My old 8GB laptop runs amazingly well with an 8GB swap file and Zswap enabled. If you set up both with 16GB of RAM, your machine should be able to handle most anything easily.

Just about every freeze I’ve had on Linux in more than a decade has been a GPU driver problem, even when it seems to be processor related.

Calibre’s ereader is quite good.

Not a full reinstall solution, but aptik is one of the only utilities I’ve found useful enough to pay for. Last time I reinstalled it saved me many hours of configuring.

Running Mint for apps like Jellyfin and Icecast that aren’t critical, and Debian for apps like Frigate that are. Mint is easier to manage and more convenient, but Debian is amazingly reliable. Docker is used for everything.

Consider adding Wireguard or similar for anywhere access. I have Tasker automatically connect whenever I’m not on home wifi so everything is always available without having detectable open router ports.

I’ve been using Linux for years, but on my hardware I’ve never been able to get Ubuntu to work reliably. I now only use it when booting from a USB for backups, but even on a relatively recent Dell laptop with Intel graphics the GUI crashes constantly. IMO it isn’t worth the trouble, but of course someone here will be oh-so offended by that.

After trying dozens of distros I went back to Mint because it just works.

It took a bit of effort and finding a really stable Linux distro on my hardware. For me that was Linux Mint.

Switching was made relatively easy by dual-booting and running Linux as much as possible while going back to Windows if I didn’t have time to figure something out. After few months of this I wasn’t using Windows at all and eventually deleted the partition.

You got a year? Ubuntu must be improving! I’d typically get 2-4 months and then have to spend hours troubleshooting to get something working again. I can’t remember the last time that happened to one of my Mint installations.

You aren’t alone having stability problems with Ubuntu. As much as I like the OS, my Ubuntu installs always broke and required troubleshooting at some point. Right now I only have Ubuntu installed on a bootable USB ssd that I use for backups and other disk operations, but even on that the desktop crashes regularly.

I eventually got tired exploring different distos and switched back to Mint. It’s been running with regular updates and upgrades on my desktop PC for 5 years and 3 on my laptop. I’ve had very few problems. Debian has been just as stable on my server.

It’s also possible to configure Linux to automatically pause a Virtualbox VM when the window is not in focus so Windows doesn’t keep burning CPU cycles when not actually in use.

I’ve tried various methods to run a couple Windows programs I use occasionally and most reliable method I’ve found (without buying a commercial package like Crossover) is a VM. With a decent multi-core processor and enough memory the only downside I’ve found is it makes my laptop run warm.

Raspberry Pi OS is based on Debian. You should be able to do what you’re describing and more by enabling SSH even without changing the OS.

Assuming it’s a Pi 3, Wireguard will work on it, as will Syncthing (useful if you add an SSD) but the interface bandwidth is limited so it can be a bit slow. That may not be too much of a problem though. My cable Internet’s upload speed is limited to 20Mbps, and despite the limited bandwidth both Wireguard and Syncthing are surprisingly useful.

A few years ago I booted up Windows after months of exclusively using Linux. When I ran Windows Update it deleted and overwrote my Linux partition! This wasn’t a grub issue, my files were gone and even file recovery utilities couldn’t find much. Plenty of others have experienced the same thing.

This is still happening and is unquestionably pure maliciousness on Microsoft part.

I had very similar problems with Realtek wifi on an HP laptop.

A possible fix:

Run “iwconfig” and check your adapter power management setting. If it’s on turn it off: “iwconfig [interface] power off”.

This solved most the wifi problems on my system.

Glad you haven’t had any issues. Have a good night.

Do you have any experience with Linux viruses? Have you had your own Linux installations infected with viruses or malware?

You sure though?

What do you want? It should go without saying that I am absolutely sure of my own experience.

In probably 15 years total of running Linux I have not had a single problem with malware or viruses. Part of that time was also running Windows regularly and my Windows systems DID become infected with both malware and viruses occasionally, despite my best efforts. And you’re not mentioning the fact that Linux runs on 63% of the server market and those systems are under constant attack.

Reports of Linux system infections are truly rare, and considering the nature of the user community would be widely and loudly reported if they were happening.

Do you have any experience in this matter? Have you had your own Linux installations infected, or are you a Windows user questioning what you’re reading? (Perfectly reasonable if the 2nd one’s the case.) Please fill us in on the details.

I’ve used Linux Mint and other distros daily for more than 10 years. Never had a virus or malware issue and don’t even run antivirus software.

During that same time I’ve had to help friends remove viruses and malware from their Windows machines dozens of times. The latest Windows disaster I’ve assisted with was a few months ago. A retired friend had her Windows 10 machine hijacked and $8K stolen from her savings account. Making sure the malware was removed required hours of work formatting the drive and reinstalling Windows.

IMO you are far safer with a plain vanilla Linux install that you are with Windows, no matter what steps you take to secure your Windows installation.

On my Linux Mint laptop Winboat installed quickly and allowed me to install and run the one program I use that requires Windows. This biggest issues were with that same app’s windows when they were rendered on the Linux desktop. They sometimes couldn’t be moved, resized or closed, however the same app ran just fine on the Winboat Windows Desktop itself.

The latest version is identified as an alpha release on the UI, so these problems aren’t surprising. What is surprising is how well so much of this works for an alpha release, particularly how polished the installation process is.

Looking forward to using Winboat when it progresses to the beta.

I didn’t figure it out either. It was a educated guess and I got lucky.