Linux Mint

I finally got around to this. I used Balena and it's just finishing the creation of the bootable stick. Next will be pulling an old MacBook out of the cupboard to test it with (I have two old white ones both upgraded to 8Gb ram (I think)
 
lindsay said:
I finally got around to this. I used Balena and it's just finishing the creation of the bootable stick. Next will be pulling an old MacBook out of the cupboard to test it with (I have two old white ones both upgraded to 8Gb ram (I think)
Click to expand...

Which distro are you planning to try Lindsay? IIRC those white Macs were core-2-duo jobs at best, and not even particularly brisk even when new. You might need a lightweight version to make it an enjoyable experience.
 
Noted Toni. I downloaded the Cinnamon release. They are indeed Core 2, and the RAM is 6Gb not 8. At present I'm stalled because the MacBook can't read the USB stick - maybe I formatted it wrong, on reflection, so I'll re-do the stick on a Mac rather than my Win11 laptop. I don't have any spare Windoze machines, only the old MacBooks.
 
lindsay said:
Noted Toni. I downloaded the Cinnamon release. They are indeed Core 2, and the RAM is 6Gb not 8. At present I'm stalled because the MacBook can't read the USB stick - maybe I formatted it wrong, on reflection, so I'll re-do the stick on a Mac rather than my Win11 laptop. I don't have any spare Windoze machines, only the old MacBooks.
Click to expand...

You may find, as I often did, that an old Mac can't read a non-apple USB connector.
 
Not directly related to this Mint thread, but I came across this blog, which might be useful for photographers using Linux (or others, as it has a lot on RawTherapee, which runs on Mac and Windows as well as Linux)


marcrphoto.wordpress.com

Open Source Photography

This site documents a modern RAW photography workflow built on open standards, file-based metadata and open-source tools - and the tech that makes them possible.
marcrphoto.wordpress.com marcrphoto.wordpress.com

And yes, I currently have Mint running on my Thinkpad. Booted from a USB, but later today my Thinkpad says good bye to Windows.

As an aside, the site's author uses Kubuntu KDE Linux, he has a 2026 review of different distros here:

marcrphoto.wordpress.com

The Best Linux Distro for Photography in 2026? The Boring One.

Linux for Photography in 2026: Skip the Hype, Choose Boring There’s a question that realy keeps coming back: which Linux distribution is actually best for photography and long-term everyday u…
marcrphoto.wordpress.com marcrphoto.wordpress.com
 
OK, I've tried and tried but I just can't get on with Linux, perhaps I'm too old to change now.

I can't get Nordpass to autofill. Whenever I download a new program, like NordVPN for example, it won't just run, I have to use a command line to connect to it and for some reason, my battery doesn't last as long in sleep mode, and other trivial, but irritating things. I am currently downloading a new install for Windows and will try putting that back on. Maybe I'll try a dual boot system again sometime, but for now, Linux is just too much trouble. I'll just let Microsoft track me and suck it up.
 
Worth separating the OS (Linux) from the desktop environment (mate, KDE, gnome etc) and the flavour of distro. There are lots of factors that affect how the OS works as a whole, and if one combination seems poor, another may be good.
 
myotis said:
Not directly related to this Mint thread, but I came across this blog, which might be useful for photographers using Linux (or others, as it has a lot on RawTherapee, which runs on Mac and Windows as well as Linux)


marcrphoto.wordpress.com

Open Source Photography

This site documents a modern RAW photography workflow built on open standards, file-based metadata and open-source tools - and the tech that makes them possible.
marcrphoto.wordpress.com marcrphoto.wordpress.com

And yes, I currently have Mint running on my Thinkpad. Booted from a USB, but later today my Thinkpad says good bye to Windows.

As an aside, the site's author uses Kubuntu KDE Linux, he has a 2026 review of different distros here:

marcrphoto.wordpress.com

The Best Linux Distro for Photography in 2026? The Boring One.

