I’ve done basically the same thing with my computer. While I was still stuck with Windows, my main installation broke and took ages to boot. I installed another copy onto the same disk to run some software, then dual (triple?) booted with Mint.

Mine are all on the same physical disk, but the process should be the same.

The Mint bootloader took over from Windows, and presents me with a menu on boot. The default choice is Mint, which automatically boots after a few seconds, but it gives me a few options, one of which is the Windows bootloader. If I choose this, it gives me the same options as before I installed Mint, so lets me boot into either installation.

It goes without saying, but make a backup before you change anything, and remember that Boot Repair is available for most Linux distros :)

I’m using Mint with a 3060 on my PC, and my wife has Mint installed with one of the very old low powered cards, a gt 710 I think. Neither of us have had problems with them 🤷🏻‍♂️

f you’re using Ubuntu or Linux Mint, Zorin, PopOS, install the ubuntustudio package for pipewire (can’t remember how it’s called you need to search for it). It sets up pipewire audio correctly, so more plugins/apps work out of the box (without it, for example, Bitwig studio doesn’t even make a peep…).

Thanks for adding this 🙂

I’ve just started playing around with Hydrogen, the drum machine, as well as some video editing. I’m in the process of switching to Mint, but hadn’t heard of the ubuntustudio package at all.

I think at least part of the problem has been the built in expiry date, and the fact that so many off brand Chromebooks are absolute shit. They have tiny screens and low specs, and struggle with multiple web pages open.

I fancied one myself to take out and about, as I do most of my work on my PC, but they all seemed to have under 13 inch screens, and a five year shelf life. I like to research my family tree, so have a few tabs open, but the lack of memory would kill them and make it painful to do.

You’re being downvoted, but you’re right.

People want something simple. Something that just runs the basics and automatically backs up online and invisibly.

The vast majority of people don’t need to have the choice of 17 different browsers, or 43 office suites, and they certainly don’t need the terminal or Powershell, or anything else. They just need a browser and a way to maybe write a letter and view photos. Maybe a way for the kids to do their homework. If their laptop spontaneously combusts, they want to be able to sign into a new one and have everything put back as it was automatically.

ChromeOS is perfect for them, apart from being a Google product. It’s something we tend to miss because we’re technically minded, but most people don’t care about computers, and don’t want what we want. They want an appliance. If someone created that system with privacy built in, it could be great :)

I’m in the UK, and I’ve had decent laptops from rapidIT and ITZoo, both .co.uk as far as I remember. I can’t remember which laptop I got from Rapid as it was a few years ago, but the first one had a faulty motherboard, and they swapped the laptop with no issues.

I had a Stonebook branded Clevo N750BU from ITZoo, which is an i7 based laptop, and Mint works perfectly on it. It’s quite old now, so you’ll probably get a newer one for your budget, but with a RAM upgrade it runs everything I throw at it. I use it for designing and editing logos in Inkscape and Krita, and for editing a website in html, css, and javascript, so anything newer should do it even better :)

‘Gaming laptop, only used occasionally. Been sitting around for a while because my kid’s got a new hobby. £1,200 no offers. I know what I’ve got’

The pictured laptop has a Centrino sticker on it and looks like it’s been used to dig a garden

That’s brilliant, I hope it all works out 😊

It’s a great idea, but don’t forget about how these people are going to get support in the future. If something breaks, most helpers (computer shops, kids friends etc) are going to be Windows users.

Mint can do automatic updates, but both my laptop and PC have had serious issues with version upgrades. My laptop, which is Mint only, asked me to remove a load of software before upgrading, then booted with loads of errors and had to be reinstalled. My PC was mostly fine, but had no sound. It turned out that Mint switched from Pulse Audio to Pipewire, or vice versa, and the old audio manager left config files behind.

They were both annoying issues more than anything else, but would be difficult for the people in your scenario to get fixed.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to put you off, just checking that you’ve thought of the downsides :)

Automatic Ripping Machine can pull the main movie off a disc automatically, but I’m not sure about imaging the full disc. Once it’s set up, you just put a disc in and wait.

https://github.com/automatic-ripping-machine/

Because this is a thought experiment. There’s no waste when nobody’s actually buying anything.

Sorry, my bad. I found my old 486 PC in my parent’s attic recently, and started planning to get it running again

This is one that was shared recently:

!https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/42247576

I can’t remember much about it now, but I remember really wanting BeOS. I managed to get it installed once, but couldn’t get the internet working, so ended up uninstalling it.

Because it’s a scam, and they’re trying to find as many victims as possible 👍

Typical, I’ve just spent several hours over the last few days downloading everything manually 😫

If it makes you feel any better, I did something just as infuriating a few years ago.

I had set up my home media server, and had finally moved it to my garage with just a power cable and ethernet cable plugged in. Everything was working perfectly, but I needed to check something with the network settings. Being quite new to Linux, I used a remote desktop tool to log in and do everything through a gui.

I accidentally clicked the wrong item in the menu and disconnected the network. I only had a spare ps/2 keyboard and mouse, and as the server was an old computer, it would crash if I plugged a ps/2 device in while it was running*.

The remote desktop stayed open but frozen, mocking me for my obvious mistake and lack of planning, with the remote mouse icon stuck in place on the disconnect menu.

*I can’t remember if that was a ps/2 thing, or something specific to my server, but I didn’t want to risk it

Yes, that’s what it does by default. The problem happens when you open a new tab to search for something, for example, and the update screen and restart distract you and you forget what you were going to search for. It’s like the feeling you get when you walk into a room and can’t remember why.

Mint, it just works.

You can set up automatic updates too, so they won’t end up with out of date software and possible security holes. The only downside is Firefox. If an update runs while your grandparents are using Firefox, it will stop working and show them a page that says it needs to be restarted.

It’s not a major issue in itself, but if you have any sort of memory issues, like I do and lots of older people do, it can derail your train of thought and cause you problems.

I bought myself a copy of Neat Image a few weeks ago for noise reduction, and it works really well on Windows. I haven’t had a chance to test the Linux version yet. I think it’s proprietary, but like you say, there’s not much else out there.

There’s a free demo if you want to try it

https://ni.neatvideo.com/