linux is better than windoze or mac

John Weiland wrote:
Second:  'Persistence'.   It took some reading to realize what this was about and seems to be about being able to save documents and.....perhaps other app installations or no?.....on the same USB flash drive, assuming the drive is large enough to contain the US and the extra partitioned storage space.  I did test out and notice that with any of the distros I've tested (again, doing this on a Win7 laptop of ~2010 era) I can create files in the Linux applications (LibreOffice, files saved from the various web-browsers, etc.) and save them onto my internal hard drive.  When re-booting to Win7 I can open those files in Word or other appropriate applications.  With that in mind, I'm wondering if.....

Third: ..... I shouldn't just keep the set up as it is--- with the Boot Order changed now to boot to the USB stick first and, if absent, then to the HDD/Windows7....?  My legacy Win7 items would be preserved, but I could take advantage of the offerings on the USB stick at hand.  What I lose is some modification ability for that particular Distro since it's burned onto that USB drive (yes..?)  Will think about this option more in comparison to replacing Win7 with Linux or creating the dual boot situation which has been noted to have some issues.

I've been playing with Debian Raspberry Pi (DRPi) for a few days now. Here's what I've found:

Persistence: Yes, it should be run with persistence on the USB stick or SD card. That allows you to install security updates (important). And yes, you can add files and a few applications to the stick.

Installing on Hard Drive: I would not recommend trying to set up a dual-boot with DRPi. The installer is NOT user friendly for non-techies -- you need to know exactly what you are doing. I did a clean install on an old hard drive (no dual boot) and that worked fine.

It doesn't seem much faster on a HDD than on a stick/card. My 2c: I think it's a good idea to run DRPi from the stick and leave your Windows hard drive alone.  

A question for the collective:

What would be a reasonable minimum amount of storage for a laptop running Debian Raspberry Pi? I'm thinking of basic systems for seniors or students. They would have most of their stuff online. The OS will take up about 4GB.

Reason for asking: I have functional laptops to give away but I'm out of old hard drives. I can get 16GB SD cards for $5-6 on sale, and 32GB SD cards for about $8-10. Is that enough space to be practical?

It's fine for everyday use but.....photo, video, or music storage will eat it up fast.
Documents take effectively no space,
It will be adequate for streaming as long as you're capable of adequate bandwidth, and you don't store videos, set your browser to empty the cache on shutdown.
If you, use cloud storage (boo!) it should be perfectly adequate.

Bill, thanks, that makes sense.

I can't afford to buy hard drives and give them away. This way, they have a functional system at least. They still have the option to add their own USB stick for more storage.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:

Installing on Hard Drive: I would not recommend trying to set up a dual-boot with DRPi. The installer is NOT user friendly for non-techies -- you need to know exactly what you are doing. I did a clean install on an old hard drive (no dual boot) and that worked fine.

It doesn't seem much faster on a HDD than on a stick/card. My 2c: I think it's a good idea to run DRPi from the stick and leave your Windows hard drive alone.  

Thanks for this extra info, Douglas, and the ensuing discussion on storage space.  I'm glad you brought up this issue of installation as I don't want to be bowled over in favor of a Distro based on its GUI and pre-packaged apps only to find out that OS and future app installation is a headache.  The 'ease of installation' is one parameter that I'm researching as I test out the different offerings.  Do you have a feel for which ones are easiest for the layperson installer?  You mentioned using Zorin....did that install easier than RaspPi?

It's too bad....I think my parents finally crossed that line in age/abilities to really be able to take advantage of a computer at this point.  Otherwise, like you suggested, it would be pretty easy to set them up with a fairly simple, stable, secure, and inexpensive net-browser by dropping a Linux distro onto flash media.  Is there some reason you prefer SD cards to USB sticks?  Don't know about the quality, but I've been seeing 64 Gb USB drives sold online for around $10.  Irrespective of that, if the OS can be on one drive and storage on the other, this idea sounds fun in terms of giving students and others some usable computing and net-surfing ability.  I presume that if the internal HDD is dead or absent that the BIOS can still be used and directed to the USB media....?  All of this may inspire me as well to check out local Linux user groups/meet-ups for more information and maybe even hardware sourcing.

