Table of Contents
Blaugust 22: Ode to a fella, John Redcorn's playlist edition
Blaugust 23: Linux woes
Shane's mom got a laptop from some guy at her work. It's an HP Pavilion 7, which was manufactured 12 years ago and still has Windows 7, and I figured it'd be a good test subject to install Linux on. Since Windows is ending their support for the operating system from 7-10, it's recommended to breathe some new life into older computers by installing Linux. Especially if you're like me and hate Windows 11 and all the non-con genAI cortana gemini whatever shit.
But despite every tech nerd online saying “Linux is so easy to install even my 7 year old nephew can do it, why can't YOU, you stupid ugly asshole???”, I have failed on my first day of attempting to install Linux! Yippee! There's something wrong with the laptop or the USBs we got. I documented everything I did on that drafts page so I can look back and be like “wow!”, and maybe it will help someone else who is using the same oldass laptop as me.
Babbling
My pal Becky wrote a blog post about moving to Linux, and it is very motivational to see another artist attempt this shit and talk about it. Many of us drawing-type people don't use computers that good, so we can try to break down the steps for each other in a way that's more understandable than trying to decode stackoverflow threads. Plus she got her installation working with CSP 1), and that program is notoriously awful to try to get working within Linux.
I have failed for now because our USBs are fried (guess they came dead in the package) and the installation keeps stalling due to a USB read error, but hopefully we'll be getting a return on those and getting another USB in the morning to flash Linux Mint Cinnamon Roll Galarian Darmanitan Zen Mode onto. My web-lord Kat is helping me figure out what the hell is wrong with this oldass laptop too, so many thanks to her for telling me what funny letters to type into the terminal.
But yeah, be nice to us cavemen that are not as smart as your 7 year old cousin at installing Linux!!! It's not like I don't know how to install an OS, I was the one as a kid to obtain Windows for my family, burn it onto a CD-rom, and install it on their self-built computers. It's just like… usually you just buy a computer and it comes with shitty Windows installed so you don't have to spend 5 days figuring out how to install it yourself because there's always 500 variables that aren't accounted for in the OH SO SIMPLE installation documentation. Hell I just searched up my laptop series and it just has a lot of weird issues with Linux specifically. Can't help that :P So it's a HUGE wall to adoption if every person who wants to install a better functioning OS has to get one-on-one help to set it up. Whereas yeah people will just use Windows or Apple cuz they won't fuck it up if it comes on the computer.
I'm not FOSS-phobic or nothing, I've found a lot of value in all sorts of free and open source programs! I think most of the stuff I use to play video games (Stardew Valley mods, Minecraft launcher Prism, my Oblivion/New Vegas mod manager MO2…) is FOSS, so there's where all familiarity with basic tech stuff comes from. Copying files, typing shit you don't understand into the command line, installing dependencies 🤢. All that stuff has come in very handy now that I'm dipping into a little webdev and a little non-Microsoft computing. So I think I do have one little baby stool step above me compared to some of my peers who even struggled to type their essays on a computer in school.
But it's just the fact of the matter that this shit CAN be frustrating and hard if your brain isn't aligned this way! I wouldn't know how the hell to diagnose my issue with installing Linux rn without Kat's guidance!!! It's like telling someone “anyone can draw, just start drawing portraits” which is like yeah ANYONE can draw for real! But the first steps are so important to get people into doing this - up to recommending easy materials like pen on paper vs. making someone jump into oil painting and chemical mixing first, or recommending starting with a simple subject like an apple versus a fully jointed human figure with dynamic posing and perspective. My learning-impaired ass WANTS to learn new things, it's just HARD without the right kind of teaching! And I gotta say most tutorials online on this shit is NOT the right kinda teaching for my kinda learning – or many other non-tech-inclined people's learning.
Pro-Tips:
- do not write “simply do xyz” or “just xyz” in your simple tech guide for noobs.
- Don't say stuff like “i'm so stupid I could do it, so you should be able to do it too!”.
- Explain simple obvious shit like “open the terminal” or “boot up the BIOS” - like you're explaining it for the first time to someone who's never touched a computer, even if I've done that shit before maybe I'm not doing it right and actually opening the wrong thing with a similar name!!!
- And have some screenshots so I can visually compare where I am on my on screen with where I should be.
Uhh that's it for now. A lil break from Ode To A Guy posting. I finished a commission, now to sketch out ideas for the next one… and respond to another email… ah and I want to move the furniture around our bedroom so our printer wire isn't stretched so far and is more comfortable for both me and Shane to get to when we're at our desks. Yayyyy. Coping by watching King Of The Hill recap/analysis videos.
