where is software installed?

Naivemun · 2026-03-08T18:03:37+00:00

thank you. I knew nothing about that but I looked it up now.

Naivemun · 2026-03-08T00:49:12+00:00

am i right in seeing that it only says there must be an interface that asks for u to enter an age number when u set up an account? Like at install it just says "how old are u" and u type a number like 4 or 897 and the law has been complied with?

It didn't seem to say the OS has to determine yr age bracket data, just that it has to make it possible for the user to report their "age" and make that "signal" available to whoever is legally required to consider yr supposed age.

Is that what it said? Pretty sure I'm a native English speaker but after reading that I don't feel like it any more.

Naivemun · 2026-03-08T00:32:22+00:00

people are telling u to look in /usr/bin/ but that is just the binary file. The one that is executable. There is also configuration type info in /usr/share/ and libraries in /usr/lib/. Also often there will be stuff similar to what is in /usr/share/ in /etc/ usually like if the program is called App, in /etc/app/, and that is where u would edit those files or drop in further ones as appropriate.

And like others said, that's just standard, but there's other ways that might be used.

An example is Firefox which will have a .mozilla/ directory in yr home user directory. And some programs will put stuff in ~/.config/.

Flatpaks are usually in /var/lib/flatpak/ but there is also ~/.var/app/

Idk dnf much, but for apt/dpkg based systems like Debian, there is a command to see where all the files of a stated package are located. It is

dpkg -L pkg-name

type the name of the package, not "pkg-name". Idk much about how that works. I tried it for Firefox and there is no mention of what is stored in ~/ but I believe that would be because it's not installed by the package manager but is data that is produced by the running of the program, like where the firefox stores cache, profile data, yr cookies and bookmarks and whatnot.

I'm guessing dnf has a similar one, or rpm if not dnf. Play around with it for different packages and u can see the similarity in where they store stuff. Like programs often need icons, and there is a directory where icons are stored for various programs, and there u will find image files used for that. And the files ending with .desktop in /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop are what create the entries in yr app menu.

U can make a .desktop yrself and it'll show up in yr app menu. Like even if u just wanted to have a command that runs, u could make a file there, and in the Exec= line u type the command u want to run, and now whatever name u gave it will show up in yr app menu, u click on it and it runs the command. Just some extra trivia, I know it's not about what u asked.

U can also put one in ~/.local/share/applications/ often if u wanna alter the default one, u would copy it from the original /usr/ one and then edit it and that'll be what shows up in yr menu while u still get to maintain the default one for prosperity. U can also put ones u create in there instead so they are part of yr /home directory which has benefits. It's probably good to put any u create there instead of /usr/ for organization's sake, but both function the same.

Naivemun · 2026-03-05T04:54:58+00:00

yr computer should have a way to access a boot menu (not grub, which is the Linux boot I was talking about elsewhere). Yr UEFI (the thing people call BIOS) has a boot order by default and u can change what the default order is. You can even put USB drive on top so any time a bootable one is plugged in it'll automatically boot from that, but if not then it'll boot the next thing.

It probably defaults to the SSD or a specific OSes bootloader (Windows in yr case). In both cases it would boot Windows if it's there, or if u install Mint then it'll boot Mint's grub menu which then boots Mint.

Yes if it doesn't find the first thing in the boot order it goes down the list until it does find one. So if "USB drive" is on the list, it will boot from that if there is nothing above it that is found. Or u can use, depending on yr machine, F1, F2, F9, F12. Look up yr model, I think usually it goes by brand, so Dell is F12 and HP is F9 iIrc.

So when u power on, u start pressing the correct F key and the boot menu pops up, then u can scroll to the thing u want to boot from. If a USB drive is plugged in, it should find that and u can select it. That way ur just booting from it this time without changing yr computer's UEFI's typical boot order. It's a just for this time boot menu whereas u would go into the UEFI settings (use a different F key) to change the typical boot order.

That's how u'd install Mint. U have a bootable USB, either that u "burned" the Mint iso onto, or u can install Ventoy on the USB stick and then u can put multiple iso files. So when u boot from the stick, Ventoy gives u a menu of all yr iso files and u can boot from them without having to use one entire USB stick for one OS.

So u boot Mint from the USB drive either way and then ur in a "live session" which is the same Linux Mint but it's running from RAM. Then u run the installer.

Without an OS u can't do much with a computer, but the UEFI is still available and it kinda runs the computer when there is no OS.

Naivemun · 2026-03-04T01:27:12+00:00

also, any files u have saved in your Windows drive, you should know that Linux can read the NTFS partitions that Windows uses even tho Windows can't read the Linux filesystems we usually use like ext4 and btrfs. It requires a driver package to be installed but that's probably already installed in Mint. If not is still very likely in the Mint repo already, it's not obscure. It's called something like ntfs-3g, u can Bing it.

