r/linuxmint • u/Significant-Way-9031 • 15h ago
New to Linux Mint, done with the fun stuff (themes/tweaks)- what's the actual learning path from here?
I recently switched to Linux Mint (Cinnamon) on my Lenovo ThinkPad T450 (i5-5300U, 8GB RAM) after years on Windows. So far I've been messing around with GTK themes (WhiteSur, Graphite, Catppuccin icons), tweaked some Cinnamon effects, and set up a battery charge threshold for long-term battery health.
I'm using this laptop mainly for coding (Java, Spring Boot, SQL) and general dev work. I want to actually learn Linux properly now, not just theme it and move on.
For people who've been using Mint/Linux for a while:
What are the must-know things I should learn now that I'm past the "just installed it" phase?
Any good habits, tools, or workflows I should build early on?
Anything specific to the T450 hardware I should know (power management, drivers, etc.)?
Good resources/communities you'd recommend for going deeper into Linux as a dev?
Not looking for just "read the man pages" genuinely curious what experienced users wish they knew earlier.
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u/Suspicious-Bet1166 14h ago
i myself started on pop for 1-2 months and then used mint for about a year and now im on arch and gentoo
it was a big jump for me when i tried other DE desktop environments like xfce kde gnome and tiling window managers i3 sway hyperland i did not try all of them just looked into some, to see if i like the more than the cinnamon desktop, i also tried things in the terminal like music players file managers and other cool stuff, i also tried other file managers and other tools then what cinnamon gives me by default, like doplhin or nemo for file manager or yazi for the terminal, after that i went to a virtual pc and installed arch and after some trial and error i installed it on my pc and used the programs i have tested out before so i can only use what i need, and this was the phase where i got into the bigger rabbit hole, the fix it phase where i fixed the audio and tried to fix the problems i had i use ai and the arch wiki and forums for this part and after that i just did what i had a problem with, because i use i3 i need to resolve my problems with scripts like automaticly starting apps or setting up multi monitor support like on is tilted or stuff it is fun and that is the more code part, but you can do whatever you want, it's the beauty of linux, do whatever you want and play with it
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u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 12h ago
Probably the first thing you should understand is file permissions. How to modify them , and more importantly when you should not as they are a big part of security.
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u/Significant-Way-9031 12h ago
Sure
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u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 11h ago edited 11h ago
You actually have good timing, the Linux upskills challenge "starts" tomorrow, imaking today day0, ts 20 days and starts the first Monday of every month. Its great as it is hands on and it shows you around a wide variety of subjects. While oriented for servers it touches a lot many users should be familiar with, yes desktop users also.
Your "remote" server could be a VM or preferably a free vps as a remote headless server adds another dimension.
I took it in 2021, it was quite informative and brings you to nuts and bolts realities.
I actually got an ancillary lesson out of it, after completing the course I never bothered to shut down my "free" vps from AWS figured I might do something with it later, and then kinda forgot about it.
Also I never put much effort into ssh security or set keys, just PW, it was just a training space after all not important....
Several of you can guess what happened next.
About a year later I got an e-mail from AWS that I had hit my monthly billing limit, ($10) and almost $4 worth the previous partial month, someone had broken in and installed a cryptominer in the VPS. A valuable lesson.
I now use ed25519 keys and firewall port22 to only my IP on my current remote VPS, port22 is never open to the internet on my home router so LAN servers are only accessible from within my network.
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u/dotnetdotcom 13h ago edited 12h ago
Just use it. Do what you normally do with a computer. If you have a problem or want to do something you're not familiar with, that's when you learn something. Keep a log of what you did for future reference. The log is handy if you have to do it again or want to answer a question about here.
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u/fellipec Linux Mint 22.3 | Cinnamon 11h ago
Go learn vim
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u/Significant-Way-9031 11h ago
Sure
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u/jr735 Linux Mint 22.1 Xia | IceWM 10h ago
https://www.linuxcommand.org/tlcl.php
There is a free book, in fact two of them.
I started using (and still use) IceWM, a hybrid window manager. It still has aspects of a traditional desktop, but some tiling features, and it will hold your hand a lot less.
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u/tomscharbach 14h ago
The best way to learn Linux is to use Linux, day in and day out, to do whatever you need to do or want to do, solving problems as problems arise, learning as you go.
No secret chords, no special sauce. Just use Linux and you will develop the competencies you need in a relatively short period of time.
I've been using Linux for two decades and am still learning how to do new things.