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BEN’S WORKSHOP

By Ben Myers • Comment about this article

Why not install and use Linux on a well-appointed laptop that does not meet Windows 11 hardware requirements?

This is my adventure setting up a laptop to run a Linux distribution and to use it productively for writing. The PC in question is a really nice but elderly Lenovo ThinkPad W541 laptop, a trade-in. Rather than recycle it, I decided to turn it into a laptop with the latest Linux Mint 22.1 Cinnamon distribution, my Windows-like favorite, and use it to run quick hardware diagnostics.

Figure 1 shows the laptop with its 15-inch screen and keyboard with numeric keypad. It has had just a small amount of wear and tear.

Figure 1. Lenovo W541 laptop in great shape

Let’s jump ahead in the sequence of events and let Linux explain the laptop specs with Figures 2 through 4.

Figure 2. 2880 by 1620 screen resolution, 200% scaling for readability

Figure 3. Intel 4th-generation i7 true quad core CPU, 32GB memory, and 480GB SSD

Figure 4. Battery at 87 percent of original factory capacity

Functionally, this is a laptop in the ballpark of what you get with a new business-class laptop, but with a screen resolution better than that of the popular FHD 1920×1080. Importantly, it won’t run Windows 11.

Linux has its very own jargon — and lots of it. A Linux operating system is called a distro, and there are many hundreds of distros. Linux apps are called packages. Some packages include several programs. Other packages have programs that provide plumbing services underneath the desktop, or even the desktop itself. Packages and distros often have names that lead one to wonder how they ever came to be so named. DistroWatch.com has excellent weekly newsletters describing activities in the Linux world, installation and testing of interesting Linux distros, news about the Linux world, Q&A, and pages that describe distros and packages — all with links to their respective home pages. The right-hand column of the main DistroWatch webpage is a box score of which Linux distros, with their home page links, are currently the most popular.

Despite the differences in naming things, most Linux distros use keystroke combinations almost identical to those used with Windows. So Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Alt+PrntScreen, and others have familiar functions.

Immediately after installing Linux Mint Cinnamon, I ran into tasks I did not want to perform. Despite being one of the most popular Windows-like desktops in the Linux world, Mint Cinnamon’s software “installer” is the Linux super user command sudo, followed by arguments describing the software to be installed. I am not ready for the Linux command line right now, regardless of the slings and arrows thrown my way by Linux devotees.

Because I want to use numerous Linux packages, I am forced to compromise on another Linux distribution. The question becomes how one chooses a Linux distro with a broad range of apps. The words Linux and marketing together remain an oxymoron, and various Linux distro websites say next to nothing about the packages included in a distro’s ISO file. How could I figure this out?

An ISO file is a digital replica of the content of an optical disc, copied onto a bootable flash stick to install Linux (or Windows). To create a bootable flash stick, I used Ventoy and a flash stick preformatted as exFAT (Extensible File Allocation Table). I visited several of the more popular noncommercial Linux websites and determined how large each ISO file was, reasoning that the larger ISO files would have more software content included. The latest Ubuntu, Version 25.03, offered a 6GB ISO file, so it most likely would offer a lot of apps, twice as large as the 3GB Mint Cinnamon ISO.

Ubuntu uses the Gnome desktop, quite different from the Windows-like desktop of Mint Cinnamon, but one must adjust something new and different. How difficult can it be?

The installation of Ubuntu and other major distros is relatively straightforward and takes around 15 minutes. It needs only a single reboot. It asks all the usual questions about language, keyboard type, username, and password. Connecting to my test Wi-Fi network was pretty easy. I ran the updater to install all the updates issued after the original release, with a reboot afterward. The installation and update tasks have very routine and mundane screens, not much different from what one would see when installing and updating Windows. “Nothing to see here,” as they say.

Once installed, Ubuntu’s default desktop is dark with very bright-white readable fonts and icons, but I selected a plain, dark background that was even less distracting, as in Figure 5. Ubuntu offers numerous desktop-customization choices, but the other defaults seemed quite comfortable, so I left them as is.

Figure 5. A plain Ubuntu desktop

Ubuntu has its “Super Key,” the Windows key we all know and love. Pressing the Super Key gives a panorama of the programs currently running (Figure 6).

Figure 6. Currently active programs

Except for the built-in programs that are part of most any Linux distro, a freshly installed Ubuntu system is bereft of productivity software, so you need to install the software you want to use. Fortunately, the Ubuntu App Center, Figure 7, makes this pretty easy — sudo commands not required.

