this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2025

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Linux

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Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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542

Just made the switch to Linux as a lifetime Windows user. (lemmy.zip)

submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It just works.

I'm kind of shocked how easy it was to set up. I used ventoy to make a bootable iso of Linux Mint Cinnamon on my Mini PC (Ser5 Pro), and I had zero issues with anything. Ventoy even plays nice with secure boot.

Where's the setup?

There really wasn't any. I booted into Mint, synced my keyboard/trackpad combo and my earbuds then was off to the races. It detected all my hardware including my Elgato HD60 X without any steps. The only thing I had to work around was downloading the deb build of Discord Canary to enable audio output in Discord streams since it was only recently added to Discord's dev/beta build (Canary).

Speaking of which Elgato's capture software doesn't support Linux (shocker), so I simply installed OBS, pointed the audio/video to the capture card, and it worked. Easy.

My Use Case

I have the aforementioned mini PC mainly to be jockied by a capture card for streaming Nintendo Switch to Discord. Aside from that I use it as a productivity machine in my living room for internet browsing (omg webtv!) and Kodi. The Ser5 uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5850u with integrated graphics, 16GB DDR4, and a 500gb M.2. All of the ports, HDMI audio out, etc were automatically detected by Mint.

Conclusion

Linux Mint feels premium compared to Windows 11. It's snappier, more modular, and offers a Linux GUI that's familiar/easy to use. Plus now I have the benefit of no preinstalled spyware or bloatware. Feels good to actually own my computer.

Thanks for reading!

(page 2) 18 comments

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago

Yeah I have a Ser5 as a living room PC, wiped windows and have Nobara running on it. Linux is great - browse the web, play games, stream videos, and all with interfaces that actually work on a TV. I don't miss Windows at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Some Elgato hardware is supported by OBS, FYI. IIRC the HD60+ or S+ or something.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Right. I said that I use OBS for my Elgato HD60 X. Works great!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

Congrats! There’s probably a few things not perfect that you haven’t noticed yet-but ya, despite what the trolls say, Linux pretty much just works these days. Oftentimes better than windows.

Sometimes you’ll run into a program that is windows only and that’s a pain. The first thing I do is try to find a linux alternative-sometimes you can sometimes you can’t (stuff designed to interface with your hardware can be a pain sometimes - controllers, rgb lights, fan speeds, motherboard stuff). Bottles works great for running windows programs. And if all else fails a windows vm.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Forewarning, wine appears to be a bit broken on Mint at the moment. I was recently experimenting with it in a VM, and I could not seem to get it installed properly - even after adding the winehq repo. Debian, by contrast, just works. I still use winamp for my music library, and play a few games that are windows based.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

wine works without issues for me on mint 22.1. I use foobar2k, and most games I play are windose only. but I use proton for games, not wine.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/212c09b1-aa18-421d-93b4-a53b1bddf265

[+] [email protected] -7 points 2 days ago (7 children)

It just works

Sometimes, and until it does not work.

I have Linux on a Lenovo laptop, when I connect it to my hdmi matrix there is no resolution that works for it to correctly display. There is no way to keep the display from turning off despite setting it to never turn off.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

A friend just had her Windows 11 PC hijacked and used to drain money from her bank account. Not too much of a worry with Linux of any flavor.

It took 5x as long to wipe the disk and reload Windows as it would have to load Linux, plus another hour to change the settings to turn off as much of of Window's advertising and spyware as possible. Microsoft will no doubt change the settings back when Windows update runs, or maybe they'll just pile on more ads.

I'd much rather deal with some hardware incompatibilities than Microsoft's bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

My comment was not meant to steer anyone away from Linux, just pointing out something.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Immutable distros help tremendously with the "It just works (and doesn't stop just worksing)" aspect. Fedora Kinote is what finally allowed me to transition from Windows. Literally zero issues for over eight months now and I am not a super techie person. I hate the command line and need GUIs.

Honestly I think an immutable KDE distro is going to be the windows killer for pretty much anyone looking to switch. It's literally better than Windows in every way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Try Aurora which is Kinoite with some nice extras added

That was the "just works Windows killer" for me.

You can rebase directly to it to just try it out, and simply rebase back to standard Kinoite if you don't like it.

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