Linux for Photography in 2026: Skip the Hype, Choose Boring There’s a question that realy keeps coming back: which Linux distribution is actually best for photography and long-term everyday u…
marcrphoto.wordpress.com marcrphoto.wordpress.com
Click to expand...

I must say, I had tried Raw Therapee in the past and was put off by the clunky interface. But, I've persevered with it on Mint and find my way around it quite easily now. It does far more than I'm likely to need.
 
I might add that I also find Pix, inbuilt in Mint, quite useful too.
 
Plain Nev said:
I must say, I had tried Raw Therapee in the past and was put off by the clunky interface. But, I've persevered with it on Mint and find my way around it quite easily now. It does far more than I'm likely to need.
Click to expand...
I have used both Raw Therapee and Darktable; only occasionally. I have found them both very good, once you get past the rather overpowering interface. In fact I think in many ways I actually prefer using them to my usual Capture One, but there are multiple reasons why C1 (plus PS and DXO) remains my everyday choice.
 
I ended up with LR (Cloud) because I found that the DAM was really good AND it had pretty intuitive tools. I dislike the subscription model but have not yet found an alternative that provides quite as good a DAM AND is easy to use.

That said, I haven;t looked into the free trials of ON1 RAw or capture 1. I've kind of just watched videos. Maybe I need to download a free trial

Darktable is powerful but it is less intuitive to me than LR
 
inquisitive_chap said:
I ended up with LR (Cloud) because I found that the DAM was really good AND it had pretty intuitive tools. I dislike the subscription model but have not yet found an alternative that provides quite as good a DAM AND is easy to use.

That said, I haven;t looked into the free trials of ON1 RAw or capture 1. I've kind of just watched videos. Maybe I need to download a free trial

Darktable is powerful but it is less intuitive to me than LR
Click to expand...
I don't know anything about LR (cloud) but does this mean you are using LR in a browser on Linux, or has the thread wandered from its Linux origins.
 
inquisitive_chap said:
Apologies. I wandered. I will stay on topic

[I just meant I was using the non-classic version of LR]
Click to expand...
All threads go off topic :-)

I think it's inevitable because of the nature of discussion. My comment wasn't a complaint, just seeking clarity. Much as I personally dislike using LR, I still think it’s a pretty solid choice in terms of balancing features, quality and cost.
 
I'm now firmly a Cachyos daily driver but keeping W11 dual boot for photo editing, CAD and gaming.

Lightroom classic has firmly gone for me, I've gone fully over to DxO photolab with the added bonus that my backup sizes now reduced as I can backup the original RAW file rather than DNG, a significant file space saving (this is because the DxO denoise on export is excellent, and for LrC I would have to do DxO denoise and import into LrC). DxO and JPEGmini both require windows though :(.
 
After reading this thread , I thought I would have a go at loading Mint onto a 10 year old HP laptop that was all but useless on W10. Slower than a snail in the slow lane. All I can say is that despite a couple of hiccups getting it installed (me probably) it seems to have given this laptop a new lease of life and so far I'm finding Linux okay, if a bit different to Windows. Its quicker and does seem to just work and the battery life seems to be longer as well. At least I can use it rather than sending it to landfill.
 
LancsMak said:
I'm now firmly a Cachyos daily driver but keeping W11 dual boot for photo editing, CAD and gaming.

Lightroom classic has firmly gone for me, I've gone fully over to DxO photolab with the added bonus that my backup sizes now reduced as I can backup the original RAW file rather than DNG, a significant file space saving (this is because the DxO denoise on export is excellent, and for LrC I would have to do DxO denoise and import into LrC). DxO and JPEGmini both require windows though :(.
Click to expand...


I did read on the DXO forum that they looked into producing a Linux version of DXO but it wasn’t straightforward because of the different versions and would be a relatively small market for them so not worth it
 
LCPete said:
I did read on the DXO forum that they looked into producing a Linux version of DXO but it wasn’t straightforward because of the different versions and would be a relatively small market for them so not worth it
Click to expand...
Yea even with the increase in growth in the last eyar or so I I've read (take with a pinch of salt!) that Linux is only about 5% share of the global desktop OS use.
 
