I've thought about posting this for quite a while. I'm not selling anything, and in fact it's the opposite. I wasn't sure if this discussion really belongs on this forum, but it does fit into the idea of the Great Awakening and sticking it to these tech corporate oligarchs. With Tim Cook you have a loathsome buttpuppet who fancies CCP enslavement, and Bill Gates is a villain obsessed with reducing the world's population through vaccines. Both are New World Order turdcopters who only seek to kill, oppress and enslave.
For myself, I've been getting sick of Bill Gates's crap for years and I'd been wanting to switch to Linux, but did not have the motivation. I was happy with Win7 and I refused the "free" upgrade to Win10. I did not want Win10 and every computer at work that was upgraded got slow. I'd resolved to never pay money for another Microsoft OS again. So when MS announced that they would cease support for Win7, that was my motivation to break free from my comfort zone.
In February 2020, I migrated from Win7 to Linux and I have not regretted it. Not only does Linux install on pretty much anything, uses less resources, makes older computers run more smoothly and it is completely free, but it is also far more secure. Say goodbye to malware, trojans, and viruses. You see? Bill Gates has conditioned everyone to not only become used to enduring a barrage of concocted viruses in real life, but for your computer too. On the day I migrated to Linux, I cancelled my Avast Antivirus membership, which was incidentally soon after they got into trouble for selling their users' data and apologized for getting caught.
Maybe 20 years ago, Linux was intimidating for most people. Then Ubuntu came along, and made Linux far more user-friendly. Because of its wide support base, it made Linux easier to acclimate to. You see with the Mac/Win situation, it's like Dairy Queen. You only get two flavors: vanilla and chocolate. With Linux, it's like Baskin Robbins: there are so many flavors you don't know where to begin.
Look: I won't give a whole presentation on the various types of Linux. Just know that there are many different OS to choose from, and each OS will have different user interfaces (GUI) to choose from. As I mentioned, Linux is far stabler, more efficient, and more secure. Linux Mint seems to be the most popular OS as it is built upon Ubuntu as a version that is tailor made to appeal to Windows users who liked XP and 7, but do not like the bloated puke that 10 is. Its foundation is the user-friendly, widely-used Ubuntu and it takes it a step further to appeal more to Windows users who look for a Windows alternative that is not outside of their comfort zone. With Mint, there are choices of GUI to choose from. Cinnamon provides a very Windows-like, elegant and charming presentation. Mate is more versatile and customizable. XFCE is more of a no-nonsense GUI that is best for older hardware. As for myself, I went with Mint Mate.
Another OS that is easy to pick up and learn is Zorin OS. I haven't used it myself, but I plan to test it out sometime. With Linux, you can't go wrong. Even Microsoft uses Linux for their servers rather than their own crap. https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/microsoft-uses-linux-instead-of-windows-for-its-azure-sphere/
I see a lot of Linux users recommend newcomers to install VirtualBox and make a test install on that. I tried that, but I did not care for it as I have an older computer and it was rather laggy. No, if you can just burn an install DVD, you can just boot up to that. I made an install DVD for Mint and once I had booted my computer off of the DVD-ROM drive, I could actually use the OS to get a feel for how it works. It's so no-nonsense that you can run programs right from the install disc. I got into Firefox, logged into my Gmail, and then I could do a Hangouts video call with my friend. He's a Unix admin and even he was floored that I was just running my computer off the install DVD. Give it a try. You can use the OS without even having to install it. When you have all of your stuff backed up and are ready to make it happen, then you just click the install icon on the desktop. It's that simple.
You really don't have to bother much with drivers. Drivers are the software that interfaces with hardware, but Linux acts like that software itself. I imagine that this is why it runs slimmer. All I can say is just try it out. Unless you really must use some proprietary software like Microsoft Access or Adobe Photoshop for your work or something, you can find alternatives. Best of all is that it's free. Linux was doing the whole "app store" before Apple did. You can easily just install software from the software manager, or you can just pull up the terminal and type in the request to install a program. No more having to hunt down installation files off of various websites. Give it a shot! Let me know what your experiences are with this.
Nice dump. I would recommend Linux Mint for Noobs looking to bail into Linux. Rather than DVD booting I would highly recommend writing the OS to a bootable USB stick which can even be made persistent so you can save files and make changes and still keep your crappy windows install for some easy gaming. (There is still no GUI under linux for AMD graphics cards at all.) WTF !
This is a problem when running 2 cards in a crossfire rig and I want to change or force FSAA type or turn on crossfire or turn 3 screen into 1 big screen or any of this type of thing) I don't mind me a bit of command line but for these graphics cards settings it's a bit of a learning curve and fucking inconvenient.
Good points!
Mint with persistence is still something that is a bit tricky. MXlinux does that out of the box.
It seems everybody has to assess where they are and how the process should look like to move from win/mac to linux.
I am actually running Mint with persistence on a 64 gig Samsung BAR USB. From memory there was nothing too hard about it, I think I used Balena Etcher for the burn to the stick. It's fine for a home entertainment system and runs 4k vids like a champion on an 11 year old computer (with a 2017 GPU). To be honest I have gamed off the same model stick using windows 10 LTSC perfectly fine.
Congrats! I like the hackaton type of thinking!
In the interest of community enticing: Would you mind describing your learning curve?
Edit:- Wrote a big post about Balena Etcher but now I am not sure what I used to write to the USB stick. It may nothave been etcher, I will have to look on one of my OS's and get back to you about that. I do remember that it was easy as fuck though.
Otherwise:- Mint is great place for Linux noobs. One button installs ALL codecs and runs media centers like a charm. AMD graphics require no input at all, everything just works out of the box (but with no GUI for settings though). Use all your usual programs like , Firefox, VLC media player, Thunderbird Email as well as decent alternatives like Libre Office.
The curve is not too bad and is a zero sum game on a persistent USB stick as you can keep your windows installation etc. If you can't do something (you will 99% find useful or better alternatives) just pull out the stick and do it the old way.
Enjoy.
Update:- I must have used a linux program called MKUSB for the persistent Mint stick as it seems etcher does not do persistence. MK USB will do persistence on Ubuntu based distributions (Mint) so I am pretty sure that is what I used to install Mint with persistence on the stick.
That may be a pain in the ass for you if you don't have a linux OS handy and I can't help you build it off a windows machine.
If you can be fucked burn Ubuntu (or mint) to one stick (under windows using balena etcher) just to install MKUSB and use it to burn Mint to another stick.
Here is a comprehensive guide for MKUSB on linux for any peeps:- https://ostechnix.com/how-to-create-persistent-live-usb-on-ubuntu/
Instead of using the Ubuntu.iso you would pick the Linux Mint iso you download from their website.