I tried to make this shift, but managed to somehow brick Linux Mint, so now I'm back on Windows for now...

I was already not very impressed when I attempted to okay a video file, and VLC told me I didn't have the right codec installed, and I had to run a shell command to get the codec... I have to open a shell to watch a common video file?

But then while attempting to install some packages to install Steam (which I also needed shell commands for...), I updated some kernel package, as instructed, rebooted my machine, and now Mint just sits there doing nothing right after I get through the bootloader. Can't seem to run any commands to recover either.

Bricking Mint is annoying, but I was much more astonished that I saw so many people hold up Mint as this beacon of user friendly Linux distros, but to do even the most basic things, I had to start running commands on the shell. That is NOT user friendly. I'll probably try again soon, but I'm pretty disappointed in my first experience.

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mixmastamyk 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

No such thing as brick when you have a “live drive” available. Reinstall and be up again in a half hour.

The codec issues are caused by the companies that make them, not a free operating system. Next time download an open codec movie or install from the “store” GUI.

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wsve 44 minutes ago | parent [-]

You're slightly missing the point. Ultimately, it doesn't really matter to me, the end user, whose fault it is that my OS doesn't have codecs.

The problem is that when doing an extremely basic operation that works on every system I've used before, it doesn't work, and the most readily available advice on how to resolve the issue tells me to run commands. Regardless of the reasons why it is that way, it just simply isn't user friendly.

	▲	mixmastamyk 32 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		There are tradeoffs in life, not perfection. Bondage vs. convenience, your choice. Having to install codecs once every few years is a tiny inconvenience compared to the dystopia offered elsewhere. I also run commands on Win and Mac all the time to fix things. For example Windows wastes tens of gigabytes of space unless you run a couple of inscrutable commands to free it.

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throwa356262 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I think the steam thing was solved some years ago after being featured on LTT.