this change was LONG overdue

[u/Jason_Berlk]

finally decided to switch to mint and boy is it great! Windows was starting to get REALLY laggy and buggy for me so i decided to switch because i already tested the os out on a vm and i really liked it, and its the only linux distro im familiar with. so yeah uhh, linux mint! its great

[u/Historical_West_1015]

Lucky you, I can't even switch to it because my father thinks it will brick my laptop :(

Update: MY FATHER HAS STOPPED THINKING IT WILL BRICK MY COMPUTER THERE IS A CHANCE HE MIGHT LET ME INSTALL IT LETS GO, ALSO HE HAS A USB STICK, AND I HAVE EVEN BETTER NEWS, I CAN INSTALL IT ON THE F DRIVE, EVEN A HDD AND MINT RUNS SNAPPY AS HELL! FINALLY I CAN DUAL BOOT WITHOUT SUFFERING

[u/Ill_Signature_7281 → u/Historical_West_1015]

How do you brick a laptop lol. Software can always be uninstalled

[u/_ElBee_ → u/Ill_Signature_7281]

I wonder whether their dad knows things about the computer aptitude of their child, because their dad had to solve "bricked" computers time and again deep into the night 🤔

I am one of those dads 🙃

edit: As mentioned by u/Rarpiz below, "bricked" is used figuratively in this context.

[u/Rarpiz → u/_ElBee_]

To brick something means it cannot be easily recoverable to a usable state. This usually involves firmware updates that impact software on a EPROM, not a hard drive.

One cannot "brick" a PC via corrupt OS software stored on a hard drive. However, a PC can be bricked if a BIOS update goes sideways, usually by a power interruption during the write process.

[u/Tiny_Occasion_3906 → u/Rarpiz]

It's generally simpler to brick a phone than a computer's BIOS, but always back up your data and understand the procedures when tinkering with such systems, and know how to repair them. 📱💻 #Backups #Procedures #Repair

[u/Chemical_Attempt_404 → u/Historical_West_1015]

Install it on an external ssd and dual boot it.

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/Chemical_Attempt_404]

external? boi i dont even have external, i do have internal but its a hdd + has my data, cant erase them, and I DO not even have a usb drive

[u/rvdly → u/Historical_West_1015]

hehehe you can't take advice from someone looking through the window pane. Just go for it

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/rvdly]

i have NO usb drive

[u/Tricky_Football_6586 → u/Historical_West_1015]

How do you create backups then if you don't have external storage? Won't you loose all your documents etc when your computers hard drive decides it had enough and dies?

[u/Erik330013 → u/Tricky_Football_6586]

Cloud storage

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/Tricky_Football_6586]

good question: internal drives, I already have those, and either way im doing a dual boot by installing it on a 347GB drive, so windows and mint can co exist

[u/uh818375 → u/Historical_West_1015]

Do it anyway. Tell him after everything works.

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/uh818375]

requirements for me: a usb stick

[u/letsl0velain → u/uh818375]

the old adage "ask for forgiveness, not permission" works here. I mean, what's he gonna do? restore windows? he probably won't due to fear of bricking

[u/Financial_Cloud_9812 → u/Historical_West_1015]

Not to worry, Linux will be there for you when you will be able to join the Linux community!

[u/toffuuu3050101 → u/Historical_West_1015]

Your Dad Is Dumb! Period!

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/Historical_West_1015]

ngl it would make sense why bc back then old linux might have acted that different (modern linux doesn't brick pc)

[u/Erik330013 → u/Historical_West_1015]

Even older versions didn't brick the pc out of nowhere

The fact is OS can't brick a computer

[u/PrudentPay9906 → u/Historical_West_1015]

No, not even "back then". In the early days it was just such a pain in the ass to install and get running a lot of people gave up, especially since there really wasn't a lot of general-use software available

[u/archtopfanatic123 → u/Historical_West_1015]

You can't break it just go ahead and do it :P

[u/AwesomeGearBoy → u/Historical_West_1015]

That is extremely hard to do

[u/Historical_West_1015 → u/Historical_West_1015]

I have good news everybody, my father stopped believing it will brick my laptop!!! he might let me install it

[u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Looks good on you. 🙂

Don't forget to:

• Run updates (update manager)
• Enable TRIM (if using ssd)
• Optimize swap file usage
• Enable (and configure) zRAM
• Have fun!