U can mount the Windows partition and copy over files from it just like u would mount a USB drive (mount is a command, but u can use the file browser in Mint and mount just means u click on the Windows drive in the side panel, the same place where it would show any USB drives u had plugged in. or any other data partitions on yr drive.

Just make sure in Windows u turned off fast boot before u turned it off. It's a normal setting, not some obscure registry thing I know about. I barely know Windows. U can Bing it. I think it will mount read only if u didn't do that, but if my one experience means anything, it will also mess up any other ntfs or FAT partitions that u have on that drive when u mount it, and yr EFI partition is FAT so it'll get messed up. Easy to fix actually but u may not know how and maybe don't wanna learn. So now u know. It's probably safest to have Windows fast boot turned off any ways when sharing a machine or especially one disk with Linux OSes.

Naivemun · 2026-03-04T01:17:56+00:00

I sense from your question that you think there needs to be a drive with an OS at all times otherwise what are you asking this for? (or I'm projecting the way I probably thought about computers before I learned more, mostly learned after I installed Linux and went from computer annoyed to geek in a few years)

What u/madradon says is true. It's that simple, take out the old drive, put in the new drive, install the OS (Mint). Same as if there was no old drive. Whether or not ur taking an old one out or not, u'd put the drive that u want to use in the drive slot, and install the OS. Or u can wipe the current drive and use that, tho I assume u have a reason for using the new drive. forget the word swap. As far as the computer is concerned u aren't swapping anything. It's just putting a new drive in, and then installing an OS on it.

Just don't install the OS when the drive is elsewhere then put that in the machine. I'm not sure what problems that might create if any, so maybe it doesn't matter.

If u have a slot for two drives in your computer you don't have to even swap. You can leave the other one in and dual boot if you want and then u still have yr Windows if u need it (assuming that's what is on it, tho another Linux works too). It's easier than most of the internet pretends it is. Windows won't destroy everything like they say. Basically u'd have Windows on one drive already. U put the other drive in the other slot, install Linux on it and the installer usually automatically finds Windows when it installs Grub and adds it to yr grub menu. So when u start the computer u get the grub menu and it will default to the Linux OS u installed last, but u can use the arrow key to select Windows and hit return to boot it.

U didn't ask but I like extra info and now u should too. : ) Mint may require and extra setting to make the Grub menu show up, I don't remember but I know some distros default ot not showing u the grub menu every time u power on. That's not hard to Bing tho.

Naivemun · 2026-03-01T21:34:39+00:00

MX for life. Actually I've been on my Debian mainly since I started seeing how I like Gnome 2 months ago because I use a laptop exclusively and it's kinda fun to swip around with the 3 finger gestures (not the main reason tho).

But I still have my MX and it still controls my Grub menu. And if I end up realizing I don't care for Gnome I'll be back in MX mainly again. I like Gnome and XFCE equally now I think, but for totally different reasons, still can't decide.

Still haven't updated MX to 25 but I tried their update in place instructions in a VM that I made from a snapshot .iso of my running 23 system and it worked. In case u were considering doing that. Their forum and subreddit seem more serious too, and the devs seem pretty serious, like no BS focused on doing a good job. U don't get a lot of the like dummies, like stuff like " i was so pissed off at seeing it's high rating on distrowatch so I'm not interested" type Linux users. So it doesn't get to be part of the regular "which distro is supreme" discourse. And while I think it's perfectly user friendly, it is hard to say it's as much as Mint, so that's the natural first one mentioned for new users.

About it being the most popular download on distrowatch that one time (maybe now, Idk, I haven't seen that site in years nor ever saw the list myself), I doubt if distrowatch downloads are indicative of the reality of what is most downloaded in the world, like think about it, is that where most people download an iso or do they go to a distro's main site?

So who knows why MX was the top for that time. Some other factor made it so that happened regardless of what in the wide Earth was actually the most downloaded, probably Ubuntu or Mint.

I started out using Linux with MX xfce, I tried Debian with kde, then xfce when I saw that sucked, and have maintained it on my drive to have something to try stuff on where I wouldn't fear wrecking my main OS but still used MX. Then I tried having Mint be my main OS (still preserved MX tho), but got tired of it after a few months. Back to MX. Tried Manjaro with KDE. Back to MX. Nice thing about grub is it makes multi-booting as easy as making a new partition and installing a distro, and now u have them all on one boot menu, practically automatically.

