time lapse of a banded sphinx moth caterpillar (Eumorpha fasciatus) devouring a water primrose leaf
(Florida, 9/18/22)
E. fasciatus caterpillars are heavily polymorphic and come in several different color morphs- those stripy rainbow ones are from the same population as the green one.
another neat thing about these guys is that most caterpillars drown easily, but since water primrose (Ludwigia) usually grows in standing water, E. fasciatus caterpillars have a propensity for swimming and are often seen wriggling their way through lakes when they need to come ashore to pupate.
every time there’s a viral post about Magnus Hirschfeld that fails to mention he was jewish and nazi hatred of his work (and queerness as a whole) was a cause and effect of nazis blaming jews for any and all ‘degeneracy’ i want to Scream Yell Scream. you cannot should not separate what happened to him from that what do you mean ‘remember! they didn’t just hate jews they also-‘ HE WAS JEWISHHHH !!!! he was openly jewish and that’s a large part of why he was persecuted so heavily!!!! why are you leaving that out!!! he is not fodder for your ‘ugh those meanie jews are always so greedy and make the holocaust all about them 😠’ inversion
Alternate title: Free Yourself From Microsoft's Chains and a Beautiful World is Possible
This is going to be less of a step-by-step guide, as there is already plenty of more adequate documentation I will link, and more of just a general overview of my experience getting into Linux and advice for beginners! (and for others with Linux experience, feel free to add on or correct anything here!)
So, the first thing to note is that "Linux" is a very broad umbrella that encompasses hundreds of distributions (distros) of the Linux kernel. There are many highly-specialized distros that will all serve different purposes depending on your computing needs. Think of it like different flavours of ice cream; they're all Linux at their core, but with different flavours and additives for different people's tastes. Linux and its distros are FOSS; Free and Open Source Software.
I'm going to be mostly talking about Linux Mint today. Why? Because it's very good at what it wants to be, which is a lightweight, versatile introduction to Linux aimed at Windows users. It's widely-used, and for good reason!
This also means that any issues you might come across will be better documented, and the official forums are quite active if you need to ask questions.
(ID: the default Linux Mint Cinnamon desktop environment)
Who should use Linux?
In years past, there's been this idea that Linux is only for the hyper tech-literate, which in recent years is mostly no longer the case! It's great for daily use, browsing the internet, art, content creation, gaming, and more. Especially since the release of the Steamdeck, gaming on Linux has never been easier.
If you run last gen or older hardware, or just notice your PC runs slower than you would like, I can almost guarantee Mint will make it run better overall. It's also much more efficient on disk space if you have a laptop with limited storage; the entirety of my Mint install is in the single digits for GB, while IIRC Windows 10 was around 40GB. If you have even lower-end specs, you can try Mint's XFCE edition, which is lighter on features, but can run on pretty old hardware.
That said, if you rely on certain proprietary software such as Adobe or Microsoft products, I don't recommend switching unless you're able to move your work to an open source alternative (of which there are many very good ones I encourage you to try out, even on Windows!). It's always a good idea to look online if there's a program you're not sure will be able to run, though aside from the above examples, compatibility is surprisingly good. It even has touchscreen support; I'm using it on my convertible laptop for art, and it's great! For gaming, proton has a database where the community has ranked compatibility for games: ProtonDB. (I will talk a bit more about Proton later)
(It's also worth mentioning that lack of compatibility is 100% the company in question's responsibility, as they're just not allowing their software to be available on Linux for whatever their reason. If all that's keeping you on Windows is certain software, I encourage you to politely bug them about it via feedback forms!)
Key Features
Timeshift: this is like if Windows' snapshot feature didn't spy on you and was actually good. This is an essential thing to set up, as if you do ever break something in your system, you can easily use this to roll it back to before the change occurred.
Software Manager: on Mint, all software you download should be through the built-in software manager. This functions kind of like an app store, but instead of being, well, a store, it pulls from official Mint and Ubuntu repositories. It's far more secure and streamlined than having to manually install software downloaded from the internet.
Customization: of course we have to talk about customization, this is the fun part! Linux Mint uses a desktop environment called Cinnamon, which IMO is a good balance of customizable while not being too overwhelming with options. There are also dozens of user-built themes you can download, from minimal and modern to something you'd see in a 2000s spy movie. Hell, there's even one that'll make it look exactly like Windows 10/11.
(ID 1: Desktop environment showcasing CBlue theme for Linux Mint. ID 2: Desktop environment showcasing Spider-Void theme for Linux Mint.)
Absolutely zero bloatware: like, none. There's no telemetry running in the background, no ads, no "AI", everything is stored on your hard drive by default, no unwanted apps you can't uninstall.
Pick and choose your updates, with no coercion: this is the part that really sold me when I was first considering Mint. Its update manager allows you to individually update and manage drivers, software updates, security updates, etc. and never pesters you or forces you to update anything. It is a good idea to always take security updates, of course! But your work will never be interrupted and you will never wake up to find the system has rebooted itself overnight after an automatic update.
