Noisy Deadlines

linux

The first thing I did was download the ISO image for Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS. Then I used balenaEtcher to create a bootable USB drive. I got an error when doing this on Windows 11, and after some searching, I found that the solution was to run balenaEtcher as Administrator for the image to work. Even then, I still got another error, I don’t remember exactly what it was. In the end, I switched to Rufus to create the bootable USB, and that worked.

I managed to create the bootable USB and installed Ubuntu on my old ASUS VivoBook Pro laptop. All the hardware worked out of the box, which was great. Even the NVIDIA graphics card was recognized and installed automatically.

So far, I've tested:

  • Wi-Fi/Sound/keyboard/mouse/monitor: no issues at all
  • Bluetooth: worked well with Jabra Evolve headphones
  • Firefox Browser: perfect
  • Standard Notes: I installed the app and it works beautifully
  • Nirvana: web based and works perfectly as a PWA app
  • Steam: installed it and played Banished. It ran even better than on Windows, with more options to adjust zoom, scale, and font sizes
  • Deezer: installed an app and listened to music with my headphones
  • Calibre: successfully installed for e-book management. I still need to explore using it to open library e-books shared in the Adobe Digital Editions .acsm format. The internet suggests this is possible with some plugins
  • LibreOffice / OnlyOffice: great alternatives to the Microsoft suite, it will be easy to switch
  • pCloud: created a free account to test it out (seems pretty good!)
  • MEGA: created a free account to test it out (didn’t like it that much, for some reason)

Things that I tried but did not work:

  • Installing Dropbox and getting it to integrate with Nautilus (did not work at all!)
  • Setting up GNOME Online Accounts for OneDrive: I kept getting an error saying the service could not connect
  • Installing the MEGA application on Linux: nothing happened, and it didn’t work out

Things I want to test:

  • Plugging in my Kobo to see if Calibre recognizes it (I forgot to test this)
  • Dropbox: I still have a Dropbox account, and it was the first option that came to mind to replace OneDrive. I read that Linux support is good, but on my first attempt I couldn’t get the native app working. I’ll revisit this
  • pCloud Drive: this seems like another solid alternative to OneDrive. I tested it on Windows, and it worked great; now I want to see how well it integrates with Linux
  • Discord: there’s a Linux app available. I still need to try it
  • Lenovo Universal Dock: I have a ThinkPad dock that I use to connect my monitor and peripherals to my other laptop. I expect it to work with Linux on my ThinkPad X1, but I also want to see if I can get it working with the ASUS laptop. The internet seems to agree that it should work, but I still have to figure it out.
  • Emails in Mozilla Thunderbird
  • I started with Ubuntu, but I'm intrigued to at least try out Linux Mint. I am not sure if I liked the GNOME desktop environment. It could be because I didn't actually do any customization. Something to explore.

Something I want to do first, before I continue more testing

  • The ASUS laptop I'm using to test Linux has a 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD. I made the mistake of installing Ubuntu on the HDD, instead of the SSD, so Ubuntu didn't feel that smooth, it's a bit sluggish (still better than Windows 10, tho). So before I continue any explorations, I will start over and do a full reinstallation on the SSD.

Banished on Linux

Note: I wrote and published this post on Linux 🙂

#linux #tech

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

It's funny, because I really don't have any major issues with my Windows personal laptop right now. It boots fine, and I have all the tools I need. Still, getting back to Linux has been on my mind for a long time.

Looking back, the first time I used Linux was probably around 2004. In Brazil, Linux became popular with the distro Kurumin, which was based on Knoppix. I got a book from the author on how to understand Linux, and that’s when I learned the basics. Between 2010 and 2013 I was playing around with Ubuntu. I had a dual-boot desktop with Windows and Ubuntu for years, but I never fully jumped ship because of video games and AutoCAD. Back then, running games on Linux was either too complicated (using Virtual Machines would crash a lot), or simply impossible. AutoCAD is a 2D and 3D architecture/engineering drafting and design software I used a lot, and it still doesn’t have a native Linux version.

Today, that might be a different story, and that’s exciting. Gaming on Linux has become much more viable, and I don’t use AutoCAD anymore.

This is mostly a fun project for now. I know it will be hard and time-consuming at times, but I will be learning something, and I used to love that. Or, it might be a breeze, I don’t know! For some reason, learning operating systems has always been fun for me. I don’t fully know why, but it scratches a certain itch. So I am going to embrace this experiment and see where it takes me.

I still feel a bit conflicted because I am not particularly irritated with Windows in my day to day personal use yet. I was able to disable or ignore most of the annoying things on Windows. And to be honest, it's very convenient for me to have Windows and Microsoft 365, which integrates well with my work email/calendar/files.

At the same time, this feels like an ideological question, when I look at the grand scheme of things. Do I want to keep using Microsoft as they fill everything with AI, make Windows more restricted, and increasingly push ads into the experience? There are simple things I have wanted from Windows for years, like a proper calendar widget on the desktop or better integration between Outlook and To Do (which never happened!). On Linux, I could have a completely different experience with different solutions, one I can shape and customize the way I want.

So, in the end, this Linux experiment is a great way to build for the future. It is a chance to continue exploring open source solutions and to stay in a constant state of learning. I think it is going to be an interesting journey. That is really what this is, a journey. I will learn new things, try new setups, and be part of a community that values freedom and privacy.

#linux #tech

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By Noisy Deadlines Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.

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