I suppose in some way it could be argued that this thread is no longer so aligned with Permaculture per se, but I guess I feel that anything that 'recycles' otherwise landfill-destined hardware is pointing towards less waste.  Moreover as the cost of new hardware, software, and OS subscription outside of Linux may become less affordable for many, what Linux offers is quite amazing and puts virtual connection into the hands of more people.

Boot from USB became an option in the late Pentium3 era, mid to late 90's?
If your comfortable flashing the BIOS you may get more functionality...but you may not!

i put lubuntu on an old compaq presario that i inherited from my grandparents, still works to this day

I always felt the Raspi OS was really more about bare-bones functionality (based on it's original mission statement) rather than a good, modern user-experience.

John Weiland wrote:The 'ease of installation' is one parameter that I'm researching as I test out the different offerings.  Do you have a feel for which ones are easiest for the layperson installer?  You mentioned using Zorin....did that install easier than RaspPi?

When I started playing with Linux in 2013, only a few distros ("distributions", aka OS) had "OEM options" (at least that I tried) which made them a lot easier to install back then. It's pretty standard these days.

Zorin branded itself as a Windows-alterative early on, but the project kind of died for awhile before coming back recently if I remember correctly. I tested it out last year and it's still a solid choice.

I was testing Q4OS for awhile in 2016, and that was a really good one for pretty much all laptop/desktops regardless of age(no driver issues or hardware bugs), and it looks like it's gotten even better. They've developed a windows installer so there isn’t a need to mess around with USBs or anything and it can readily be installed it along side windows. (I haven't tried that installer, but did test the new Q4OS. And while it's a little dull in visuals still, it's improved even more in functionality since the last time I used it.)

Just like Abe, in 2015 I took in someone's old compaq laptop and lubuntu was the one that worked best on it at the time. (later on in 2017 Q4OS worked equally as well)

I've been 100% on Linux Mint the last year, more so just because it's one of the ol' reliable ones. I prefer the Cinnamon edition.

I've tested dozens over the years, but the mainstream desktop/laptop distros are all pretty easy to install via USB these days. A nice datebase of most Linux OS can be found on DistroWatch.

It really all depends on what the individual needs to do and what the age of the system is. There was a topic I was engaged in a few months ago where the age of the computer was going to limit the OS choices, and typically those are bare-minimum OSs which aren't as novice friendly as many more modern ones.  

John Weiland wrote:It's too bad....I think my parents finally crossed that line in age/abilities to really be able to take advantage of a computer at this point.

While some dogs won't learn new tricks, it depends on how the OS is approached and customized for the user, but I know what you mean - it's a struggle in many cases. Depending on what you mean by "take advantage", if it's for a parent or senior to be able to use a computer for communicating/online browsing, It's best to just make it as easy as possible to use and try to get them where they want to go with the least steps possible. By that I mean take the main programs/URLs they use and make them visible in the middle of the desktop screen - increasing the size of the font (including browser) as well as the icons typically helps convince them to try it for awhile. There are also docker-style options for launching applications, like in Elementary OS (and others) which makes it feel like a Mac-alternative. If they are used to Android on their phones, there is an android OS which functions exactly like it is on the phone, though with a bit of reading it seems to be getting updated less frequently these days.

Personally I never liked the idea of booting the OS from USB, especially if the computer isn't for me, but that's up to the individual to decide. (this is more to do with average consumer behaviour/knowledge, rather than just being a bad choice overall)

John Weiland wrote:I suppose in some way it could be argued that this thread is no longer so aligned with Permaculture per se, but I guess I feel that anything that 'recycles' otherwise landfill-destined hardware is pointing towards less waste.