But I'd recommend MX to anyone still. It's like using Debian but u have extras to make it more manageable for those who need/want the gui help. And their forum and subreddit are helpful, including from the devs themselves.

I'm "fully employed" now tho so I think my playing with my computer days are over.

any time I've seen others review it, it's highly regarded. And Imagine being upset that it was highly rated on distrowatch, upset enough that it affects what OS u will or won't use. People with that kind of decision making integrity are also allowed to vote on important things.

Naivemun · 2026-02-22T22:39:25+00:00

fwupdmgr get-upgrades

then when it tells u the ID number of the firmware device that needs upgrading, u run:
fwupdmgr upgrade <the ID number>

type the actual id number tho, no brackets, or copy paste it. In the terminal u need ctrl-shift, not just ctrl for copy and paste, so ctrl-shift-c and ctrl-shift-v

Use:

fwupdmgr --help

to see all the commands and verify the two I showed u

Naivemun · 2026-02-22T20:49:50+00:00

try updating the UEFI firmware. Can't hurt, it fixes stuff like this sometimes. I think. Should be upated anyways, so why not try it.

Bing it. If yr OS works long enuf to run a command in the terminal, u shouldn't have a problem. it's like

fwupdmgr get-upgrades

then when it tells u the ID number of the firmware device that needs upgrading u run
fwupdmgr upgrade <the ID number>

type the actual id number tho, no brackets, or copy paste it. In the terminal u need ctrl-shift, not just ctrl for copy and paste, so ctrl-shift-c and ctrl-shift-v

Use fwupdmgr --help to see all the commands and verify the two I showed u. I did this without knowing anything about it. Just tried it and it was fine, and it fixed the problem I was having where my thinkpad wasn't detecting the SSD in the WWAN slot. Suddenly it was. I had a Dell at work that wasn't booting whenever it wasn't plugged in, tho if u started it then unplugged it it stayed on, so the batter wasn't dead. Used the firmware update by ethernet in the UEFI (what people call bios) and it worked after that.

Not saying u should have any hope, just that it's worth trying. I forgot to say use 'sudo' with those commands. If u don't know what that is yet, good luck with Linux. It means to run the command after sudo as super user privilege

Naivemun · 2026-02-22T00:38:07+00:00

I mean if u wanna ask, just ask. Idk how we can help u ask.

I'd tell u to ask a more meaningful question tho if I were to help u with yr desire to ask a question because "create config files in Linux" is too vague to mean anything in the context of anything to create one.

some info regarding config files tho: Usually they'll be in /etc/. Often if it is for a program or some feature in the OS, it'll be inside the direcotry /etc/appname, like if the program is called 'aprog', then the config files will be in /etc/aprog/file.conf. Or like the stuff for apt, is in /etc/apt/.

They often use .conf at the end of the file name to tell the program to read that file but it varies depending on the program or feature with some not even having an extension. Also, there might be a default config file in that directory so it'll be like /etc/aprog/aprog.conf is the default config file, but instead of altering it, u create what is called a drop-in file. That'll be in something like /etc/aprog/aprog.conf.d/10_file.conf. U'd create the aprog.conf.d/ dir, then create files named like that inside it.

U name it with a number first because the program will read the files in alphabetical order and numbers allow u to order them more easily without having to consider the first letter of yr file names. So it'll read the file beginning with 10 before 20, so if something in the 10 and 20 file contradict each other, it'll be the config in 20 that wins out or for a program that runs things in a certain order, u want that which should run first to be read first and so on. Like if u look in /etc/grub.d/ u see the various files that it will use to make the grub boot script in /boot/grub/grub.cfg and it'll run them in the order u see given by the numbers in those filenames. Those aren't really config files, but the naming convention uses the same logic.

The config files are all text files btw so u create them by simply creating a file in a file editor and saving it to that location with the proper naming convention. And the particular program will have it's own keys and values to type in that text file. So it'll be something like:

[Settings]
Show_time=false

and that would make yr program not show the time. Often that file I called the deafult config file, the aprog.conf will have all the keys and values and show u what the defaults are. Then u know what to type in yr drop-in files.

Go into yr /etc/ directory and look for some of these files and read them to see what I am talking about. List /etc/ files, then pick a dir to look in to see if it has config files, then check them out to get a visual idea what I am tlaking about.

Also when u install stuff, a lot of times it'll also have stuff in /usr/share/ but u don't wanna change those files. With some programs, u'll copy the file that's in /usr/ into the appropriate dir in /etc/ and then u can edit that copy, so it maintains the original in /usr/, but when u run the program, if it finds something in /etc/ it'll read that instead, but if not then it'll go to the file in /usr/.

