I'm not 37 or a history teacher or have 3 kids, but that hypothetic person is just a proxy for "person who understands zero computer programming and has no experience with the command line but could follow instructions online somewhat but also doesn't have a ton of time to learn a lot of stuff either". Because that's me.

I tried Linux Mint Cinnamon because I hate capitalism and Microsoft and genuinely love the idea of FOSS. The idea of being able to run your life with minimum involvement in capitalism is what I strive for and FOSS I see as being a big part of that, even though I'm not particularly tech savvy. So I tried Linux on my desktop. But when I say I don't understand programming, I mean like, I needed someone's help just to install Linux, although I admit I was probably over-cautious because I have a ton of photos and home videos that if I lost I would be devastated, even though I backed it all up on a thumb drive.

So my initial experience with Mint was okay. I tried to be positive about it but from the start I was having difficulty. I had some problems but for the most part it went okay. There were a couple programs I wanted to install but couldn't figure out how. A few problems trying to find file directories but I was eventually able to figure out how to find them with help online. Was feeling a little down about the work I was having to put in but I was determined to stick with it.

Then I tried to get Plex to work (note: this was before I was aware of Jellyfin, I'd like to move to that eventually). I should note that what I need from my desktop is pretty simple: it's an internet box I use as a media server and file storage, with some hobby graphic arts work on the side. I used to use Steam some but my friends and I have pretty much all moved over to Board Game Arena now anyway. But for the life of me, I just could get Plex to work. Went through a lot of online help guides but nothing seemed to work. Days went by and my partner who watches a fair amount of media on my computer had understandably lost patience and I had to admit, I had no idea when I'd be getting it back up and running. So I went back to Windows.

I'm sharing all that just to give you context. The horse knocked me off but I'm determined to get back on and try again. I'm going to go with a dual boot / USB stick for now. I understand the downsides of that route but I think I need to have a bit a of a safety net for now. I work 50-60 hours a week and have little kids: I get we're all really busy and overworked but I don't even have time to read the theory I'd like to, so for now I'd rather take maybe a bit longer to learn Linux.

I actually don't care about something "feeling" like windows. I feel like I can adapt to a new layout/style. My biggest issue is just having something that works and will let me run my relatively simple computer existence without causing me too much headaches and a minimum amount of consulting help guides online.

So given all this context, I wanted to see if my comrades here had any suggestions on distros I should try. Should I jump back on Mint? Or something else? I'm happy to tell you anything else non-doxxy about me that might help.

Also, are there any forums online where total, absolute noobs can ask questions about Linux? Folks have individually offered help but I have this weird hangup where I really hate asking individual people for help but don't mind throwing out a question to the group.

  • RandyLahey [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    if it makes you feel better, i have also just been trying to install mint and failing miserably

    all i want is windows on one hard drive, linux on another, i even cleared a whole hard drive for it. i feel like this must be a fairly common and not-unreasonable setup. but the installer gives me two options - delete everything and install (delete all hard drives or just one? and which hard drive? completely unclear), or go through some labyrinthine and incomprehensible partition manager that again gives me zero confidence it isn't going to delete all my other shit. the only way i could install it with any confidence at all was to physically unplug my other drives. i cannot stress enough how fucking insane this installer is, especially for the "beginner friendly" version of linux

    so whatever, it seems to work, have to switch boot order back and forth in bios to switch operating systems but fine. but now mint just hangs during boot, my guess is possibly because i installed the nvidia driver it recommended? the usb gives a boot repair option in the menu but it is again extremely unclear what it is actually doing and has a bunch of "repair windows" things ticked by default (it didnt even recognise windows when i was first trying to install, why has it recognised it now?) and i absolutely dont trust it not to fuck up my other stuff. im tempted to use the reinstall option, since it now knows which drive to use and has now presumably set up the partitions in a sensible default set up on my main linux drive, but again it is extremely unclear that its not going to wipe my other drives as well. i cant figure out how to switch the driver back to see if that fixes it

    so yeah the key theme is zero confidence that it isnt going to fuck up all my other stuff. i seem to have a ten-year cycle of installing linux, hating it, and going back to windows, and i am determined to break that cycle but it really isnt helping its case so far