FOSS/Linux falls in line with the 3 ethics of Permaculture, so I'd say it's a relevant topic for Permaculture :)
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Douglas Alpenstock wrote:What would be a reasonable minimum amount of storage for a laptop running Debian Raspberry Pi? I'm thinking of basic systems for seniors or students. They would have most of their stuff online. The OS will take up about 4GB.

Reason for asking: I have functional laptops to give away but I'm out of old hard drives. I can get 16GB SD cards for $5-6 on sale, and 32GB SD cards for about $8-10. Is that enough space to be practical?

Peppermint OS is designed to be a ChromeOS-alternative. I am not much for online stuff, (I also say boo to cloud storage like Bill does) but it might be better suited to seniors/students who are used to storing their stuff with cloud-based systems.  

And just my opinion: If you are springing $10 for SD cards which have a shorter life/higher corruption rate (per my understanding) than SSDs, it might be better to ask $20-30 from whoever you are building the system for, and buy a cheap $30 120GB SSD for it. My original off-brand SSD from 2012 that's had TBs of data written to it is still going after 30,000 hours of use.  

Agreed, Debian Raspberry Pi is bare bones. It's all about black-belt frugality with system resources. But it does what a lot of people really need. The implementation is really slick IMO, and the fact that everything "just works" off a stick is remarkable. It's a good tool in my toolbox.

I try all sorts of distros and, when the shiny new-ness wears off and the limits appear, go back to Linux Mint every time. That's the best recommendation I can offer.

I should note that my concern over installers is only about creating dual-boot setups (Mint does this well). For single OS installations, all versions work fine.

Thanks for the note about Peppermint. I'll check it out.

Buying SSDs and charging money for the laptops is a good idea, but impractical in these pandemic times. When people hand over cash, they naturally want to test out the unit (as would I). Right now, we're in semi-lockdown, in winter. Public spaces are off limits. It's logistically impossible.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Agreed, Debian Raspberry Pi is bare bones. It's all about black-belt frugality with system resources. But it does what a lot of people really need. The implementation is really slick IMO, and the fact that everything "just works" off a stick is remarkable. It's a good tool in my toolbox.

And my understanding is that, just like commercial OSs, the open source communities behind the different Distros are generally adding improvements along the way, yes?....(even as some may fall by the wayside after a while out of neglect/unpopularity?).  Maybe not with the same calendar and fervor as a commercial operation understandably, but with enough pace to consider any one version as "in progress" with respect to updates and modifications. But as noted, for certain users, what comes 'in the box' may be sufficient.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:....I try all sorts of distros and, when the shiny new-ness wears off and the limits appear, go back to Linux Mint every time. That's the best recommendation I can offer.

I should note that my concern over installers is only about creating dual-boot setups (Mint does this well). For single OS installations, all versions work fine.

My impression is that Linux Mint has a pretty deep user community support, but I'm a rote newbie to Linux so other Distros may be deeper.  The 32-bit 'Sarah' Cinnamon Mint that I downloaded does work very well....the potential existing community support alone is a pretty strong argument for a newb to commit more strongly to this platform, but I'm still having fun looking across the different offerings.  You noted that single OS installations generally work fine for all platforms, -- with respect to apps and given that some apps may *work* better with some distros, is app *installation ease* something specific to the application or to the OS Distro?... maybe both?

Just an added note that I'm glad to be getting this information from within a Permies thread context because of the mindful frugality and sustainability context of the Forum.  Looking forward to that future situation when Win may be passe and I can introduce my wife to 'Sarah'......when the former realizes 'Sarah' is an OS and not an old online romantic flame from high school, she will understand with relief all of my recent hours spent at the keyboard, the focus only punctuated with occasionally exclamations of "You are so beautiful!...."  

My impression is that Linux Mint has a pretty deep user community support, but I'm a rote newbie to Linux so other Distros may be deeper.

Arch and Debian have the better online documentation/guides. They work for their derivatives Manjaro, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, too.
Ubuntu had a very nice community support too.

