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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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Any advice for a long-time Linux user, first-time Linux desktop user? (feddit.uk)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm a regular user of Linux systems but apart from a couple of test Ubuntu installs many years ago they've always been containers or VMs with no DE which I can throw away when I break them. The Steam Deck showcasing how far Wine/Proton has come combined with Windows being Windows has given me the push; I've made a Mint live USB and it's running beautifully on my desktop. I come to you, the masters, with questions before I hit install:

What do you recommend I do about disk partitions? I'm keeping a Windows install for the few things that demand it, does Windows still occasionally destroy Linux partitions? Do I need separate partitions for data and OS? Is it straightforward to add additional distros as new partitions or is that asking for trouble?
Is disk encryption straightforward? And is that likely to upset the Windows partition?
Is cloud storage sync straightforward? It's my off-site backup solution on Android and Windows (using Cryptomator with Dropbox, Google Drive, etc) but I don't think that many providers have Linux clients. Is something like rclone recommended?
Should I just use apt to install software? I know there's some kind of graphical package manager (synaptic?), does that use apt under the covers or is it separate? Is it recommended to install something like Flathub too?
Any other pearls of wisdom? How do I keep everything tidy? Any warnings about what not to do? Should I use a particular terminal emulator or Firefox fork?

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

            
              I believe there is still an issue with Windows deleting Linux bootloaders during some updates. You'll be fine if you install Linux on a separate disk, and even if you dual-boot on one disk and the bootloader gets deleted, there are ways to recover it. You don't strictly need to have separate data and OS partitions, and I've gone back and forth on whether I prefer it  - it makes distro hopping and disk encryption easier, at the cost of potentially inefficient use of space and serious consequences if your OS partition fills up.
Disk encryption is very straightforward if you use separate OS and data partitions. You literally just tick a box during the install and enter an extra password. It won't upset Windows any more than a normal install does (i.e. Windows might think it's corrupted, but won't do anything without your input). With one partition for everything, it's still possible, but the encryption will be much weaker and handled by the bootloader in a somewhat clunkier way, and I'm not sure if Mint even supports that setup.
I don't have much experience with this myself, and certainly not on Linux Mint, so I'll leave this one to other commenters.
Synaptic is just a fancy frontend to APT, and I think Mint also has something called mintInstall, which was just an apt frontend back when I used it, but I think it also supports Flatpak now. It's entirely up to personal preference as to which UI you prefer. I do recommend you set up Flathub if it's not there by default, as it gives you access to a ton of useful apps that can't be packaged by Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint for various reasons.
Don't download software from random websites unless it's absolutely necessary. Chances are, their version either won't work well, if at all, or will break your system. Try APT first, Flatpak second, everything else is a last resort option. If a program you used on Windows doesn't have a (working, native) Linux version, try finding and learning to use an alternative that is in the APT repositories before downloading the Windows version and using it on Wine. Back up your most important files from Windows before installing Linux in dual boot, just in case you make a mistake somewhere. To answer the last question, stick to the default terminal emulator and Firefox installation unless there's a feature you really want in another one; the distro's developers picked them for a reason, after all.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I haven’t had issues with windows messing my boot in a very, very long time. I see people mentioning it and it always scratch my head. It might be related to me switching to UEFI boot.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago

I'm working on possibly outdated second-hand information, so maybe it isn't happening anymore. I haven't been dual booting since ~2018 and even then I basically never used Windows.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Great answers, cheers!