Figure 7. Ubuntu App Center installs productivity apps.

Of course, I had to install the complete LibreOffice suite to continue this article begun earlier with Mint Cinnamon, as in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Install LibreOffice from the App Center.

As with Windows, the PrintScrn key alone or the combination of Alt+PrintScrn captures screen images, which one saves conveniently in the Home/Pictures/Screenshots folder as standard PNG files. Home is my home folder, separate and distinct from the files and folders of Ubuntu itself. Hitting the PrintScrn key allows you to either capture the entire screen or choose a smaller area.

The LibreOffice suite has programs that are functionally equivalent to those in Microsoft 365, except that there is no email client. LibreOffice adds other programs, too. LibreOffice looks a lot like an older version of Office, somewhere around Microsoft Office 2007, so one has to adjust to its menu structure and the meanings of the numerous graphical objects at the tops of program menus. Some of these objects are commonly used in more familiar Windows apps, others not. To learn and understand what any object does, simply place your cursor on it, and you will see what it does. Figure 9 is a typical LibreOffice Writer screen.

Figure 9. LibreOffice Writer in action

Because this Linux laptop needs to live within the dominant world of Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 products, an adjustment makes each LibreOffice app coexist easily with its comparable Microsoft app. By default, the LibreOffice save format is its own open standard ODF. Rather than subjecting folks to an extra step that may be unfamiliar, Tools | Options leads to the Load/Save Options window, allowing Writer documents to be saved as DOCX. Similar changes are needed to send Calc spreadsheets and Impress presentations to others who use Microsoft 365.

Figure 10. Save documents in Microsoft Word DOCX format.

How compatible are LibreOffice files with Microsoft apps? Not perfectly, but pretty much so, and OK most of the time. But think of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, and you get an idea of the regular software redesign, programming, and testing needed for LibreOffice to remain as compatible as possible with the latest Office/Microsoft 365.

I can offer one eyewitness example about compatibility in the other direction. Years ago, my Windows laptop had only LibreOffice on it, and it was the only laptop available to make presentations to an audience. A colleague had his PowerPoint pitch on a flash stick, inserted it, and his PowerPoint slides showed perfectly.

As a rule of thumb, files that use the simple features of an app are likely to be highly compatible with the corresponding app in the other office suite, but there are generally some differences in formatting and fonts. LibreOffice also provides limited compatibility with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). You may encounter issues when trying to use LibreOffice files with an older version of Office.

Figure 11 compares LibreOffice and Microsoft 365 Apps.

Figure 11. LibreOffice and Microsoft 365 compared

If one does very technical scientific or engineering work, mathematical formulae are both very important to show accurately and very difficult to create with most software. LibreOffice Math eases that burden, and one can simply paste a math bitmap image, such as the one in Figure 12, directly into a document. Finally, the LibreOffice Extensions, Documentation, and Templates repository is what it says it is.

Figure 12. Example of a formula created with Math

Ubuntu has Firefox as its Web browser. Google Chromium, the open-source version of Google Chrome, and other browsers are available as well. If you prefer handling your email with a freestanding email client similar to Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird does the job.

Linux software developers are notorious for choosing highly idiosyncratic names for their apps. Sure enough, GIMP, the GNU Image Manipulation Program, is no exception, offering the capabilities of image creation, editing, and manipulation with a degree of difficulty similar to that of Photoshop.

What’s GNU? It’s a self-referential abbreviation meaning that “GNU’s Not Unix!”

I installed XPDF to view Acrobat PDF documents, and the VideoLAN VLC media player to play music and watch videos. Clicking the Show Apps circle in the lower-left corner of the desktop revealed a screen with the available apps arrayed below thumbnail images of programs currently running, as in Figure 13. If there are more apps available than the 24 shown on the screen, click a grayed dot at the bottom of the screen to see the next batch of available programs. Show Apps is akin to clicking the Windows Start icon, but it takes you instantly to the available packages without a lot of clicks.

Figure 13. Running programs and available programs

Installing packages and programs that are not part of the Ubuntu distribution is also very easy and graphical — no command line required — because it uses the Calamares installer. Calamares, the Spanish word for squid, is yet another peculiar Linux package name. The Calamares installer warns that the software being installed comes from a third party. Software downloaded for installation must have a deb file extension. What is deb? Debian is one of the oldest Linux distributions, dating from 1993, and deb is its package format. Debian is the base operating system for Ubuntu and other distros. This romantic name comes from the names of the creator of Debian, Ian Murdock, and his wife, Debra.

