Nice how you liking mint?
Discussion
You know how sometimes you give up coffee or cigarettes or whatever because you know it's bad for you.
But the next morning you wake up and your head is pounding and your hands are a bit shaky and you're in the most violently terrible attitude... And even though there's a rational side of you that says "but this is helping you not get cancer!"
There's a petulant side of you that suggests surely cancer isn't all that bad đ
I find all of this very overwhelming and uncomfortable but I have faith if I stick with it I'll get more used to it. It's honestly not so bad I've just used windows literally all my life so it's different and that's not great.
Yeah :) I understand
The nice thing about if you used the VirtualBox to download Linux is that itâs like test driving the machine rather than committing to buying it
Iâve never used Mint but I hear itâs very beginner friendly but also very similar to windows in feel
A lot of people hate on Ubuntu but I think you might find it as easy as Windows and its not as much of a windows replica as mint is from what I hear
So it feels like you actually get something from making the switch
Itâs only very slightly more âmanualâ than mint but if you have another machine using AI you can have it walk you through the installation to fit your needs
And since you used a VM you can just wipe the Virtual Machine (wiping the mint) and install Ubuntu LTS without having wasted any of your compute resources :) if you decided thatâs what you want
Eventually when you comfortable using a command line Linux is REALLY REALLY cool đ and using a terminal is really not as hard as the hacker types always want to make it sound to feel cool
But itâs super fun because it gives you really low level control over your device and once you experience that type of control over your machine itâs like opening a Pandoraâs box
I would recommend staying in the virtual box until you feel really confident though because you can accidentally wipe important files on your actual HD
Your SSD sounds like it has enough space and can however be used to completely back up your machine if you wanted to work from there when you get more comfortable and that would eliminate risk too
I know all these things sound overwhelming to take in but if you just take in one concept a day and really digest it I think youâll have the hang of it in no time and itâs really worth it
Also itâs normal to want throw your computer out a window with Linux some days
It seems like a lot of tech ability is just the ability to resist throwing the computer out the window đ€Ł
I think doing a full system backup on the SSD might be a viable path. Really I'm just trying to make sure I can use my current files. Right now I have the virtual machine running but cannot actually use any of my current work. Hopefully that's something I can get sorted today with some effort.
I have my next Sovereignty Salon tomorrow, so I had the idea to at least get myself started on some of these tech switches so I'm walking the walk not just talking the talk. Of course if I show up and cannot actually present from my prepared slides then I'll be not helping people feel comfortable making the switch themselves đ€Ł
It's just a matter of persistent effort. I just never really bothered before. Luckily (?) all of the legacy tech firms have gotten so egregious that even middle aged normies like myself can be motivated to make these switches.
Whenever the computer says to me âIâm sorry Dave. Iâm afraid I canât do that.â - I feel like itâs basically throwing me out the window. Over and over again.
It's a mutually defenestrating relationship đ€Łđ«đźâđš
I feel like I have the upper hand, itâs how I am able to keep my cool. But when that thing grows arms and legs, I may not be able to.
One thing I would recommend since I think youâre going for is privacy is hardening your VirtualBox at least at the host level
This is super easy
Your VirtualBox manager should have a little yellow gear for settings,
Click that
When the settings wizard opens,
Go to General > Expert
Youâll see some tabs like âidentity, features, Description, and Disk Encryptionâ
Check the box âencrypt disksâ
Then in the drop down you can choose either 126 bit or 256 bit AES
This will have you set the password and that way EVEN IF someone got access to your physical machine and had a password to get in, they would need the password to open up your Live Linux environment
You can also harden at the guest level but thatâs a little more nuanced but good to do if you plan on file sharing