Here's Me, Trying Linux Mint

For ages (eh, three years- since freshman year and my first reading of Little Brother) I've been using Ubuntu Linux. And for "ages" minus exactly one week, I've been hearing about Mint. A lot of people I respect use Mint, and I've yet to even try it, so here's me... trying it. This is a sort of installation log; it'll be updated throughout the installation process.

Which version of Mint do I want? This is mostly an arbitrary decision on my part. I decide I want the version with the fancy-looking Cinnamon desktop. Not so hard. I download the .iso

How the fuck should I do this? My laptop doesn't burn DVDs. My largest CD is too small to handle this file. Fuck. I'll use an old mp3 player (about five years old- a cheap knockoff iPod, 2GB, probably cost about fifteen bucks when it was new).

Let's try using a "flash drive" to install an OS. This feels responsible. I try to install imageWriter. I realize I already have it installed. I attempt to burn the .iso to my mp3 player (herein called Dipshit). It fails to even see the file. I remember that sometimes iW doesn't like .isos. I change the file ending to .img. It still fails, although this time I did get as far as attempting to burn it. I get a nondescript error message: The dd process ended with an error !

Let's Google this error message. I find this. It helps. Putting up with IW's shit, indeed. I use "sudo imagewriter" instead of just "imagewriter". It works.

Let's wait. Here's where I spend time figuring out if in the D&D group I'm in next semester I wanna be an elf paladin (neutral good) again or a half-elf rogue (chaotic good). I decide to be a half-elf rogue. Chaotic good sounds like my ex-boyfriend when he didn't take his ADD/ADHD/whichever meds, but I'll give it a try. It's good to try new things.

It's done burning. Let's try booting from it. I'll see you on the other side, bitches.