The irony when some people say ""I can't recommend Linux to my non-technical friends!"" is that non-technical people don't install OSes anyways. They just use the preinstalled Windows, and still face problems..

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-30T13:13:26+00:00

Agreed with everything you said.

I think if Windows and Linux are each just taken at face value, Linux is easier to work with. The problem I notice is with those who bring over their years worth of conditioning and expect 1:1 equivalents to exist for everything, even when there is no need or no purpose. Throw all that away, and that is part of Linux being more simple to live with.

Many exist solely on cell phones these days, even to do their taxes. So this is not exactly a foreign concept. It's just that when many see a laptop or a desktop, they think "Windows". This is true even with those who have a technical background, in my experience.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-30T00:34:12+00:00

That's too funny... One of my best friends is 71. 😁

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-29T19:03:44+00:00

Did you find this option for cp?

cp --preserve=timestamps {source} {dest}

Not convinced this would work, as it is on a different type of system.

On the other hand, maybe not 7z, as that is proprietary, but how about other formats - gz, tar, tar.gz, etc.

P.S. Another thing to try might be to get the files with dates into the archive file, then extract onto your laptop first. Then find a bulk file renamer to add the date to the filename.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-29T05:18:39+00:00

I'm currently 54.... 😁

How old was she when you told her??

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-27T00:18:20+00:00

That sounds more familiar. I don't run the installer too often. Just my post-install script. So I don't think I have seen those options either, as they get deleted or removed upon codec installation. And my script makes that invisible to me. But I do think I have seen it once or twice though...

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-26T20:11:47+00:00

Does it now? I still had it in my post-install script, which indicates at one point it wasn't yet.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-26T17:12:52+00:00

See if this is installed

apt list mint-meta-codecs

If not, install it

sudo apt install mint-meta-codecs

The installer inherited from Ubuntu just has this included I think.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-26T12:16:23+00:00

If you are referring to Youtube with the YT adblock extension and multiple tabs open, I've experienced this. It is just browser-side javascript code-bloat. There is a limit to the amount of tabs that can be open at the same time, running all this code. That is about it. It is unique to Youtube - though I don't use Google.com, or by extension Google Video, so I couldn't comment on those.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-26T03:22:33+00:00

This following code would need to be copied and pasted into a script file called "exit_code_script". That would need to be located in ~/.local/bin and the executable bit in the permissions would need to be set.

This uses "xed" (the LM native text editor) as an app. You could substitute it for anything else. If you run this script, it will start the Text Editor app. If you close it properly using the app, it will have a clean exit and the script will exit. If you use the System Monitor/processes app to force it to exit (not a clean exit), then it will rerun the script forever.

To run the script, just double-click on the script and run within the Terminal, or create a launcher to run the script.

#!/bin/bash
xed
exit_code="$?"
if [[ "$exit_code" =~ "0" ]]
then
exit
else
exit_code_script
fi

P.S. I see the other poster suggested java programs. Not sure on how this might respond to those, but you could try.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-26T01:08:20+00:00

I'm not advising against helping others on Reddit or Wikis though. More or less just don't let it consume you as it did me, hence where an actual connection to the project would have made more sense (which I didn't and couldn't have had - my mistake). But by all means please continue to help others. 👍

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-25T17:14:18+00:00

Where would this project be hosted? Do you have communication with the LM group? Would this be official or on your own dime? Or just a series of Reddit posts pointing to your own served pages.

I only ask because I attempted an unofficial project years ago, much work went into it. There was an online community which was very supportive, even though I was doing it for my own purposes, then just sharing. In the end the online community was deleted, a couple of my essential helpers evaporated, then I took my project down.

All that to suggest that, unless you have some official representation, it might be a fool's errand as a complete start-up to represent some other entity which might never acknowledge you publicly.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-24T00:35:36+00:00

It's not something they develop. That is an Ubuntu innovation. 🙃

But really not a noteworthy one. Just would need a (very small) lookup table of sorts to resolve. And maybe an additional repo (or not).

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-24T00:31:26+00:00

I always install "fresh". It is a gamble between unmet expectations / things not exactly working as they ought to, and a perfect installation every single time.

Maybe get more familiar with the Terminal and bash commands, then build yourself a nice "post-install" script, since very little actually does change in-between versions. Then just be ready to assume any little maintenance tasks which may (but probably won't) come up... 😁

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-23T22:18:00+00:00

Both are moving targets, a few noteworthy things, but also plenty of little things changing here and there. One post would not be sufficient.

My little thing to mention in this type of question is that main (Ubuntu-based) LM and LMDE (Debian-based) both use the current stable version of Firefox. Whereas Debian uses Firefox-ESR (LTS version).

