Mint 19.2 and “finding “ my computer

I’m sure months from now I’ll be thinking oh yeah that’s an OK amount. But right now I am flabbergasted at so much memory and what I can possibly do to need that much.
 


I’m sure months from now I’ll be thinking oh yeah that’s an OK amount. But right now I am flabbergasted at so much memory and what I can possibly do to need that much.
Well, as you learn, you can do some fun things like... install another Linux beside that one. And more than one! Then you would choose which to start at boot time. Of course, each one would take up hard drive space. This is the same way people "dual boot" between Windows and Linux, but it can be Linux and Linux as well. That @wizardfromoz fellow has about 40 different Linux's running on a single computer! (I don't recommend you do that for awhile! :D)
 
All in due time. Will just take one thing at a time for now. The most important thing for me is getting on the Internet.
 
Just got back to it a few minutes ago. I’m basically starting from scratch and I’m working on it now.
 
Sorry I'm not going to be much help with those. You gotta get into the configuration and make it match your home network... without that, there's nothing.
 
Here's another "wall of text" for you! :D

More about root, this time the root user. One of the things that makes Linux so much more secure than Windows is that you are not normally using your system with root (Administrator) privileges. Windows encourages people to create and use a regular user account, but few people do, and it opens the system up to many problems, including viruses and malware. Linux basically forces you to be a regular user most of the time, although there are some exceptions and some ways around the restrictions.

You will soon learn about "su" and "sudo." These are used in the terminal. "su" takes on a couple of meanings, "switch user" or "super user" (root). "sudo" (usually pronounced soo-doo" is used to preface a command and it executes that command with root privilege, just that one time, or for a short period of time. You'll have to enter your password to use sudo. "sudo" is saying, "Super User, do this command for me." You won't usually "su" (switch user) because you are likely the only user on your computer, but Linux is a multi-user system if you want to share it. If you do have multiple users, you can "become any user" on the system with the password. This is very helpful for troubleshooting sometimes.

So, sometimes you give a command in the terminal, and it will respond, "Permission denied." This indicates you need root privileges, so you'll need to re-enter the command again but put "sudo" in at the beginning (without quotes). A shortcut to re-enter the command when this happens is to use "sudo !!"

If you have a lot of work to do that will require root privileges, you can "become root" with the command, "sudo su" and give your password. This is when the final character of your terminal prompt will change from a $ to a # character. You only want to work this way as long as needed, then type exit to leave the root shell. "Shell" and "terminal" and "command line" are all basically the same thing... the method by which you can interact with direct commands to your Linux system. Oh, some Linux distros are slightly different, so that "su" by itself might let you become root, instead of "sudo su" but I think Mint needs "sudo su"

As you learn to surf around the web and find Linux solutions on your own, you will encounter many examples of terminal commands that you can copy/paste to do things. If these examples begin with the # character, they are telling you that you need to become root, or use sudo, to run the commands they are providing. They may or may not explicitly say this, but the # character represents that.

You only want to use root privileges when needed, not as a habit. You must provide your password to update software or install new software. Sometimes you will need your password to open restricted files or copy files to/from restricted locations. Any screen that pops up and requests your password, you should be expecting it... but still read it and know what is happening. If in doubt, cancel the action to evaluate who/what wants your password. This simple thing is greatly what keeps Linux users from allowing malware to install itself in their systems. I know many Windows users who have been infected with malware even though they were running some kind of software to protect them, so I have little regard for programs like that. Your best protection is your firewall, and to be attentive to what you are doing and where you are surfing.

Okay, bored yet?
I had a busy few days so I’m just now getting back to this Linux stuff. I really appreciate your explanations and they are very very good and helpful. Thank you.
 


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