Linuxcnc and cheap chinese laser engraver

Brand new on the forum. I should start by saying that I know nothing about CNC. I bought one of these cheap Chinese laser engravers and found out that the software is Windows only. I have no Windows computers. I have been using Ubuntu for the last several years. I read somewhere that Linuxcnc could be used to operate these engravers. But just now I read that Linuxcnc does not support USB connections. The engraver is a USB Arduino control board. Any suggestions about software if no go on Linuxcnc?

It could possibly be running grbl github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki/Using-Grbl, it is worth an experiment trying to control it with one of the gui's written for grbl.

All of the Chinese laser cutters I have seen, and the one I own have had the original electronics + motor drivers junked and been converted to grbl or linuxcnc

it will shure run wit thew K40 board or this very cheep laser nonames
all can be converted to standard parport
but you are looking for a Aduino grbl usb conversion

like estlcam
K40 Whisperer

Thanks for the replies. I see I have stepped into a whole new world. I sure have a lot of studying to do just to figure out what questions to ask. Haha- back to school for this old dog (been retired for 10 years). My nephew is coming to visit tomorrow for a week. He has operated several large CNC milling machines before and is now managing the computer network system for his parent's business. And he thought he was taking a vacation. After his visit, I am sure I will be able to ask some more informed questions. Back to reading about Arduino, grbl and such. I ran across some info about "LaserWeb" that I need to read more about.

OK? Remember, you are talking to someone that doesn't know the difference between Arduino and conventional stepper drives-haha The new laser machine is still on the UPS truck. Could you point me in the direction of some conventional stepper drives? I hate to sound like a CNC Dummy, but I am a CNC Dummy. Please bear with me as I feel that I am in the 1st grade again.

This video by NYCNC shows the basics to run a simple cnc machine.
I ran this from a windows machine a three or four years ago, and it worked very well on a small cnc router. It looks as if versions of grbl/Universal Gcode Sender are available for Linux, so that might be the easiest way to get your laser engraver going.
My understanding of this is limited, but I think it works as follows.The grbl program runs on the Arduino. Universal Gcode Sender "drip feeds" the gcode to the Arduino via the usb connection. The timing problems with the usb do not seem to be a problem with this process.
Good luck with this, it's all fascinating stuff.

I have come across a little bit about installing grbl onto the Arduino board. The LaserWeb that I read about discusses this. I have a copy of linuxcnc-2.7.14-wheezy.iso Live CD on a thumbdrive, and am just starting to explore it. My old brain is spinning with all this new stuff, but I'm sure it will start coming together. A lot of new things to learn. I like the video tying into firearms. One of the reasons I ordered the engraver was to add to my hobby of making handgun grips. I watched some videos of using the laser engraver to engrave into wood, then use superglue and brass powder to make brass inlays. Thanks for this information.

wood is very easy
imaging and brass also on the first layer

you shoudt go with laserweb here the real CNC stuff is mutch overkill as the admin says
grbl is good to be