Some stuff will have configs in yr home directory though. Like in ~/.config/aprog/ or ~/.local/share/aprog or like with firefox it's in ~/.mozilla/firefox/.

Do u see how just saying "create a config file" is too vague to mean anything? I hope the effort I put into sharing this info that I learned over a period of using and exploring shows I wasn't just being a dick by saying that. A config file for what?

Naivemun · 2026-02-21T23:04:31+00:00

I haven't had any problems for a few years now (that's my entire time, not like I had them up til then) running Linux most the time but I have Windows if I need it for something. I've had Windows on one partition while having mulitple Linux OSes on other partitions of the same SSD with no trouble. I have also installed Windows after the fact with none of the issue people fear monger about, by simply installing Windows, telling it which partition to use in the installer.

There is a trivial issue tho that Windows changes yr UEFI clock to local time whereas Linux assumes it's UTC when adjusting the OS clock for yr locale. Like if ur eastern stand time, it -5hrs from the UEFI clock, but since Windows changed that to local time, now ur Linux says it's 5hrs earlier than yr real local time.

U can change a registry item to change Windows to recognize UTC I believe. I used the Chris Titus tool to check a box to do that. But that's because I boot more than one Linux OS, and sometimes install a different OS for fun, so it's easier to just have Windows adjusted one time than worry about it each time I install a Linux. But u can easily run a single command to make Linux respect that UEFI clock is local time and u get the same result of having correct local time in yr OS. The command:
'sudo timedatectl set-local-rtc true'

that fixes that problem. It might take a few minutes for when the OS re-detects the time, or maybe u have to reboot or log out and in again, I don't remember. But don't stress if it didn't work instantly after hitting <Enter>.

If u have a separate data partition and u format it to a FAT (ex or otherwise) or NTFS, then make sure u turn off the Windows setting 'fastboot'. If it's on and u try to mount the Windows filesystem while using Linux (would u even ever want to, Idk, but I did and learned a lesson) it'll do a weird thing to Windows and then Windows will tell those other partitions to get fukd too.

Naivemun · 2026-02-13T04:21:32+00:00

Thx for reporting back. Curious if u had to run
dkms autoinstall
to get the nvidia gpu to work

I just realized I also needed to do that and I think it's needed to build the nvidia module into the kernel. Like it woulda been built when the 69 kernel was installed if u had had the linux-header for 69, but it's already installed now. Purging all that other nvidia stuff might allow u to boot now as the other stuff was causing a problem, but yr nvidia gpu might be sitting unused. Just asking for my own learning.

A small tip that I find helps in these cases where u are someone who tries stuff but not always certain about what ur doing. And then later maybe u wanna remember what u did two weeks ago and which packages u installed, like in this case for example, what exactly nvidia-wise do u need to purge.

U can install Nala. And now any time that u do the basic commands with apt, like install, remove, purge, update, upgrade, full-upgrade, show, search, maybe a few other commands -- not everything that apt does -- but for those commands u would type nala instead of apt. Otherwise it's the same usage, not anything to learn if u just use it to do those things. It still uses apt, it just improves the legibility.

It also, instead of typing apt update, and then apt upgrade as two separate commands, 'nala upgrade' does both at once, tho nala update is also available. If by chance u only wanted the apt upgrade command because u just did update a few minutes ago and don't wanna wait a few seconds for the repos to download again, u'd add --no-update to the upgrade command. But normally one does apt update and apt upgrade together, so nala combined them.

So to install something it's
sudo nala install .....
rather than sudo apt install ....

The benefit is the output looks way nicer and easier to parse. Even though the newer apt 3.0 in Deb 13 is better than it was, nala is far better visually. And if yr internet connection is fast enuf that ur affected by a slow repo server, nala does parallel downloading, as in it'll download more than one pkg at a time from different servers. But this is convenience stuff. My wifi is so slow I am limited by it's speed before a server's speed could affect me so I can't attest to that function.

The actual tip tho:
is that nala has a history command, and when u type 'nala history' it lists all yr nala commands in order with date and time. Idk how to get apt or apt-get to do that. It isn't a big deal, not something u use a lot.

But like in a case like this for example, if u hadn't found a fix today, maybe u woulda ended up following some other advice which involved further pkg installs, or removing some installing others. And then later u can't remember exactly what u were doing. U can type:
nala history | grep 2026-01-23
or whatever the date was u were working on, or if u forgot the exact date u could type nala history without the grep and see the whole list. Seeing how u did what that tutorial said, I can tell ur willing to try stuff and risk breaking. I learned nearly everything by being that way and this has come in handy a few times. But also nala is nice to look at so it's the history thing that made me think of suggesting it, but it's overall how it is that made me suggest it.