Da End
Comment Below
I switched to Linux Mint spring last year? I flashed a USB key with etcher/balena on my windows 10 computer (desktop) like how you did.
The complication I had was that I still needed Windows (as a backup for non-linux working program, like CSP), so I set up a dual boot (which isn't the standard setup) and the allocation of HD space for stuff was not straightforward, so I just crossed my fingers and hoped it would work (and if not, I still had windows backup on a diff HD). I got a ton of errors display before the linuxmint officially loading screen kicked in, so I was convinced it was a bust, but somehow, it's OK?!
But as you mentioned, it can be frustrating, esp if a singular thing messes up or deviates from the 1000 distro/tutorials out there, and then troubleshooting those issues takes bazillion years of digging through FOSS overstackexchange/forums that tell you to command line/terminal something you don't understand! I feel like it was a miracle my install worked, *not* that it was “easy”. If I only had one device and no reliable backup plan (because you really need another device to look up instructions when things go south), I probably would not have even tried installing linux.
All to say, I am glad my install worked somehow, and I hope your next attempt (if there is one) goes smoother next time! Windows blows
My Intuos 3 works in Krita without any extra drama, but my laser printer is hit/miss. I did not get CSP 1.6 to work in Wine (Wine is a UI/UX disaster in of itself), but I'm running a CrossOver trials right now and CSP ~90% works in it. The latest Yakuza/LAD games also work fine on Linux's Steam with the Proton thing (IDK what it is exactly LOL) enabled!
YEAHhhh I still have my big desktop with Windows and I don't plan to switch it anytime soon when my ADHD workflow depends so much on my random programs like Photoshop CS6 and CSP that don't have very good support 😭 And all the games too… though like ya said it seems a lot of Steam games have support? I think cuz Steamdeck runs Linux LOL
Oooh I think dual-booting would the solution for me rather than a bulky VM! Hrmm gotta figure out if I can open up the same files/directories on the same hard drive in each OS? I'll try that next if Wine doesn't work :P Thank you for sharing your experience!
i honestly think i lucked out big time with installing linux because its SO HARD to find basic, step-by-step tutorials. as you said with your laptop, sometimes its because of your hardware or some other strange mix… and trying to dx the problem when you arent familiar with all the terms/everyone is speaking in buzzwords … >< AHH!! anything can go wrong! i genuinely am shocked mine worked lol its amazing how computers even run in the first place when theyre so incredibly sensitive. i do hope you're able to find a solution, tech issues are scary
LOL my solution was getting a new USB! Phew! I think 90% of people have a smooth time with installing Linux cuz when it works it's straightforward! But when it doesn't work.. you have to go digging in the butt of the internet looking through threads full of jargon and dudes talking about being divorced (LITERALLY had to go through divorced dad threads before finding solutions for me??)
good luck!! my attempt at installing linux mint worked initially, but then stopped working after i turned my computer off. i installed it as a test, so i needed the usb in any time i wanted to use it, but then i could never get it to work again. it's scary to do a permanent install if you're not sure you even want the OS you're trying! and its hard out there for us that wanna dual boot cause the single game I play on steam isn't compatible with FOSS :')
good luck in the morning! i hope the usb gods shine on you and the stars all align and you can get it to work! i really liked mint when i used it for a few days
I think my Mint is working after several restarts and turn-offs! Phew. But yeah I def wouldn't do a permanent install on a machine I'm already doing work on. Unless it was an ultimate last resort, like Windows will explode my machine the next day if I still have the OS lololol.
I feel ya on basically all of this. I haven't attempted to install Linux myself (the usb I was going to flash it to was completely borked and I don't have any spares—supposedly there are ways I can attempt to fix it but I don't know why it's broken so idk where to begin), but I've had plenty of other moments where tutorials and other instructions just… didn't explain things they really should have. Or when they do, it's not in a way that clicks with my brain. And I don't know why it's not clicking, or what I'm missing, so it becomes really difficult to figure anything out.
My brother builds computers sometimes, so I'm kinda hoping that when my laptop breaks, I can convince him to build me a computer with Linux on it. That way I might not have to go through the installation process myself.
Oh hell yeah ask your brother when you can! Though I know there's some people who are REALLY good at the hardware building.. but can't do the software stuff. And some software whizzes who can't build the physical computer at all LOL. But it's likely he'll know something :P I'd love to be able to ask someone local.. wonder if the local computer shop here knows?!
The End Of 10 site has a map of people who can help around the world 🤔 None near me but.. hey, maybe someone will add their shop to the map :D