And so much more.
This got long, so I'm putting the rest under a cut. Keep reading for more info on the installation process, and post-install advice and things you should know.
Installation
Ok, now that I've sold you on it, let's talk about what you'll need. I won't go into too much detail here as I feel like the documentation below is adequate. Take this more as me holding your hand for moral support. I believe in you!
A USB flash drive or blank CD
An external hard drive/spare drive/a way to back up your files (recommended but optional if you don't care about wiping your drive.)
Follow this guide from Mint's website
Please back up any data you care about before you begin.
What I will say is that while it may sound complicated if you've never done it before, creating the bootable media is actually pretty low stakes as far as this process goes. Definitely go through the whole process of verifying the ISO, as this is a good thing to learn how to do, but as long as you follow the guide you should be good. Once you have the bootable media, you can follow the guide to boot it from your BIOS screen, which will then boot into a live session. This is basically a live test area that you can play around in, and crucially, it is not permanent! If you decide you hate it (or if something goes wrong), you can restart your computer and go back to the OS you actually have installed. Some things to note is that because it's booting from a USB/CD it will run a bit slower in this environment, and some programs and features might not work correctly.
Note that overwriting your hard drive with Windows on it will erase Windows. If you ever need to use it again, you will have to reinstall it, or use a virtual machine which is a more advanced step.
I've read mixed things about installing Mint alongside Windows on the same hard drive, so if you're not confident you can troubleshoot, I would advise against it. If you want to dual boot, it might be a better idea to install Mint on a secondary hard drive (in which case, choose the "erase disk and install" option on that hard drive, which will leave your primary OS alone).
Let's talk about file systems.
Every form of data storage (SSDs, flash drives, everything) is formatted with a file system. On Windows, the default and most common file system is NTFS. This is not supported by Linux, meaning it can usually still read and write files from these drives, but might have issues. It is highly recommended to reformat an NTFS drive if you'll be using Linux on it. During installation, the "erase disk and install" option will do this automatically so you don't have to worry about it, but if you have additional hard drives you'll have to go reformat them manually. Luckily this isn't too complicated and there's plenty of step-by-step guides online, but it is an extra step you should know about.
The most common file system you'll likely be using on Linux is EXT4. Another one becoming increasingly more common is BTRFS, which is a bit faster and has some additional features, though you really only gain the full benefit of it on an SSD. When in doubt, just go for the reliable EXT4.
As for the file manager itself, you might notice that it's organized a little differently from Windows. Instead of having a "Program Files" directory, everything is sorted into libraries under File System. This is actually a really smart way of doing things, as multiple programs can share the same core libraries rather than having their own individual directories, which is more efficient on disk space in the long run. However, this is another reason you'll want to be using the Software Manager to install things, as it will automatically sort files into these libraries so you don't have to.
(ID1: File manager showing the file system directory. ID2: File manager showing the Home directory.)
The Terminal
On Windows, opening the command line can be a scary thing. Half the time, it means you done fucked up. However, on Linux systems, it's a super useful tool that's easily accessible and makes no effort to hide the inner workings of your system from you.
Mint makes it really easy to never have to open the terminal. For the vast majority of cases, everything you need will be in the GUI somewhere. That said, I encourage everyone to learn some basic commands! It's a good thing to familiarize yourself with if you ever do need to use it. A good easy thing to try is updating your system this way:
Open the terminal through the GUI, or with ctrl+alt+T. Type this command:
sudo apt update
"sudo" is short for "super user"; this is kind of like administrator in Windows. "apt" (Advanced Package Tool) is used when packages are concerned; this means installing, removing, and updating anything on your system. "update" is exactly what it says. What this command line is essentially saying is "retrieve updates"
It will then prompt you for your password. After you enter it, it will retrieve updates. After that, you can type this in to view what it will upgrade:
apt list --upgradable
"list" will do what it implies, which is list everything with the following flag, which is "--upgradable"
Then type this in:
sudo apt upgrade
"upgrade" will then start the installation. You'll be prompted once more for a simple "y/n" command, in which case just type "y" for "yes" and hit enter. It will then install all the updates it previously listed, which may take a minute, so just let it run.
Again, this is by no means something you need to do, as the update manager works just fine; but if you have a fear of the terminal, it's a good way to start to familiarize yourself with it.
Gaming
I do want to just take a second to talk about gaming on Linux, as I know that will affect the majority of my followers. While Mint is not a distro that focuses on gaming, in my experience, it works just fine. If you do decide you want to try a distro more optimized for gaming, there's a few such as Bazzite or CachyOS (which is what I personally use!).
