Any fellow Linux users on here?

[Judge]

I haven't manually installed wine since it's very buggy early days, I just use whatever the repository dishes up.

WAY easier. I mean following instructions to do it through the terminal are easy enough.

With one MAJOR caveat: They'd better be the right instructions for the right distro.

Using the repository would rule out that concern.

LOL...One consideration as to why I learned to get acquainted with the Synaptic Package Manager. To completely purge a version of Wine that for whatever reason didn't work.

 

[Lemon Zing]

You can get handheld gaming consoles now that run either Linux or Android. But these are mostly experimental, imported devices.

It's a cool concept, though. A small, portable console, that doubles as a PC. Win, win.

 

[FilterFreq]

You can get handheld gaming consoles now that run either Linux or Android. But these are mostly experimental, imported devices.

It's a cool concept, though. A small, portable console, that doubles as a PC. Win, win.

Batocera is pretty awesome for this. I've been wanting to port it over to the Orange Pi but I need to install some more information into myself before I attempt anything like that.

Currently I can't even get Redshift to run correctly under any distro, so I have a long ways to go

 

[FilterFreq]

And more on that note...

I'm not sure if anyone else has done this but I'm kind of hyperfixating (in a way that I thoroughly enjoy) with trying to get up and running with Linux (again, this happens every 3 months or so but I'm hoping this time it'll stick).

'Easy mode' right now is a lot of WSL, a few distros preloaded onto old systems (I have a lot lying around), my small army of SoCs and even some weird little subsystem that virtualizes on Android. Not sure how practical any of this is, or if it's downright overkill, but it's actually kind of fun to mess with this way. Especially since I have aspirations of going further down the embedded rabbit hoole.

The motivation is kind of silly, but I'd love to be able to understand things at the processor level and actually gain the ability to (eventually, I'm sure this will take years) port things, fix libraries and take advantage of the arsenal of apps preloaded. No idea how far I'll actually get, but I'm hoping if I shoot for the moon... I forget how that idiom goes. You know the one

 

[Outdated]

I'm not sure if anyone else has done this but I'm kind of hyperfixating (in a way that I thoroughly enjoy) with trying to get up and running with Linux (again, this happens every 3 months or so but I'm hoping this time it'll stick).

I've used Linux exclusively for over a decade now, before that I was dual booting Linux and Windows for about a decade. Here's a few simple tips that will save you a lot of headaches.

Firstly, if you're new to Linux stay away from offshoot branches such as Puppy, PoP and Mint. Stick to the mainstream branches, there's two - Ubuntu and Fedora. There's nothing wrong with the others except that they don't have as much support or as much documentation as the big ones.

Ubuntu is easier for new users to set up and it also offers Long Term Service versions that get updates and support for 5 years.

Fedora is much more finely worked out, more secure and with less problems but does not offer an LTS version so you have to keep upgrading every 12 months or so.

For a new user I recommend starting here:
Ubuntu Cinnamon | Ubuntu, traditionally modern
That's possibly the easiest version of them all for a Windows user to familiarise themselves with.

When it comes to games there's no need for porting. Just install Steam and through that you can buy and play any games. Or if you're like me and prefer to play purely offline then buy the GoG versions of games and install them under Wine. Wine is a compatability layer that allows Windows programs to run in Linux but it can sometimes be a little tricky to set up.

 

[FilterFreq]

When it comes to games there's no need for porting. Just install Steam and through that you can buy and play any games.

I agree there. I should have specified that that's a fantasy (and likely impractical) long-term project idea. Batocera Linux runs on all sorts of architectures, but hasn't been ported over to the Orange Pi Zero yet, so it would be a true test of my competence later on to see if it's something I can feasibly do (before some one beats me to it!). It's not so much to be able to finally emulate on said target system, but more of an experiment in SOC development.

Just the idea that an OS can get me dreaming again (even if the projects are way beyond my current capabilities and somewhat questionable) makes me think I've gotten into something potentially life-changing if I stick with it.

Oddly though, everything I've tried so far with a GUI was a complete eyesore (I'm sensitive though, so that one is very much on me!), so I'm considering the idea of just settling into the terminal and doing nearly everything from there. This might be completely insane, but Nano and Vim look pretty inviting so far, at least for the fact that they don't have blinding white IDEs.

So far it's really nice to get away from the Windows bloat for a while, but time will tell if it's more practical for large projects!

 

[Judge]

More adventures in customization of Mint Cinnamon. Oh my.

On my secondary drive of Mint 22.0, I took yesterday to play around with it, again to try some more exotic customization this time not applying Gnome, but rather stick to whatever is compatible with Cinnamon.

