Time for me to dump Mint, thinking about going back to Windows

Just took my HTPC with newly installed Pop OS for a spin and I'm not happy. Every time I touch the wireless keyboard it pops up and tells me the batteries are low and I have to manually close it. And it pops up on top of Kodi while I'm watching a movie. Also in the middle of the movies it closes Kodi and tells me I have new updates to install. This in your face OS has got to go. Going back to Mint Cinnamon. :mad:
I couldn't agree more. I used to run numerous DC machines and tried POP on one to see what the hype was about. Even then it felt too bloated.
 
Just took my HTPC with newly installed Pop OS for a spin and I'm not happy. Every time I touch the wireless keyboard it pops up and tells me the batteries are low and I have to manually close it. And it pops up on top of Kodi while I'm watching a movie. Also in the middle of the movies it closes Kodi and tells me I have new updates to install. This in your face OS has got to go. Going back to Mint Cinnamon. :mad:
This is a problem on Ubuntu too. In my case, probably for you too, the wireless keyboard does not actually report the real battery level, so the popup comes up forever.

Thankfully you can disable it. Look in Settings -> Notifications -> Power and you can turn off the popup.
 
Just took my HTPC with newly installed Pop OS for a spin and I'm not happy. Every time I touch the wireless keyboard it pops up and tells me the batteries are low and I have to manually close it. And it pops up on top of Kodi while I'm watching a movie. Also in the middle of the movies it closes Kodi and tells me I have new updates to install. This in your face OS has got to go. Going back to Mint Cinnamon. :mad:
I would check if these things could be configured to be non intrusive first, but of course it's up to you.
 
That's the thing with Linux I found. Things don't necessarily work the way you want out of box, but if you search for a bit there is usually a solution.
 
I didn't really like the desktop in Pop OS anyway. Not being able to put shortcuts on the desktop blows. The main reason I left Windows was because of the our way or the highway mentality. Hell, even defaults that are not to my liking bother me. Sure, I can change them most of the time but I still don't like the idea of an OS trying to dictate to me how I use my PC. I'm reasonably satisfied with Mint Cinnamon on my daily driver and will be sticking with it for the the time being. Same goes for my one Windows box. It's running Windows 7 and I'm hoping that sometime in the future I can nuke it and be done with MS. Just gotta figure out Linux networking. :(
 
I didn't really like the desktop in Pop OS anyway. Not being able to put shortcuts on the desktop blows. The main reason I left Windows was because of the our way or the highway mentality. Hell, even defaults that are not to my liking bother me. Sure, I can change them most of the time but I still don't like the idea of an OS trying to dictate to me how I use my PC. I'm reasonably satisfied with Mint Cinnamon on my daily driver and will be sticking with it for the the time being. Same goes for my one Windows box. It's running Windows 7 and I'm hoping that sometime in the future I can nuke it and be done with MS. Just gotta figure out Linux networking. :(

I don't understand why you are even bothering with a desktop OS as your HTPC server. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Kodi only need X11 to run? So why not just run Ubuntu Server with no desktop environment, install Kodi and it's dependencies, have Kodi start via its systemd service and use fstab to auto-mount your network shares? https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/178187/how-to-edit-etc-fstab-properly-for-network-drive

All of that should make it so logging in doesn't even matter anymore. You can reboot and it should just be working.
 
I don't buy it.

We have different UI's presented to us all the time now. Differing smartphones, differing smart fridges, the UI on the ordering station at the local McDonalds, differing UI's on our car's infotainment, differing UI's on smart TV's, even differing UI's between differing versions of software itself. People have the capability to learn new things, they always have and they always will.

They are being conditioned to believe they don't have the ability to learn new things, they're being conditioned to believe that they need Microsoft's Office suite when they probably don't. It's the consumerism machine working overtime.
Okay. I'll stipulate that my comment is meant only in the realm of desktop OS. User experience in, for example, Internet browsers and word processors is pretty uniform on a PC no matter the OS. I'm not really sure how bringing various UIs into the discussion affects the assertion that average users don't really care about the OS, though.
 
I don't understand why you are even bothering with a desktop OS as your HTPC server. Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Kodi only need X11 to run? So why not just run Ubuntu Server with no desktop environment, install Kodi and it's dependencies, have Kodi start via its systemd service and use fstab to auto-mount your network shares? https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/178187/how-to-edit-etc-fstab-properly-for-network-drive

All of that should make it so logging in doesn't even matter anymore. You can reboot and it should just be working.

Sorry, it's not my media server, it's my media player that feeds a projector. The media server is running FreeNAS.
 
Just a different thought.

I use Roku's on all my TVs, does the projector have HDMI? 30-40 bucks and no hassles. I prefer the Roku Streaming Stick+ for $40 atm, long range remote with TV controls on it.
 
