Linux

I know there is lots of guides and things because for clicks people like to write guides. However all the defaults on mint are sensible. You can pretty much install is stock and be done. You can use these guides if you want but they are optional. You can use flatpak, .deb, snap or whatever else you want to install things. I tend to use .debs when available and flatpaks as my backup. As a Linux user I haven't had to do all that much tweaking in years to be honest.

Best practices?

Don't copy paste commands into the terminal you don't understand.

RTFM

Use the computer like a computer. Linux is not a lifestyle; it's a tool you use to shitpost, watch videos, play games, etc.

One of the forums regulars, Pjotr, made this website exactly for questions like that: https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.com/p/1.html

--> see "B. Right after the installation of Linux Mint"

If you have 48GB you don't need a swapfile. To min-max you could lower the "swappiness" so it uses swapfiles way less. It's just bonus memory that lives on the SSD. Swap files and swap partitions behave the same unless you run out of SSD space.

Linux system has better architecture than Windows so your system is safe unless you install a virus (of which there are way fewer).

Where you install programs? Just use the app store or terminal, the location doesn't matter.

The "hardening" is interesting though, you can go really far into security if you want. If things are installed in user-space it can't fuck with your computer on a fundamental level so it's preferred. You don't have to worry about it though unless your installing some niche programs from someone you know nothing about.

Half a dozen people said so already but I'll repeat :

backup your stuff.

You are like a tightrope walker on a high line without security. Sure the view is amazing, yes you feel free... but a misstep and that's it.

How? Well depends what your data is but start simple, copy your most important files, e.g. family photos, personal notes, etc (NOT HD movies from the Internet... not anything you can get elsewhere) on a USB stick you go stuffed in a drawer.

Once you DO have your stuff saved though, please, pretty please DO go crazy! Have fun, try weird stuff, bork your installation... and restart from a neat safe place. It's honestly amazing to learn, so deeply empowering for yourself and those around you. Just make sure your data don't suffer from it.

Almost everything you do on desktop linux is already "outside the core os".

This is mostly relevant for server software configuration, where you should run services with as few system privileges as possible. Preferably you isolate them entirely with a separate user with access to only the bare minimum it needs.

This way, if a service is compromised, it can't be used to access the core system, because it never had such access in the first place. Only what it needed to do its own thing.

By default, nothing you run (web browser, steam, spotify, whatever) should be "running as admin".

The only time you'll do that on desktop linux, is when doing stuff that requires it. Such as installing a new app, or updating the system. Stuff that modifies the core os and hence needs access.

Basically, unless you needed to enter you password to run something, then it's already "outside" the core os.

What I suggest. Dont look at hardening yet. Only do so if you feel like your ready to touch the Internal workings of the OS. I do suggest using full disk encryption if this is a laptop.

Saving your files in your home folder just like how you did on windows is fine. Nothing wrong their.

Personally I would familiar your self with the terminal. It is not scary at all. sudo apt install program is how I would install software on mint (or any Debian based system).

Oh and above all. Use the system and try to do your normal task. See what you run in to and ask help where needed. We are here to help you along the way if needed.

Don’t worry about swap, you’ll be fine unless you’re usually working with huge chunks of data like big 4k video files or something.

The firewall built into mint is the kernels included nftables the same one built into Debian and Ubuntu (I think, I don’t fw Ubuntu). It’s fine. Don’t touch it. When you need to mess with it you can figure out how to open ports or split routes or whatever really easy because there’s lots of documentation out there.

Putting everything in your home folder is fine. Programs will install automatically to /bin or /usr/bin or something like that and if you want them in your home directory you could make a ~/.bin/ directory and add it to your path and have your private programs there, but:

Stop using flatpaks or snaps unless it’s your only choice! You have a built in package manager with decades of testing and development behind it and a very capable team of maintainers who watch over the packages, use that instead! That’s why they say not to use the snap store, it’s a vector for using Joes Weird Program that no one has tried before and requires Joes Special Version of a normal system library.

Use your package manager.