I installed the lightweight version of Linux Mint on an old laptop last week; it was my son's, but it was dirt cheap and really not very good, so I got him a better one and this has been sitting under my desk.
It wouldn'tet me do a factory reset to wipe it for donation to charity, as it's not Win11 compatible, so putting Linux on was the only way I could think of getting it wiped.

I had a play, Linux seems great. The laptop is still terrible though: the keyboard feels awful to type on, and the screen is just dismal, so it's still going to charity, it will be useful to someone.
 
hamster100 said:
After reading this thread , I thought I would have a go at loading Mint onto a 10 year old HP laptop that was all but useless on W10. Slower than a snail in the slow lane. All I can say is that despite a couple of hiccups getting it installed (me probably) it seems to have given this laptop a new lease of life and so far I'm finding Linux okay, if a bit different to Windows. Its quicker and does seem to just work and the battery life seems to be longer as well. At least I can use it rather than sending it to landfill.
Click to expand...

Mine is of a similar vintage and was stuck on W10. I think that's where most of the new users have come from. I actually liked W10, but I think MS really did the dirty on its customers. Having said that, I can't honestly say I miss it all that much. Linux is more than capable of doing whatever I want to do. And when I am doing it you don't even know it's there. I hope you enjoy it.
 
Plain Nev said:
Mine is of a similar vintage and was stuck on W10. I think that's where most of the new users have come from. I actually liked W10, but I think MS really did the dirty on its customers. Having said that, I can't honestly say I miss it all that much. Linux is more than capable of doing whatever I want to do. And when I am doing it you don't even know it's there. I hope you enjoy it.
Click to expand...
I have a W11 laptop that I use daily, it is just to see if I could get Linux running on this old machine and to see what is all about. So far so good, I'm impressed especially with the fact that the laptop is now useable, and the amount of software available. I've downloaded darktable to have a play with. I'm not a lover of W11.
 
LancsMak said:
Yea even with the increase in growth in the last eyar or so I I've read (take with a pinch of salt!) that Linux is only about 5% share of the global desktop OS use.
Click to expand...
That will change if Microsoft move to a subscription platform, I might even have another go then.
 
Plain Nev said:
Seriously, is that their latest thing?
Click to expand...
It's being mooted, apparently.

By coincidence, it appears that just last month, this rumour was quashed, but I didn't know that until just now. It is suspected that some AI facilities and other stuff may well be subscription-based, but the core operating system will be a free upgrade from Windows 11.
 
Last edited:
I'm currently running Win10, with a VirtualBox Win7 running. One program I use daily doesn't run under Win10 - I have tried all the "official" methods. I'm assuming that Win11 will break even more, so I'm intending to try Linux Mint sooner rather than later.
 
Has anyone tried Emmabuntus? It seems quicker than Mint, and is fairly appley.
 
Plain Nev said:
That's a new one on me. I know a lot of people try them all before settling on a distro they like.
Click to expand...

I've been through a lot over the years. Started off with Mandrake in about 2000 (now Mandriva) based on KDE, which was quite windows like. Tried Ubuntu at the same time, but screen fonts were dreadful, and after working through openSUSE, Fedora and a couple I forget I settled down with Sabayon. That was bleeding-edge a little too much, and in my Macbook years (2009-2014) used pear Linux, which was fantastic, but the project was acquired and closed. I've had a Mint machine most of the time since, but with forays trying PCLOS, Ubuntu studio, Linux Lite (good) elementary, Solus (fast) Cachy (also fast) and Debian. I've also used Knoppix as a live distro in early times to recover data from a failed windows system.

I don't really like the Gnome desktop and KDE is often trying a bit too hard. Mint mate and cinnamon both work well. In the early days you had to jump through all kinds of hoops to play DVDs and movies, but now the codecs are pretty much usually included. I used to rehearse on a Friday night with a band, get home close to midnight, then settle down to install and play with a new distro until the small hours on a Saturday, and it was a lot of fun.
 
