Hey, so I just put this part up first because this is the one I urgently and importantly need answered even tho I wrote that hideous text block first (sorry English isn't my first language ).
1 So the question is I have live booted mint from a USB and everything is working like I can use internet on it , play YouTube video , the sound is working etc . But I'm afraid if I wipe windows and install mint as the main OS and the WiFi stops working I'll be fucked as I don't have a second machine except a phone to even fix it . There is no repair shop near and the ones I have to travel to go to charge very high for services and all the people I know are " just phone people" . Is it guaranteed that everything that works on a live USB will also work as the main OS ? Also is there a chance that updates could break the functionalities like WiFi, sound , rendering etc ? Cause I'm a layman and idk how to go about installing the correct kernal manually or some shit . And if its something like WiFi that got fucked I'll be extra fucked as I don't have a second device and can't even do it manually . Also as I said I can't afford servicing now . Also how do I switch back to windows lol ? I'm just running mint of the USB o don't know how to go back to windows, do I just pull the USB out ? Then what ? What are the steps on BIOS ? Shit I should've probably searched all these up before bit oh well as long as I'm making a post do feel free to answer idk if I should close my lap or not .I read a post on reddit of a guy whose WiFi stopped working after he made it his primary and he said that it worked on live USB . He was running mint too I believe, same as me with no other device .
Do try and reply to 1 (1 is the most important ) , 2 and 3 importantly and 4 you can do or not according to your free time .
2 Also what is the message on mints website talking about having to do something else for newer devices ? I now use an old thinkpad and it isn't an issue but I'm planning to do an upgrade real soon
3 Also how does the process vary with RISC-V architecture ? Is it there yet ? Any laptop to lookout for or is PC the only way ? I was thinking about switching to risc-v when upgrafing if any company manufactures components or laptop which they do fully as Foss . I am open to building a PC for RISC-V if I can buy full open source parts and if the Linux support is good .
4 I was thinking about switching to Linux for a long time cause I'm paranoid as fuck and always thought I should switch to mint as I'm a layman of all layman and recently got enough time to make it . But then I came to know of zorin OS which too seems to appease to begginers and the conseus between mint and zorin online vary a lot so thought I should just ask here as Lemmy seems to be crawling with Linux users . I mainly just want the drivers or hardware or kernal and all to just work perfectly all the time and not break after updates . I have also heard of some people having kernal issues and having to do it manually in which case I'll be fucked as I'm not savy . I mainly want good privacy and security . Zorin seem to have a paid version and I'm afraid devs will cut back on other version to promote that more and I have no plan to buy premium as i'm just getting into Linux and don't wanna make a big commitment maybe if I used it and settle on it I'll buy to support devs . Also mint is more popular and here to stay kinda shit right ? I don't care much about looking like windows or running window compatible apps and games I'll be just happy with the OS I'm choosing running all Linux shit . Also which appstore is better ? I heard mints software repo holds closed and outdated apps and don't have much idea about Zorin's . fdroid is one of the reason I grew to love android a place for all the good apps with no blobs and have everything I could ever need from galleries to browser . I would also like a that kinda app store supported distro with similar focus and policies on keeping apk updated , and building without proprietary blobs (like fennec ) and only foss .etc .
Sorry for the block of words , mistake grammer etc . English isn't my first language.
Wdym ? One of the reason I jumped on the Linux train is because everyone on lemmy saying nowadays Linux just works, its not like the old times , mint is now more stable than W11 etc .
Linux might "just work" but it highly depends on what you use it for, gaming is getting better but is not going to be nearly as good as on Windows and there are some proprietary software that straight up don't work such as MS Office and the Adobe Suite. However programming is very good on Linux and general office tasks and browsing the web works completely fine.
I don't game much if at all and I'd be happy to switch to libreoffice .
You should probably be good then, at the moment gaming seems to be the main deterrent for Linux, and yeah Libreoffice is great and works for most people, just doesn't have some of the more specialist features for some people.
well if you take the people on lemmy at face value I‘m not sure I can help you.
Of course, linux works great and for most intends and purposes, you can run it like you can run windows.
But that doesnt mean that it’s never gonna freak out on you. Games run mostly the same, except rootkit-shitware. So yes, in a very small „standard“ configuration-lane, it works flawless.
But if you start tinkering - to go all privacy nut for example - expect to see breakage. Its still community built stuff and not for profit proprietary shit that gets designed to make you use it.
I don't game much if at all so that's not a concern .
My point wasn’t only games but glad you’re happy
Idk how to Reply to the Lemmy face value point i mean it was IS everywhere and the long exposure and even reddit becoming slightly more linuxy convinced me that maybe Linux has become good for beginners . Also I'm barely getting in Linux world I don't think I'm gonna start tampering enough to break anything...yet .
Something to keep in mind is that Linux doesn't have the same hand holding as windows. By all means make the switch but do not run sudo commands you don't understand unless you're comfortable debugging or reinstalling your system.
I learned that the hard way, though I was more than happy to just reinstall and try again. If Linux gives you any warning, please pay attention instead of ignoring like you would on windows.
I think mint is a great choice and I've installed it on my laptop recently and its been working very well. I'm no expert but hopefully if you have any questions I can help you out.
Thanks I'll get back to you if I have any questions .
That can be the case for most mainstream distros in expecteded platforms. You may find some quirks with RISC-V.
General package availability is fairly high but there's bound to be gaps in software you need. (You should be able to find this out in advance on a per-app or library basis). Projects like Box86 and FexEmu can maybe be applied here as well but that's another layer of complexity added to an already significant jump you're making.
Make the exploration of this arch a side project rather than a main goal for now. There are some very interesting SBCs available, the PineTab V looks pretty cool as well, but I'd by lying to you if I said you could depend on these devices as your primary system.
Oh man I don't mean to be rude but half of what you just said went over my head . The other half is telling me that it isn't there yet except on some devices ? Am I right ?
no worries. RISC V is an interesting, promising yet emerging platform.
You may be able to use a RISC V system as a general computer but there's likely to be gaps in terms of software support.
I suppose you could try and see how far can you get by using a Raspberry Pi (or similar device) as your primary computer as a sort of benchmark (bearing in mind that the RPi is ARM based, not RISC V)
With all of that said, I'm really looking forward to the day of high performance, general purpose RISC V PC systems.
A RPi5 is way more performant than the currently available Risc-V alternatives.
You're not wrong, there are some pretty cool RV SBCs out there though. I would love to tinker someday but the unit price is maybe a bit steeper than I'd like for such an endeavour.
Someday, sure.
For sure me too . Thanks for the ELI5 . I also never knew raspberry PI was that limited since I never had one . I just thought it was just a low performance issue not a compatibility software one well TIL .
No prob.
For whatever it's worth, you can get some very performant ARM and RISC V processors. Software support gaps are less of an issue for ARM considering how long it's been around for. The apple silicon macs are all arm based and seem to perform very well under specific scenarios and workloads.
But I've had some struggles recently with very obscure software packages not playing nicley on my raspberry 5 with x86 emulation, so there are some definite hurdles still.