Instead of taking any "giant leap for mankind" (LOL) all I was download "Latte Dock" directly from the Mint repository. Quite a bit more complex than I imagined compared to other things like "Simple Dock". Also looks more like the dock used with "Elementary" OS.

Of course I moved the existing panel to the top instead of how it defaults to the bottom, so the Latte Dock would be on the bottom of the screen, same as a Mac. I have to admit, I was impressed at how many functions and features this dock turns out to have. Though figuring them out was time-consuming.

Once I got to a point where I thought I knew what I was doing, I proceeded to methodically populate the dock with 24 "favorite" icons previously situated in the panel above. Having almost completed all of them, I was at the 21st icon to install which was my file manager (Nemo). I always make a point of changing the default icon of Nemo to a square icon resembling a file cabinet...which has always been an innocuous issue with Mint.

When I installed that favorite icon into the dock, it instantly changed the icon to the default icon, resembling a file folder instead of a file cabinet. Baffling to see that happen. Far worse was when I blithely switched the icon to the one I wanted. When the whole dock went nuts and all the icons became blank white squares! Just this one icon caused it all to go to hell.
Have no idea why, given nearly all my favorites icons are not the default icon.

Pity, I liked the look of that dock for Linux Mint. I'm still contemplating trying it again, but I suppose this time around I'll have to put the Nemo file manager icon elsewhere on the panel above and just leave it out of Latte Dock altogether. Of course I previously saved my default interface setup and everything else prior to installing Latte Dock using Timeshift. So when the whole dock went kaput I just used Timeshift to bring everything back as it was.

I just find it a bit puzzling as to how sensitive and potentially unstable Linux Mint continues to be when it comes to customizing the interface outside of installing entire "authorized" themes which seem to meet Mint's own persnickety standards. Yet "Latte Dock" is clearly available right from their own repository! Go figure. Though Latte Dock also comes with a whole lot of dependencies that seem more Plasma-oriented. Hmmmm.

All somewhat frustrating considering how much I was able to customize Pop!OS22.04 into looking like a Mac using Gnome extensions, and without incident.There are other "dock" apps out there, but few of them seem to play well with Linux Mint.

 

[Chimorin]

Hi,
Are you using Linux? If so, which distrubution and why? I am using Ubuntu Budgie 20 beta because it is very reliable and I am used to the format. That and my canon printer works with it.

i use arch btw

 

[Judge]

i use arch btw

Welcome to our little group of Linux users.

 

[Outdated]

I just find it a bit puzzling as to how sensitive and potentially unstable Linux Mint continues to be when it comes to customizing the interface outside of installing entire "authorized" themes which seem to meet Mint's own persnickety standards.

The dock is probably only capable of using whatever your default icon set is.

I hate all the more modern icon sets and always install the Adwaita icon theme and set it as my default.

 

[Chimorin]

Welcome to our little group of Linux users.

Honoured to be so my man.

 

[Chimorin]

More adventures in customization of Mint Cinnamon. Oh my.

On my secondary drive of Mint 22.0, I took yesterday to play around with it, again to try some more exotic customization this time not applying Gnome, but rather stick to whatever is compatible with Cinnamon.

Instead of taking any "giant leap for mankind" (LOL) all I was download "Latte Dock" directly from the Mint repository. Quite a bit more complex than I imagined compared to other things like "Simple Dock". Also looks more like the dock used with "Elementary" OS.

Of course I moved the existing panel to the top instead of how it defaults to the bottom, so the Latte Dock would be on the bottom of the screen, same as a Mac. I have to admit, I was impressed at how many functions and features this dock turns out to have. Though figuring them out was time-consuming.

Once I got to a point where I thought I knew what I was doing, I proceeded to methodically populate the dock with 24 "favorite" icons previously situated in the panel above. Having almost completed all of them, I was at the 21st icon to install which was my file manager (Nemo). I always make a point of changing the default icon of Nemo to a square icon resembling a file cabinet...which has always been an innocuous issue with Mint.

When I installed that favorite icon into the dock, it instantly changed the icon to the default icon, resembling a file folder instead of a file cabinet. Baffling to see that happen. Far worse was when I blithely switched the icon to the one I wanted. When the whole dock went nuts and all the icons became blank white squares! Just this one icon caused it all to go to hell.
Have no idea why, given nearly all my favorites icons are not the default icon.

Pity, I liked the look of that dock for Linux Mint. I'm still contemplating trying it again, but I suppose this time around I'll have to put the Nemo file manager icon elsewhere on the panel above and just leave it out of Latte Dock altogether. Of course I previously saved my default interface setup and everything else prior to installing Latte Dock using Timeshift. So when the whole dock went kaput I just used Timeshift to bring everything back as it was.

