Questions about Linux Mint and this list

[Robert Heller]

At Mon, 18 Jul 2022 23:40:14 +0800 "Ubuntu user technical support,? not for general discussions" <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com> wrote:

> 
> Hello.
> 
> The first question, is, because Linux Mint appears to not have a mailing 
> list equivalent of this one that we have for asking questions about 
> Ubuntu, and, because one of the variants (the most common one, I think) 
> of Linux Mint, is apparently, Ubuntu based, is it okay to ask questions 
> about Linux Mint, on this list?
> 
> The second question (assuming, and, hoping that it is okay), is, with 
> Linux Mint 20.3 (because, from  my understanding, especially, from the 
> article by Liam Proven, recently published on The Register web site, 
> Linux Mint 21 is at the beta testing stage, and, has, as yet, no known 
> or expected date of release), can it (relatively easily) be installed on 
> a computer with MS Windows 11 installed?

In theory Linux can be installed on any machine that any other O/S runs on (MS
Windows or MacOSX). In theory anyway. There are probably some gotchas:
*Sometimes* Linux might have trouble with "bleeding edge" hardware. Mostly
these days with wireless NICs on laptops and secondly with video chipsets
(although, generally Linux will work in some "vanila" mode -- you just won't
get the extra features, including acceleration). Generally most generic
hardware should just "work".

In the case of a machine shipped with MS Windows 11, MS Windows 11 "requires"
secure boot and the "Trusted Module" thingy. In order to install Linux and
boot Linux, you have to turn off the secure boot, at least to install Linux --
I don't know if an installed Linux can be booted in secure boot mode. So it is
going to be an "interesting" process to install Linux as a second O/S on a
*new* machine with MS Windows 11. I think I have seen articles on the web
about how to do this. It may not be trivial to dual boot MS Windows 11 and
Linux, although it is probably possible. (It might actually be easier to just
get a Raspberry PI 4, assuming you could actually purchase one.)

> 
> My wife, who is a MS .net systems developer, wants a new computer, with 
> MS Windows 11 Pro installed on it, so she can play with her development 
> tools, other than on her work computer, and, also wants to try Linux 
> Mint (and, I am thinking about looking at Linux Mint, to get a current 
> Linux version that is easy to use, that is not quite like the current 
> Ubuntu), and, so, I am wondering whether the Linux Mint 20.3 (and 21, 
> when it is released), can be relatively easily installed, and, 
> dual/multiple boot (not concurrently, but, being able to choose which to 
> boot, having both or more OS's installed) on a computer that has MS 
> Windows 11 pre-installed on it, or, whether we would need separate 
> computers for running MS Windows 11 and Linux Mint.

Since you are getting new computer(s), you can always just install Linux on
the old one(s), rather than toss it/them in a Land Fill.  This might be easier 
that struggling with Secure Boot.

> 
> I have read an article on the Register, about a "latest Lenovo" 
> computer, that has some MS plutonium thing, that prevents OS's other 
> than MS Windows, from being installed, and, I do not know whether MS 
> Windows 11 prevents other OS's from being installed.

M$ would rather you didn't use any other O/S but theirs and yes, there are 
features with MS Windows 11 that indeed seek to make it hard (but not really 
impossible) to run another O/S.

> 
> Thank you in anticipation.
> 

-- 
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