Did you make sure that you opened the terminal inside the folder where your iso and txt files are, or at least navigated to that folder after opening the terminal? Basically, it'll say "file not found" if you run the CertUtil command while not "inside" the folder containing both the iso and the txt files. Same with running the gpg command.

Usually, if you just open cmd.exe by itself from the searchbar, you'll see something like this:

PS C:\Users\your_username>

If you instead opened the terminal inside the folder, you'll instead see this:

PS C:\Users\your_username\Downloads\ISO>

Or whichever folder your iso and txt files are located in.

CertUtil and gpg are pretty tunnel-visioned - they can only see stuff that's in the same folder as they're being run in, unless you give them specific directions to get to a different location. That's why it's easiest and best to have everything in a single folder and open the terminal "inside" that folder.

Again - all this verification stuff with the terminal is, in my opinion, optional as long as you downloaded from one of the mirrors on the website. But since you still want to do it, this is the easiest way to go about it.

All the directions are here: https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=291093

No problem, and again - if you experience any confusion during the process, just let me know! I also had to get help with installing Linux Mint myself when I first got started.

It should be fine. If you're truly worried, go here:

https://ftp.heanet.ie/mirrors/linuxmint.com/stable/

And click the version of Linux Mint you downloaded - it's probably 21.3 - and then download both sha256sum.txt and sha256sum.txt.gpg by right-clicking -> "save link as..." to download the files themselves.

After that, verify the iso you had in your downloads folder by following the instructions here:

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/verify.html

Again, as long as you downloaded from one of the mirrors linked on the Linux Mint download page, you should be absolutely fine. This step is a just-in-case, for your personal ease of mind. It will, however, need you to open cmd.exe and copy the code inside the green boxes into the terminal and press Enter. There's a pictoral guide if you're doing the verification on Windows still, right here:

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=291093

Let me know if you get stuck!

But should the CSAM post remain visible on Lemmy? Should the poster remain free to post more CSAM? Remember, you advocated for an "unmoderated free speech absolutism platform".

So what's your stance on CSAM? Free speech absolutism says even illegal content shouldn't be taken down - that's what absolutism means.

The sha txt file should've been available alongside the iso file from the mirror you downloaded it from. Honestly, as long as you used one of the mirrors that the Linux Mint website provided, you should be perfectly fine.

Good to hear! Let us know if you need any help with the install - some computers will try to fight the install, others are much more amenable to it. As long as you follow the instructions from the Linux Mint page, you should be fine.

Have you tried Linux Mint? That's pretty user-friendly. As long as it's a .deb, you can double-click install through a GUI, no terminal needed. There's an "app store" with most of your standard apps, like Discord, Slack, Teams, Skype or VLC, and it has an office suite pre-installed along with an email client. The first time you start, there's a welcome screen that helps you through setting up the firewall, appearance (you can make it look like XP if you want), backups, NVIDIA drivers, and update manager you can ignore or manually update or automatically update. I don't know your system, but it's pretty intuitive for Windows users (I use a Windows 10 theme). I'd encourage you to give it one more try, if you're still open to it.

Hope all the other comments and suggestions are helping! Installation is honestly the only "hard" step for Mint. Once you're done with this, it should be smooth sailing - and if you ever need any help, just ask!

Poe's Law and the lack of /s strikes again!

Isn't surfing the web the main use case for a large portion of the PC/Laptop user base? Pretty sure for wide swaths of people, "executable", "startup program" and "HDD" have no meaning. Not saying that's "right" or "wrong", just that that's my observation. You could make the argument that they might as well switch to Chromebook, and in fact, many do.

For intermediate users, there's a graphical startup program menu for selecting startup apps, at least in Mint Cinnamon. Usually programs for me won't be able to access my HDD only if I did an even more advanced thing and made a docker instance without permissions - other than that, I've been able to connect programs like Steam (Flatpack) to my external HDD without issue. But maybe that's just Mint, idk.

But art, depending on your definition of art, has been sold for thousands of years. Even in Archaic Greece, potters were selling amphorae with intricately painted glazing on the side.