The plan for increased font sizes didn;t work out....you can see from this I dont use Libre Office very often
It was a good idea at the time....I have just enlkarged the fonts....I think I got all of it.
THANK YOU for the encouragement, opinions, comments and facts in your last three posts Huge help especially settling things down a bit. You seem to have some very similar experiences and background.
No problem. My answers/comments will be in this font/size throughout so they can be easily read.
The other thing I found was the second Forum I have ever been registered to locked me out after three much shorter, on topic posts. On my first post a moderator got a bit snippy about not following the rules. The other two readers (read the whole post) and had no problem with some real friendly help. but alas, the third post got locked out and to find help elsewhere. Turns out to be a good thing for me. Hope everyone can put up with my verbosity till I get a bit further along with a Linux distro.
Not everywhere has the patience you will encounter here
My original thoughts before starting the process of leaving Microsoft was LinuxMint. It read like it was a good place to start and maybe stay.
That was a good read !
I'm not looking to have the 50 year in-depth understanding of anything Linux like I had with Microsoft. My goal is to be 99.5% free of Microsoft by Christmas 2024. Could be 100%. My present to my wife and me.
Merry Christmas !
Experience taught me after thousands of deployments - buy hardware with the OS installed. Saved time and money over the decades. The MiniPC with Ubuntu fit the bill. At least it came installed so I didn't have to chase drivers or try to figure some error out so I could ask a question I knew nothing about. I'd like to get up and running and use the system for a month or more. I need to feel confident in a Backup/Restore.
Installing an alternative is fairly simple. Drivers are ctaered for in the kernel (most of the time)
An alternative can be “road tested’ without Installing.
It involves ‘attaching’ an .iso file to a usb (simple)….and then booting the pc to that usb stick. The result is a “LIVE” version.
You can do anything you like with it...it will NOT affect the main system.
As soon as you pull the usb out, it is gone and so are any changes you made to it.
Original Goal & Plan ----------------------
Buy MiniPC w/Ubuntu 22.xx.x
Automatically updated to 24.04.1
Make the GUI look friendly - at least "workable"
Modify/Secure FireFox and StartPage search engine.
Firefox….have a look in Firefox add ons for a PopPeeper extension
---------------------
All Done to this point. I am using this machine for a lot of Internet/Forum/LibreOffice/Text Editor to get used to the environment. So far/So good.
Good to here...progress
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My Goal comes to a Branch Point -> Stay with Ubuntu OR move LinuxMint (Cinnamon?). Seems you may have some very convincing points for LinuxMint. Do tell, I am a willing, open book to your experiences and opinions.
I really cannot help you much there…..it is like driving a car…...I may love it, you may hate it….tis a personal choice.
My suggestion above…..stick LM22 on a usb stick and take LM22, Cinnamon for a ride.
Either way I wanted a Backup for full Recovery to this point (before possible LinuxMint) because I will mess up. Once I get going, my intent is success for the goal or push it till it crashes... Recover, start again.
Backup for full recovery(possibly where the pc will not boot)..Rescuezilla
…..for just a bit of a screw up…..but you cannot fix it…...Timeshift. Note that Timeshift will also provide a recovery even when the machine will not boot. To do this you need the OS on a usb stick (it is put on the usb via Balena Etcher….more about that later)
Also, the Hardware & OS System Warrantee is not valid if Ubuntu is changed. (3 year warrantee) So I want to always come back to this point if I have to ship the MiniPC back for the hardware warrentee.
That warranty is certainly restrictive
I can understand that. If it were me I would still swap over…...I flew by the seat of my pants for a number of years….but that’s me !...Again, it is a personal choice.
The Windows GUI does not bother me. I rather like most of it and it is very familiar. It's Microsoft methods and policies that is the problem. So a Linux look-alike is OK. So far Ubuntu looks OK also.
ok
It's what I want to do AFTER making a Backup/Restore image.
In other words you are treading carefully with Ubuntu….dont want to break it…..more than understandable…..all new users show great care….bit like driving a new car, yu don’t wish to put a ding in it in the first drive !
I am not a gammer. Nothing against gammers/games. Just never interested me. So I do not need a modified OS, special loads, VM's, or heaps of power.
The specs tell me it has 16GB of ram, and a 4 core processor. It will not be a slouch.
In retirement I want access to the Internet for access to Forums like this, YouTube, eMail, research for DIY Projects, Amazon/Hulu and such. My wife needs Chrome browser for one site she uses a special Extension.
Your wife is a solitaire player?…..just a guess.
I thought after much reading that a world of LinuxMint, Bottles would be 95% of getting the job done. The 75 to 100 tools/apps I used to make a living with are Portable Apps and I do not need them on Linux. Most of the portable apps that could make the maintenance of Linux easier have a Linux version.
