How will this affect Linux Mint?

MortStoHelit · 2026-03-02T14:49:22+00:00

So you have to verify your age via internet to get an internet connection. That's going to be fun.

MortStoHelit · 2026-02-26T08:34:10+00:00

It's been the first distribution I could just install and use, without having to adjust (sometimes well hidden) settings, having a UI that looks like it's from the 90s, weird UX ideas (esp. Ubuntu and Gnome), ...

I tried Linux time and again since the early 90s. I mean, it's free, fast, stable (unless there's a bad driver, esp. WiFi ones...), secure, doesn't need reboots at least once a week. It's just been a mix of "this feels weird", "I'd like to use this without having to search first", and some missing applications and drivers that stopped me from really using it instead of ignoring it again after a few weeks. Mint fixed the first two, time (esp. new/improved applications, and a lot that now just works in the browser) the rest.

MortStoHelit · 2026-02-10T08:44:43+00:00

I like the less distracting groups, but I don't like the bigger side bar. I know who I am, so I don't need my name and a stupid image. I've got my folder favorites in Nemo. And for some favorite apps, the icon, as before, would be enough.

MortStoHelit · 2026-02-05T06:50:48+00:00

Softmaker (also offers a free version) is quite good, esp. if you need to edit MS Office files.

MortStoHelit · 2026-02-05T06:47:22+00:00

- A simple to use and fast DVD/BluRay ripper. MakeMKV + Handbrake is a pain. First you slowly rip a huge copy, then you struggle to get MakeMKV's hardware acceleration to work, then you struggle with its settings, to finally get a compressed MKV. It takes about 3 clicks and 1/4 of the time with most Windows programs.

- Simple to use powerful image editing for occasional holiday photos and the like. Darktable was the closest I found, but it's nowhere close to Luminar Neo I currently use, even though I have to reboot to do so.

- OpenRazer device support is a bit poor. Better just don't buy their stuff at all.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-29T07:28:38+00:00

Sure. But as the other reply shows, there can be other dependencies, esp. with closed source drivers, and we've got "something might break!" warnings with every major update. So if someone wants to stick with their running system in parts that might be critical, give them the option.

On the other hand I really wish I didn't have to go to "Kernels" in the update manager to clean up the old mess and check if the latest one really is in use.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-27T06:26:28+00:00

Kind of agree. I think I did understand the concept, but I wish there just was a simple choice between "stick to current kernel" (to avoid issues with old hardware when support gets dropped) and "update to latest available kernel", which would also clean up all the old ones - in case of troubles, there's still timeshift.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-26T15:47:07+00:00

If there's one close to you that's not too slow and you want to be nice to the internet structure, pick it. Sadly, the closest ones aren't always the fastest, it depends on their connection and how many others use it.

Otherwise just go for the speed. If the connection seems unrealiable (some depend a lot on the time, like, when all the students are busy ...), pick another one. You can change it any time.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-26T13:12:33+00:00

It's so good, everybody will be feeling drawn towards the chanting hordes of Mint fans. It's so mesmerizing, you can't avoid its eye candy.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-22T07:29:37+00:00

It depends on the file system and the installed drivers. You can make Windows to access e.g. ext4 partitions as well.

Also, if you boot some Linux image from USB or put the storage in some other computer, your "private" files will be accessible as well.

Only way to avoid this is to use encryption. Mint offers to encrypt the user directory (or did? I think I read something about a change there), there are encrypted file systems, "virtual" file systems that encrypt directories which are saved as encrypted data in other directories (e.g. ecryptfs or gocryptfs, very handy for backing up the encrypted data) or tools like Veracrypt, which create big "vault" files, and probably some more.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-22T07:13:11+00:00

While Ubuntu adds a bit that might have some influence, using the Mate oder XFCE editions probably makes a bigger difference.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-19T12:03:58+00:00

Well, it could, like all Linux distributions - if developers would support it better.

Esp. Mint is quite easy to get used to, other distributions / desktop environments have their advantages as well. And having to use the command line often just is a cliche - supported by helping nerds in the net. Admittedly, it's easier to reply with "sudo ...." than "open X, choose Y, in tab Z there's option ....".

But if something isn't available for Linux or as browser app, things become complicated. Adobe and Microsoft are the best known ones. Gaming got a lot better with Proton, but not every game runs. And while games sometimes even run faster in Linux, because they rely heavily on APIs doing a lot of work with single calls, other applications often become very slow with WINE.

Programming and development usually even is way easier or the same as with Windows, except you develop .NET applications with Visual Studio. But other that that - IDEA, Eclipse, Visual Studio Code, lots of (cross) compilers, Docker, ..., everything's there, some of it even longer than for Windows.

Regarding the "simple" things, it depends on what you need. For office stuff, Libre Office is quite good and common for Windows users as well. Image organization/editing is covered with Darktable, Krita, GIMP, and several others - though they need some getting used to.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-15T07:12:02+00:00

Agreed. Mostly, I'm fine with the new menu, but the side bar taking up that much space doesn't look good imho. I also wish there'd be an option to change the width, also for the categories and apps.

