It just works.

I’m kind of shocked how easy it was to set up. I used ventoy to make a bootable iso of Linux Mint Cinnamon on my Mini PC (Ser5 Pro), and I had zero issues with anything. Ventoy even plays nice with secure boot.

Where’s the setup?

There really wasn’t any. I booted into Mint, synced my keyboard/trackpad combo and my earbuds then was off to the races. It detected all my hardware including my Elgato HD60 X without any steps. The only thing I had to work around was downloading the deb build of Discord Canary to enable audio output in Discord streams since it was only recently added to Discord’s dev/beta build (Canary).

Speaking of which Elgato’s capture software doesn’t support Linux (shocker), so I simply installed OBS, pointed the audio/video to the capture card, and it worked. Easy.

My Use Case

I have the aforementioned mini PC mainly to be jockied by a capture card for streaming Nintendo Switch to Discord. Aside from that I use it as a productivity machine in my living room for internet browsing (omg webtv!) and Kodi. The Ser5 uses an AMD Ryzen 7 5850u with integrated graphics, 16GB DDR4, and a 500gb M.2. All of the ports, HDMI audio out, etc were automatically detected by Mint.

Conclusion

Linux Mint feels premium compared to Windows 11. It’s snappier, more modular, and offers a Linux GUI that’s familiar/easy to use. Plus now I have the benefit of no preinstalled spyware or bloatware. Feels good to actually own my computer.

Thanks for reading!

  • rodneylives@lemmy.world
    9·
    1 day ago

    The secret of Linux is, if all your hardware works, it’s actually easier to use for casual users. Most people nowadays use computers for web browsing and maybe playing media and light office tasks. A Linux Mint setup will have everything you need for that either preinstalled or ready to get fun the software store. If you don’t need anything else, then it gets it of your way and just works. No viruses, little danger of malware, no crud to uninstall, no Microsoft account, no nagging apps, no ads, no attempts to upsell to paid cloud services or Pro, and no AI.

    The problem arises when you want to go beyond that, and there’s no obvious path ahead,v then people not used to the Linux way of doing things may run into trouble. But 90% of users, if someone sets it up for them, will do fine.

  • ParlaMint@lemmy.mlEnglish
    64·
    3 days ago

    The sense of ownership and control the Linux experience offers is something I’ve never felt with Windows.

  • toastal@lemmy.ml
    7·
    2 days ago

    Next stop will be your privacy journey which would completely break your chains towards Discord which gave you trouble.

    • Moineau@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      11·
      2 days ago

      Microsoft locked me out of my Microsoft account which has a large collection of games, an active game pass subscription, and ms365. They unlocked it after I appealed and claimed it was for “potential spam” from my outlook account which I hardly ever use.

      Ridiculous. Just locked me out of all my purchases on a whim from some horrible AI moderating glitch. Done with them.

        • Moineau@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
          2·
          1 day ago

          I did not get hacked. My account credentials were intact. 2FA was instated. No emails were sent.

  • jacecomix@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    2 days ago

    While I love Elgato hardware from a design/price standpoint, it’s a shame it doesn’t all work on Linux. I had my Wave XLR for a year or so, but replaced it with a Scarlett Solo so I could use it on Linux.

  • MisterD@lemmy.ca
    34·
    3 days ago

    I got 35+ years into Windows. I’m the guy they get to “fix” stuff in PROD. I fight Windows all day. I’m not doing that at home anymore.

  • edric@lemm.ee
    40·
    3 days ago

    This is why Mint is what I always recommend to people who are switching over for the first time. Congrats and welcome.

  • electric_nan@lemmy.ml
    20·
    3 days ago

    My brother recently texted me asking for advice about installing Mint on an old laptop. He is the one that got me into computers as a kid, and he has worked at Microsoft for maybe 25 years. It made me so happy lol.

  • CapriciousDay@lemmy.ml
    6·
    2 days ago

    Yeah I used to use Ubuntu as a Linux desktop a few years ago. I just came back to install Fedora on my desktop and the whole process was super easy. Even for gaming, Nvidia drivers, Steam with proton, etc. all set up with zero command line interaction, troubleshooting or even looking up guides or anything. It was intuitive and works.

    Literally the hardest part was I couldn’t find my USB stick and ended up improvising with an old SD card as installation media.

    The compatibility for gaming on Linux today is generally really good. The whole experience is really polished.

  • Brusque@lemmy.world
    261·
    3 days ago

    Linux Mint is terrific, also recommend it to new Linux users. I just want things easy, clean, and fast. Also, fuck Microsoft.

    Debian + KDE

    • otacon239@lemmy.world
      14·
      3 days ago

      I bounced around to all sorts of systems and DEs and came to this same conclusion. Debian + KDE is where it all ended up after try easily over 20 different systems throughout the years.

      It’s the most “we trust you, but also respect your time” combo I’ve found.