Linux users and/or developers?

lozioditalia said:
Yes, I read that Linux Mint is a little more intuitive than Ubuntu, but if I'm not mistaken, Ubuntu supports many more programs that are easier to find, if I understand correctly.

Would you recommend that I try installing it on a virtual drive and see which one I like best first?
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Many distributions bundle their own software centres but it's just the front end for the same things behind the scenes.
Don't want to over-complicate things but Ubuntu-based distributions like Mint tend to use Debian packages of which there are many. The other is rpm, which is also well catered for.
So whether you use Ubuntu, Mint or whatever there will often be the same software underneath - either Debian or rpm (others exist but are less common). You can usually see which it uses before you download. Debian is probably more common these days.

Long story short: the branding and customisations may sit on top and be given a name but they are essentially using the same core kernel underneath with software served by different packages, Debian and rpm.

If you have any niche uses maybe research that in advance.
 
lozioditalia said:
For those who use Linux-based operating systems, is antivirus or other data protection and security software unnecessary?
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Not strictly unnecessary, but home installations aren't targeted very often, so most antivirus solutions for Linux are business ones, i.e. meant mostly for servers.
I've been using linux alongside Windows since around the year 2000 and if I've had any viruses or other malware, they didn't seem to affect daily life.
 
pjgh said:
In short, you don't need traditional anti-virus ... but what I would warn against is committing random scripts you find or advised to run from the internet (particularly as sudo).

As a newcomer, if you used it pretty much as installed with software installed via the distribution software centre, you'll be fine.
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Sudo is a way of running admin-only commands (like messing with operating system files, opening ports, etc) without having to log out and back in as admin. It requires a password so Sudo can't be run from scripts as far as I know.
 
NotTheStig said:
Sudo is a way of running admin-only commands (like messing with operating system files, opening ports, etc) without having to log out and back in as admin. It requires a password so Sudo can't be run from scripts as far as I know.
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You can have an interactive script and use sudo within a script, which should then automatically prompt you for credentials, if they aren't cached.
 
Sudo is a new command for me, and it's very difficult to learn as a system at the moment. I've started buying specialist magazines and looking for online guides to learn. I think that for my basic needs, I'll start with Linux Mint and then move on to other Linux distributions.
It won't be Ubuntu because I think it will be a little more complex to start with.
 
lozioditalia said:
Sudo is a new command for me, and it's very difficult to learn as a system at the moment. I've started buying specialist magazines and looking for online guides to learn. I think that for my basic needs, I'll start with Linux Mint and then move on to other Linux distributions.
It won't be Ubuntu because I think it will be a little more complex to start with.
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Mint is pretty much Ubuntu with a different default desktop environment and a few extras thrown in.

If you'd like to get something structured about it, publishers tend to have sales through Humble Bundle, and there's one up for a bunch of O'Reilly Linux-related books now: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/linux-for-seasoned-admins-oreilly-books-encore-2026. It ends in ~6 days, so you should have a bit of time to check the books out.
Some of them are fairly in-depth, but e.g. Linux Pocket Guide is fairly decent even for newbies and a useful reference for the forgetful of any skill level.

I'd also suggest reading the Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll as a primer on general security disguised as a novel (and it's actually a fun read).
 
lozioditalia said:
Sudo is a new command for me, and it's very difficult to learn as a system at the moment. I've started buying specialist magazines and looking for online guides to learn. I think that for my basic needs, I'll start with Linux Mint and then move on to other Linux distributions.
It won't be Ubuntu because I think it will be a little more complex to start with.
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Btw, I recently switched to Linux Mint and I used the sudo command a few times to install an app, but I've not used it for months now. The last time I installed something was via the inbuilt app store.

If you do need to install something via sudo, then there are always a lot of good Youtube instructional videos to guide you.
 
donnie_arko said:
Btw, I recently switched to Linux Mint and I used the sudo command a few times to install an app, but I've not used it for months now. The last time I installed something was via the inbuilt app store.

If you do need to install something via sudo, then there are always a lot of good Youtube instructional videos to guide you.
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I find chat gpt (other AI platforms are available) has helped me with any odd tweaks or niggles I wanted to sort out. You can paste any informational or error messages into it and it can react to them and guide you through. I've customised a few things this way.
 
NotTheStig said:
I find chat gpt (other AI platforms are available) has helped me with any odd tweaks or niggles I wanted to sort out. You can paste any informational or error messages into it and it can react to them and guide you through. I've customised a few things this way.
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Interesting, I never thought of that but tbh, and I will definitely keep that in mind for the next time I will do something like that!

Since I switched to Linux Mint I had a few issues getting things set up to begin with but it's been relatively plain sailing since then. I think maybe down to there not being a huge amount of faff/endless apps, I've kind of just installed the barebones VLC/a few web browsers/Libre Office; ie the barebones to get by and left it there. I've actually spent a lot less time faffing about with updates and so on that I'd get with Windows (in particular W11, I still have nightmares about that!)
 
donnie_arko said:
Interesting, I never thought of that but tbh, and I will definitely keep that in mind for the next time I will do something like that!

Since I switched to Linux Mint I had a few issues getting things set up to begin with but it's been relatively plain sailing since then. I think maybe down to there not being a huge amount of faff/endless apps, I've kind of just installed the barebones VLC/a few web browsers/Libre Office; ie the barebones to get by and left it there. I've actually spent a lot less time faffing about with updates and so on that I'd get with Windows (in particular W11, I still have nightmares about that!)
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Yes I have vlc and don't even bother with Libre Office anymore (although it is very good) as I use Google Docs, Sheets etc.
I picked up a very decent Thinkpad for £75 last week which doesn't quite meet the recommended spec for Windows 11. Runs Ubuntu Desktop very well but I might try KDE Plasma for a better mix of slickness and customisation.
I'm also running XFCE on a 2011 Thinkpad; 8GB RAM and two internal SSDs mean it runs everything I need very well.
 
At the moment, I would like to set up a dual boot system with Linux and Windows 11, so I would first need to partition the disk.
Do you have any reliable guides to recommend or useful tips to follow before I begin?
 
Each Linux distribution will have its own installation options. Typically it would ask if you want to use the whole disk or dual boot; if not dual booting typically is found in some other option like "advanced" or "custom".

I think these days with modern BIOSes it's fairly straight forward. Anything that isn't there will be guides online or you can ask AI about specific questions or problems that arise.
 
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