So just enable automatic login...

When you enable auto login Linux will not remember network share credentials and you're forced to enter them each time you boot up before you can connect to network shares. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
 
Just a different thought.

I use Roku's on all my TVs, does the projector have HDMI? 30-40 bucks and no hassles. I prefer the Roku Streaming Stick+ for $40 atm, long range remote with TV controls on it.

The projector is an Epson HD3800. it has HDMI 2.0. I'm feeding it from one of the mini DP slots on the NUC using a DP to HDMI 2.0 cable. Sooner or later I'll be forced to build a new HTPC with a HDMI 2.0 video card but right now they're just too damned expensive. :(
 
Roku Stick+ specs
Up to 1080p (1920 x 1080) with up-scaling from 720p
4K UHD TVs
Up to 2160p at 60fps (3840 × 2160) with up-scaling from 720p and 1080p. TV must have an HDMI input that supports HDCP 2.2
4K UHD HDR TVs
Supports HDR10/10+ and HLG. TV must have HDMI input that supports HDCP 2.2.
Your projector supports HDCP 2.2 and has a USB port to power the Roku. Looks like it would do the job just fine unless Roku just doesn't handle your use case for some other reason. Sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree, just thinking of options.
 
When you enable auto login Linux will not remember network share credentials and you're forced to enter them each time you boot up before you can connect to network shares. 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.
You can manually set up network shares to cron so that your network credentials are inside the cron script and will be run automatically on each boot.
 
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Been about a year now, maybe a little bit longer since I used Mint. Maybe time for another round. I usually tweak, experiment and then break something and after spending an inordinate time searching and fixing I get bored with it and dump it. I wonder if Linux now supports FreeSync and the host of other graphical options taken for granted when using Windows? Maybe tomorrow I will load up Mint or the next day.
 
G-Sync and G-Sync Compatible work on Linux with Nvidia cards.

Not sure about AMD, but I'm able to use it with my FreeSync monitor and 2080 Ti.

HDR and ray tracing, not so much, but I think progress is being made.
 
Been about a year now, maybe a little bit longer since I used Mint. Maybe time for another round. I usually tweak, experiment and then break something and after spending an inordinate time searching and fixing I get bored with it and dump it. I wonder if Linux now supports FreeSync and the host of other graphical options taken for granted when using Windows? Maybe tomorrow I will load up Mint or the next day.
Freesync should work if you have a single monitor. If you have dual monitors it won't work unfortunately. There's supposed to be a way to get it to work but it requires setting up each monitor on its own x server or something like that. I read a little bit on it but not much. Besides, I suspect that the fix would kill some of the basic multi-monitor advantages I'm accustomed to.
 
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Been about a year now, maybe a little bit longer since I used Mint. Maybe time for another round. I usually tweak, experiment and then break something and after spending an inordinate time searching and fixing I get bored with it and dump it. I wonder if Linux now supports FreeSync and the host of other graphical options taken for granted when using Windows? Maybe tomorrow I will load up Mint or the next day.

Well, I have no issues with Ubuntu, using high refresh rate and freesync.
 
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Never have been able to figure out Linux to Linux and Linux to Windows networking but Linux to FreeNAS works perfectly using Windows shares, go figure. NSF totally does not work. All the info I've been able to find is obsolete and doesn't work. I have yet to successfully connect to either a Windows or a Linux share. I would be over joyed if I could find instructions on how to do this.
 
Never have been able to figure out Linux to Linux and Linux to Windows networking but Linux to FreeNAS works perfectly using Windows shares, go figure. NSF totally does not work. All the info I've been able to find is obsolete and doesn't work. I have yet to successfully connect to either a Windows or a Linux share. I would be over joyed if I could find instructions on how to do this.
Linux sharing broke when Windows dropped support for the SMB1.1 but that can be fixed by forcing linux to use the newer version.
 
Never have been able to figure out Linux to Linux and Linux to Windows networking but Linux to FreeNAS works perfectly using Windows shares, go figure. NSF totally does not work. All the info I've been able to find is obsolete and doesn't work. I have yet to successfully connect to either a Windows or a Linux share. I would be over joyed if I could find instructions on how to do this.
I used this guide to share a folder on my Linux box with Windows. I just did the first part of the tutorial.

https://itsfoss.com/share-folders-local-network-ubuntu-windows/

The key was settings up Windows properly, make sure you are on a private network and that discovery is enabled.
 