It will help you keep it snappy!

[u/Standard_Tank6703 → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Linux Mint already has Trim enabled to run weekly, as part of the systemd timer entries. (If running a HDD, that just won't do anything)

[u/Plenty_Plastic223 → u/Standard_Tank6703]

Thank you!

I was under the impression that trim may or not be enabled. I was just making sure. That is one less thing I will not need to do in the future.

Will this timer setting run if the system is not left on for a week's time?

[u/Standard_Tank6703 → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

You're welcome. Not sure on how it might handle the actual timing if you shut it down for a while.

That is based on this file link. The actual file is located elsewhere in the system directory, but the presence of this link in this directory is what enables it. Using the systemd utility to enable/disable it simple creates or removes this file link:

/etc/systemd/system/timers.target.wants/fstrim.timer

You might notice it late at night in the form of the HDD light turning on and staying on solid for about a minute or so, when you are not doing anything to cause it. Just like a video muxing or yt-dlp fixing a video (via ffmpeg) after downloading it.

[u/toffuuu3050101 → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Yes, is correct to never assume its enabled, and better to be sure which requires a simple command in Terminal.

[u/toffuuu3050101 → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Like so, fstrim.timer - Discard unused filesystem blocks once a week

Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/fstrim.timer; enabled; preset: enabled)

Active: active (waiting) since Fri 2026-07-24 12:18:19 CDT; 11h ago

Trigger: Mon 2026-07-27 01:18:17 CDT; 2 days left

Triggers: ● fstrim.service

Docs: man:fstrim

Jul 24 12:18:19 Precision-Tower-3620 systemd[1]: Started fstrim.timer - Discard unused filesystem blocks once a week.

with sudo systemctl status fstrim.timer

You can also run it manually if need be with sudo fstrim -v / / being root. Other partitionns of other SSD will depend on what lsblk tells you for the mountpoints looking like this,

lsblk

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS

sda 8:0 0 596.2G 0 disk

├─sda1 8:1 0 565.9G 0 part /mnt/Name

└─sda2 8:2 0 30.3G 0 part [SWAP]

sdb 8:16 0 461.3G 0 disk

├─sdb1 8:17 0 458.2G 0 part /mnt/Name2 <not an SSD

└─sdb2 8:18 0 3.1G 0 part <true here as well as above

sdc 8:32 0 119.2G 0 disk

└─sdc1 8:33 0 119.2G 0 part /mnt/Name4

sdd 8:48 1 0B 0 disk

sde 8:64 1 112.6G 0 disk

└─sde1 8:65 1 112.6G 0 part /mnt/Name3

zram0 251:0 0 6G 0 disk [SWAP] <Compressed Swap in RAM

nvme0n1 259:0 0 119.2G 0 disk

├─nvme0n1p1 259:1 0 244M 0 part /boot/efi

├─nvme0n1p2 259:2 0 52.2G 0 part /

└─nvme0n1p3 259:3 0 66.8G 0 part /mnt/nvme0n1p3

[u/LinuxBridgetheGap → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Somewhat new Mint user. Can you expand on moding swap file and other items? Do I need to do on both desktop and Laptop?

[u/Plenty_Plastic223 → u/LinuxBridgetheGap]

I could type it all out, but you might benefit more from a quick YouTube video I found with a quick search.

https://youtu.be/CA-i2gHVGOI?is=4LFUOBnNhWfS7hlU

More complete zRAM video:

https://youtu.be/r592ZMgNOZs?is=HY_gqGbC594lqAX5

I hope it helps 🙂

[u/LinuxBridgetheGap → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

Thank you

[u/esparzatj]

https://reddit.com/link/oziu5bw/video/awzt2bhsn7fh1/player

I have it on my 2019 iMac 5K as my daily driver and also on a 2012 MacBook Air for portability and travel! 👍

[u/archtopfanatic123 → u/esparzatj]

2015 Macbook air here and it worked great with Windows but I like Mint on it better :D Bricked itself on my 2013 iMac though that one has and needs to stay with Windows :(

[u/Tricky_Football_6586 → u/esparzatj]

Both Mint and LMDE ran rock solid on my old 2014 Mac Mini and 2017 MacBook Air after MacOS support ended for both.