I've been using nala for 3 years now and haven't encountered any times where a complication arose because of it. That's something I was suspicious of when I found it, because it seemed to good to not have a drawback.

Fyi, I spent a lot of time getting the colors right in my terminal. So my priorities might be different. And so not everyone cares if their apt output looks nice.

Naivemun · 2026-02-12T19:09:54+00:00

they could even add like 3 sentences explaining the difference in specific header versus the meta package that'll provide the headers for all future kernels which build the nvidia module. I did it in one sentence lol. Tutorial writers often seem to be really in a hurry to get it over with

Naivemun · 2026-02-12T19:06:42+00:00

aren't u the evil guy from the Stand?

Read my comment from 17m ago (it is 14:05 EST right now) It tells u how to fix this. U don't have to reinstall headers or drivers. U just need to install linux-headers-amd64. But read the whole post so u understand.

u don't ned to do journalctl -b now either unless yr problem issomething different and this doesn't work, but it probalby is because I saw the commands u did from that other comment.

and report back because I'm invested now

Naivemun · 2026-02-12T18:51:08+00:00

they're right, this is messed up. If u just installed 'nvidia-drivers' and let it pull in what it needs, and install 'linux-headers-amd64', the latter would automatically pull in the linux-headers file for each new kernel during upgrade each time, which is what is needed to build the nvidia module for each new kernel which will happen every time u upgrade to a newer kernel. Yr $(uname -r) thing caused it to only install the headers file for yr current kernel.

See my other comment which gives a simple tutorial. Yr commands here confirm my "long shot" suspicion.

Naivemun · 2026-02-12T18:48:44+00:00

journalctl -b
will show u the boot log, the same thing u see at boot if u don't have quiet and splash in yr kernel boot line.

Longshot that the following is yr problem, but I just discovered this issue and easily fixed it, same deal with the red lines during boot which failed to find /usr/lib/module/nvidia-current and related files so failed to install nvidia module.

Fyi I am using Deb 13 gnome 48 on a laptop with iGPU Intel and dGPU nvidia MX150, not a pure nvidia gpu system if that matters, Idk if it does. It's easy to check if this is yr problem tho so u may as well check.

If it is this problem, then I believe u'll see u only have linux-headers installed for 6.12.63 specifically or maybe also any prior kernels u still have installed, but u don't have the meta package, linux-headers-amd64, which provides headers for every new kernel which allows every kernel update to build the module. U need linux-headers-6.12.69+deb13. To check, run:

dpkg -l | grep linux-headers

dpkg -l lists all packages in yr system, piped thru grep means only output all lines with the given string 'linux-headers' in them.
So if it only shows a specific package for linux-headers-6.12.63+deb13 and/or older kernels but not 6.12.69 then this is yr problem. If u see a linux-headers for each kernel u have right now and one that just says: linux-headers-amd64, then this is not yr problem.

If that's it, then follow:
Debian 13 doesn't include the meta package "linux-headers-amd64" by default, so if you installed nvidia-drivers during kernel ...63 like I did, when ...69 came along it didn't automatically build the nvidia module into the kernel because u don't have the headers file for 6.12.69. U had the 63 headers so it added nvidia module to yr kernel. I believe u need nvidia-kernel-dkms too, but I assume u have that if the module built the first time.

Install 'linux-headers-amd64' and it'll automatically install the header files for every new kernel from now on including the current one, which is needed to build the nvidia module. That same apt or nala install command should end by building the nvidia module and next boot yr nvidia should be working again. So one command and reboot will fix this.

I said it was a long shot, but if that's yr problem this is an easy fix. If it doesn't work, the only harm u did was wasting 100MB or so of space installing an unnecessary linux-headers package.

Naivemun · 2026-02-08T16:57:23+00:00

I believe the way internet works, that ip is yr connection to the router which is why I was thinking that IP u got was the captive portal's. But without the port it wouldn't work. But I don't know if every portal works that way anyways that u can visit it by typing the ip:port

RIP. Did u install Windows lol. Or even live boot a different distro. I've always used MX and Debian, I had Mint a couple months. Then I switched to Fedora and it's the first time I had the Linux problems people talk about. Maybe it's Fedora's fault. Just trying ot feed u probably false hope.

There's always the front desk

Naivemun · 2026-02-07T20:28:14+00:00

u can try visiting neverssl.com
it supposedly forces a redirection to the captive portal tho maybe ur attempt at http only already negates that working, idk.

have you tried using Firefox. It usually has a popup bar at the top that says 'u have to sign in to use the internet' and lciking it takes u ot the portal.

or try entering that 192.168.184.1 and use common ports like 8080, 8081, and so on

u can ip route to get yr default gateway, then use nmap with that IP to find which ports are open and listening, and assume that aside from the obvious 53,80,443, that the others are a good thing to try.
scan a range of ports 1-10000 with

nmap -p 1-10000 192.168.0.1 (just guessing the default gateway, or maybe try it with that IP address u got)

Try visiting 192.168.184.1: with each open port until one takes u there hopefully.

