Coming Home to Linux

After more than two years of playing with Chromebooks and trying to make them behave like Linux computers, I finally came to the acceptance that what I really wanted was a true Linux computer. Yes, ChromeOS is based on Debian Linux, which is why it wasn't too hard for the folks at Google to create a Linux "developer environment", called Crostini, on which to run Debian Linux applications. That has actually become one of my favorite aspects of ChromeOS. But at the end of the day, it just doesn't quite get the job done. Linux apps run in their own 'walled garden' and they take up an inordinate amount of system resources on notoriously scantily equipped machines. 

I have used various Linux distributions in the past, on decrepit hardware that was just a step or two away from e-waste, but the Chromebook experience got me to wondering what it might be like to run Linux on reasonably up-to-date hardware. I recently took the opportunity to find out by purchasing Dell Latitude 7490 notebook computer with Linux Mint installed. This computer is a few years old, but was a fairly high-end machine when it was new, equipped with 16GB of RAM, 1TB solid state drive, and an Intel Core i5 eighth generation processor. and is still fairly respectable today, so the Linux experience on it is a revelation, to say the least. 

I’d had the same model computer on my desk at work for a few years and liked it. Even running a ridiculously locked down version of Windows 10, it was a very quick and capable machine. Running Linux Mint 21, which puts much lighter demands on the hardware, it is closer to amazing.

Even in the short time I’ve had this machine, I’ve been very favorably impressed with its performance, and it has made me realize that some of my former frustrations with Linux have had more to do with the hardware I was running it on than with the operating system itself. I have also been pleasantly surprised with how user friendly Linux Mint has become over the years. In some ways, it matches or surpasses even Windows or Mac OS. Case in point—the minute I logged this computer onto my home WiFi network, it automatically detected both of my networked printers and installed their drivers. This is a far cry from my first Linux experiences, where almost every function had to be manually configured from the terminal. 

The only legitimate concern one might have about Mint, or any other flavor of Linux, might be the lack of availability of commercial software like M$ Office, but the truth is there are equivalents readily available like LibreOffice, and even a Web apps like Micro$oft 365 and Google apps make the chasm between Linux and other proprietary operating systems much smaller than it used to be. The truth is, the more I use this Linux Mint-equipped Dell, the more I become convinced that desktop Linux far more ready for prime time than ever before. Of course, I also acknowledge that my much more favorable impression of Linux Mint may also be a result of the struggles I have recently experienced, trying to make a Chromebook behave like it's running a desktop Linux distro, a task at which it is doomed to fall short.

In fact, I was so impressed with Mint on the Dell that I used the USB recovery flash drive that came with the computer to install Mint on an older HP laptop that came with Windows 10 and does not meet the minimum specs to upgrade to Windows 11. I'd had it in mind to put Linux on it when support for Win10 ends two years from now in October 2025, but this experience prompted me to accelerate that timetable and set it up as a dual-boot system. The curious thing has Windows fought me every step of the way. 

On the first installation attempt, I rebooted the computer to complete the process and Windows disabled Linux Mint. I thought it had been removed, but when I attempted to reinstall it, I found Linux was still present, so I went into BIOS, disabled Secure Boot to prevent the system from ‘defending’ itself against Linux. I have the dual boot working, although the process is a bit convoluted. The laptop still boots into Windows by default, without presenting an option to choose Linux Mint, but I can choose the alternative system by holding down the F10 key at startup to access a boot options menu, in which Linux Mint (curiously identified as Ubuntu) is the second option on the menu. The final challenge to making the HP a Linux laptop was to move "Ubuntu" to the top of the boot list, which required another trip into BIOS. The system now presents the boot options menu on startup by default, and the first choice on the list is now "Ubuntu", aka Linux Mint. It took a few tries, but I finally won the battle.

Linux Mint has breathed new life into that old HP laptop, and while it’s not quite as good as it is on the Dell, the machine does not bog down the way it does under Windows. Since a Windows 11 upgrade will never happen on my HP laptop, the time will eventually come when it and Windows will need to part ways entirely, making Linux the obvious upgrade path beyond Windows 10’s October 2025 expiration date. Realistically, that day may be coming sooner, rather than later. I’ve begun what I anticipate to be an extended test of Linux Mint on that HP laptop, and I have no doubt I will be able to get a few extra years of use from it as Linux device, and likely enjoy it more than I did when it was running Win10. 

Update (four months later):  Now that I have been using Linux Mint again for a third of a year, something unexpected has happened. I had expected the Dell Latitude 4790 laptop running Linux Mint to be a secondary machine supplanting the Chromebooks mentioned above, and that my daily driver, an aging MacBook Pro, would continue to be my primary machine. This is not exactly what happened. Surprisingly, the Dell has largely supplanted the MacBook Pro to become my de facto daily driver. 

Also along the way, the aforementioned HP laptop has been retired in favor of a second Dell Latitude 7490. The experience with the first one was so good positive, I opted for another one.

The Linux Mint user experience has always been a good one, but in its most recent iterations, it has become so intuitive and user friendly that for me, it rivals Mac OS in many ways, and far exceeds that of Windows. In fact, I seldom even consider what operating system I'm using. The novelty of using Linux has largely worn off, leaving in its place a sense of comfort and familiarity that allows me to be far more productive.