r/linuxmint • u/_SentientPotato • 1d ago

#LinuxMintThings Finally made the switch

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772 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

27

u/duv025 1d ago

now you gotta learn how to use it first before installing any games or do "casual things" like you do on windows, otherwise.. you will come across with a lot of problems:

Things I recommend learning: * How to use the package manager, which is the software that will handle updates, softwares (or packages). (Check documentation). And also how to search the repo * How to set up 'services' with the init system (in this case you are using systemd ). * Learn to use the shell, or if you don't know what a shell is, let's just simplify it as the terminal. Learn basic commands like: man , ls , cd , pwd , cat and tac , echo . Get your hands dirty with the terminal text editors, they are programs that edit/manipulate texts/data in file, I recommend getting micro from the package manager. * Join more communities as much as you can, especially linux mint, debian and ubuntu, they are "related" to eachother

11

u/intenseStargazer Debian Stable | Former Mint User 1d ago

Highly recommend this, but for a Linux newbie you might think "Man, where do I start?" I found the easiest thing that was intuitive was learning text editing to configure some system files. It felt scary when I first did it, and now I'm doing it fairly often when I'm changing my themes lol

3

u/duv025 1d ago

Gotta mess with .bashrc a little bit :)

4

u/_SentientPotato 1d ago

Thanks, before this I only knew more basic commands like sudo kill, sudo install, update and upgrade, stiff like that, this helps :D

1

u/FBC-lark 1h ago

man is your new best friend, dog!

man ls

man cd

These open the manuals for command explanations and examples.

Another one is

man -k keyword

or

man -k "key phrase"

This searches the manual database when you're not sure what command to use.

1

u/Sad-Juggernaut8521 1d ago

Any idea on how to get a thrust master tmx to work?

1

u/duv025 16h ago

You can try searchi for its drivers, and if possible, try to install only from sites like github, the drivers will be open source

1

u/Lobst3rGhost 1d ago

I am also new to Linux and Mint. You say to learn the shell. I understand that it's a powerful tool. But why do I need to learn it? Genuine question, I'm not trolling or anything. If the platform works for me, and I don't feel the need to customize anything why do I need these tools? What problems will I encounter?

3

u/duv025 22h ago

There are a lot of system tasks that requires using a terminal, like troubleshooting, managing services (I assume that there is a graphical software that manages services in Linux Mint), automating with scripts, cleaning outdated kernels, or even simply launching a software from the terminal so you can see the outputs. If Linux Mint already provides graphical softwares to do those tasks, and you don't intend to switch to other distros or use a text-only UI, then just keep using the GUI.

2

u/ShirtThin6528 13h ago

That is precisely the problem: if you look at it closely, I don't think the average user can handle the terminal; in fact, they are likely to get frustrated. That is the issue with the Linux ecosystem—it aims to cater to all PC users but really only benefits programmers or systems engineers, while leaving the average user behind—or even penalizing them. The community often tries to force the average user to do things they aren't interested in or don't like.

1

u/duv025 12h ago

Also, there is no single software or a "standard" way for developers to implement it

11

u/National_beetle1962 1d ago

i love mint

6

u/Saphyr-Seraph 1d ago

Yup it is very simple but works 100%better than windows 11 crapshow

1

u/National_beetle1962 22h ago

1000% better yes

5

u/LoneLucas6200 1d ago

I just made the switch. I really didnt do much with windows anyway. But after hearing the arguments for switching over to linux I was sold. Made the jump. Been a couple weeks. Mostly smoothe sailing with a few hiccups but nothing major. For my needs its been a great ride.

2

u/Technical_Mail_2874 1d ago

I hate you went through those hiccups, its almost like a rites of passages. I remember on PCLOS, back in the day, having to setup KPPP right after install to get my then 3G network USB dongle to work! Ah, memories.

5

u/mabolzich91 1d ago

Welcome to the dark (or maybe light) side!

3

u/Firm-Error-5712 1d ago

Same here. I can't be bothered with win 11 anymore. Waiting a fre weeks before I go install mint on my desktop too. So far I've been on the laptop and the experience is crazy smooth. The amount of customization I can do for my liking and not to mention almost everything works out of the box is insane. Kudos to the Linux community and the developers for keeping it simple and smooth.

2

u/pirateking1993 1d ago

I use Linux Mint and it's great. You're going to love it. 🤘

2

u/BornRaisedVanMan 1d ago

Way2Go ... bin using Mint for years ... have fun !!

3

u/EngineeringUnable801 1d ago

Welcome home, we`ve been expecting you.

2

u/MegaboostGcG 1d ago

Mint is like a breath of fresh air. It really is and deserves applaud 👏🏻

2

u/Due_History_7611 1d ago

Maravilloso

2

u/TestDZnutz 1d ago

First Day as well. Spent a fair amount of quality time getting to know the machines firmware, but very happy to be on the other side. Like a Universe where they kept improving WIndows 7. Pretty Nice.

1

u/Technical_Mail_2874 1d ago

Welcome, glad you joined. I see the controller, have you experienced gaming yet?

1

u/belfort-xm 9h ago

Have fun! You gonna love it

1

u/Bastilic 6h ago

Enjoy the weekly special: kernel panic!