But you'll discover that in the whole, all linux systems are the same: a core with drivers and demons, a distribution system to access a repository, a desktop environment, and the applications. If you have a problem with your desktop environment, it might have been solved in a Ubuntu forum, and the solution will work for your Mandriva distro, you just use a different program if you have to install packages. If you have the knowledge, you can make any linux distro look exactly like any other.

For noobs, Ubuntu and Mint are the best, but I stopped using them since I was annoyed by having to upgrade my system every six months. Manjaro works better for me, it requires a manual upgrade now and then (using a console), but it is constantly updated and it has only broken down twice in six years. Not bad.
Raspberry Pi is a Debian distro tuned for slow machines. You could as well install Debian server and just install what you need for your system, but you must know what you are doing. My only experience with these barebone systems is PuppyLinux, which was good to have in a USB stick, but I would rather not use it as my default PC system, there are too many functionalities that are missing in these slow specs systems.

John Weiland wrote:And my understanding is that, just like commercial OSs, the open source communities behind the different Distros are generally adding improvements along the way, yes?

Correct, they fix bugs in the OS and programs as they get identified. It's probably easiest to explain things with an example: Linux Mint

At the top it says "Based on: Debian/Ubuntu", which basically means Linux Mint is getting the same updates/support as Debian/Ubuntu - most of the Linux OSs you look at will be based on those two. There are others independent OSs that do their own updates and other OS rely on them (like Arch), but in general some are commercially developed (like Ubuntu) and others are community driven (like Debian). I don't think there is much need to worry about lack of support these days from either side, because a Linux OS being outdated and Windows OS being outdated have very different meanings. Many times when trying to revive decade old computers, you sometimes have to use outdated versions to get reasonable functionality. The version of Lubuntu (based on Ubuntu) that I used on the old compaq laptop was no longer being supported by the developers. People that are looking to exploit unpatched security flaws are mostly targeting Windows systems for desktops, and Android for phones, because they are both dominant in each of their markets. Here's the old pc vs mac explanation if you remember those commercials. :)

If you look at Ubuntu and scroll down to the various release versions, you'll see LTS which means Long Term Support which has an End of Life support date 5 years after release. The way releases work is the LTS is like the "safe" option where only stable elements are added in, and the other types of releases typically only have 2 years worth of support but they have all the cutting-edge updates, which might also be buggy or not work properly on everyone's different systems. Most new users who are feeling overwhelmed by the new information and varying choices just go with a LTS release of Mint/Ubuntu. Though like Abraham suggested, Manjaro is equally easy to install and has rolling updates all the time - one of my friends uses it exclusively now partially for that reason. At the end of the day the casual user just wants 1 functional OS, and there are at least 20 distros that can fulfill 99% of what they want to do on a daily basis.

John Weiland wrote:with respect to apps and given that some apps may *work* better with some distros, is app *installation ease* something specific to the application or to the OS Distro?... maybe both?

This is dependent on what programs you use and what their developers have chosen to do. If you use Windows/Mac programs, like Adobe (photoshop), it'll probably have some minor/major bugs if you try to use it in Wine because it's not supported on Linux - Windows gamers certainly understand this aspect. But, if you use multi-platform programs like GIMP instead of Adobe, it'll be supported and working fine. This is where the choice comes to either learn new open-source programs that'll be supported on whatever system you choose in the future, or, dual-boot and keep Windows around so you can use those special programs when you need them. Typically people dual-boot at first, and eventually lose access to that Windows program or just learn an open-source alternative program, and a few years later make the full switch.

Q4OS has a very small list of basic programs they keep updated and seem to work flawlessly. I think projects like PCLinuxOS try to have much larger support for various programs, but it's been about 4 years since I last tried it out so I can't recall.

For trying to use Windows programs in Linux, Wine is not something you want to have to use unless it's necessary. I'm really just a casual user that's using web browsers, password managers, VLC, LibreOffice, Calibre E-Book management, etc and I haven't had to use Wine for anything, partly because apps are becoming browser-based, which gives them flexibility that is similar to being open-sourced/multi-platform. But since I never really got onboard with mainstream ecosystems/programs(like quick time, apple store, etc), I've always been using varying degrees of third-party applications which have a much higher chance of being supported everywhere. While those programs don't look as nice, and sometimes have a small learning curve, if one is already willing to take the effort necessary just to try Linux, learning "off-beat"  alternative programs is a lot easier by comparison in my opinion.

