The Best Linux Distributions for Beginners in 2020

TecMint ^ | 23 July 2020 | James Kiarie

[Dalberg-Acton]

“Only complaint is the startup chime, which to me is like nails on chalkboard.”

Menu >> Preferences >> Sound >>
Choose the “Sounds” tab and turn off “Starting Cinnamon”.
Or run the volume slider to 0% and that will silence all event sounds.
You can also choose another sound file at this window.

[sjm_888]

Linux bookmark

[SuperLuminal]

Nice summary article...

Wonder how much RAM would be required to run a VM for one of these... Trying out the Linux experience is one of the items on my "before-ground-temperature" bucket-list...

[Pollard]

We run a lot of laptops here and all have Linux on them AND windows. My son and daughter run windows mostly. My wife was on windows but went back to the Linux side and I mostly run linux unless I want to use TurboCAD or my auto repair programs.

I just swapped from Linux Mint KDE which has the Plasma desktop to Kubuntu which also has the Plasma desktop.

Gnome Ubuntu is installed on my daughter's and wife's touch screen laptops and also on a rugged tablet I have because the Gnome desktop is about the best Ubuntu compatible one for touch capabilities.

Since then, Ubuntu has started using Gnome as their standard desktop and the people that make Gnome, no longer make their own version of Ubuntu. That means eventually I'll have to swap three systems over but it's a very easy thing to do without losing anything. All documents AND settings are kept in your Home folder. Back that up, reinstall another Ubuntu and all your programs and restore the backup.

I have one other laptop with Xubuntu which is Ubuntu with the XFCE desktop, which is a lightweight desktop.

I like the Plasma desktop because it's very customizable and has bells and whistles.

The clock and system stats are called Plasmoids and I used to have a To Do List plasmoid up top but I use a program for that now. Evolution, email/calendar/tasks/notes.

Left hand side is favorite programs. Bottom, L to R is Apps, Power button, 6 virtual desktops, running programs, task bar/indicators and date/time. With the virtual desktops, I can have a program or two open in each one and hit Ctrl+Alt+Left or Right arrow keys to cycle through them and it looks like a cube rotating when I do so. The penguin's name is Tux and he's the Linux mascot.

Startup time is just as fast as windows and shut down time is less than 5 seconds. Installing updates can be done while working/surfing and there's hardly ever a restart required and it also does not affect that <5 second shut down time. My wife got back on windows yesterday after not having been on it for a while and it took a good 20 minutes to shut down. She was actually doing a restart to go back to Linux which made it pretty aggravating.

This whole thing about Linux plus a desktop is confusing to newbies. The base of Linux and later Debian, Ubuntu, Cent OS etc does not have a GUI aka Graphic User Interface aka Desktop. Linux/Ubuntu/CentOS run the internet for the most part and those Server versions have no GUI. You use them like the old MS DOS, typing commands in. Eventually, they added a GUI to Linux but decided to add it as a layer on top of the non-GUI version. That allows multiple GUI/Desktop versions to run on Linux. I'm running Kubuntu which comes with the Plasma desktop but I could simply install the Gnome desktop or XFCE or quite a few others and choose one when I log in to Ubuntu. Plasma does tend to get buggy on occasion so I've been meaning to install Gnome for those times.

[Pollard]

The other reason I like Plasma is the full screen menu aka Application Dashboard. Hit the Super key aka Windows button and it pops up.

[MarkL]

Am I dating myself when I say that my first version of Linux was Yggdrasil from about mid-1993? Later on a few years later, I wound up moving over to Caldera Linux, I think about 1996 or 1997.

Right now I need to pick up a drive to back up my Linux system running this box, so I can upgrade it to the next version of Linux Mint.

At work I'm constantly working in a Windows environment, but also have some VMs around running Ubuntu server for utilities.

Mark

[MarkL]

how do you go about authenticating the download?

Most systems will have a downloadable file or web page that has a long code number, usually MD5, Sha1 or Sha2 hash. The md5 is less secure, since it's only 128 bits, but if you're sure of your downloads and have something REALLY big, it may be a better way to go.

There are a ton of different decoders you can get for Windows, including a built-in Windows 10 version that's part of explorer. For Linux, there's md5sum or if you want better security, try the sha256sum.