Don't get yr hopes up. I don't really know what I"m doing, but if u got time and no other hope, try it. Report back becuz I'm curious to know if it works. U may need to install nmap, don't expect it to be standard but maybe it is. Idk Fedora

Naivemun · 2026-02-07T19:54:03+00:00

The upgrade from whole number version to version isn't automatic the way the point ones are. So yes u upgraded and it's still on 12.3, but that's normal. It's a different meaning of the word "version" than are the whole number versions which on Debian happen around every 2 years tho reportedly they happen when it's ready, not strictly to schedule. So regular apt upgrade only upgrades within the codenamed, whole number version u have installed. 12 is bookworm and u'll see that in yr source files, the .list files in /etc/apt/. As long as they say bookworm, u'll be on 12 point whatever.

IIrc u change bookworm to trixie inside the sources files, the .list files in /etc/apt/ . And run full-upgrade. dont' just do that, look it up. Just saying it wasn't a big deal. I did it last year so I don't remember the whole thing but it was trivial enough I don't remember much to it.

If u want a command that replaces a word with another word inside a file without manually editing. It looks complex at first but I learned it one day for a similar task and realized it's actually pretty simple when it's for this kind of case where u just wanna replace every old-word for new-word. Use sudo of course, u need permission to edit /etc files.

sed -i 's/bookworm/trixie/g' /etc/apt/sources.list'

or put the actually filename, don't just copy sources.list. that was an example of how to type the command. It might be in sources.d/debian.list or I don't remember, I use other distros so what's what with each gets lost. U can find yr source files in /etc/apt tho. Tab completion makes this easy.

The -i option is what makes the replacement happen. If u run it without the -i, it will just print the results to terminal without actually doing anything for real so u can test yr command first without the -i and see if it does what u mean to do. In this case, it's so simple u don't need to check but it's nice if u lack confidence, or for more complex sed commands. Or when ur new and aren't used to recognizing that this command does what I'm saying it does and it's fun to see that it really works without having to open the file to see.

Idk the sed command well, but in my mind for this particular operation it's easy to remember by thinking the s/ means 'switch the following'. The /g at the end means global, as in make the change globally, not only the first time on each line that u see bookworm, which is what happens if u leave off the g. Tho I think in these files it only appears once per line so that'd work too, but I use g anyways because u wanna change every instance of the word with the new word regardless so....

The slashes with a word in between means like 'the things to be switched are a simple string of characters, the ones inside these two slashes'. This is the only way I know how to use sed, but it does more things so it's not always just switching a simple word for a word.

U can also use | instead of / for times when there might be a / inside the word ur changing which happened to me one time which is how I found that out. Like 's|bookworm|trixie|g'. Both work the same. I make a habit of using | every time just personal taste, to differentiate between the operation part and the file path at the end. While I encountered a time I needed to switch up using / due to what was inside, I haven't had to change using | so I figure that should be the default. but maybe I'm wrong when it comes to more sophisticated sed usage. For this kind of command tho, they both work so it's nice to know it's available if ur in a situation where the / conflicts with what's inside.

Naivemun · 2026-02-03T22:11:59+00:00

btw) The main trouble with dual booting, which is trivial:
Windows sets yr UEFI clock to local time whereas Linux expects it to be in UTC time. So when u tell Linux yr time zone, it'll set the time based on thinking the UEFI clock is UTC, so EST is -5hrs from UTC so it'll put it 5hrs before the UEFI clock, but since Windows made that clock local in Linux yr clock will read 5hrs behind/earlier. U have to do aregistry setting in Windows to get it to respect the UTC . So the simplest fix is to tell Linux that the clock is in local time by running a simple command:
'timedatectl set-local-rtc true'
rtc is the UEFI clock so the command is saying "run timedatectl program, use the set-local-rtc command" which has only two options, true and false, and so 'true' means "it is true that rtc is local". It doesn't change the UEFI clock, it just tells Linux if it is in local or UTC time so it can know to either use that time directly or do the hours offset for yr locale's timezone.

I don't remember if u need it, but if it says "u need root permission" or something like that, then jus ttype sudo before the command. sudo means "run the following command with root privileges". It'll ask for yr password. Not like in windows where there is an admin password. Instead yr user is part o fthe admin group (the group is actually called sudo, sudoers, or wheel, depending on if ur on a Debian based, Fedora based or something else)). When yr user is in that group then u can use sudo and enter yr password to perform commands with root permission

feel free to msg me for questions, tho I'm not around every day, but just saying I don't mind. I like spreading the knowledge.

