:

Mint or Ubuntu would be the best for new or people coming back to linux in my opinion

Thanks for the answers to both of you!

 

Ok, I will go with Mint then, wish me luck

[Sauron]

Sure, just be aware that dual booting can be a bit of a pain so I wouldn't recommend it to a complete beginner. You can try it in a virtual machine first.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Linux Mint, Zorin, and PopOS, probably in that order, are the three most frequently recommended distros for Linux newbies, especially Windows refugees.

 

You have to pay for Zorin but what you get for your money is added support direct from the developers. I've seen reports that Zorin tends to be behind other OSes in kernel updates.

 

PopOS, though proprietary (it is put out by System 76), is free. System 76 is a small company that has been around for only around five years and they or may not be around for a while. I haven't had great results from their laptop support but do not know if that would be the same for their PopOS support. Still, PopOS has been enjoying a fair amount of popularity.

 

Linux Mint is free. Support comes from forum volunteers and can be a bit hit and miss but, generally, is pretty good. Of the three, Mint has the largest development support due tho thousands of volunteers working on it. Cinnamon is the most popular desktop, especially for Windows refugees.

 

Ubuntu was the most popular distro but it has slipping in popularity while Mint is quickly catching up, especially since Win 7 is past its EOL. Ubuntu also collets some data from users. Supposedly, that data is anonymized and is not shared but we have heard that same line from Microsoft.

 

I went with Mint Cinnamon and have been happy with it. It took me a month to get to where I would use it as my daily driver but, since you have used Linux before, you could probably get there faster.

 

While a lot of people do it, many experts recommend against dual booting, especially for beginners to Linux. While some distros look a lot like Windows, under the hood, they are completely different from Windows and that can cause problems with dual booting. What is often recommeded for beginners is to install Linux on a separate, older computer and learn on that.

[TwilightLink]

9 hours ago, Sauron said:

Sure, just be aware that dual booting can be a bit of a pain so I wouldn't recommend it to a complete beginner. You can try it in a virtual machine first.

 

7 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

While a lot of people do it, many experts recommend against dual booting, especially for beginners to Linux

Thanks for the answers! If I may ask, Why is it difficult? I have no problem learning how to do it, i'm stalling this on an old PC that I have.

 

7 hours ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Linux Mint, Zorin, and PopOS, probably in that order, are the three most frequently recommended distros for Linux newbies, especially Windows refugees.

Interesting, I didn't knew about the other two, PopOS seems interesting, i may give it a try in the future.

 

I already downloaded Linux Mint Cinnamon (and learned to check verification and authentication of the iso file) and will be installing it in a little while.

[Sauron]

2 minutes ago, TwilightLink said:

If I may ask, Why is it difficult?

It's not that it's difficult to do, it's that Windows likes to break dual boot setups and fixing them is not trivial.

[sp331yi]

FerenOS is what I recommend for Win7 newbies who are command-line challenged.

It's LIKE ZORIN BUT FREE!

[TwilightLink]

4 hours ago, Sauron said:

It's not that it's difficult to do, it's that Windows likes to break dual boot setups and fixing them is not trivial.

Yeah, i read a little about how to do it, I think I will go with Mint only for now, It's not my main computer so i can experiment a little.

 

2 hours ago, sp331yi said:

FerenOS is what I recommend for Win7 newbies who are command-line challenged.

I used the command console when i used Ubuntu, didn't have too much problem with it, for now i will go with Mint because i already have it downloaded, but i will try other distros in the future.

[TwilightLink]

After many headaches I managed to install Linux Mint! (I'm writing from there)

 

Now I'm trying to make the resolution to display properly, the auto adjust in my monitor goes wild, have to do it manually. Other than that, seems fine to me.

[Sauron]

8 hours ago, sp331yi said:

It's LIKE ZORIN BUT FREE!

