I think Debian is a pretty good OS. Some believe it is hard to use, same as Slackware. But those two were the first distros I was able to install and use when I first tried linux.
I'm currently running Mageia 3 Alpha3 and Salix 14 OS, which is based on Slackware.
I think Debian is a pretty good OS. Some believe it is hard to use, same as Slackware. But those two were the first distros I was able to install and use when I first tried linux.
I'm currently running Mageia 3 Alpha3 and Salix 14 OS, which is based on Slackware.
FYI Mageia is a redux of Mandrake, and Mandrake started off with the intention of being nothing more than being RedHat with KDE instead of GNOME. Then it became so much more.
I started my Linux usership with Slackware, and after a period of giving Red Hat and its derivatives I've gone back to a Slackware...derivative. These days it's pretty hard to see that SuSE came from Slackware (the familiar "a", "ap"... file tree is long gone) and that's fine by me.
This year I had the opportunity to check out a fresh release from the moribund company Mandriva (what Mandrake turned into under the control of businesspeople) had the displeasure of contending with a locked-down Ubuntu, and got to play with some other Linux distros as I searched for an easy Linux desktop to run a web browser on that anyone could figure out. Much to my surprise, I found that (mainly because the web app was greedy with CPU cycles, so old computers need not apply) my own desktop and server favorite, OpenSUSE was the ideal Linux distro for 2012.
Slackware will always be my Linux first love, and I've had several long-term relationships with other Linux distros. Caldera looked like "the one" before they went batpoop crazy. I fell head over heels for Mandrake/Mandriva, and waited a long time pining for her. But the Mandriva that's on the corporate crack pipe isn't recovering so I must take my heart and move on. (Her little sister Mageia...it wouldn't be the same.) I've had a long friendship with SuSE, and have been living with her for a while now. I think it's time to take the next step and get
SLED/SLES. (I can take the romance simile only so far. )
BTW, when it comes to desktop environments, tried-and-true KED3 is my top pick for 2012. GNOME3 and KDE4 have been disasters. Canonical's attempts to merge, then replace them isn't working. LXDE shows promise but is still only a window manager. KDE3 is being maintained and refined by OpenSUSE, and forked by the Trinity Desktop Environment. I have an open mind, and welcome whatever emerges as the next quantum advancement to the computer GUI. But for 2012 my winner is KDE3.
I've been partial to the Ubuntu family since first trying them back in '05. At that point I had used many Linux distros, but between then and last year I just stuck with Kubuntu because I liked it the best. Last year when I got a new laptop I decided to try some other Linuxes just for fun. I wiped windows off its drive, as I always do first thing with a new computer, and then tried several distros. Of those I tried I liked Fedora 16 the most, but eventually ended up going back to Kubuntu.
Recently my old laptop's hard drive died, so after debating whether to toss the laptop--which is about 6 years old--or get a new drive, I decided on the latter. This laptop, an HP dv6000, had run *VERY* slowly after upgrading to Kubuntu 11.10...I mean PAINFULLY slow, like a windows computer that hasn't had its OS reinstalled in a few months and has been overtaken by viruses, adware, spyware, malware, bloatware, etc. If I wanted a slow computer, I'd use windows! So instead of downgrading to an older Kubuntu, I tried several other distros, including MacPup and Lubuntu, before deciding on Bodhi. That laptop now flies as if it's brand new!
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I've never tried Bodhi... But I have been feeling the need to try Arch again. I hope to get the latest iso (yeah, I know, rolling distro... ) and give it another spin.
Okay, you guys know infinitely more about Linux than me, but I’ve heard that, for a beginner, Xubuntu is ideal...
Xubuntu is an elegant and easy-to-use operating system. Xubuntu comes with Xfce, which is a stable, light and configurable desktop environment.
...is true?
Yes, it's a good choice. However, there are many other good choices out there, too. Even though I am--as I've said!--partial to *buntu, I actually recommend that new Linux users try several different distros. You have nothing to lose, such as data, because you can run them via their 'live' CD/DVD (i.e., you download and burn an ISO file and then use it to boot up), without actually installing or changing ANYTHING on your hard drive. This is a great way to sample what's out there.
Once you find something that looks viable for you, and works with your hardware (and all modern Linuxes should work pretty effortlessly with hardware now), you can take the next step and actually install it.
Plus, in case you don't know, there are many different desktop environments available for Linux. My preference is KDE, but there are many and, again, trying them out is the best way to find the one that speaks to you.
If you're interested in resurrecting an old[er] computer, I definitely recommend giving Bodhi a try. I can't say enough about how it breathed new life into my old laptop.
Quote:
But I have been feeling the need to try Arch again. I hope to get the latest iso (yeah, I know, rolling distro... ) and give it another spin.
Recently my old laptop's hard drive died, so after debating whether to toss the laptop--which is about 6 years old--or get a new drive, I decided on the latter. This laptop, an HP dv6000, had run *VERY* slowly after upgrading to Kubuntu 11.10...I mean PAINFULLY slow, like a windows computer that hasn't had its OS reinstalled in a few months and has been overtaken by viruses, adware, spyware, malware, bloatware, etc. If I wanted a slow computer, I'd use windows!
That's my biggest gripe with GNOME3 and KDE4, that they seem to be trying to out-Windows even Windows!
Okay, you guys know infinitely more about Linux than me, but I’ve heard that, for a beginner, Xubuntu is ideal...
