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mgb360 t1_ivnq877 wrote

Ah yes, Linux, the thing that would make my old laptops usable if only I could figure out how anything works on it

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In-Gloom t1_ivnsjn2 wrote

"William E. Shotts, Jr. - The Linux command line: a complete introduction" - changed my life.

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edwardianpug OP t1_ivnqg7o wrote

Mint is one of the more user friendly versions

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mgb360 t1_ivnugvp wrote

Oh I've tried it, I recognized it immediately. Still end up bashing my head against a wall trying to solve some minor issue that pops up.

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PermanenteThrowaway t1_ivoh3pr wrote

Two years in and I've come to accept show-stopping bugs as just another unavoidable fact of life.

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A_number-1234 t1_iw2hsl3 wrote

Same here. In general it works good, but in some cases it's like they have their priorities backwards, regarding what they make easy. I soon need to upgrade from 19.3 in order to keep getting security updates, but it's a "major upgrade", which is high risk and requires command line knowledge. I can do it, unless something goes wrong (which I estimate to a 40% risk), then I'd need to know every detail about how the system works to troubleshoot and correct it. I always take full disk backups before upgrading, but that will only get me back to the old version, not help me with a successful upgrade...

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mgb360 t1_iw3i9vr wrote

See, that's exactly the kind of thing I mean. There's no reason you should need command knowledge just to update. Really, needing command knowledge to do any basic functions is pretty user unfriendly

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A_number-1234 t1_iw4rwnd wrote

Indeed. It's stupid. Mint is better than many other distros, but I can't say it's good. It has pretty much modern functionality day-to-day-wise (AFAIK, I haven't used Windows 10 or newer much, and Mac not at all), but even things like updating, repairing file systems after not unmounting before disconnecting something, and other necessary but rarely used functions are like Windows 98 level at best - sometimes DOS. If it wasn't for increasing privacy concerns with Windows, I would have stuck with it. Open source philosophy is better, but the current state of the distros I've tried is definitely not. Nor the availability of information, when problems occur.

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mgb360 t1_iw4vn10 wrote

Privacy concerns are a big one. I've been holding on to windows 7 for as long as possible but it's getting to the point that a lot just won't work with it. I'd like to switch to Linux, it's just not easy

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Quirky_Inflation t1_ivpougi wrote

Don't worry, after two years of headbanging and multiple system reinstall, you will somehow understand how to use it

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WayneKrane t1_ivpy4p5 wrote

My coworker tried to get me to switch to Linux. He showed me his setup and I was like, nah, hard pass. Not trying to get a degree in computing just to avoid using windows.

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crash-alt t1_ivqtt44 wrote

Less þat its more complicated, more þat you aren’t used to it and you are used to windows. Or he has a complicated/more CLI based setup. I personally use enough GUIs þat some in linux communities would dislike me for it, but you can generally ignore þe toxicity of þe larger community.

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dasWolverine t1_ivr1jf2 wrote

Don’t that me, friend, but I think your “th” is broken

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Significant-Weight64 t1_iw0cgmv wrote

Figures that the kind of guy who insists on using Linux would be the kind of guy who insists on using thorn. ;)

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crash-alt t1_iw1qx2g wrote

Kinda right, but i do use windows for gaming

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Freedom_Fighter_0798 t1_ivoy8nr wrote

Why don’t you try ChromeOS Flex? Linux-based so it’s lightweight but with an easy to use interface.

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galactadon t1_ivp1xj5 wrote

ChromeOS Flex doesn't support 32 bit, not sure of the architecture on this model but that's been my issue with older laptops

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dandydudefriend t1_ivqshs4 wrote

They really don’t make it easy. Sometimes they try, but they forget that not everyone is a programmer or just has 50 years of context to understand computer terminology

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WayneKrane t1_ivpy939 wrote

My coworker tried to get me to switch to Linux. He showed me his setup and I was like, nah, hard pass. Not trying to get a degree in computing just to avoid using windows.

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majornerd t1_ivqtwua wrote

Linux for Windows Admins by Mark Minasi is amazing too

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wowsomuchempty t1_ivpgb4g wrote

Well, by doing nothing I guess you gave it your best shot :p

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mgb360 t1_ivpugwu wrote

I've installed half a dozen different distributions, and spent multiple afternoons on forums trying to find the solutions to the problems I've had.

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