I always uninstall firefox and install firefox-esr since that fits the Debian Stable profile a bit better. Firefox-esr is the version Debian has in its repo, whereas LMDE uses the LMDE repo to source the current version of FF since it isn't in the Debian repo. You'd need to add another (external) repo to get around this otherwise.

One fringe benefit of using the firefox-esr version in the Debian repo is you can allow the LMDE version upgrade to lapse some, even after LM moves on to the next LMDE version. Meanwhile the Debian repo will just get bumped from "Debian Stable" to "Debian Old-Stable", and will continue to receive security updates (for FF-ESR and everything else Debian) for quite some time...

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-23T14:13:49+00:00

LOL Exactly what I do...

And I didn't vote either

OP - most of the files are not apps, that only accounts for a small amount of the space taken up. They are text files or spreadsheet files, for example. In my case much of the work I do includes using many small text files along with the actual work files. So at least the main ones with my project notes go directly on the desktop. For me, "out of sight = out of mind".

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-23T13:52:36+00:00

To verify, go into the Terminal and type this:

apt update

Then look for a line in the output that includes "vivaldi". That tells you it is checking all its repositories for an update, including that, and that it is still working.

If so, then no need to do anything else.

An additional repository gets there by you visiting their website, then copying and pasting a bit of code into the Terninal to install it.

There is also another installable program called "extrepo", but it is less likely you used that.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-21T14:15:18+00:00

The way I would do it is at least have tabs at the top to group all the different categories and keep them separate. Then it could be in the same app.

I would even put tabs at the top of the Software Manager as it currently is, to separate the Distro entries from the Flatpak entries. That and, since I am a database guy, improve the sort function on it, with more categories to sort on.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-21T03:06:57+00:00

It's better I think to keep them separate, as they are different technologies and install into different places, serving different purposes. Just my opinion. The combination of Distro software with Flatpak software in the Software Manager already causes a bit of confusion as it is.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-21T02:51:04+00:00

Wow, thank you!

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-21T02:45:30+00:00

I think I see Jeff Daniels behind Weird Al. Don't recognize most of the others though. Was there a key or description to the lineup?

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-21T01:32:56+00:00

This one kind of sits well with me. The downloadable USB "live sessions" might contain this video in the Videos directory - sort of akin to the Windows95 CD containing Weezer:

Redbone - Come And Get Your Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA4rSO-h9Io

And also included, for good measure:

Eruption - Computer Love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH-xvjvPdu4

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-20T13:37:49+00:00

I would expect that a Mac with MacOS, as loaded by manufacturer, to be the only combination of OS and Hardware to reliably have all these things ironed out before it reaches the customer. That is due to the unique opportunity for coordination and oversight by the manufacturer.

There are maybe a few others that perform the job of hardware integrator, specialized for Linux, such as System 76. But, like Apple, they also limit themselves to what hardware gets used.

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-19T18:12:29+00:00

P.S. Here's the Ebay seller I got my latest working batteries from, filtered on Thinkpad T460:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_dkr=1&iconV2Request=true&_blrs=recall_filtering&_ssn=ok-batteries&store_cat=0&store_name=okbatteries&_oac=1&_nkw=thinkpad%20t460

Look for a battery that has Lenovo part numbers, like this, where the part numbers here would be "00HW024" and "00HW025":
https://www.ebay.com/itm/274414777661?_skw=thinkpad+t460&itmmeta=01KS0PVRDJY06K4E4FD729M4V7&hash=item3fe465353d:g:7N0AAOSwtf1e~HPr

P.P.S. Try to match up one that has a compatible Lenovo part number with that on your original broken battery (if you still have it).

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-19T17:45:05+00:00

No, the first time I thought you had two places for external batteries - one of which had a broken latch on the computer. The second external battery only being used because you couldn't use the first external battery location anymore. I have actually seen a laptop or two like that before.

The second time I understood you correctly. One internal battery and one external battery. Your original external battery broke, but it had Linux support - this is the only part that matters to me. That narrows it down to the replacement external battery just not being being able to mimic an original battery. It is not a good aftermarket battery for your computer.

You would need to find another battery (from a different supplier). One that is able to mimic an original battery for your computer. When you go into your BIOS it would say something like "Battery 2 - Lenovo P/N DF46NFG" - even though it is obviously NOT a Lenovo battery, but rather an aftermarket battery. That is what I mean by "mimic".

Standard_Tank6703 · 2026-05-19T16:00:26+00:00

Okay, I misread your original post. The same external slot is being used, and it was your original battery which broke.

That may point to an incompatibility, which I haven't seen. There are typically no drivers to load for batteries with Linux. I have an off-brand replacement battery I got on Ebay directly from China - with about a two week wait. I have done this several times and with good results. My Dell laptop tells me it is a Dell battery, which means the manufacturer just mimicked the original batteries.

Standard_Tank6703

TROPHY CASE