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Hopefully your wife is okay with "Sarah" being a part of your life now, and with time, she may even want to meet her :)

P.s You can use programs like YUMI, and that way you can test various Linux OSs without having to format USB drives, setting things up, etc. If you do it this way, pick 5 or so and try them all out over the course of a few days, and eventually by choice you'll end up trying 1 or 2 more frequently than the rest - flip a coin and go for it.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote: Buying SSDs and charging money for the laptops is a good idea, but impractical in these pandemic times. When people hand over cash, they naturally want to test out the unit (as would I). Right now, we're in semi-lockdown, in winter. Public spaces are off limits. It's logistically impossible.

Ah I see, that's true. In my area it's not quite the same mentality or restrictions, but I understand.

I hope you just have better luck than I did in the past. Probably only 1/10 of the repurposed refurbs I tried to give away actually found a new home. People seem to be very brand-oriented, and without it being Windows or Mac, they don't want to bother. Yet those same people would probably buy laptops from 2010 with 2GB of ram "running" windows 10 for $50 :(

Jarret Hynd wrote:

Douglas Alpenstock wrote: Buying SSDs and charging money for the laptops is a good idea, but impractical in these pandemic times. When people hand over cash, they naturally want to test out the unit (as would I). Right now, we're in semi-lockdown, in winter. Public spaces are off limits. It's logistically impossible.

Ah I see, that's true. In my area it's not quite the same mentality or restrictions, but I understand.

I hope you just have better luck than I did in the past. Probably only 1/10 of the repurposed refurbs I tried to give away actually found a new home. People seem to be very brand-oriented, and without it being Windows or Mac, they don't want to bother. Yet those same people would probably buy laptops from 2010 with 2GB of ram "running" windows 10 for $50 :(

Jarret, excellent comments all around; I appreciate your practical wisdom.

Your point about "free" vs. "a crazy hot deal" is well taken. Some comprehend the value of a helpful donation; others just can't process the concept. "Free" means it's useless junk, or a con, it seems; but a "$50 hot deal" means I'm conning some dumbass who is naive. I've seen it this week: not only does someone want a free laptop, they want it delivered to their house at a very specific (and ridiculously inconvenient) time. WTF? There's a disconnect, where something excellent harvested from the disposable commons, tested and made functional, is still dumpster crap. What frosts me is the lack of respect for my time and effort; if they had to pay my corporate rate, it would be much cheaper to buy elsewhere. A good idea; but people get in the way.  (End of rant; not everyone is like this.)

Linux and permaculture: using linux since 1996, started with slackware. several years, due to work, had to put up with windoze... but now for about 7 years, linux only (current distro: kubuntu 20.04).

In 2016 I did a permaculture designers training from mr Lawton. I used a program called Inkscape to do all the designs required for the cursus... Inkscape is very easy to learn, it also free, and uses vector image (when you enlarge the image or design in your program, the resolution stays the same). I still use it today to keep my permaculture homestead design updated and is very helpful in deciding what, which, where.

All the really, really, really cool people use this:

Today I installed a fresh mint 20.1.  And the new mint insists that the best resolution of my monitor is 1080p.  The native resolution is 3560x1440.  

Nvidia driver now activated.  No change.  

Any ideas?

I heard there were issues with the nvidia propietary driver. I'd say that it's the graphic driver not detecting your native resolution.
Does the nouveau driver work?

I had a similar problem long ago, and it was automatically solved by a kernel update. Guess it was a bug in the kernel release.

Abraham Palma wrote:Does the nouveau driver work?

That is what it defaulted to and it also had the problem.

if you run 'nvidia-settings' from the terminal, can you manually set the resolution in there? On mine there's a drop-down to switch from auto resolution to discreet resolutions, although I'd expect it would default to the highest possible.

