Beginners advice on linux

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Oldmoparguy1

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Ok, I'm going to do it. I have an old laptop that I was going to donate to goodwill. Think I will use it to learn linux.

Where is a easy entry point for a computer knowledgeable beginner. Some years ago, I had puppy on a bootable usb drive and it worked well.

What I want is to be able to do pretty much what I do now with windows. I don't have any proprietary software to run, just internet stuff. I have pretty much converted the family stuff to online including banking and investing.

TIA
 
Just my 2 cents but I would install the 32 bit version of Linux Mint. If the old computer supports 64 bit you can try it but the 32 bit version should meet your needs.
 
I used Linux for years and Mint was always the easiest to use.
I tried most and eventually got lazy and went on my way. Mint was great though.

Originally Posted By: SrDriver
Just my 2 cents but I would install the 32 bit version of Linux Mint. If the old computer supports 64 bit you can try it but the 32 bit version should meet your needs.
 
Coming from Windows, using Mint is a no-brainer.

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

Grab the "MATE" version in 32 bit (this will be the version requiring the fewest CPU and RAM resources; probably the best fit for your older machine). Once you have put it on a USB drive or DVD and can boot from it you can likely just go along with all of the installer's defaults and then you're off to the races!

If and when you need a hand, we'll be here! The Linux Mint support community is extremely nice, as is the Ubuntu support community (Ubuntu is the Linux OS upon which Mint is based).
 
I'm running Mint Mate 18 32 bit for a few days now. I started with Mint Mate 16 a few years back, I'm hooked. It is a great OS for getting more useful life out of an old computer. It's also good in new computers too.
 
I had a Windows 10 laptop that started having BSD issues that I could never fix. Installed Linux Mint and haven't lost much functionality except for one VPN program that doesn't have the app for Linux.

If you stick with the regular use, there is not much to learn. It just works. You will have your Firefox or Chrome for internet, LibreOffice for documents, etc. and VLC player for multimedia. There are also thousands of apps that you can get, all free.

You can go deeper into its guts which I've done -- for that, just google what you need to do and there are countless solutions. Very easy if you have some background into ChUI even if it was DOS and not UNIX.
 
just use xubuntu and the ubuntu forums. it will get you familiar with debian based distros very quickly.
 
With Mint, I've come to realize that for a casual computer user, the attachment to Windows is no longer necessary. OS on non-mobile devices has become a commodity.
 
I did the same. I went with Cinnamon after a Windows XP system failed and I couldn't get it back. One strange thing different from Windows is the expand-minimize buttons are to the left, not the right corners like windows. But also to the right, like Mac OS. Linux can read any drive you mount (install), either Mac or PC. There are some little differences. I have still never quite determined how to install programs, but that's my issue. You will go from start of install to a fully working computer in about 10 minutes. That is including everything you'll need. Way faster than Windows.
 
If you are going cloud, check out Peppermint 7

Based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Code, light on resources, and designed for cloud computing. Designed by former Linux Mint developers (the extinct LXDE version) so you'll see the same ease of use features as Linux Mint but in a lighter cload based OS.
 
Wow! Lots of great info. That should keep me entertained through the hot months. Forecast 98-100f for Fri. & Sat. Enjoying my new, (2yo), AC.
thumbsup2.gif


Thanks, everyone. I appreciate it.
 
I'm not sure why 32-bit is being recommended. Even an "old" laptop by most standards is probably 64-bit anyway, and i386 support is going to be gone from major linux distros within the next year. It's burdensome for developers to maintain outdated hardware so they can support that miniscule user base. I mean, I bought a laptop in ~2007 that was 64-bit. That machine was demoted to an RDP terminal and eventually trashed - it was waaaay outdated.

Anecdotes about BITOGers browsing on a Commodore 64 in 3.... 2.... 1....
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
I'm not sure why 32-bit is being recommended. Even an "old" laptop by most standards is probably 64-bit anyway, and i386 support is going to be gone from major linux distros within the next year. It's burdensome for developers to maintain outdated hardware so they can support that miniscule user base. I mean, I bought a laptop in ~2007 that was 64-bit. That machine was demoted to an RDP terminal and eventually trashed - it was waaaay outdated.

Anecdotes about BITOGers browsing on a Commodore 64 in 3.... 2.... 1....


My Vostro 220 is 32 bit, and still going strong. I run Win 10 on an i7 64 bit laptop, the Vostro is faster with Mint 18. LOL
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
I'm not sure why 32-bit is being recommended. Even an "old" laptop by most standards is probably 64-bit anyway, and i386 support is going to be gone from major linux distros within the next year. It's burdensome for developers to maintain outdated hardware so they can support that miniscule user base. I mean, I bought a laptop in ~2007 that was 64-bit. That machine was demoted to an RDP terminal and eventually trashed - it was waaaay outdated.

Anecdotes about BITOGers browsing on a Commodore 64 in 3.... 2.... 1....


My Vostro 220 is 32 bit, and still going strong.

Do you mean it came with a 32 bit version of Windows or that it is not capable of 64 bit?

My vostro 200 came with 32 bit windows but I have installed 64 bit windows on it later.
 
As ethan pointed out 32-bit support is being dropped; If you ask well "what's the big deal?" The big deal is you will not be able to "in place" upgrade from a 32 bit version to the "soon to be only available" 64 bit versions.

Use 64 bit versions if you ever hope to upgrade without a reinstall.

Additionally 32 bit chrome from google has been discontinued; read the handwriting.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
I'm not sure why 32-bit is being recommended. Even an "old" laptop by most standards is probably 64-bit anyway, and i386 support is going to be gone from major linux distros within the next year. It's burdensome for developers to maintain outdated hardware so they can support that miniscule user base. I mean, I bought a laptop in ~2007 that was 64-bit. That machine was demoted to an RDP terminal and eventually trashed - it was waaaay outdated.

Anecdotes about BITOGers browsing on a Commodore 64 in 3.... 2.... 1....


My Vostro 220 is 32 bit, and still going strong. I run Win 10 on an i7 64 bit laptop, the Vostro is faster with Mint 18. LOL


Your Vostro 220 comes with a Core 2 Duo processor which is rather old but still 64-bit. The difference would be profound if the system were configured with 4+ GB of RAM, which cannot be addressed by a 32-bit OS. It's still an artificial and completely senseless bottleneck to limit yourself with 32-bit software.

We're all ahead of most users because we're not using a two-bit POS like Windows
grin.gif
 
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