I just find it a bit puzzling as to how sensitive and potentially unstable Linux Mint continues to be when it comes to customizing the interface outside of installing entire "authorized" themes which seem to meet Mint's own persnickety standards. Yet "Latte Dock" is clearly available right from their own repository! Go figure. Though Latte Dock also comes with a whole lot of dependencies that seem more Plasma-oriented. Hmmmm.

All somewhat frustrating considering how much I was able to customize Pop!OS22.04 into looking like a Mac using Gnome extensions, and without incident.There are other "dock" apps out there, but few of them seem to play well with Linux Mint.

Mint was the GOAT when I last used it, I switched to Arch-based stuff though because I just like things being up to date, not to mention things are relatively stable for me (issues do still happen though). I personally use KDE as my DE, GNOME drove me up the wall lol. I do like Cinnamon though too, just KDE gives me a lot of customisation.

 

[Outdated]

I personally use KDE as my DE...

I might have to check it out again one day, I haven't used it since about 2007. It was incredibly resource hungry back then, as bad as Windows. I hated Gnome too but it was better for gaming, less resource hungry.

 

[Judge]

The dock is probably only capable of using whatever your default icon set is.

I hate all the more modern icon sets and always install the Adwaita icon theme and set it as my default.

That's just it. The 20 some-odd other favorite icons were all in the stock selection of icons, just not default icons. Yet they presented no problem. And the file manager icon, default or not is not dynamic in any way. Just another icon in that respect. Yet it was the one that blew the whole setup.

Weird....especially as Latte Dock was not dependent on any other theme per se. I know I learned with Pop!OS not to substitute dynamic icons such as the repository one. In the beginning of my customization attempts that brought down the whole OS- several times!

So far in my own case though, it seems Linux Mint just isn't real versatile when it comes to customization. But then I know their developers in general "run a tight ship". Where they want everything their way...such as banning snaps or Flathub apps not specifically authorized.

 

[Chimorin]

I might have to check it out again one day, I haven't used it since about 2007. It was incredibly resource hungry back then, as bad as Windows. I hated Gnome too but it was better for gaming, less resource hungry.

Oh yeah, it’s definitely gotten better these days. KDE 4 was a bloated mess lol, but things are better for me now with KDE (in my experience). I did used to use XFCE but all the customisation I did to it practically just bloated everything back up again, so I switched to KDE for convenience.

 

[Chimorin]

That's just it. The 20 some-odd other favorite icons were all in the stock selection of icons, just not default icons. Yet they presented no problem. And the file manager icon, default or not is not dynamic in any way. Just another icon in that respect. Yet it was the one that blew the whole setup.

Weird....especially as Latte Dock was not dependent on any other theme per se.

Isn’t Latte dock discontinued now?

 

[Judge]

Isn’t Latte dock discontinued now?

LOL. Good point. I just learned seconds ago. But it's still in the Mint repository. Let me check to see if it mentions this.....

Not that I see. No longer supported...might not be a wise choice then. Thanks for the heads-up!

Ugh. Maybe I'll try Cairo-Dock instead....though that's far more elaborate as well.

Kinda sloppy on Mint's part to keep this in their repository though. Hmmmm.

Stands to reason this app may not work well on a version of Mint some two years after it was discontinued! Case closed.....

 

[Chimorin]

LOL. Good point. I just learned seconds ago. But it's still in the Mint repository. Let me check to see if it mentions this.....

I had a rude awakening it was on Arch lol, since the packages get updated all the time it reminded me very quickly it was no longer supported.

 

[Judge]

I had a rude awakening it was on Arch lol, since the packages get updated all the time it reminded me very quickly it was no longer supported.

It's a bit frustrating given Mint has adopted a more militant approach to what they allow in their repository, especially when it comes to Flatpaks. And they won't even tolerate Snaps.

Go figure...but they dropped the ball with Latte Dock.

But it just goes to show that it can be very productive to share one's Linux screw-ups here. Much obliged.

 

[Chimorin]

It's a bit frustrating given Mint has adopted a more militant approach to what they allow in their repository, especially when it comes to Flatpaks. And they won't even tolerate Snaps.

Go figure...

True that.

In all honesty though, I’m kinda glad Snaps aren’t allowed on Mint though. We have way too many packaging formats, and then Canonical makes another one which is conveniently closed source and is forced onto their Distro? No thanks lol. Still though, I get them not being allowed on there for convenience is a pain.