The nice thing about Linux is that Christmas comes more than once a year. I've been looking at the new Zorin distro today, and it looks quite impressive. Initial impression is that it has more functionality built into it. Mint seems very conservative, by comparison. So, if that's your thing, go for it.
 
Plain Nev said:
The nice thing about Linux is that Christmas comes more than once a year. I've been looking at the new Zorin distro today, and it looks quite impressive. Initial impression is that it has more functionality built into it. Mint seems very conservative, by comparison. So, if that's your thing, go for it.
Click to expand...

Mint is solid, dependable, not complex, works right out of the box in a way Apple can only envy. Exciting, nope.

A lot depends on what you want from an os. I enjoyed some of the whackier distros, but many of them break after a while, like CachyOS stopped updating after a month, but I don't need it so haven't bothered to seek a fix.
 
I was just checking my two old white MacBooks, preparing them for the tip, when I discovered that I had somehow managed to install a Mint distro on one of them, despite it being a 2009 machine with 500Gb disk and 6Gb RAM. So I'm keeping that one so I can explore Mint and see how up to date I can bring it. Which makes me think twice about ditching the other one now, not that I have a need for it, but it's the same spec and there may be a use for it if I think about it enough!
 
lindsay said:
I was just checking my two old white MacBooks, preparing them for the tip, when I discovered that I had somehow managed to install a Mint distro on one of them, despite it being a 2009 machine with 500Gb disk and 6Gb RAM. So I'm keeping that one so I can explore Mint and see how up to date I can bring it. Which makes me think twice about ditching the other one now, not that I have a need for it, but it's the same spec and there may be a use for it if I think about it enough!
Click to expand...

My 2011 Dell thanks me for it. That's positively stone age! :D
 
There was a huge jump in performance between 2008 and 2014. My Dell XPS from 2014 is still good with W10 and if Microsoft had made it possible, would be on 11 now.
 
I briefly flirted with W10 Pro. Very briefly. It arrived preinstalled on a laptop I purchased. A very highly specced laptop that outperforms my poor old Dell, in every respect. But anyway, it had W10 Pro on it. Now I've nothing against W10, at all. I was running it quite happily until Microsoft decided otherwise. All very nice, but of course hamstrung. I did toy with the idea of running it in isolation, but it just didn't feel right somehow. So, I'm now running Ubuntu on it. I went with Ubuntu because it was different, after the Windows style Mint. It's well worth checking out. Although, I'm in that phase now, and may well migrate to another distro, eventually. My only reservation is that it's feeding a private company, who apparently are fond of your data too.
 
Ubuntu always felt awkward to me, though lots of distros are built on it. Mint has a variety of DEs, so perhaps a different one would work?
 
ancient_mariner said:
Ubuntu always felt awkward to me, though lots of distros are built on it. Mint has a variety of DEs, so perhaps a different one would work?
Click to expand...

It's certainly a different way of doing things. I'm enjoying it so far. It's a bit like muscle memory. It can be frustrating on occassion. I think Mint itself is due for a big ugrade in the new year.
 
For those who would like to move their Firefox experience from Windows to Linux:

www.theregister.com

Firefox 151 helps you edit PDFs – and switch OSes

Export a profile on Windows, restore it on Linux. Extensions and themes too
www.theregister.com www.theregister.com

More generally, I find FF really useful for editing on top of .pdf documents, form filling etc. I can even sign a document with a touch screen and stylus.
 
Last edited:
Firefox, in particular, is continuously updated. I've forgotten how many versions there have been since I installed Linux. :D Generally speaking it seems to me that the open source community is much more pro-active and are constantly beavering away around the world.
 
I don't care for the new version of Libre Office. It seems quite buggy, to me. I've yet to be able to get it to perform like an older version on another machine. However, I have discovered Free Office, which is more akin to MS Office, in appearance, and seems quite interesting. No installers though. You have to install it by using the terminal. First time I've done that, and it was a piece of cake.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top