Okay. I'll stipulate that my comment is meant only in the realm of desktop OS. User experience in, for example, Internet browsers and word processors is pretty uniform on a PC no matter the OS. I'm not really sure how bringing various UIs into the discussion affects the assertion that average users don't really care about the OS, though.
Which you can't do as we're talking about a UI and we're surrounded by differing UI's these days, as I stated. Just because the UI isn't on a desktop machine doesn't mean people can't learn and adapt in the same way they learn and adapt regarding the vast number of UI's they're presented with these days.

Nice attempt at shifting the goal posts though.
 
Mounting local disks on boot is simple via the GUI using the Ubuntu Disks tool that ships with most *buntu based distros. Creating SMB shares I do via the GUI, absoultely no different to Windows, adding SMB shares I do via the file manager by clicking the globe of the world 'Network' icon in the LHS pane and adding that share to my favorites once logged in.

The last time I used Mint, it didn't even ship with either Samba of the associated GUI for adding network shares via 'Properties' installed. As stated, Mint is rubbish.

If you're having trouble creating shares using the GUI, try copying the folder outside the /Home directory. Quite often Linux won't allow the sharing of folders inside /Home without editing smb.conf.
 
Yeah, I thought Mint was really good at first. The first impression is nice, but once I actually tried to use it it wasn't great.

The first sign was when I installed Blender, and it gave me version 2.79, that came out like 3 years ago. Yes, I can download from their website, but that is exactly the experience I was trying to get away from with Windows.

There were other issues, but that was a big deal breaker for me.
 
Yeah, I thought Mint was really good at first. The first impression is nice, but once I actually tried to use it it wasn't great.

The first sign was when I installed Blender, and it gave me version 2.79, that came out like 3 years ago. Yes, I can download from their website, but that is exactly the experience I was trying to get away from with Windows.

There were other issues, but that was a big deal breaker for me.
All debian based distros will be lagging on versions. Ubuntu 21.04 offers Blender 2.83...
 
Which you can't do as we're talking about a UI and we're surrounded by differing UI's these days, as I stated. Just because the UI isn't on a desktop machine doesn't mean people can't learn and adapt in the same way they learn and adapt regarding the vast number of UI's they're presented with these days.

Nice attempt at shifting the goal posts though.
Going from iOS to Android to Windows to Linux isn't the same though. If I want to change a setting in windows, 99.9999999% of the time, it's visible and there for me to change, even if it's buried deep in some garbage control panel. On iOS, if I'm allowed to change it, it's in the settings applet. Android is the same, either in the applet or developer settings, both of which just require a quick search at the top of their settings window.

Linux however will require console work. Adding lines to configuration files. Possibly even creating scripts for boot up, (Ask me how I know).

"Learning" Linux isn't nearly the same as learning an INTUITIVE UI, designed for the masses. While I don't think learning Linux is hard, it really isn't comparable to any examples you have given. If I had to go into configuration files on an ordering machine at McDonald's to enable a setting that should be visible and not hidden away, I would just smirk and have the person behind the counter take my order. THAT is the state of Linux. You can do nearly anything you want, it just isn't intuitive.
 
Going from iOS to Android to Windows to Linux isn't the same though. If I want to change a setting in windows, 99.9999999% of the time, it's visible and there for me to change, even if it's buried deep in some garbage control panel. On iOS, if I'm allowed to change it, it's in the settings applet. Android is the same, either in the applet or developer settings, both of which just require a quick search at the top of their settings window.

Linux however will require console work. Adding lines to configuration files. Possibly even creating scripts for boot up, (Ask me how I know).

"Learning" Linux isn't nearly the same as learning an INTUITIVE UI, designed for the masses. While I don't think learning Linux is hard, it really isn't comparable to any examples you have given. If I had to go into configuration files on an ordering machine at McDonald's to enable a setting that should be visible and not hidden away, I would just smirk and have the person behind the counter take my order. THAT is the state of Linux. You can do nearly anything you want, it just isn't intuitive.

Actually, depending on the desktop environment and distribution, it can be quite easy for some to use and configure it, about as much as switching from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is. On the other hand, Android is not at all intuitive.
 
Actually, depending on the desktop environment and distribution, it can be quite easy for some to use and configure it, about as much as switching from Windows 7 to Windows 10 is. On the other hand, Android is not at all intuitive.
Android IS intuitive. You might not like that answer, but as the number 1 or 2 in the cell phone world, used by hundreds of millions, daily, I disagree. If I want to change a setting, it's there. I don't need to open a config file to change it. Androids intuitiveness comes from, in my opinion, is it's one variation.

If I go into control panel and search for a setting in windows 7, it will show. If I do the same in windows 10, there it is. I truly think it's this easy because it has to be. The average computer user is an idiot. They don't know how to do anything on a PC without some SIMPLE steps to do it like click this button, select this useless troubleshooter, did it help?
 
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