I got an old Windows 7 laptop that was going to be thrown out and decided to put Linux on it (see previous thread here). Most people suggested I go with the latest stable version of Debian, so that's what I installed. I've mostly used Windows, but I do have some experience with Ubuntu.

The installation went smoothly, but I've had a few problems getting it set up to my liking:

  1. I can't figure out how to setup flatpak. Everything seems to be working fine until I enter the last line in the terminal:

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

I hit enter and nothing happens. No error message or anything. I restarted the computer but flatpak doesn't work, either through the software center or the flatpak website. I found a few forum posts with the same problem, but no solutions.

  1. I somehow set it up so that my username is not the super user, so I have to type a password in the terminal every time I want to use sudo. Is there a way to fix this without a clean install?

  2. I somehow set up the hard drive partitions so that the OS is on an encrypted partition, so I have to put in a password for the BIOS to boot up. Is there a way to fix this without a clean install?

  3. I'm used to a desktop interface with a toolbar/start menu that I can pin frequently-used programs to, but with Debian it seems like I need to click "Activities" to do anything. Is there a way to set up the interface so it's more like Windows in that regard?

  4. If I need to do a clean install, I'm thinking of switching to Ubuntu, since I'm more familiar with the interface. Is there any reason why I should stick with Debian? I've heard some people trashing Ubuntu but I'm not sure why. Is Debian better for older hardware?

Edit: Thanks for all the knowledgeable replies. I did a fresh install of Debian 12 (64 bit) with KDE and it seems to have resolved all my problems. Although it's a little slow and buggy, I've had to reboot it twice. I'll try a lightweight DE if that continues.

  • sweng@programming.dev
    ·
    8 months ago

    Number 2 is by design. Running as root is extremely dangerous, and passwordless sudo is not much better. You can, of course, allow sudo without a password by editing the /etc/sudoers file, but be concious of the security implications (any program you run would essentially have full access to everything, without you ever knowing).

  • WFH@lemm.ee
    ·
    8 months ago

    I can't figure out how to setup flatpak. Everything seems to be working fine until I enter the last line in the terminal:

    Assuming you've installed flatpak correctly (sudo apt install flatpak gnome-software-plugin-flatpak)

    in a terminal, type flatpak remotes. If it lists flathub, you're good.

    Try installing a random app like flatpak install flathub de.haeckerfelix.Shortwave

    It shoud work. If it doesn't, post your logs.

    I have to type a password in the terminal every time I want to use sudo

    This is the intended behavior and should not be changed, it's a basic security feature. Once you've finished setting up you system, you shouldn't need sudo everyday anyway, except for updating/upgrading the system.

    I'm used to a desktop interface with a toolbar/start menu that I can pin frequently-used programs to, but with Debian it seems like I need to click "Activities" to do anything. Is there a way to set up the interface so it's more like Windows in that regard?

    Assuming you're using Gnome, this is easy to solve using Extensions. First if it's not installed already on Firefox, install Gnome Shell Integration. It'll let you manage Gnome Extensions directly from https://extensions.gnome.org/

    Then, install dash-to-panel for a "windows-style" experience, or dash-to-dock for a "macos-style" experience.

    After that, you can go wild on the extensions you want to use ;)

    If I need to do a clean install, I'm thinking of switching to Ubuntu, since I'm more familiar with the interface.

    Don't. Ubuntu will teach you nothing but the Ubuntu way. Debian is as Standard Linux as conceivable. If your only concern is the Ubuntu-style interface, configuring dash to panel to appear on the left side is all you need.

    • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
      ·
      8 months ago

      I tried "flatpak remotes" and it listed flathub. I also tried "echo $?" after installation and it returns 0. So it should be working.

      But when I try to install Shortwave in the terminal it says:

      error: Nothing matches de.haeckerfelix.Shortwave in remote flathub

      I also can't find Shortwave in the software center.

      Edit: I wonder if this is because it's a 32 bit OS?

      • WFH@lemm.ee
        ·
        8 months ago

        Oh yes that's probably it, flathub doesn't support 32 bits architectures anymore.

        Why did you choose this architecture? Almost all x86 CPU architectures from the last 20 years are 64 bits, you should reinstall using the AMD64 image. This will solve a lot of issues and insure you get the most of your hardware.

        • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
          ·
          8 months ago

          I was under the impression that it's old enough to only work with the 32 bit OS. I'll double check that and try installing the 64 bit version if I can.

          If the 32 bit version is all that will run, am I shit out of luck when it comes to running any modern software?

          • WFH@lemm.ee
            ·
            8 months ago

            What's your CPU? 99% sure that w7 era CPUs are all 64 bits.

            • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
              ·
              8 months ago

              It's an intel core 2 duo t9300, which I'm pretty sure is 64 bit. I guess I was confused because it was previously running a 32 bit version of windows 7.