You’re not at the point where you understand enough to do the stuff in the linux hardening guide without making decisions that unexpectedly cause you pain somehow. That’s not an insult, sometimes you just don’t recognize the “universal” symbols for engine oil as opposed to coolant and ruin your car by the side of the road because you just don’t know. You can learn that stuff later, but it’s best not to mess with it yet. Speaking of:

If you don’t have a backup solution setup and you haven’t recovered using it and aren’t periodically checking to make sure it’s still running right, turn off disk encryption. It’s much harder, sometimes impossible, to recover data off an encrypted disk. If you don’t have a backup and you don’t know how you’d access the files on the disk without booting the computer then turn disk encryption off.

For the swap space, yes that's for when you run out of RAM. 48GiB is plenty of RAM, so you should be fine without it. I have 32GiB of RAM on my system and have been running without swap for ages without issue.

Hardening guides like that are mostly designed for things like web servers which are connected to the public internet and need higher scrutiny. The default configuration for distros like Mint should be secure enough for the average user.

However, don't feel invincible and run random code from random sites. Both Windows and Linux can't protect you against malicious code you run yourself.

Having organised partitions is the kind of thing that people obsessed with organisation do. For most people, the default partitioning scheme is fine. However, as always, remember to keep backups of important data.

For installing software, Mint has a Software Centre (which is distinct from the Snap Store). I'd recommend installing software using that for the average user.

In Mint, there are three main types of packages:

• Debian/APT packages, which are provided by Mint (well, technically by the Debian distro and they trickle down to Mint, but technicalities). Not all software is available from Mint's repos and they may be out of date.
• Flatpak packages, which are provided either by developers themselves or dedicated fans. They are usually more up to date and have a degree of sandboxing.
• Snap packages, which are controlled by a company named Canonical. As of late, Canonical has been a bit "ehhhh", so there's pushback against Snap. Mint has it disabled and has their reasoning explained here: https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/snap.html

Mint's software centre is able to install both Debian and Flatpak packages. I'd recommend using it where possible since it allows automatic upgrades and easier installation/uninstallation.

you can always add eg. a swap file later if needed - apparently not as good as a swap partition, but it is more flexible. With 48 GB of ram I hardly think you're going to have issues, but that depends entirely on what do you do with the system.

Firewall isn't really helping the system against you, it's to block ousiders getting in - more or less.

install locations: if you just use what's in mint's repositories, you don't really need to think about it. Out-of-repository stuff like steam games etc generally live in ~/.steam or so. Or in some dedicated path you configure in steam/whatever.

As for snap/flatpaks/whatever, haven't used a single one. But in general: I'd favor the distribution's repos, if at all possible for installs. If the app isn't there, but is in snap... fine, I guess? As long as it's managed by some kind of package manager for easy install/update/uninstall. But having to manually download and install from a website? Rather not, that's when the maintenance becomes manual.

And of course, opinions are opionated. Your system, your rules. :P

Advice from personal experience as a simple user - you don't need dual boot. One machine = one system. Run win apps with wine. Win upgrades can and will break your bootloader and make you normal Linux partition unbootable. Multiboot is used by professionals for specific tasks.

EDIT: Just saw that Malik already did mention this more succinctly. Please feel free to ignore me.

ORIGINAL COMMENT: The comments here already cover a good bit, esp. with the link to Piotr's blog post.

However I don't see anyone reacting to your mention of the snap store.

If you want some details about that, you can read here: https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/snap.html

But in a few words, distributing software is kinda of a mess in Linux at first glance, for various technical reasons.

To caricature, you used to only install the packages from your distribution (mint for you) repositories, and if a program wasn't in it, you had to either compile it or jump through other hoops.

Then came other formats which made distributing software across Linux distros easier, with some caveats. Two notable ones are Snap and Flatpak.

Snap was made by the guys behind Ubuntu and mint is an offshoot of Ubuntu that made the willful decision to not do snaps by default after a number of fiascos.

My advice would be: try installing software through the normal mint repositories, ideally the non Flatpak version. If it does not exist there or is buggy or whatever, consider the Flatpak. Only failing that should you look into snap IMO.

Do not press the hidden button.

Most Linux distros are already hardened. You can use "extreme" distros but as long as there'y no need, stick to a "normal" distro first. You can switch whenever you want.