Mark

[ShadowAce]

...I'll have to swap three systems over but it's a very easy thing to do without losing anything. All documents AND settings are kept in your Home folder. Back that up, reinstall another Ubuntu and all your programs and restore the backup.

It can be even easier than that--put /home on its own partition, and don't touch it when installing another OS--just point to it for the /home mount. You won't even have to restore.

[Bob434]

thanks Mark- there’s an app in linux i think that scans the sha or md5 file- I’ll just have to look up what it is again lol- i always forget-

[Bob434]

if I’m running linux mint cinnamon right now- can i move my /home folder to it’s own partition and isntall the ubunto cinnamon version and have it work?

[ShadowAce]

I believe so (I'm not familiar with the Mint installer).

1. Back up everything in /home/
2. Create a new partition and mount it somewhere under /mnt
3. cp -R everything in your /home/<user>/* to /mnt/<user>/. (be sure to include the .* files also)
4. During the installation, specify your new partition as /home.

That should do it. From now on, you should just be able to mount that partition under /home whenever re-installing.

[Bob434]

thanks, I’ll have to research what cp -R means, but i can do that myself- looks like it won’t be too hard-

[MarkL]

Yes, in linux, from the command line, the commands are md5sum (for md5) and sha256sum (for sha256.) There are some others are well, but those are often the two most common.

I’m sure there are some in the GUI versions as well, but I’ve never used them.

Thanks,

Mark

[Bob434]

Thanks, I just noticed last night, in mint at least, i can right click on the .iso file, and htere’s an option to check either the md5 or sha256- can’t remember which one now- easy peasy- used to have to CD into directory where .iso file was, then point to hte .iso when checking with terminal if i recall correctly?

[Bob434]

quick quesiton- using thunderbird, when i get a .mov, or any video file in email, and i open the video- the video player opens really small- I can drag and make it larger, but wouldl ike to open it larger everytime, but for soem reason the thunderbird won’t remember the size-

Any thoughts? I’ve tried two different ones in ubuntu cinnamon- MPV and Celluloid, and VLC which won’t even play .mov files- wish is would, because that program will remember size of video i believe-

[ShadowAce]

If you convert the .mov file to .mp4, vlc will play it without issue.

Other than that, the issue lies within the video player you are using.

[Bob434]

that sounds right, because when i try using VLC, and resize it, it stays the same size when i close then open it again but the only problem is VLC won’t play .MOV files unfortunately- i need something for some elderly folks so they can see the videos their family sends them, in a large enough window to see it well, and which is almost always .MOV

[Openurmind]

Yes, two ways. I would suggest Mint Cinnamon *18.3* for that slightly older machine. The Mint installer will ask you if you want to “Install alongside” your windows as “dual boot” so that you have both the windows and the Mint. After installing the Mint will be the primary OS but give you a menu option at start up to boot into either, or if you just let it go it will boot into Mint by it’s self.

Cool thing is even when you are booted up in Mint you can access the windows files to copy & paste, or drag and drop them from the windows folders over into the corresponding Mint folders... videos, pictures, documents, downloads, Etc. And after you decide you want to finally rid yourself of the windows for good that partition can be removed.

But grabbing your files off onto a stick or external drive and just doing a full format and reinstall is best if you want a Mint only machine.

* Version 18.3 is important, Linux operating systems really do not expire or even need to be updated, I haven’t updated mine in over three years now. The apps maybe, but not the OS it’s self. And after trying the newer versions myself the 18.3 has been the best for slightly older machines, the older Kernel has better drivers. Newer is not always better in the linux world. The newest version will run the oldest software, and the oldest version will run the newest software. The linux world does not have the version specific requirements and dependencies that windows and windows apps lock you into with their proprietary control. Even with an older version, linux checks for any extra needed dependencies an app might need and goes and grabs those at the same time during the download and install for that app. Older/newer version does not matter because it will create the newer environment that app might need for you no matter what version you are running.

[Openurmind]

To share the Mint installer question. Mint will automatically stack a new install over any existing OS installs if you choose “along side”. And you can stack as many as you like one over the other with the auto-installer. The latest install becomes the primary boot system for auto boot if you don’t choose a previous install from the boot menu list.

My curiosity would be if that ability is built into Ubuntu also? So that it will automatically install over a previously installed Mint as “along side/dual boot”? So that manual partitioning and etc are not needed like the Mint installer does?

[kalee]

ping