Advice, opinions, and experienced caveats requested

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bustedflush

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"Getting Started" seems like the most appropriate place to post this. Let me know if not....

I'm finally making the switch to Linux. WoooHooo

Got a plan but I'm looking for thoughts and advise (caveats ?) before I start. I've already adjusted my plan several times after reading through these forums and fully expect to make more changes.

I've got a new laptop ordered and on the way. (X1 Carbon, I7, 16G RAM, 512G Opal SSD)
Unfortunately I cannot completely abandon Windows. I have lots of proprietary software I need to use and they only run under Windows. :( As well as Microsoft Excel and Word are needed daily for collaboration with others.

I have tried the other options , dual boot and running Linux as a VM, but I always seem to slide back into Windows. Having Linux be the main OS and using it for as many tasks as possible seems to be the only viable option for me. Nothing like a little pressure to get one motivated. (ie. da boss is waiting on my email and it 'aint working)

So begins the plan.
1) Get Windows completely set up and configured for daily use.
2) Create Recovery media and create a backup image of the drive.
3) Test a live Linux distro for any compatability issues. (USB to ethernet, USB to serial, etc.)
4) Thinking Linux Mint with Cinnamon.
5) Consume a shot, blink twice, and then format c:
6) Install Linux and required software ( or alternatives)
Putty, Wireshark, Notepad++, an email Client, TeamViewer, TightVNC, FortiClient, .........
7) Install Oracle VirtualBox, create a VM for Windows 10 and one for DOS 6.22
8) Consume another beverage and try it out......
9) Post lots of please help me requests.

Thanks in Advance to everyone for reading,
 


A man with a plan, I like him already :)

(Wizard appears in a puff of smoke humming Georgia On My Mind, trips over wireshark, thinks it's a real shark so turns it into a guppy)

Welcome to linux.org @bustedflush .

If you are planning to use a USB stick as an install medium, and want to save its changes to use it several times for testing purposes, you can use certain tools to install Persistence of 4GB in addition to the .iso that you burn to the stick for running the install. Let us know if you think that may be useful, and we can refer you - a couple of these options are available to Windozer users, free, and then once you are running Linux, there are more.

With your point 3), one that is often not thought of is to test your Printer/s functionality, that is one of several reasons why I would advocate persistence. Without Persistence, any changes made to the USB stick are lost once you end the Session. Then you think "I should have tested this Driver or that Driver", and you have to go back in and set it up.

Linux has very very many people (many, volunteers) working assiduously to provide Drivers for both old and new hardware, but sometimes a new Linux Kernel will be ahead of, or behind, or drop support for ... your needed Driver. Murphy's Law, but we often find a workaround :D

4) Consider Linux Mint 18.3 'Sylvia' Cinnamon, has support until April 2021. It will just need a few more updates at the beginning, but then fine. I have both Linux Mint 19 'Tara' Cinnamon and MATE onboard, and am finding just a little bug or two that is annoying, but others might find them fine.

7) If you are no stranger to Oracle's VB (I am but a Novice at it, but others here know far more), consider using it on Windows to try out Linux as well, then if you don't like one you just blow away the Folder. With 16GB of RAM, you could quite easily allocate 4 - 6 GB to a Linux and get an idea of performance.

I like 5) and 8) - Here in Oz, beer o'clock starts around 1PM only on days ending in y.

I have plenty more to provide you (as will others), reading material &c.

But a couple of quick questions -

  1. Is it Windows 10 on the Thinkpad?
  2. Do you know if the 512 GB SSD is formatted to MS-DOS or GPT?
  3. That's the only drive in it, yes?
Cheers

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz - that's DownUnder
 
A plan as well as a backup plan. Just in case the first plan does not go as expected (do they ever?)
(cpu fan is humming The Devil Went Down To Georgia)

I'm taking your advice on Persistence. Running Mint from a CD_Stick until everything works properly makes sense. What size would you reccomend ? I'll be running 18.3 as suggested. I normally give new versions time to settle before using.

Also, there are no bugs, those are just undocumented features......