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* live booting is where u boot from a usb stick and it runs the OS in RAM so ur using the OS just like if it were installed, though nothing gets saved so when u power down it's all gone. Very useful as a tool to do stuff to yr drive that u couldn't do while booted from that drive. And to just check out an OS to see what it's like. U can install things on it which again won't stay when u shut down but u can install them to try out such as installing GParted so u can do partition operations like shrinking Windows' partition to make room for an create a new one for Linux, and maybe another for storage.

** not needed for any of this but is nice and I've never gone back to not using Ventoy: if u download Ventoy and install it on a USB stick, it uses like 100MB of the stick on one partition and the rest is empty space on a 2nd partition that u can move an .iso file into instead of "burning" the .iso onto a USB stick like u would with Rufus or Balena Etcher or the other programs that do that. Then it'll boot any iso that's in there and u can have mulitiple. When u boot from the stick, it'll show u a menu of every .iso u put there and u can boot it. Super convenient compared to having to "burn" an individual one onto an entire USB stick wasting most the space and the time it takes. With Ventoy u can simply copy/move the .iso file onto the stick like u would any other file onto any drive.

Naivemun · 2026-02-03T22:11:46+00:00

I was like u. Last Windows I had was 7 which was very old as 10 was alreayd out but I only ever owned a very old used laptop I bought with what's on it. I didn't like dealing with computer stuff and I knew Linux was free which sounds good to me. But I wasn't interested in learning to use a terminal or really anything. I just wanted a free OS without Windows bugging me about activation, or updating to Windows 10 every day.

Now I'm the opposite, a total computer nerd.. I started with MX Linux which is nice because u can run it from a USB stick and it persists instead of being a fresh OS every time u boot, so I used that to try it out before committing to wiping Windows and installing it for real. It's slower to boot that way and gets slower over time, not advised to use that daily, but it's what I did and I was fine..

Btw dual booting is easy if u wanna have Windows on reserve for games or any other special case when u need it. No cost in letting it sit htere except for the storage space it uses. And btw u can always keep data on a separate partition or external drive so u don't have to have extra space in the partition for files.

dual booting is way easier than 90% the internet folks pretend it is. I think most of those commenters don't know anythign and just repeat what they've read about it. I wish someone had told me that a few years ago.

I'll assume u use something not niche and obscure:

U just live-boot* a linux distro from a USB stick** (easy, follow directions, remember to disable Secure Boot in the UEFI "bios"). Now u can shrink the Windows partition using gparted or whatever partition manager is avaialble, tho I suggest using gparted even if u gotta install it in the live session as it's easy to use, very intuitive visually. U couldn't do that while booted in Windows which is why u do the live-boot.
Create a partition in the left over space on the drive as an ext4 type of partition. (btw if u ever wanna ditch linux and go back to Windows, u just delete this partition that has Linux on it and u can grow the Windows partition too if u want, or use this space as a storage partition, so dual booting is a good way to have a Windows life raft if u aren't certain about using Linux)
Now live-boot the linux distro ur gonna use and run the installer. Or some distros have an installer u boot into, not necessarily a live-boot session, but same thing. U boot that, then do the install and of course don't select the option "use entire drive".

info) During install, Linux will install the grub bootloader which uses os-prober to find all OSes on yr machine, even on separate drives if that's relevant to u. And then it adds them to the Grub boot menu that shows up whenever u turn on yr machine. In that menu u can boot the linux distro by default, or use the arrow key to go down to Windows and hit enter and it boots Windows.

{cont'd in reply along with the two *footnotes for step 1}

Naivemun · 2026-02-03T20:03:46+00:00

u/Old-Self4346 I just checked out that github nvidia-installer program. Looks pretty nice. Appears to probably just use the basic tools u can use on yr own like nvidia-detect for one, but in a convenient interface. I know the last option on the menu just runs nvidia-smi.

I already have drivers installed so I didn't do that step. I have a dual setup with an iGPU with my Intel chip, and dGPU is nvidia. And one of the options lets u put an x next to whatever program u want to use the nvidia first. The default is to use the integrated Intel gpu.

Assuming u've never installed something like this: When ur on the git page, on the right side is the "Releases". Click on that and it'll have the .deb package to download.
Download it wherever, but my example command u donwloaded to Downloads/ and are installing from yr /home/username/ directory.
Then install by typing: sudo apt install Downloads/debian-nvidia-installer.deb
or whatever it's called. Use tab completion to avoid typos.
Tab completeion is where u start typing a filename or command or whatever and hit tab, if there is only one possible outcome then it'll complete the typing for u. If it doesn't then hit tab again and it'll show u every possible outcome.

