Swapping to Linux on a Old Thinkpad

Tech Linux
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I’ve currently have a older Thinkpad T460 with a i5-6300U processor, and Intel HD Graphics. As it’s not Windows 11 compatible. While it’s not my main PC, I do use it on a regular basis, outside the home/office.

Time to swap to Linux. Given what I’ve heard, this should be painless, with the exception of the un-used Cell-phone modem that I may have.

Most of the Apps I use on it now have a Linux version, (or is that have a Window Port): Firefox, Thunderbird, GIMP, Inkscape, Krita, Discord and Steam. There’s an alternative for a MSOffice (I’m not calling it Co-pilot 365.) All but two: Evernote and OneDrive.

Sure, I could use Evernote/OneDrive via website… except I’m not sure I’ll have internet access or enough power to use my smartphone as modem. I’d like access some of my content within the “apps” in a offline mode, which the apps do under Windows.

Evernote is a “note taking” app that sync with a smartphone and Mac/Windows. I personally use it for my Chapters for a Novel I’m writing. (I’ve been using it since the iPhone 3 Era.) However with no Linux support and bug that causes High CPU usage on Nvidia GPUs, has me considering something else. Most of the time Onedrive just backing up data on the Laptop.

I also have another Levono laptop, which has a few issues, which I can use a “temporary” server until my i5 4690K stops being useful to someone else.

Q1: Any recommendations for any particular “flavour” of Linux? I’ve personally use Ubuntu in the past, but I’m aware that I’m likely dangerous to myself than be an expert.

Q2: I’m looking for a “Note taking app” that can on Linux, Windows and Android: Any Recommendations? I’m currently trying Standard Notes, but not feeling it mostly due Premium features locked behind a high price point at this time. It needs to be fine on a online PC.

Q3: File Syncing system with either a home server, or “cloud storage” recommendations?

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Q1: Any recommendations for any particular “flavour” of Linux?

  • You could look into Linux Mint. I haven’t used it personally but it’s extremely popular and well regarded. The T460 system specs are well above the minimum requirements for Mint

Q2: I’m looking for a “Note taking app” that can on Linux, Windows and Android: Any Recommendations?
Q3: File Syncing system with either a home server, or “cloud storage” recommendations?

Same answer for both - Nextcloud. If you have the other Lenovo you can use as a server you could use that to run Nextcloud via docker. Nextcloud has apps you can download and add so it’s hugely flexible. For example, I use the ‘News’ app as my RSS feed reader on both desktop and mobile. Here’s some example apps that can be added.

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Have you looked into Obsidian? IMO that’s the typical path from Evernote/OneNote → Notion → Obsidian (local files, text-based, will last beyond Obsidian’s life) but keeping it synced can be… annoying. Could be doable just with Dropbox or something.

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Ok, Mint… heard of it, and not heard too many bad thing outside of “it’s not Windows.”

I think I’m basically one Intel Generation too early for official Windows 11 support, the TPM is 1.X, not the 2.0 that Win11 wants.

NextCloud seems possible… and I’ve think I may be in over my head. But given that the other laptop is actually i3 5005U, and has a temperamental Power Switch, which can make a pain to power up, and why I’ve kinda retired it. I could see it being on all the time hidden in a cupboard. The apps look nice… and the right price. But I may need to do quite a bit of research on how to get access outside the house.

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I’ve not actually looked in to Obsidian.

I’ve just installed it: First impressions (on Windows), it appears does a everything that I think I need, baring storing some images, but that’s rarely used… I think I had one note in the last year that had images attached.

But yeah, Syncing is an issue, which is one of the features I’d like to keep.

The $4/month (for $48 Annual) price to allow syncing, may actually be a viable option given that I’m paying £80 Annually to allow me to use Evernote on more than a single device. I’ve barely used the Publish option in Evernote, and I don’t think it worked as well I hoped when I did try it. I’m using Megabytes of my 10GB Evernote monthly limit, and I’ve hardly used any new features at all. Some of the Features I did use actually got removed from the Windows version.

Well, I’ve got a few month to decide to commit before my Evernote subscription ends in August.

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Hey, Mike. I really enjoy using Joplin, you should look into it. It’s a feature-rich note taking app, with support to plugins that allow you to deeply customize your experience, and there’s a bunch of ways to sync it.

You can use their own servers, something self-hosted, or even more commonplace clouds, like OneDrive. It can be encrypted quite easily, so it’s pretty private, I believe.

Best of luck!

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Good luck with that, linux doesn’t do power saving well.

+1 for Mint, I have it on my dad’s laptop for internet browsing, the only issue I had with it was that after two years the auto-backup filled the 120GB ssd and it didn’t start up anymore. Reboot-> Recovery-> Clean-up trash and it fixed itself. Mint has a 3 options, they all look like something between Windows 98 and 7. One of them (Mate I think) didn’t boot on the laptop at all, so went with Cinnamon.

+1 for Joplin People have strong opinions on note taking apps, I use Joplin too, it’s a Markdown editor with plugins and encryption built into the app, so you can use anything for syncing, even google Drive. I personally had no issues with it, but the biggest haters say

“it leaves a great first impression until something goes wrong and you lose your files.”

So, markdown, so it’s a text editor that makes .md files, and lets you sort them in Folders/Notebooks. People expect the .md files to be stored in readable folders too. Joplin just dumps all the files and pictures into /resources and uses some database to sort them, as they have randomized names even without encryption. So if Joplin doesn’t open anymore you’re left with a “00d7da0ed41c46c28ccab746c5e8559a.crypted” mess.
I like and use Joplin, but there’s no harm in telling people to make back-ups, just in case.

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