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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I'm relatively unfamiliar with Linux. I'm getting a ThinkPad T460 and want to install Mint on it. Is there anything about the T460 I should know? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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It's probably been 15 years since I've used Linux and Mint seems to be the recommended distro for people who aren't all that familiar with Linux like me, but I didn't know if there was anything I should know with this ThinkPad model that anyone is familiar with. My searching around shows people saying everything from it was painless to install to they had tons of issues and I have no idea how common either one is.

So any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (3 children)

ThinkPads generally have great Linux support because they're really popular in the community.

One thing though, forget about the fingerprint reader. You can get it to work with some effort, but it's essentially useless because it's not integrated like on win/mac.

Mint is a good choice for beginners (IMO MX > Mint). Just remember to use flatpaks for software you want to keep up to date. Also, if you end up disliking cinnamon, it's probably better to switch distros.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (2 children)

That's fine about the fingerprint reader. I'm not too concerned about that.

Please excuse my ignorance as I've not used Linux in a very, very long time... what is a flatpak?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Here's a pretty good video about the different packaging formats on linux: https://piped.video/watch?v=ikBPnYwnUMU

What I wish I knew when i first installed a flatpak is that they, by default, do not have access to all the files in your file system. You can change their permissions with an app called flatseal (it should be available in the mint software app). Even then, I would avoid using them for things that need access to system files and libraries, such as IDEs.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I'll give it a view. Thanks!