              Edit: I'm not sure if it's amd64 or aarch64 or mips64. I think it's amd.

              • WFH@lemm.ee
                ·
                8 months ago

                Yeah it supports amd64 :)

                Fun fact: AMD started out making licenced products based on of Intel's x86 architecture, and in the early 2000s the roles were reversed when intel had to licence AMD's 64 bits extension of this architecture.

                aarch64 are for ARM processors like the one in your phone, mips64 are embedded processors most likely found in a car or a router.

                • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
                  ·
                  8 months ago

                  Thanks! I did a fresh install of Debian (64 bit) with KDE, and it seems to be working for me, except it's already frozen up and needed a reboot twice. I might go with a more lightweight DE if that keeps happening.

  • alt@lemmy.ml
    ·
    8 months ago

    Regarding 4; I suppose you're looking for the ArcMenu extension if you wish to continue using GNOME as your Desktop Environment (will be abbreviated to DE from here on). Though GNOME's workflow is considerably different to Windows'. Therefore, you might be interested into looking elsewhere unless you're actually interested to continue GNOME. FWIW, GNOME is one of the most popular and most polished DEs out there, but it's very opinionated; which rub some folk the wrong way. I personally like it, but others might differ on this. Lastly, GNOME is NOT particularly known to be light. Therefore, if you're not happy with how it runs; e.g. frame skips with animations or just high RAM usage overall, then perhaps consider Xfce or Lxqt. If you're not discontent about the performance on GNOME, then you could also consider KDE or Cinnamon as those might 'feel' more 'modern' than the aforementioned Xfce and Lxqt.

    Regarding 5; Ubuntu gets a lot of hate due to:

    • how they're forcing Snaps (their in-house universal package manager; therefore a direct competitor to Flatpak) onto its users. So much so that even attempting to install some packages through apt will result in the Snap being installed instead; which is basically unprecedented within the Linux landscape.
    • some mishaps in the past resulted in very bad PR; especially to those that are privacy-conscious and/or F(L)OSS-advocates.

    You'd have to get to your own conclusions though. It's probably still the most used distro and therefore you might expect some QoL-features are only found within. If you're inconclusive, just try it out and consider reporting back to us on how it went. Regarding old hardware; the DE is the most important factor anyways.

    • Bobson_Dugnutt [he/him]
      ·
      8 months ago

      Thanks! I think I've seen some frame skips, I'll double check and maybe go with a different DE. And having heard all that, I'll keep Ubuntu as a last resort.

  • bertmacho@lemm.ee
    ·
    8 months ago

    for 1, in linux no output is often indicitive of no problem. To verify if your previous command exited successfully, type 'echo $?' at the command line and if its anything but 0 its an error.

    For 3, I do the same but since I'm the only user I auto login so its still just one password to enter to get to a desktop.

      • bertmacho@lemm.ee
        ·
        8 months ago

        Depends if you're using a graphical login manager or not. If so, you'll have to search the name of it and 'autologin' in your favourite search engine. Its typically no more then checking a box and adding your username.

        I dont use a graphical login manager, I just let it boot up and agetty (from util-linux) logs me directly into my shell (because I added -u ' to the config.). Then my shell profile takes care of starting the graphical environment for me.

        Its just personal choice but I dont see any point in a login manager when Im the only one logging in. I understand that it may come as part of the desktop suite though. I prefer to start with nothing and add what I want versus getting everything and removing what I dont want

  • 0x4E4F@infosec.pub
    ·
    8 months ago

    1. That is normal in Linux (and any POSIX compatible OS). By default, in Linux, you're not root (admin in Windows... more like trusted installer and elevated admin at the same time, to be more precise)... unless you use Kali, but that's a different story. You're basically set up as a user in the wheel group, which has sudo privilges. Things are set up this way so that even if things go south on your account (a virus maybe), you don't infect the whole system (it needs the root password to execute things that can affect the install system wide). So, unless you want to easilly destroy your OS in one step, you don't make the root account your main account in Linux.

    2. You need to switch desktop enviroments. Try KDE, I think you'll like it.

    3. Ubuntu is a good choice if you're a beginner (which you clearly are). Install Ubuntu, get to know the OS and eventually you'll see what's wrong with it and why most people are talking trash about it 😁.

  • sweng@programming.dev
    ·
    8 months ago

    For number 4, consider switching to e.g. KDE which is an alternative desktop environment you can install in Debian.

    If you reinstall, consider Kubuntu, which is Ubuntu but with the KDE desktop. Search for screenshots first so you know if it is somwthing you like.

  • Kidplayer_666@lemm.ee
    ·
    8 months ago

    To solve number 4, I need to know the desktop environment you went with. Is it Gnome? If so, there’s a tweak (a Gnome extension) that makes the taskbar stay on screen permanently or appear when you hover over it (kinda like MacOS) and then you just right click a program you’re using in there to pin it to the taskbar