With the Firefox browser, my Microsoft credentials connected to the free Web-based version of Microsoft 365. I was able to create a simple Word DOCX document, Figure 14, and download it onto this laptop, Figure 15.

Figure 14. A Web-based Microsoft 365 Word document

Figure 15. Microsoft 365 Word document viewed in Writer

Other Web-based subscription products such as QuickBooks, Quicken, and the various members of the Adobe Creative Cloud also ought to work perfectly well, leading to the following thought exercise. Assuming 100 percent availability of the Internet and the continued movement of products to Web-based subscriptions, the operating system becomes unimportant. A well-appointed computer can be a very productive tool when used with Web-based products. In short, does the operating system become almost irrelevant?

Microsoft is running a massive ad campaign and investing billions in artificial intelligence in an effort to turn Windows into the AI operating system, to make it more compelling for both general and highly focused AI use — despite the nagging ads for its own services and other regular self-serving interruptions to one’s train of thought. Of course, name brands and manufacturers of computer parts are just as eager to board the speeding AI train in hopes of realizing a potential sales bonanza. To help brand-name sales, Microsoft is likely to introduce an AI certification program replete with stickers. Still, Microsoft has serious AI competition from Alphabet (Google), IBM, OpenAI, and an NVIDIA computer running its AI version of Linux and others.

I prepared the text of this article entirely with Linux, capturing all the screen shots easily and renaming them with sensible names — not time stamps — immediately after they were saved. My only help came from a full keyboard and mouse, essential for doing serious writing. So this project recursively used Linux to write about Linux. LibreOffice Writer is not exactly Microsoft Word, but it does not require major mental adjustments.

Early on, I made some assumptions about Linux distros and got sidetracked as a result. So check out your assumptions about the Linux distro you intend to use, and you will save yourself valuable time.

I cannot recommend installing any distro of Linux without its own graphical installer. My choice of a large Linux ISO pushed me to use Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop. Like other distros, there are additional “spins,” most often changing the look and feel of the desktop. So I also could have used my favorite Cinnamon desktop by downloading and installing Ubuntu Cinnamon Remix, using Calamares to install all the needed software.

Wider adoption of Linux is inhibited by the competition and squabbling among groups offering the various distros. Each distro contains features claimed to be unique. Other packages, like desktop and installer packages, are in wide use. But Linux terminology and the odd package names can be a cold shower until one figures out what Linux advocates are talking about.

Setting aside the specialized Linux distros for forensics, file servers, firewalls, and data recovery, greater use of Linux is hampered by the very large number of distros claiming to be general-purpose. How should one pick the best general-purpose distro? According to DistroWatch, choose from among the most popular. There is no need to use a commercial distro. Many free, open-source distros work just fine without nagging ads and other intrusive operating-system behaviors.

Despite the quirks and oddities of the genre, a Linux computer running a stable, well-tested distro can be a very productive tool, worth a try if you have a fairly modern and very good computer at your disposal.

See for yourself, enjoy the experience, and keep one more computer away from the recycler.

Contribute your thoughts in this article’s forum!

For over 20 years, Ben Myers has offered “cradle-to-grave” computer services for small businesses and individual computer owners — including building, upgrading, refurbishing, testing, repairing, and recycling of computer and network gear, primarily with Windows, a bit of MacOS, Linux, and — wait for it — MS-DOS.

HISTORY

By Will Fastie

This year, AskWoody has been organizing tours of the System Source Computer Museum in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

This opportunity has been available only to Plus members to date. Now, we are offering this thrill of a lifetime to subscribers of the free newsletter willing to make the trek to the museum.

The tours of the museum are hosted by yours truly and conducted by the museum’s founder and curator, Bob Roswell. Full details will be emailed to those who express a desire to attend. However, there are a few conditions that apply as of the date you accept an invitation.

If you’re wondering about that last one, Plus members support us financially and we returned that generosity by donating the admission fee on their behalf. In other words, they visit for free.

If you are interested in receiving an invitation, send me an email. If you meet the above conditions, you’ll be added to the waiting list and notified when slots for a tour are available. Please include the following in your request.

The next tour is scheduled for Saturday, June 28, 2025, at 1:00 P.M.; there are a few slots left.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Will Fastie is editor in chief of the AskWoody Plus Newsletter.

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