Linux Mint - Getting Started - Transition From Windows Today For Free!

Ultimately I'm only keeping one Windows workstation and only because I have engineering $oftware that won't run on anything else. Everything else is going to Linux. Not only am I tired of M$ making your OS obsolete so they can force you into an expensive upgrade, I don't like how they snoop on you "to enhance your experience". I'm also tired of having to pay for anti-virus. That sole Windows box will be limited to my internal network so I can say bye-bye to that as well.

 

Been using Linux Mint for several years, Blame it on this forum especially, blame it on Melbo!

I do keep win7 on a laptop, but only use it to make power point stuff. Linux Mint is also on it and what I use if I'm going to go online.

Switched over the wife's computer last fall. Her hard drive bit the dust. I had an old one that worked and seen it was large enough for her computer needs, I never changed it out and only once in a while do I have to check something for her. When she had windows, I was all the time having to fix something for her.

 

Brokor

 

Thanks for the encouragement regarding Linux, Brokor. Switched to Linux Mint years ago and never looked back. Billy Gates can go... well...

Folks, this is very important to realize, IMO: Mac OS and Windows version <whatever> are NOT designed to help you get done the things you need to get done. They are designed to help Apple and Microsoft get done the things they want to get done, such as own you. You're cattle to these empires, and the corral gate gets more and more narrow with each released version. Linux Mint does not spy on me. I feel no pressure to start storing my files and data on someone else's server. OneDrive, GoogleDrive, etc., have no real purpose other than to collect your stuff and potentially use that stuff against you. The threat alone - even if it seems far-fetched - is all it takes to modify your behavior.

Think about it: how stoutly are you going to resist and fight for some social issue if you realize that you've been indiscreet in some of the musings you've put down in digital form in Word, and that these indiscretions are all in the hands of The Company because you foolishly entrusted their storage to OneDrive, etc?

Aside from these issues, I personally find Linux SO much more tuned to the way my brain operates. Window$ 10 and Microsoft apps make my brain hurt...

 

I solved that by using virtualbox .No more disk space for windows and you can disable the networking for that machine.Remove the virus scanner and be surprised how much resources that uses!

 

Since I work from home, and work requires me to use either Mac or Windows, I'm using Winblows. For my personal stuff, I try to stick with Ubuntu as much as possible, but there I have a lot of software programs that only run on Win. I've tried the virtual environments and have never been satisfied with the results, thought that was probably close to a decade ago.
My manager and boss both use Mac but have had to keep a Win machine around for some of our contracts that we work on.
I've thought about getting a Macbook just to play with, just haven't done it yet.

 

I'm a Devuan nerd myself, but it's good to see people getting off Windows regardless of their distribution choice! Everything since 7 has been very invasive to privacy, and 10-11 were really nothing more than glorified spyware. D:

 

@kckndrgn Remember that your mac cost much,is made obsolete fast and software is costly and only by apple. Dont know of new macs the old ones could be made to run linux,like my 2009 macbook.I like it because its a solid aluminum case ,heavy but sturdy.

 

I do not currently have a mac, my bosses do, it's their preferred OS.
New macs OS's are based on a unix.

 

Ok,, from a mostly computer dumass ,,
Does Linux track you like Google and Windows ??
And is Ubuntu ,, the same as Linux ? Or like an arm of same ?
And what kind of computer is needed to use it ,, by that I mean memory and ram ? Does Windows need to be erased ?
Thanks for any input .

 

Does linux track you, probably, but less so than windows or mac. Most (all?) of linux is open source, so pretty transparent if there are any trackers and nasty code it's usually found.
Ubuntu, Mint, etc. are all derivatives or 'flavors' of Linux.
You can run a linux system on any system that can run windows, since you can strip the kernel down to the bare minium for your situation you can run linux on really small ARM computers (Raspberry PI).
I can remember building the linux kernel and loading the system from 20 or 3.5" disks. One bad disk and you had to restart from the beginning.

 

Thanks for the info.
So if I download Linux ,, is it like an app that I just open it when I want to use it ,, or do I need to erase other programs or apps .
Sorry for the stupid questions,, but I was serious about the " computer idiot " comment.

 

well done. excelent post, extra banana for you.

 

Go re-read the first post in this thread, everything is explained there.
Linux is not an "app", it the complete operating system. You can run both Windows and a Linux system on the same computer, just not at the same time (well, technically you can but that's another thing). You can "test out" different flavors of Linux (like Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) by creating a bootable USB drive. This allows you to play around without anything being permanent or deleting your existing operating system.
I've done this in the past to play with some of the different Linux flavors. Everyone has upsides and downsides and trying out different ones to find one that meets your needs can be fun and frustrating.
Here is a video on starting with Linux. I have not watched the whole thing, but I have used "Free Code Camp" before and generally their videos are pretty good.


On that note, if you are running a current version of windows, you can start the WSL (What is Windows Subsystem for Linux) which will let you run Linux in a "sub-system" of windows. This will let you play with Linux in some ways, but not a full desktop environment.

 

Thanks for the info ,, computer stuff is basically like a foreign language with to me ,, I'll give it a shot.

 

While you are making your Linux boot device go ahead and burn another one with TAILS. This is a special combination of Linux and TOR . Once booted it only access the Internet via TOR and will save nothing so nothing gets left on the device wanted or not. It does not replace your normal OS but is a useful to browse without being tracked.

Tails (operating system) - Wikipedia

Official website: Tails - Home

 

Windows, Ubuntu, Kali, Tails & Tor, even got an Apple Mac Mini from the late 2000s plus an Edge computing device running JetsonOS.
Gotta have them all.