Edit: and does the system detect your monitor properly too? Perhaps it thinks the monitor can only go that high.

I cannot find a way in nvidia-settings to change the resolution.

It does detect my monitor, and I am using it now.  It just has it at a low resolution.

On mine it's under the X Server Display Config, this is using Ubuntu so I'm not sure if Mint differs any:

here is what i see

Well my past experience with running various terminal commands to change settings has taught me to never suggest it for others, in case your luck is as bad as mine!

found this https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/xrandr

So i tried this

paul@paul-W541:~$ cvt 3560 1440
# 3560x1440 59.96 Hz (CVT) hsync: 89.51 kHz; pclk: 433.25 MHz
Modeline "3560x1440_60.00"  433.25  3560 3816 4200 4840  1440 1443 1453 1493 -hsync +vsync

paul@paul-W541:~$ xrandr --newmode "3560x1440_60.00"  433.25  3560 3816 4200 4840  1440 1443 1453 1493 -hsync +vsync

paul@paul-W541:~$ xrandr --addmode HDMI-1-1 3560x1440_60.00

paul@paul-W541:~$ xrandr --output HDMI-1-1 --mode 3560x1440_60.00

Monitor went dead, lost the mouse, and had to reboot.  Everything is now back to square one.

Last night we have a small glitch with a video and I think "I'll just edit it real quick"  ...

...  of course the video editor i want to use isn't loading correctly and I think it is related to my version of linux being so seriously old ...

... not a problem, it's way over due for a fresh install.  Just make a copy of my files and then install a fresh linux ...

...  external hard drive goes wonky ...

...  shit.  okay, I think i have a new external hard drive still in the box ... yes, here it is ....  just to be safe, I'll copy all of my stuff twice.  I'll leave it to copy while I sleep ...

...  get up extra early ...

...  the first copy is finished, so make a second copy.  a few other copies of some other stuff just to make sure nothing is lost.   Create a thumb drive with linux.   Install fresh linux.   So quick and easy!  But why is stuff on my monitor so crazy huge?

...   it has now been seven hours later.   I know that when i fire up that video editor it's gonna be a pain in the ass without the full resolution ....

my version of linux being so seriously old ...

It can be kernel issues. My old laptop with Manjaro must stay at linux4.4 or else it won't load. Can you try an older kernel?

Abraham Palma wrote:

my version of linux being so seriously old ...

It can be kernel issues. My old laptop with Manjaro must stay at linux4.4 or else it won't load. Can you try an older kernel?

Is that an easy thing to do?  

Wouldn't the stuff that detects resolution be the same despite the kernel?

Easy? Well, in Manjaro it's almost trivial. Just install old kernel, remove 'latest-linux' package (which tries to keep your system updated, bad thing), and restart choosing the old kernel.

In the kernel there are tons of drivers, it might be some of them are for the old VGA monitor. If your PC is very old I would try this first, since it is a very simple thing to do.

....   but I went through all the work of upgrading to get to the latest version.   surely there is a way to convince the system that my monitor will do the higher resolution.

Don't think of the kernel like a new operating system, it's more like a bunch of drivers meant for a generation of computers. You might have all the other software updated, while leaving the kernel properly downgraded. I'm still using linux4.4 and I can update all the other apps that I use.
Anyways, your problem can be any other thing, but as I said, this is a very easy thing to try. If this wasn't the problem, just remove the package.

Wry grin I am currently looking at a black screen going hmmm how long does it take Linux to load...  thankfully my friend is on Facebook on this computer walking me through this install on my all in one..   Since Debian Cinnamon is her favorite flavor at this time that is what I am using for now.  
Original plan was to make it a dual boot system.  Sadly who ever had this system before me had chopped up the hard drive into multiple (at least 5) partitions that were all too small to work with EXCEPT the large one with windows on it. So I said to heck with it and went wipe the drive and start over this time with Debian on it.    Hopefully it will be okay but this wait is making me jittery...

had chopped up the hard drive into multiple (at least 5) partitions that were all too small to work  

This is common in linux. You set one small partition for root files (the ones not to be touched), another for the system, another for user application, another for data/media, and always the SWAP partition for the memory. Why?
Because these folders differ in how often they are accessed, so the file system can be optimized for the function on each of these partitions.
For example, root files don't need journaling. A file system without journaling is much faster, however data might be lost if a copy/paste operation fails. So you isolate root files in a partition and set this partition to work with a filesystem without journaling.

