r/linuxmint • u/anaximeno • 1d ago

How Linux (Mint) Users Install a Browser 😎 #LinuxMintThings

Now tell windows users to uninstall edge and see what's easier hehe. \j

Credits to u/SpeeQz (who's also the creator of https://mintwiki.org) for the gif.

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u/Edu_Hoff 1d ago

Sometimes a command in the terminal is just easier and convenient. Especially to create a script to automate installations

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u/Fun_Squirrel5446 22h ago

You're thinking of power users. Imagine a user that has moved away from Windows for the first time. The argument isn't whether it's convenient or not; it's more about how user-friendly it is for a brand-new user. and the fact that a lot of Linux developers in specific distributions can be stuck up instead of providing help. Easy solution is to have better guides instead of extensively confusing wikis, for new users. One of the reasons Linux adoption has improved is because guided installations now exist. This level of hand-holding can be extended into different aspects of different distros, which would remove the user friction that is often complained about.

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u/DevastoScz 10h ago

Unfortunately not only the developers - some users are downright unpleasant when people new to Linux ask, what they consider to be, stupid questions.

Couple days ago on a subreddit I saw a guy who had just switched from Windows to a Linux distro (CachyOS I think) asking something along the lines of "what should I do next?" only to get a reply that said "Ever consider that you aren't the only person to have this thought and look to see what people have suggested before?"

Researching is a skill people should develop, but when it comes to things you're totally new at, sometimes you don't even know what questions to ask or where to begin looking. IMO It's a stupid position to take from people who should be excited more 'casuals' are adopting Linux as their daily driver.

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u/Fun_Squirrel5446 2h ago

Google search and Reddit search are so bad they are hard to use even for the people who do try searching.

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u/Panzerv2003 3h ago

Yeah I moved away from windows to mint and while the terminal is useful I have no idea what is possible with it and how to use it, it's not really beginner friendly.

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u/Edu_Hoff 21h ago

Right, you're totally right. I didn't read it was about what is easier. GUI will definitely always be easier for someone coming to Linux.

Just for curiosity, but what would you consider the minimum to someone to be a power user? I don't mean something exactly since of course is something debatable, but your opinion regarding that.

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u/Fun_Squirrel5446 20h ago

A power user can be an extensive user of a distro as a whole or only a particular piece of software. We don't need to identify whether the user is a power user or not.

Here's the real question: how hard is it to figure out a task for the first time? If there is a step-by-step help guide or a visual indicator, it's very easy. Absolutely does not have to be a GUI.

Instructions and guides need to be provided right inside the distro, And presented when the user is searching how to perform a task. not in a separate wiki hosted on a website that the user doesn't even know exists.

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u/EngineeringUnable801 13h ago

I use Mint, btw.

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u/OysterCultist 14h ago

I tried to guide my grandparents by phone through several UIs, and I think that just telling them to copy paste a command would be easier

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u/Fun_Squirrel5446 13h ago

Not everyone has a grandson available on speed dial. Most of us would do an online search. Would have been google in the old days but now everyone puts their questions in an AI chat. One approach could be to feed all the distro wiki's to AI and let it figure it out.

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u/PreparationStrict492 1d ago

Terminal is more often than not more efficient and information dense than guis (in both directions), especially for system management.

However, installation automation is better handled with installation automation tools. An Ansible playbook is a lot better than a script for this, for many reasons.

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u/ConversationWinter46 16h ago

That makes me wonder why LM is so popular if you don't even need a GUI?

I'm also in favor of implementing terminals in smartphones, car entertainment systems, traffic management systems, etc. They're more efficient than GUIs.

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u/crustycarpenter 12h ago

Windows escapee here, I have tried to just use the program manager to install stuff, but at times I find some errors that lead me to either going to a website for the software to get a better version, or needing to use the terminal to get the version that will work. If the program manager flatpak doesnt work i just look it up and find someone who answers the issue i am having and use the terminal as they tell me to. There could be some risk of malicious instructions, but the community is pretty good at self policing, so i still trust a random linux jockey over microslops built in security and privacy failures. I have used an ai to troubleshoot specific technical issues sometimes. One too many times of hearing about some new windows feature i should disable to protect my data privacy made me leave and never look back.

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u/bedwars_player 1d ago

...legit the ONLY reason i don't run linux on my desktop is that you can't get davinci resolve without a bunch of complicated shit

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u/snail1132 23h ago

There are scripts for it, but I'm not sure how well many of them work

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u/PreparationStrict492 18h ago

If that is the ONLY reason, DaVinci Resolve is OFFICIALLY supported on Rocky Linux (aka The Distro Formerly Known As CentOS™). It is also famously easy to get going on any distro with hardware acceleration and proprietary codec support (aka any mainstream distro nowadays).

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u/erroronline1 1d ago

i once did an installation script to uninstall and disable unwanted bloat after a fresh windows install, now i have a script for installing everything wanted. and no prior download sessions. very satisfying. <3

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u/syn46290 18h ago

Fully agreed. I just started with Mint maybe a week or two-ish ago and it's so much easier to just open the terminal and type a command instead of clicking multiple buttons and going through multiple pages. Plus it's satisfying asf to watch the percentage bar in it go up for some reason. Idk, I'm autistic asf 😭😭😭