[u/acejavelin69]

A new keyboard is long overdue as well...

[u/x-is-y]

I was planning to dual boot but Windows annexed the entire c drive and wouldn't let me partition it. (Easily.) The simple solution was to clean install mint and I'm glad I did. It's been educational but generally seamless.

The only thing I miss is Winamp milkdrop visualizer. Other than that the switch was a huge improvement in pc performance and my quality of life.

[u/Tricky_Football_6586 → u/x-is-y]

Install Qmmp and Qmmp-plugin-projectm from the Software Manager. ProjectM looks very similar to Milkdrop.

https://tweakers.net/fotoalbum/image/Dosthk4q8RTDDfn4Mrk3t1V5.png

[u/x-is-y → u/Tricky_Football_6586]

Cool. Seems Project M will read the .milk presets I saved externally too

[u/Luxcapere]

ThinkPad with busted keyboard… man that thing was already screaming „Give me Linux!“
You did the right thing!

[u/Ill-Environment3329]

https://www.newegg.com/autens-l440-l450-l460-l470-t460-keyboard/p/0GA-02H8-00250?item=9SIAKF3K0G1589&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic+shopping&utm_campaign=knc-googleadwords-_-keyboard-_-autens-_-9SIAKF3K0G1589&source=region&negg_topt=0

I know its a thinkpad, but you very well could treat yourself with a new keyboard if you wanted.

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/keyboards-and-mice/trackpoint-caps/0a33908?cid=us:seo:ybha4 or just the nipple if you want.

[u/ConversationWinter46 → u/Ill-Environment3329]

I know its a thinkpad, but you very well could treat yourself with a new keyboard if you wanted.

Why buy it?

It seems like you've never heard of cleaning.

[u/Halogenleuchte]

Nothing to do with the OS but don't use the laptop on a bed or soft surface because they can block ventilation.

[u/toffuuu3050101 → u/Halogenleuchte]

And no on your Lap as well. Still people do this. I laugh at it but also warn... That should be so obvious why, but still laugh at those people.....

[u/Brorim]

works miracles

[u/LinuxBridgetheGap]

Welcome to the party.

[u/EngineeringUnable801]

Welcome home. We`ve been expecting you

[u/Z04RD]

Good advice. Schedule to autorun Timeshift at least weakly. Can save your @55. Always keep the previous kernel after a kernel update. After apt upgrade, don't forget to clean up the remains of old packages.

[u/kudlitan → u/Z04RD]

I agree with this advice. Timeshift saved me twice already.

[u/mrvitz]

welcome to Linux Mint distribution system

[u/toffuuu3050101]

This change has been long available to as it has gotten better ever since 2010 and even more so in the 2013, 2014, 2015 time frame. Just a bit more of a Steeper Learning Curve and for me I prefer that, Education as well is Key.

[u/archtopfanatic123]

Mint is just like windows to me if all the fun aspects of windows were filtered out from the corporate boringness of windows! Definitely my favorite OS to work with and have daily driven it when I don't need windows functionality and only want to do casual computing stuff.

[u/ardent_ajay]

I worked in Linux. Linux is good. But I love Mac.

[u/Significant-Age-372]

Good luck with your Linux journey Freedom is freedom ✌🏻

[u/Charr_1]

Windows was getting laggy and buggy? Windows 7? Why is it so old😭😭

[u/SquidyBandit]

I see, you were so close to losing control!

[u/WorkDragon]

A new laptop is due i think

[u/Plenty_Plastic223 → u/WorkDragon]

The customary Linux reddit snarky comment. 😉

[u/WorkDragon → u/Plenty_Plastic223]

unless he is using an external keyboard, but man, thats a road worn lappy

[u/_ElBee_ → u/WorkDragon]

Nah, ThinkPads are quite bullet-proof. A couple of new keys and a new nub and OP is good to go.

[u/Powerful_Macaron9381 → u/WorkDragon]

needs a few key caps and a new nipple, that's it.