Now to answer your questions, the Thinkpad will be Win10 Pro and I won't know for sure how it's formatted until I get it. It only has the one drive. Rather than doing an image routine, I'm considering just getting another drive for it. I did do some research beforehand and the Thinkpad is supposed to be a good fit for Linux.

I'm just a beginner with VB. I do have a Linux appliance running and a DOS 6.22 that I have to use every so often.

Gotta run for now, time to go earn some more beverage money. ;)
 
update

Installed Linux Mint -64 with persistence , booted up from USB
All seems great for the most part - Wireless card, bluetooth, and HP wireless printer all working now.

bloody hell that is some small print

Took a bit to get the drivers loaded for the printer, still having an issue connecting to the printers web page.
Installed Opera, updated Firefox
Happy to see all the pre-installed apps !!!

All in all ? I'm one happy camper so far

couple of questions to follow later - Can we make the print a wee bit larger?
 
Just a guess....

In Printers
Right click preferences on your printer
Select ?...somewhere where font/print size is...?......

I dont have a printer in front of me....so blind guess work..
 
I think you mean the screen print/icons are too small, right? That's a frequent issue with high quality displays, but some distros seem to be learning that maximum resolution is not always preferred. Get a magnifying glass, if needed, click your Start/Menu and start typing, Display so you can launch the Display Properties dialog. There should be a drop-down box to let you select different resolutions, and of course you'll want to keep the same aspect ratio as your screen.

I like your plans! But I may have one possible problem to consider... your Windows Recovery may not install in VirtualBox like a full Windows installation will. If you have the space for a secondary hard drive and want to buy/install one, that is probably one way to solve this issue. Or go back to the dual-boot idea if nothing else. Keep the Windows Recovery USB handy... setting up dual-boot can sometimes be a headache, but usually goes okay.

Cheers
 
'Aight, I'll admit it, I was so tickled how many things were working right out of the box, I was almost giddy.

So I didn't take the time to make myself clear. @atanere hit the nail right square on the head anyway.
I did figure it out, quite simple really, once you know how. Changed the font sizes and increased the size of that really itty bitty Task Bar (is that the right terminology for Linux)

Since then, I have tried Mint Mate and it worked even better right out of the box. Not sure what the issue was with accessing my printer's web interface but it seems to have straightened itself out. (FM?)

Also discovered that lots of my well used keyboard shortcuts work just fine in Linux. Another Bonus.
(Copy, cut, paste, arrow up for last commands used in terminal, Ctrl & Shift+ to make web pages larger, and a few others)

Several questions answered so far. Found this wonderful new tool at the top of this page called Search.

As expected my plan has changed a bit. I'm going to just use a new drive for Linux and Virtual Box Winblows 10.

A huge Thank You to all the members here :) :) Your interest and help is a tremendous boost !
 
Moving right along! Yes, luckily there are at least some similarities with "that other OS," like keyboard shortcuts. FYI, pasting a command into a terminal is a bit different... still CTRL-C to copy, but then click inside the terminal and CTRL-SHIFT-V to paste. This will come in handy!

Speaking of terminal, if you haven't already... enable your firewall very easily from the terminal with:
Code: 
sudo ufw enable
# then you can check it with this below
sudo ufw status

We try to always remember to tell folks about that because the firewall is not enabled by default. Here is another site that many of us recommend to new Mint users, this page for MATE, but he has others. There are many tips and tweaks he recommends..... you don't have to do them all, but give 'em a look to evaluate whether they might also be useful in your environment.

We love to see enthusiasm such as yours... and hope that the Linux fires keep burning brightly! :D

Cheers
 
So "Busted" - now you've met The Three Amigos, or The Three Musketeers, or The Three Stooges - Brian (@Condobloke ), Stan (@atanere ) and me. Stan & I have the biggest mouths, but Brian, a fellow Aussie, is catching up ground all the time ;)

And there are plenty more folk here whom have skills in all sorts of directions, all volunteers helping others enjoy their Linux.

Cheers

Wiz
 
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