I got a cheap mini pc. It had W11 on it which I promptly broke (I think it was when it insisted on me putting in a PIN but I closed the window). It also ran at 100% for no reason trying to do updates, but then refused to do any updates.

So I put the latest Ubuntu Linux on it. Seems OK, but I can't get anything to recognise the video codex stuff in the N150 CPU. It seems to know it's there, but Firefox and MPV won't use it...

I know when you install Mint there is a 'install codecs' checkbox during the installer, not sure if the same exists for Ubuntu.

For Ubuntu, you could try this and see if it solves your problem.

If you're behind a conventional router they still do NAT afaik.

Per default your IPv6 address should be an internal one if it's enabled.

I read posts just like yours ten years ago.

You need to install the codecs, there's a way to do it on ubuntu, just google search it (and there's an option during installation to do it too). The N150 cpu and its integrated gpu is not a problem for your codec problem, it's a matter of installing the right software.

My third world country gives us normal IPv6 addresses that can be accessed from the web if you configure the router xd

I guess you aren't wrong. There are a lot of advances but stability and small but really annoying bugs remain a huge pain point.

Yeah, I'm not sure why anybody is mentioning Windows IoT. When you lookup where to buy this, Microsoft themselves tell you to call or email a salesman; it's an enterprise-only thing. Recommending this for individuals is misguided.

Yeah, I thought I'd ticked something similar during setup, but maybe it wasn't for that. I installed them and it hasn't really changed anything in either mpv or Firefox.

The compositing in Firefox is webrender (software) and appears to be using llvmpipe as the GPU. There's a 2nd "GPU" listed, but doesn't seem to use it All the codecs say hardware is disabled...

Installed VLC and that seems to use the hardware renderer. MPV and Firefox are both installed with Snap. I'm seeing a pattern that might not be there, but I'm already hating Snap. This is day two of my rebooted Linux experience...

Yeah, tried all that, and not having much luck in Firefox and MPV. VLC fine. Replied to the other post, and it might be Snap blocking it. I dunno though, because I know basically fuck all about snap other than a lot of Linux people don't like it.

O, yeah. Snaps basically live in their own little system. Anything you do to your wider system, like installing codecs, will not affect a snap. Easiest solution is to remove the snap VLC and install normal VLC. Same for Firefox and MPC.

I have heard nothing good about snaps and Canonical pushing them is a big reason you don't see people recommending Ubuntu, and instead recommending things like Mint (me included).

The big thing to consider is what software do you really NEED, what can change, and what can you do without. Then the change is easier.

Then there's the learning curve of new software. Wheee

I recently jumped on pure Mint after buying a new desktop PC with no OS pre-installed. Within a week I was dual booting it on my laptop too. It's so much faster and efficient. Battery feels like it lasts 50% longer.

And the control is amazing.

I was very skeptical of Linux, as I had a shitty experience previously with OpenSUSE where nothing worked. Mint is the way to go tho, been so smooth.

OK, really good article and I like Libreoffice (although I prefer Only office) and Linux. I browse on it, game, watch videos, do pretty much everything. I am also a technical person, who can create a VM in 10 mins, add a required boot parameter, etc.

Now. I want to send this article to my colleague/friend who's not technical at all. In the blog post I read

Start by testing Linux and LibreOffice on a second partition of your PC (for individuals)

"Second partition" literally means nothing to most people. I know: just learn, just read. But most people will not bother, or they will simply not understand the tutorials. That's the unfortunate reality.

I think Linux and Libreoffice can become mainstream if a regular Joe/Jane can buy a laptop from Walmart with a distro and office apps pre-installed and use them like Microsoft Office. Before that time all this Linux and FLOSS stuff is limited to technical, or at least curious people willing to put some effort.

P.S. My relatives are on Linux and Onlyoffice, because I installed it for them. And it's so much easier and more rare for me to manage and troubleshoot than Windows. But I cannot see them installing it by themselves.

Yeah but my W10 shoved a giant full screen ad telling me to get rid of my PC and get a new one with W11 twice. Support might be ending but if it constantly nags you to upgrade, that's just BS.

Well, shit...

I went with Ubuntu because the N150 is fairly new (even if it's just a slightly faster N100) and the 25.04 Ubuntu kernel supports it out of the box.

No thanks, I value my time.

Im seeing these posts twice a day at this point. So someone like myself who is totally ignorant on Linux, I have some questions if anyone can lend advice?

I’ve been on PC windows for over twenty years now. And I use it mostly for video software like davinci resolve. Adobe software workflow. Unreal engine. I use clients harddrives and often times my own for working off of. And often times will send those harddrives to other people and their computers to finish the work. I also occasional play games on steam and Xbox App.

With that said, is it even possible for me to switch over to Linux and keep using all the same software and workflow I have for high end video production workflow?

I wouldn't worry about it too hard, there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with Ubuntu. Both it and mint are in the same family after all.

Sounds like you should just keep Ubuntu and get the non-snap versions of the apps that need codecs.

Yeah, snaps won't be able to access the "external" codecs (outside their jail). So either install the official firefox package from the firefox site, or chrome.