Well, that's for linux nerds, really. A common user wouldn't notice the difference on a modern computer.

Actually I was speaking about the WINDOWS system having multiple partitions that made no sense.  Windows had a 300 gb partition but the remaining 200 gb was chopped into 5 other partitions.  The Debian install was like there isn't a big enough space...  which yes was wonky but it was just easier to say use the whole drive and dump the Windows 8.1 on that machine.   But I did oops and got the wrong version and now need to reinstall one with non free drivers to make my graphics card work.   Friend went to bed so we will work on it tomorrow  :)

But I did oops and got the wrong version and now need to reinstall one with non free drivers to make my graphics card work.

The Cosmos hates straight lines, that's why we have to wander to achieve anything. Murphy even wrote a law about it, :)

Somehow I thought i would just put the right thing into "xrandr" and be all set.  Not so?

Paul,   You've probably already checked on the Mint users forum(s),.....?  It would seem that someone in that sphere might have run into the same problem?  I waiting in anticipation of the answer as I'm not savvy with command line and hope to see a real-world fix for a problem that may not involve resorting to that dark place. ;-)  Please let us know what you find when the fix occurs....thanks!

AND just like that I am up and running Debian on the Lenovo All in One that was a windows machine.  I used Rufus to put the .iso file on my thumb drive. Had the Lenovo turned off, put in thumb drive got a boot choice screen and off we went...  

LIbreOffice, Firefox, and Thunderbird are all installed as part of the package.  AND once those non free drivers were installed my graphics worked....  

Then came the shocker.  One reason this machine was relegated to the status of secondary machine was a severe lag when using the internet.  I mean open browser, click on Facebook, go make tea come back see if Facebook has loaded. Yes it was that severe.  We figured some thing had gotten knocked loose when the dog got tangled in the cord and yanked it off the table..    OKAY so installed linux as a way to learn on it without needing to go online much... ya know the pull information up on laptop, read it, try it on the other machine routine....  EXCEPT this machine now has internet without much lag!  I a not sure what I did or what the install did but yippee I can surf on the Lenovo again...  

While there are a few more tweaks I want to do I am thrilled with the results so far.

I tried again.  I see that I wrote a number down wrong, so

cvt 2560 1440

returns

# 2560x1440 59.96 Hz (CVT 3.69M9) hsync: 89.52 kHz; pclk: 312.25 MHz
Modeline "2560x1440_60.00"  312.25  2560 2752 3024 3488  1440 1443 1448 1493 -hsync +vsync

so then

xrandr --newmode "2560x1440_60.00"  312.25  2560 2752 3024 3488  1440 1443 1448 1493 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode HDMI-1-1 2560x1440_60.00
xrandr --output HDMI-1-1 --mode 2560x1440_60.00

this results in the following message:

xrandr: Configure crtc 5 failed
X Error of failed request:  BadValue (integer parameter out of range for operation)
 Major opcode of failed request:  140 (RANDR)
 Minor opcode of failed request:  21 (RRSetCrtcConfig)
 Value in failed request:  0x0
 Serial number of failed request:  66
 Current serial number in output stream:  66

So it is clear that my computer can do 2560x1440, and that is my monitor's native resolution.  

Only linux 20.1 thinks it won't work.  Linux 18.3 was cool with it.  

At the same time, there are oodles of people using 4k right now.  

How do I tell linux that 2560x1440 is lovely?

Nvidia had a driver update a few weeks ago are you using version 460.67?

and do you know what kernel version you are running?

uname -srm to find out.