Linux Mint Setup Basics

The second video in the 'The Big Switch' series covers basic configuration of Linux Mint. We'll be using this base to build up to more complex operations and installations.

Big Switch Repo:

00:00 - Introduction to Linux Mint Config
01:25 - Updates
08:14 - Installing Apps (Flathub vs Package Manager)
14:59 - Quality of Life (Desklets & Workspaces)
20:40 - Outro

[AwesomeOpenSource]

Didn't see it, but note, that on Mint, by default the App Store has a limited selection of Flatpak software. You can see the full set if you enable it in the sttings of the store as I recall. Overall, great overview. Love to see you on this journey.

[davidwestra]

LMDE has been my go to for a year now and love it. I’ve tried some others, but keep coming back.

[cyberjohn]

Great video to help new user transition to Linux.

[WarrenFeltmate]

Not a Mint user, but a great video to help new users give it a go. I did notice one minor bit of incomplete information. The Nvidia drivers are currently v565, but not all distros support the most recent versions, much like how Fedora uses the 6.12 kernel but Mint uses 6.8

[JavierPerez-fqfi]

Jim! thanks for the move since you convinced me after my last try 10 years ago, to do the same. I did already the change and so far I am really... LOVING IT!
I did try Mint but don't know why nvidia drivers where unable to be properly installed in my machine. Instead using latest ubuntu worked seamlessly.
In my case I am having proxmox as host with GPU pass through as I had so far with windows 11. Indeed, I won't remove windows 11 because some games only works there but for rest... looks like will be the final move :) -I really hated trend of windows nowadays forcing you to log in and track everything you do-
Again thanks for great initiative 2025! 💪

[R_a_y_]

Great video, just recently switched from Mint to Zorin

[praetorxyn]

"... unfortunately, the driver situation for Linux is quite far behind."

This is incorrect. The driver is ancient because you're using Linux Mint, which has ancient packages. This is exactly why I said a month ago when you first said you were going to use Mint that doing so was a bad idea.

CachyOS had the 560 Nvidia driver around August 10th. All Arch-based distros should, but CachyOS has a custom kernel with a lot of patches and optimizations applied, and its kernel manager will let you choose a scheduler appropriate for your CPU (this you'll have to look up which is best for you). Out of the box, it works better than any distro I've found, especially for gaming. For things like Switch emulation, I've seen it get 30+ more FPS than Windows.

Using an Arch-based distro, you don't have to worry about Flathub / Flatpaks and the massive sizes of those packages either, as your package manager package versions will just be up to date.

[Popcorncandy]

I'm also interested on the "rules" on when to use snap, when to use package and when to use flatpak, and what are the performances between them. This is one thing that is making me hold off on linux as a daily driver for now.

[NFvidoJagg]

One of the things I like to do is put application on their own workspace and cycle thought them with hot keys. Grant I'm also using cosmic, which acts more like a tiling window manager. but i find the workflow is good if you have lots of windows open. especially in multi-monitor setups.

I'll also note, because of other comments. NVIDIA driver 550 is the current stable driver. 56X drivers are still in beta. Hence distros with bleeding edge kernels are using them.

[TheStevenWhiting]

What about AMD drivers? I'm looking to build a new PC for gaming, rendering vids and VMs. Was gonna go AMD instead of Nvidia but whats the AMD drivers like for Linux?

[davidr]

Jim, just put this on, thanks.

Any chance you can do a nextcloud aio guide on a Ubuntu server VM using proxmox. Maybe using dockge and mounted shares in proxmox for data and backups. :)

You can demonstrate how to install Nvidia drivers in Linux Mint Debian Edition

[phantompanda]

JIM please please plase make a tutorial on setting up VPN's on linux systems specially Nekoray and v2ray. we really really need it on the other side of the world, also thanks for the great content