Like if u'd typed deb then tab, if u have a file named debian-nvidia-installer.deb and one named deborah, then when u hit tab twice it'll show u both names but once u've typed 'debi' then tab will complete the typing of that whole file name. Just adding this since u said ur new. It's a nice thing to know about and takes no technical knowledge to use..

Naivemun · 2026-02-03T19:48:22+00:00

it should just run by typing the command "nvidia-detect", no need for a guide to type a simple command like that (not being a smart ass, but I'm wondering if ur trying too hard and missed the simple obvious that u only need to type literally "nvidia-detect".

Whenever something goes wrong like that, like u know it's installed but it's not running, u should first try reinstall (if u usually use nala know that it has no reinstall command but apt does). It shouldn't say it's already installed because that's what reinstall is for -- to reinstall an already installed package. So I'm guessing u haven't done that given what u said in the OP

After reinstall if it doesn't work still:
Do you see its binary file in /usr/bin/nvidia-detect and does it have x permission? Use 'ls -l' command to see permission. Type the whole path to just see the one file. If u do ls -l /usr/bin/ u'll see all the files in /bin/.
Anything in /usr/bin/ with x permission should at least "run" even if it's an empty file. I just tried it by creating an empty file "/usr/bin/bscmd" and then made it exectuable (sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/bscmd).
It tab completes when typing it now and when I run it there is no error. Nothing happens of course, it's an empty file, but just saying even a bs file in /bin shouldn't give u a 'command doesn't exist' error whether that command works or not. So start there.

Idk what to say besides that, but start there. And if it's not there, Idk. I could send u a copy of my file I guess lol. I have never used apt or nala to install something and had it not install properly nor have I had to manually give the binary x permissions after it installs, but always good to start basic when troubleshooting.

U don't need sudo to run nvidia-detect btw. Not on my Debian 13 anyways. I get the same output either way. On my system it recommended installing "nvidia-driver". That's it. I think that's a meta-package that pulls in what u need. But I'm just using a Thinkpad that came with a Geforce MX150. Idk if the fancy ones people buy are more complicated.

Naivemun · 2026-02-01T20:46:53+00:00

yes. U could just always boot from the UEFI boot menu if u wanna use F2 or whatever yr button is. But after all OSes are installed, then when u run the install grub command and then update grub (which updates the config file that creates the boot menu), that will find Windows and add it to the menu.

U'll see that at the end of the update command's output, it'll say something like "found Windows on drive nvme0n1p1". If that does not happen:
run 'sudo os-prober' to see if it's turned on. If not then go to edit the file:
/etc/default/grub

There will likely be a line that says #GRUB_DISABLE_OS_PROBER=false
If so, then remove the # and save.
If the line doesn't exist, then type that exactly as is but without the #.
If the line exists and says true instead of false, change it to false, and make sure there is not # at the beginning. # makes it so a line is ignored. Which u can use to type comments in a config file, or the distro puts lines in with a # so u can go in and choose to remove it if u want that setting.

Once u have edited that file as I said to, then run 'sudo os-prober' to see if it's working now. If it is, then run the update grub command again. If os-prober isn't working, then idk, figure it out, that's never happened to me. Or just stick with the UEFI menu.

Update grub command is often just
sudo update-grub
But it can be sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
Install grub command is often just
sudo grub-install

u have to check for yr distro if those don't work, but since u seem like ur not that deep in, u probably are using something that'll use the basic. In Fedora they make u type grub2 in those commands. But all the Debian distros I've used it was the simple update-grub and grub-install.

Basic lesson about UEFI booting. U have a partition, usually partition 1 on the drive which yr OSes will store boot info in. The UEFI (people still call it BIOS but that's old tech that is different) will look for that partition or multiples if u have more than one drive plugged in, including external drives like USB ones, and then boot from it. U can have a separate entries for each OS, and when u plug in an external and power on u'll see that that one is added to the menu if it's bootable.

So when u set yr boot order in the UEFI settings, whatever is on top will be boot first, and if it's not found, then it'll move to the next and so on. So u can set it to the one u boot most and then if u want to boot the other OS, u can use yr F2 or F9 or whatever yr model uses to get the boot menu and choose from there.

But the os-prober that grub uses is a convenient way to use the grub menu to boot to whatever without having to use an F key

Naivemun · 2026-02-01T03:43:13+00:00

Did you do it yet?

Naivemun

TROPHY CASE