On Wednesday, 26-06-2024 at 05:43 Lee wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 11:47 AM Joe  wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 25 Jun 2024 09:53:41 -0400
> > Lee wrote:
> >
> > > My old laptop died; I just got a new one and it has _no_ optical
> > > drive.  But the Debian install from flash instructions were excellent
> > > & I now have a laptop running Debian.
> > >
> > > My question is: how do I reformat the flash drive so it's usable as a
> > > "normal" flash drive again?

Did you try gparted, a user friendly graphical partition manager?  I do not 
know if it would do what you want, but I expect it will, it has always helped 
me out.

> > >
> > > Nothing I tried worked.. I ended up putting the thumb drive in a
> > > Windows machine and formatting it there; it would be nice to know how
> > > to restore the thumb drive to working order on Debian.
> > >
> >
> > Experience suggests that if it will be used on a Windows machine, e.g.
> > for file transfer, it's probably best to format it in Windows.
> 
> Yes, but I did the "burn the boats" thing with my new desktop & wiped
> windows and installed debian.

Good on you !  I support you in this move.

If you have any grips or difficulties, please mention them. After five years of 
using XFCE, I no longer have desires to go back to Windows. Steam has helped me 
play the few Windows based games that I play with my children. I have yet to 
master Wine, but then Linux has all the programs I need so I don't have much 
need for Wine.

> My remaining Windows 10 machine goes end of life... at the end of the
> year?  So I need to learn how to live without windows -- which I have

I would like you to keep a diary of your journey, of what challenges you face 
and how you moved past, this could help other people you know who want to make 
this journey.

> mostly.  I just haven't adjusted to Linux and the horrible UI :(  Or

I wonder what UI you are using?  

Would you be using Gnome? There are many people who really like the Gnome UI, 
but I do not, I prefer KDE, Cinnamon, and XFCE.

Maybe because I am a long time Windows user, I prefer text based menus over the 
smartphone style icon based menus, like Gnome, Windows 3.x, Windows 8.x, 
Windows 11.

I use XFCE on my main PC, and very much appreciate it. Simple, elegant, and to 
the point menu system, customisable task bars, customisable system tray, etc.

When my wife returned to Linux this year, I set up her PC with KDE Plasma 6. I 
find this UI very attractive, modern, and a great temptation to leave XFCE, but 
XFCE is just so nice and simple to use so I will stay with XFCE for now. I use 
Menulibre to add menu items.

I also like Cinnamon, I find it 'beautiful' to look at, and a very simple and 
uncluttered UI. Great for computer users who never change the look and feel of 
their UI.

I think KDE is better for someone who is familiar with computers and wants to 
make a few changes to their UI's behaviour. 

So far I have not mentioned Mate. If I recall correctly, Mate has three main 
menus, I only see the need for one, hence prefer KDE, Cinnamon, and XFCE.


> how user _un_friendly linux can be.  Whoever came up with scroll bars
> that play hide & seek should be tarred & feathered.

If I recall correctly, in KDE and in Firefox I was able to turn scroll bars on 
permanently, so much nicer than "scroll bars that play hide & seek". I am 
currently using KDE, and my Firefox and File manager have permanently visible 
scroll bars, 'as it should be'. 

Disclaimer: These are my personal preferences. Other peoples experiences and 
preferences may vary.


> 
> Lee
> 
> 

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