See my previous post re alternatives
Bottles for two or three Windows Programs that I have had for decades. KeePass, PopPeeper and a Windows only program. Continuing the research I find now that KeePass has a Linux version.
Keepass...Linux version...correct
Also, I have read around that PopPeeper in the "right" combinations of Linux, Wine, Bottles and some other magic combination of Repositiories, drivers, FlatPak, etc, PopPeeper may/might/should/could work. I'm NOT a fan of VM's, dual boots or boot from thumb drives. Like games - just never was comfortable with them. So PopPeeper in Bottles would be perfect.
See previous post re Alternatives
Wine or bottles may help with poppeeper....I am not a fan of either, therefore cannot help there
The third Windows only program. After much more reading, I may have to end up on its own MiniPC with Windows. It does not need access to the internet and I only use it a couple of dozen times a year. But it's a must even if I have to keep one Windows machine. (OUCH, I said that).
LOL….you are forgiven !
I have spoken with the developer at length and no plans to port to Linux (or for that matter iOS or any other OS) Sometime after I get settled comfortably in a Linux, they did mention that we could work together to come up with a VM solution that could be marketed. I would probably use a seperate Linux MiniPC for that. That's a different story completely. Got it.
A year ago as I was getting serious about the change to Linux I got rid of MSOffice/365 and went fully to LibreOffice and Thunderbird. LibreOffice is really good for my use - documents, PDF's and crazy spreadsheets. Visacalc 1.0, from 1977? till now, I just cannot get enough spreadsheeting - and LibreCalc is really better than Microsoft Office and not because it is free, which is a bonus.
Amen….Libre office is damn good....(except when it is me using it)
Thunderbird... not so much. Cannot seem to get comfortable. PopPeeper handles 135 email accounts that I monitor. In Thunderbird, handling 10 eMail accounts takes more effort. So I'm hoping I can find a solution without a VM and maybe Bottles
I use Thunderbird exclusively.....but then I dont have a mutitude of accounts to look after.....just two
So that's the Goal. Stick to the Goal. Plans can and are allowed to change to keep the Goal.
A tick for that….fluid planning can pay dividends
For a bit more context, my computer habits and basic design for workstations for myself and clients.
In Windows, I use Drive C:\ for OS and installed programs (which I have\had less than 8) only. The other major difference is the HOSTS file is North of three quarters of a million entries.
LOL....get used to a completely different system !....Life is about to become far more relaxed !
Drive C:\ has no user data/files stored in the Windows Default User Profile. Drive C:\ is on a 10 step automated update & maintenance every 24 hours or less if needed. The files and data for each users (profile) is stored on individual hard drives. The past couple of years the drives have been moved outside the box to external drives.
Drive C:\ is named "OS_Only"
The next drive is designated as the "Working Drive" Typically Drive E:
Drive F: is a Mirror of the "Working Drive".
Drive G: is a (local) Archive drive.
Typically there is a NAS for local gathering of Mirrors and Archives for On-Site backups. The NAS drive is backed up to an off-site location outside of the immediate disaster area.
Personally, my wife and I have TB's of data that will never be seen by our new Linux machines. Other than the pictures of our families, kids, grandkids and great grandkids we have talked about dumping the rest about the same time we get free of Microsoft.
Been there, done that
I am excited about getting past the Backup/Restore so I can push Ubuntu or LinuxMint past their limits, learn from my mistakes (and protect my warrentee). Maybe I should order another MiniPC exactly the same and "double the fun"
If you can afford to do that, why not?….does it make any sense to have your wife on one and you on the other ?
Thank you for letting me blab on - hope you made it this far and still want to talk.
Most of the people who hang around here are good talkers…….any seriously cranky misfits dont usually last very long.
My second nickname is ‘havachat’
Imagine that !
More about 'the change'...it can be a frightening experience.....all that work has generated habits which are not easily changed and even harder to let go of.
It is more about mindset than anything else......about willingness to let go....being sufficiently objective and "bloody minded" to effect the changes that eventually must happen
I made my 'changes' in one fell swoop. I was like a duck out of water for at least a month after.
I made up ground by establishing new habits. One of those was Linux. I tried and tried and absolutely crashed and conquered Linux Mint until the damn thing near bled.......but eventually I got it....the penny(s) dropped.....and all was well
I did find myself limiting my reading. Even now I look for particular writers/outlets thta I have found to be accurate, simple
One of them is : https://www.fosslinux.com/120418/your-ultimate-guide-to-the-etc-hosts-file-in-linux.htm
Also : https://linuxconfig.org/?s=Linux+Mint
For the most part they print good stuff.
