Fed up with Windows 11? Linux Lite 7.8 is worth a serious look

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://nerds.xyz/2026/01/linux-lite-7-8-windows-11-alternative/

Trying to install Linux as a complete beginner, part 1: failing to install

[Mirrored on our personal site here – no ads]

Hi! My name is Azure. I’m one of the people who shares this blog as well as a bodymind. (“What do you mean by that? What is plurality?”) Today’s blog post is about what I’ve been doing all day, off and on, since around 8am (it is now 8pm): trying to install Linux Mint Cinnamon!

First: I have never touched Linux before. I’ve heard about it a lot, about how it’s great for people who hate ads and tracking and stuff and also, great for people who want their computer to require a lot of tinkering to work. (That is genuinely a draw for some people! It’s part of why I want to try it.) I also heard it doesn’t have AAC applications. (Please feel free to gently correct me! I’d love to be wrong. That’s an essential application for us at this point.)

I and my headmates (the people who share my bodymind with me) have concluded that we do not want our main, everyday computer to run Linux… but we do still have a 2012 Macbook that could be a great backup/project computer! We put it into storage when we got our current computer. It’s slow enough at basic tasks like loading websites that it’s a major barrier to getting things done, but maybe it’ll be faster on Linux, or maybe it just won’t matter because it’s not our main computer.

So that’s what I worked on today. I woke up thinking of Linux, with a surprising amount of motivation and interest. I dug out that old computer from storage. I waited for it to charge. And it turned on, yay! (I was worried.)

The first thing I did was search “beginner friendly linux” on DuckDuckGo and Fedi. Multiple people agreed that Linux Mint is the one to go with! So I looked up Linux Mint, chose the Cinnamon subtype, and followed the instructions.

They did not work.

I tried again. I posted on Fedi and several Discord servers asking for help. Lots of people came to the rescue! They suggested several things. I tried them.

They did not work either.

Specifically, I tried these things:

I downloaded a different mirror of the ISO. That means I downloaded the same Linux software from a different link.

I used a different USB port on the target computer (it has two).

Instead of holding down “alt”/”option” when restarting the target computer, I held down “command” + R to get a different menu. I did successfully get a different menu, but it still didn’t give me the option to start Linux.

I gave Etcher, the program that puts the Linux software on the USB drive, “full drive” permissions. This was a little scary since I don’t understand it and it seems excessive, but I can understand that it needs to write information on a drive, and I saw that it worked for someone else, so I did it.

I tried restarting my computer after giving Etcher full drive permissions didn’t work. I thought maybe the permissions got stuck and didn’t go through.

I tried downloading Etcher on the target computer instead. It said the MacOS version was too old. So I updated it, and then it said it was still too old. I guess 2012 is too old to run Etcher. Probably this wouldn’t have mattered anyway, since our current computer and the target computer are both Macbooks and our current one doesn’t really have any problems.

I tried plugging in the USB drive after booting up the computer in both modes I tried earlier.

None of that worked! So a very helpful someone suggested trying a different USB drive. I’ve purchased one that was within my “fun things” budget for the month, and it should arrive in two days, on September 22, 2025.

Overall, I would say that I failed today at the task I was trying to accomplish. But the day itself didn’t feel like a failure. I learned a lot of new things and had fun! I used the Terminal for the first time, memorized commands to boot up a Mac computer in different modes, socialized with kind people, and even joined a friendly new Discord server.

I knew that learning Linux would be hard, and I’m comfortable and familiar with the concept of pacing myself. (I have ME/CFS, and the main treatment for that is pacing, in the sense of not going over one’s limits.) I’ll try again after the new USB drive gets here!

Thank you for reading! Please feel free to leave kind comments.

#beginnerLinux #linux #linuxMint #technology

Hey Folks! Ive put together what I hope to make the start of a series on Projects to use to teach yourself #linux !! The first installment is building a home lab. I think this is an important first step, and it walks you through installing linux and getting into administering it with Cockpit.

It's live on my Peertube instance here:
https://video.ironsysadmin.com/w/tBA9VAmeEUNiyE4tDpi3Q1

And on the Tubes of You here:
https://youtu.be/prJ54a0Ab8s

#learnlinux #sysadmin #homelab #beginnerlinux