Tell HN: Fedora Dual Boot didn't work, back to Mint

[999900000999]

Hi HN, I consider myself a fairly advanced computer user. I've set up numerous EC2 servers from scratch, I've used desktop linux for at least 12 years.

But Fedora seriously doesn't want to play nice with Windows 11 on a single drive( not a lot of options on a laptop), I just got tired of fighting with it. I didn't take screenshots, but it kept complaining about a missing efi mount point or something. I'm sure a subject matter expert could tell me what happened.

I tried setting aside 500gb of free space, the auto installer couldn't figure it out. But when I switched back to Mint( which is ultimately my go to distro), I just needed to manually create the partition and it just worked.

I prefer Linux aside from music creation and gaming. Happy to run it.

[rzzzwilson]

I've used Unix since 1978 and in my career have developed on and for Windows, Unix/Linux and Mac, though Unix/Linux is what I prefer because I think it's a better environment for programming. I recently bought a mid-range laptop which came with Windows 11 and I immediately installed Linux Mint as a dual-boot. I don't usually boot into Mint as I use Windows to play Steam games and I have another laptop where I work. I _do_ run Windows in airplane mode to inhibit all the automatic install/upgrade action that, in the past, destroyed my dual-boot setup. If that ever happens I just trash Windows and install Mint as a standalone.

[ffhhj → rzzzwilson]

I was very pleased to find that Steam works great in Linux (Ubuntu for me).

[rzzzwilson → ffhhj]

I have small problems with older games like Civilization V and Fallout 4. Things like crashes and window minimization on saved game deletions.

[yellow_lead]

I'm running this setup (Fedora/Windows) on three different computers fwiw.

[runjake]

I have a life rule: never install Windows and Linux on the same physical drive, if you value your time.

Sooner or later, some update or random act of god will break things and you’ll waste a bunch of time putting things back together.

[999900000999 → runjake]

I've done this numerous times.

Generally Ubuntu and friends will play nice with a dualboot setup.

Fedora looks like it has some strange install requirements which break things.

[runjake → 999900000999]

I haven't looked into it, but perhaps it's related to Fedora's support of Secure Boot?

[999900000999 → runjake]

It definitely wasn't that. It couldn't figure out how to create partitions with Windows 11 already installed.

[soneca]

I have dual boot with Fedora and Windows in a Dell laptop for some years. I remember it was very easy to set it up just following some tutorial that I found online, and I am no OS or file systems wiz.

[k310]

Searching for the "ultimate" note-taking app, after ditching Evernote, I did one of my regular deep dives into open source apps.

TLDR conclusion: All the web apps are going onto a linux system, one of my old intel mac mini's. I'll keep anything that's compiled for mac.

Reason is that to do any development on the mac (they come without python lately), I'd have to install command-line tools and another package manager (i.e. homebrew) and keep them from stepping on each other and me with each OS upgrade.

I did this in the past, but better to use apt!

I like web apps because they give me productivity options when I have a browser open, rather than just my news aggregators, one of which is HN. Web apps are also more suitable for sharing with colleagues, who have varying devices and skill levels.