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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[Rant] A few days ago, I asked if Mint would run okay on a Lenovo T460 (I appreciate all the advice). I got it working, but the installation was a big pain and I totally blame Lenovo. (lemmy.world)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I got the T460 refurbished and I really didn't want to run Windows 10 on it. I last used Linux for any real length of time a good 20 years ago, so I'm pretty inexperienced with it at this point and I had to figure out how to install it myself.

They made it unreasonably difficult to first install an OS from a USB stick. I had to go into the BIOS, turn UEFI to legacy, turn off secure boot, reboot to boot from the USB stick, install Mint, then turn legacy back to UEFI to get it to boot from the hard drive. This took about 2 hours of trying to figure it out by doing a lot of forums reading.

I do not blame the Mint community or the Linux community as a whole. There is absolutely no reason that it should have been that hard to install Mint on that notebook.

I don't even think getting into the BIOS once time should be necessary, but changing a BIOS setting so you can install the OS and changing it back so you can run the OS off the internal drive is just ridiculous and I find it hard to believe Lenovo couldn't have just made it easier. I'm fairly convinced this was intentional on their part.

I'm not an IT professional or anything, but I know enough to figure this stuff out with effort, but it shouldn't have taken that effort. It should have been almost plug-and-play. This is 2024. The notebook isn't even 10 years old.

Is there actually a good reason for this or are they just kissing Microsoft's ass?

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[–] spaghettiwestern 9 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

I had to go into the BIOS, turn UEFI to legacy, turn off secure boot, reboot to boot from the USB stick, install Mint, then turn legacy back to UEFI to get it to boot from the hard drive.

That is ridiculous and it does sound like a Lenovo problem.

I'm running Mint on a Surface Laptop (which was difficult to install because Microsoft), but getting Secure Boot working only required changing the UEFI settings to allow non-Microsoft Secure Boot certificates. With that set Mint boots just fine both with Secure Boot enabled and disabled. So do USB installation ISOs.

Secure Boot can still be a pain. To get Virtualbox working with it enabled required signing several kernel modules which took a while to figure out.

Mint is great though. After distrohopping for years I finally decided I wanted to just use the OS and GUI, not play around with them and I came back to Mint. The latest versions of Mint just work and work for years once they're installed. For me, going back to Windows (especially W11) feels like punishment. I hope you enjoy the switch.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Admittedly, I've only been able to play with it on and off today, but I am really liking it so far (except Firefox, which apparently no longer has a compact mode). I've had to use Macs for years for work reasons, but I don't have to anymore and I said to myself that when my ancient Macbook died, I would replace it with something that runs Linux. MacOS is okay, not terrific (I hate how much RAM it uses though). I don't mind using it, but I am not going to pay Apple's prices now that I don't have to just because it's less annoying than Windows. So Linux is the perfect answer!

[–] spaghettiwestern 5 points 8 months ago

MacOS is okay, not terrific (I hate how much RAM it uses though).

On that note, I've been amazed how well Mint works with just 8GB of memory. I've had Firefox and Chrome running with plenty of open tabs, Thunderbird, Libreoffice Calc, and a half dozen other programs open while running W10 in Virtualbox. Mint just takes it in stride.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Use KVM I stead of Virtual box. It is way faster

[–] spaghettiwestern 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I use a W10 VM for processing individual files once a week or so. With the required 2 Windows programs it takes about 3 minutes to complete the task and shut down the OS. Not worth switching.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Virtual manager with make it run so much faster though. Also its not a bad idea to have a few VMs just for fun anyway