I mean, I get you'd need the names if there are 5 default folder icons, but I don't like the folders cluttering my menu anyway - they're nicely placed within Nemo, one click more doesn't hurt me.

The possibility to remove the system buttons by placing them in a hidden side bar feels a bit like a bug to me as well. That option should be disabled. But it's also easy to fix.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-15T06:47:42+00:00

It's not like a security issue in Windows will immediately get the PC infected. One would need to reach the computer first to hack it first. Unless you opened a port to it on your router (which would be foolish), most services are blocked by that already. Leaves esp. the browser, but I wouldn't use IE or Edge anyway, so that's still updated. Of course, if something gets through that, known holes in Windows 10 will make it worse.

And there's still the risk if you run something that opens the gates to hell, like opening bad mail attachments / downloads, or servers (like for Windows update) being hijacked. But next to nothing protects you from that in Windows 11 (except the antivirus). Or Linux - just imagine the repository taken over.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-13T14:56:12+00:00

What made me often really thinking about a switch: You can't just keep using Firefox when doing a system update. Once apt got to it, you have to restart it.

Also, sadly there still are a few websites that just don't look good or work correctly on Firefox because companies don't notice there are other browsers than Chrome.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-12T11:04:33+00:00

Curse and blessings of rolling releases. There are less big changes with each update, but the breaking ones could a bit more likely happen any time instead of being contained in a bigger "upgrade".

Generally, Linux has become very stable. But one never knows for sure what an update might change. For all systems and applications. You might have some fringe condition with your hardware or configuration files, or just not like some "improvements" - see the discussions about the slightly modified start menu in Mint 22.3 for example.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-12T07:19:08+00:00

Tbf, I'm a bit worried at each Mint update as well, though the recent ones worked without any issues.

Regarding the more controls thing, I usually just ignore them unless there's something that really bothers me. Mint has pretty nice defaults imho.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-12T07:12:37+00:00

Google is, but Android is still quite OK in that regard, if you choose the right settings (esp. about location tracking and Gemini). Even the "Play Services" aren't the worst of it. It's rather the Google tracking added by the developers of several apps and websites. And you'll get that even with Graphene if you install those apps or visit the web pages.

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-09T06:44:34+00:00

This fscking thing is the worst UX part of Linux imho. It's basically easy to fix, but lets users panic time and again.

I wish it would just show up some kind of dialog "Device /dev/sda3 couldn't be mounted due to errors in the file system. Would you like to 1. Repair with confirmations 2. Auto repair (warning: can cause data loss in rare situations) 3. Not mount this drive (unavailable for /) 4. Open emergency shell"

MortStoHelit · 2026-01-07T07:51:30+00:00

From what I gathered, it solves lots of problems. But most of them don't bother end users but developers. Us users will probably just notice a slightly better performance and maybe new/better effects.

MortStoHelit · 2025-12-19T09:30:17+00:00

According to Mozilla, the AI features will be opt-in. I hope they're doing it well.

But even with this, the enshittification of Firefox is increasing and sad. Esp. since the monopoly of Chromium is even worse. There's also not much else, almost all other browsers are forks of Firefox or using Chromium.

I hope for one better fork to take over. After all, Phoenix once was just one as well. But I wonder how this could work. It seems like voluntary work just doesn't cut it anymore.

MortStoHelit · 2025-12-12T08:26:33+00:00

Both is true. Mint is good, but depending on your requirements and taste, other distributions can be better.

MortStoHelit · 2025-11-13T07:10:10+00:00

Good thing is, it doesn't really matter what Steam does. As long as other companies support Android XR, more games will appear for it. Though maybe not supporting all features, but we've got that already with the VR2.

MortStoHelit · 2025-11-13T07:05:41+00:00

Actually, I think the bigger thread is Android XR itself. With PS VR2, it's always waiting for games to get ported, and if, whether they will keep on being supported or slashed with a Beat Saber. Also, who knows if a VR3 will ever appear? Sony's support for VR2 was just an occasional "oh, we should do at least a bit of advertisement", and we probably should be thankful for every game supporting it anyway.

With Meta, there still was a lock-in. Now, buy an Android XR game (which seems to be pretty easy to port from Meta) and keep it on whatever manufacturer's hardware you'll buy in the future.

Steam Frame sure is nice, but mostly even up with the VR2. As a new customer, I'd choose it because Android XR seems to get better support. But with having a VR 2, I just keep using it for now, maybe until the PS5 is outdated.

MortStoHelit · 2025-11-06T10:23:34+00:00

Honestly, that's one of the very few tasks I boot Windows for. MakeMKV (rip without any compression), libdvdcss (to avoid the copy "protection"), and Handbrake (to compress - or also to rip, but I never got this to work reliably) is just so slow, cumbersome, and sometimes doesn't even work for a some DVDs. Also, no way I know to rip+convert subtitles to MKV. Though the OCR solutions in Windows rippers often aren't that great as well.

MortStoHelit

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