Uhm... Zorin is free. There's a paid download for the "ultimate" version to support the project but you can just install the same packages on the "core" or "lite" versions.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, Sauron said:

Uhm... Zorin is free. There's a paid download for the "ultimate" version to support the project but you can just install the same packages on the "core" or "lite" versions.

The problem with getting Zorin without paying for the support is you will find little, if any, support elsewhere.

[Sauron]

48 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

The problem with getting Zorin without paying for the support is you will find little, if any, support elsewhere.

Sure, but then again that goes for pretty much any less common distro. I would imagine what goes for Ubuntu also goes for Zorin for the most part.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

6 hours ago, Sauron said:

Sure, but then again that goes for pretty much any less common distro. I would imagine what goes for Ubuntu also goes for Zorin for the most part.

Not exactly. The more popular distros, such as Ubuntu and Mint have more forum support with more forum members than the less popular ones, like Zorin (I'm referring to popularity, not quality).

 

Btw, while Ubuntu is probably still the most popular distro, it has been slipping in popularity while Mint has been increasing.

[Sauron]

9 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Not exactly. The more popular distros, such as Ubuntu and Mint have more forum support with more forum members than the less popular ones, like Zorin (I'm referring to popularity, not quality).

 

Btw, while Ubuntu is probably still the most popular distro, it has been slipping in popularity while Mint has been increasing.

What I mean is that most instructions for Ubuntu probably work on Zorin.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 minutes ago, Sauron said:

What I mean is that most instructions for Ubuntu probably work on Zorin.

True but it's that one that isn't the same could be the one that shuts you down (I believe Murphy had a corollary for that).

[Sauron]

9 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

True but it's that one that isn't the same could be the one that shuts you down (I believe Murphy had a corollary for that).

But is Feren OS better in that sense?

[TwilightLink]

After a couple of days of using Mint, I still don't understand what to update from the update manager, should I update everything? Even the Kernel?

 

Apart from that (and having to use firefox, haven't used it in a long time, don't know why) I'm liking it.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, TwilightLink said:

After a couple of days of using Mint, I still don't understand what to update from the update manager, should I update everything? Even the Kernel?

 

Apart from that (and having to use firefox, haven't used it in a long time, don't know why) I'm liking it.

Unless you know for a fact that you don't want an update (which is pretty rare so don't worry about it), you should do every update when they show up (son of a gun, I just noticed I have one waiting now).

 

Liniux seems to have a lot of updates in a given amount of time but this is actually an advantage over Windows updates that come once a month. One or even two or three updates at a time take very little time to run at the time you run them instead of accumulating updates for a month before running them, which then takes a long time. Also, you get to install the updates as soon as they are available which does you more good than if you wait as much as a month.

 

Linux updates are far better vetted than Windows updates so it's reasonably safe to go ahead and install them as soon as it's convenient for you. MS has admitted they are using Home users as their guinea pigs beta testers. Windows will often force an update to download and install updates at any time plus you can't choose to not ever install one. In Linux, you can choose when to install an update and reject one if you have a good reason to not want it (which, again, is rare so don't worry about it). One thing to keep in mind is that kernel updates do require a restart but, unlike Windows updates, the rest of them do not require a restart (unlike Windows).

 

It's a good idea to make a Timeshift snapshot before you install updates. I manually make my Timeshift snapshots once a week rather than schedule them. This allows me to roll back if an update should prove to be wonky. I may lose up to a week's worth of updates that way but it wouldn't take me long to install them again when they show up in the update manager.

 

If you don't like Firefox, there are other browsers you can use. I like the Brave browser myself. I keep Firefox as a backup for the rare sites that won't work in Brave.

[TwilightLink]

10 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Unless you know for a fact that you don't want an update (which is pretty rare so don't worry about it), you should do every update when they show up (son of a gun, I just noticed I have one waiting now).

Thanks for the answer!

Ok, I will run everything that the update manager tells me to.

 

14 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

It's a good idea to make a Timeshift snapshot before you install updates.

I already did that before asking here about updates, so I guess I'm ready to install updates.