I highly recommend using Steam for games. This is due to it having a built-in compatibility layer by way of Proton. If you have games that were not acquired via Steam, it's much easier to manually add them to your Steam library than to tinker with something like Wine or Bottles as a beginner.
Luckily, many games these days do have native Linux support. But for those that don't, 9/10 times you can still get them to run just fine with the compatibility tools. You can set the default tool in Steam settings>compatibility, but some games might require a little "proton roulette" of switching between different tools to get it working. You can force the use of a specific tool on a game-by-game basis by clicking on that game in your library and going to manage>properties>compatibility.
(ID: A screenshot of Steam's settings menu, showing where to find compatibility options)
Some games might have quirks; in the case of ESO, I have to always close the launcher after the game proper is running otherwise the framerate is really bad, but other than that it runs great.
Certain games that will not work on Linux are multiplayer games that have certain anti-cheat software. I don't really play those games so I don't know too much about that, but look online if you're not sure. I've heard that LOTRO and Fortnite are among a few that will not work.
Another thing to note is that Nvidia GPUs are known to occasionally cause problems. I have an older Nvidia GPU in my PC and haven't run into anything installing new drivers didn't fix, but there always seems to be someone on the forums with Nvidia-related issues so your mileage may vary.
My last caveat is about modding games; this can be a little more complicated than Windows due to the different file systems, but it depends on the game, so if that's something that's important to you maybe look into it first. Mods from the Steam workshop will work as they normally do.
In Conclusion
I want to finish this off with something a bit more philosophical. Early last year, if you had asked me what NTFS meant I would've looked at you and went "huh?" The first time I installed Mint, I had no idea what a file system was and had to search online to figure out how to reformat my spare hard drives. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing!
But it was an easy decision to install Linux on that machine with older hardware I was only really using for playing music and games. My Windows 10 copy was questionable at best, and it wouldn't be able to run Windows 11, so it was really the only way I could go. On the other hand, I held off on installing Mint on my main laptop for several months, knowing I wouldn't be able to run the software I had been using for almost 8 years (Clip Studio). At that point, it really became a question of, was I willing to make a change in how I worked? Or was I willing to put up with the constant barrage of bullshit from Microsoft? In the end, I decided that I was willing to make that sacrifice to align myself with what I valued more. That's not a sacrifice everyone is willing (or able, in the case of some jobs) to make, and that's perfectly fine. But I do encourage everyone to at least think about it.
Anyways, I did end up moving my laptop to Mint, and now I'm using Krita. I'm of a mindset where I really like learning new things, and I feel like Linux has really reignited my love for computers in a way I wasn't expecting. I think it's important to have that mindset when approaching Linux for the first time. There are things you're going to have to learn - and unlearn - but luckily you're not going to be doing it alone as there's lots of great documentation and forums and youtube channels if that's your thing.
If you've read this far, thank you! As always, I'm happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability. Best of luck on your journey. :)
Documentation & Resources
Download Linux Mint
Linux Mint Forums
Linux Mint Installation Guide
ProtonDB
r/LinuxMint
Videos
Youtube: Explaining Computers (this video is especially good if you'd like a visual guide of the flashing process. He highlights ZorinOS but the process is basically the same for Mint)
Youtube: Bread on Penguins (Honourable mention because this is what inspired me to get nerdier with it, lol. Doesn't talk about Mint specifically, but if you're interested in getting deeper into the more advanced/technical side of Linux and especially the terminal her channel is really good)
thanks to anonymous for sending this ask i’ll never answer it because i love opening the inbox and saying out loud i have social anxienty and eat pussy eberyday every single time
aroacespec culture is "do you want the short response version of my orientation or the mla formatted essay assignment that just boils down to the short answer but longer" — 🎧
Can everyone who makes video content do a Deaf bitch a favor? Watch your shit with the captions on and the sound off, and then do another round of editing to fix things including but not limited to:
Captions cover the spot on the screen you put the information I need
The dialogue is captioned but not the song you have playing that the dialogue is responding to
You only captioned the person on the screen, not the person off screen who is also talking
No captioning of critical sound effects (alarms, bells, dogs barking, etc)
Speakers are not labelled at moments where it is not clear on the screen who is talking.
Captions cover the spot on the screen that you put the information I need!
Other d/Deaf people welcome to add.
This post brought to you by the fifth video tutorial I could not follow because the bad, auto-generated captions covered what I was trying to watch today.
Once you post, check to make sure the formatting of the site doesn't hide the captions behind your username or tags (especially relevant for instagram reels and tiktok videos)
I do love that somebody tagged tumblr's own frog scientist on this post. chop chop dr scherz, we've got 62 more frogs to discover and you're the only frog scientist any of us knows
GUYS amphibian species of the world is still at 7,994 species of frog BUT amphibiaweb is at 8,008 species of frog, and do you know who is a co-author on the 8,000th species of frog there???? TUMBLR'S OWN FROG SCIENTIST DR SCHERZ