 

16 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

If you don't like Firefox, there are other browsers you can use. I like the Brave browser myself. I keep Firefox as a backup for the rare sites that won't work in Brave.

I don't mind it, except that it doesn't have Google as one of the default browsers, never used Yahoo or the others.

 

One last thing, should I install any antivirus, antimalware of firewall?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

11 minutes ago, TwilightLink said:

...I don't mind it, except that it doesn't have Google as one of the default browsers, never used Yahoo or the others...

Yahoo is not a browser. Google Chrome is but I trust anything Google anything as far as I can throw a city bus...one handed. Google is notorious for harvesting data for its own advertising (which as been known to contain Malware) or to sell to others.

 

There are other browsers you can use. I don't particularly care for Firefox, even though I do keepo it as a spare. other browsers include Opera, Safari, Pale Moon, Vivaldi, and Brave. The Brave browser is Chromium based, same as Google Chrome, but , unlike Chrome, is a high security and privacy browser. It has built-in ad blocking although there is an option to participate in its BAT rewards program which pays you and websites you allow to put ads on them while browsing. It's still pretty buggy so I just don't bother with it but the browser itself works very well.

 

22 minutes ago, TwilightLink said:

...One last thing, should I install any antivirus, antimalware of firewall?

Mint has a built in Firewall; you just have to activate it. Just go to System Settings and, at the bottom you will find an icon for Firewall. Click on that. When the window comes up, leave Profile set for Home unless you are using Public Wi-Fi or you are in an Office, then click on the button for Status to activate it (if it isn't already). Set Incoming to deny (you will still be able to download things) and Outgoing to Allow.

 

That's the basic setup for the Firewall and should do just fine for you (it's what I use). There are other tweaks you can make to the Firewall but I suggest finding a Video to explain them.

 

As long as you don't invite malware in (such shopping on dodgy websites or installing unapproved programs; it's best to get your programs from the Repositories whenever you can), Linux is safe from most malware because of the way it is designed so you don't need an antimalware program unless you are going to run Windows programs in Wine, Crossover, etc. Then you would need an AV like ClamAV to keep the Windows program from becoming infected and possibly transferred to Windows machines through files you may share; Linux itself would still be safe.

[TwilightLink]

4 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Yahoo is not a browser.

Sorry! I meant search engine, tried to change on Firefox the default one and there wasn't much options, Yahoo, duckandgo (or something like that) and others. Never liked Yahoo.

I will try Brave to see how it is, I like the idea of a built in ad blocker.

 

7 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Mint has a built in Firewall; you just have to activate it. Just go to System Settings and, at the bottom you will find an icon for Firewall.

Thanks! I will do that.

 

8 minutes ago, Lady Fitzgerald said:

Then you would need an AV like ClamAV to keep the Windows program from becoming infected and possibly transferred to Windows machines through files you may share; Linux itself would still be safe.

I'll install ClamAV then, I may transfer files between a Windows machine and the Linux one, so i prefer to be safe.

 

Thanks for all the answers!

[Lady Fitzgerald]

1 hour ago, TwilightLink said:

Sorry! I meant search engine, tried to change on Firefox the default one and there wasn't much options, Yahoo, duckandgo (or something like that) and others. Never liked Yahoo.

I will try Brave to see how it is, I like the idea of a built in ad blocker.

 

Thanks! I will do that.

 

I'll install ClamAV then, I may transfer files between a Windows machine and the Linux one, so i prefer to be safe.

 

Thanks for all the answers!

Duckduckgo is a good one, Start Page was my default search engine until ten minutes ago when the idiots started blocking my searches, claiming I was scraping or some other nonsense (I don't know what their damage is).

 

If all you are doing is transferring files between Linux and Windows, you don't need ClamAV.

[sp331yi]

Quote

But is Feren OS better in that sense?

Yes, it is!  don't knock it if you have not tried it.,   So is LinuxLite!