Xubuntu is an elegant and easy-to-use operating system. Xubuntu comes with Xfce, which is a stable, light and configurable desktop environment.
...is true?
The part about Xfce is just about right.
I'm not thrilled by Ubuntu though. By trying to make it "easy", they've made it insecure, like the "home" versions of Windows. It's a bad habit to be able/forced to do superuser tasks as a regular user. I'd go with a Linux distro that has a real root account, and makes you enter the root password to do administrative tasks. It seems like a little thing...until you get cracked or accidentally bork your system.
That's my biggest gripe with GNOME3 and KDE4, that they seem to be trying to out-Windows even Windows!
Where do you think MS got their ideas for Win8? I've been playing around with Gnome3 and after awhile it's not so bad. I tried Unity also and it wasn't bad either.
I've never tried Bohdi either. I've pretty much given up on trying new distros.
I do have an old machine and wanted to put Salix but I believe it's for i586 or higher, so now I'm going to put xubuntu on it.
I'm not thrilled by Ubuntu though. By trying to make it "easy", they've made it insecure, like the "home" versions of Windows. It's a bad habit to be able/forced to do superuser tasks as a regular user. I'd go with a Linux distro that has a real root account, and makes you enter the root password to do administrative tasks. It seems like a little thing...until you get cracked or accidentally bork your system.
You're not understanding how versatile *buntu is. It's perfectly capable of doing exactly what you said.
The first thing I do on a fresh install of Linux, which in my case is normally Kubuntu, is enable root logins. So root can log in and have its own account--something *buntu decided was a bad idea. (I actually, sort of, understand their thinking. They're assuming people coming over to Linux had been using windows and, therefore, are inept and not very bright, and could easily bork their system with their new-found power of root.)
The combination of having a true root login and being able to su - while logged in as a regular user gives me total control--something I've been used to since my earliest days of programming and administering UNIX systems back in the mid '80s. I almost never use sudo--the *buntu preferred method--to do anything.
There are several steps involved with accomplishing what you want, but there's nothing difficult about any of it. For example, don't give regular users permission to use sudo. Enable root logins. Don't give regular users the root password, therefore they can neither use su, nor can they log in as root.
My elderly mother, who can do things with computers I've never seen in 30+ years of experience, has *ZERO* ability to bork her computer. All courtesy of Kubuntu and me.
That's my biggest gripe with GNOME3 and KDE4, that they seem to be trying to out-Windows even Windows!
The thing is, they run great--on up-to-date hardware. *SEE NOTE BELOW*
I absolutely love KDE4 on my newest laptop, the one I bought last year; it's an HP dv7t and KDE4 is *FAST* as can be on it. The problem I ran into on my old laptop, the HP dv6000, was that I kept upgrading Kubuntu past the point where the hardware could handle it. It was absolutely fine up until 10.10...but I didn't stop! Oh, I also tried putting Fedora 16 on the old laptop...and couldn't even get to the install option. It ran slower than frozen molasses.
*NOTE* One of the many great things about Linux is CHOICE. If you don't have current, whiz bang hardware, you're not out of luck. You don't have to toss your computer and buy a new one. That's the micro$oft way of doing things--force continual upgrades of hardware and software--not the Linux way. There are so many distro choices that you can find one that will work great on old hardware. So while current KDE and GNOME may be resource intensive, they're not your only choices. You can not only install older versions of, for example, Kubuntu, but you can also find beautiful alternatives that look and function great, but don't require the resources that current KDE, GNOME, Unity, and others do.
That LXF best distro thing has persuaded me to try some new distros. my PCLOS XFCE is broken, I might give mint another go, or Sabayon, which wouldn't install properly when I tried release 7 a while back.
New Bee question, again: I’m pondering ordering some Linux bootable drive to keep separate from my unglorious XP wonderstation, something I can boot up and futz with, then maybe install it on my C drive when I’m fed up with decade-old MS computing.
New Bee question, again: I’m pondering ordering some Linux bootable drive to keep separate from my unglorious XP wonderstation, something I can boot up and futz with, then maybe install it on my C drive when I’m fed up with decade-old MS computing.
How about free? Simply visit the web site of any Linux distribution you're interested in, such as Kubuntu, and download the version of your choice. Burn its ISO file to a CD or DVD, then use the disc to boot up from. In other words, you'll be booting up from its 'live' feature, which does nothing to your hard drive(s). When you're ready, you can use the same disc to actually install Linux.
How about free? Simply visit the web site of any Linux distribution you're interested in
Thanks, saw some of those and of course you’re correct.
But, and I should have mentioned this, I’m scairt to download 700M with my online system (shh). Maybe I’ll just have three shots of bottled courage tonight and go for it.
I ended up ordering Lubuntu, since the CD, delivered, was under five bucks. Something to learn with... thanks for your help and I’m sure I’ll have more questions soon.
I ended up ordering Lubuntu, since the CD, delivered, was under five bucks. Something to learn with... thanks for your help and I’m sure I’ll have more questions soon.
Lubuntu is a fine choice. Once you're playing with it, there's a ton of help out in cyberspace if you need it. The Ubuntu Forums are a great place to start; you can ask about any *buntu, so Lubuntu questions are fine. (Just don't be a smartass like me and do things like talk about how to enable root logins. Trust me, you'll get a warning via PM. )
Ubuntu for me. Gotta be honest though, ever since 64x Win7, I've been using it less all the time. I finally found a Windows I really do like in all regards. Basically at this point I'm just dual booting and using it for sdk related purposes most times.
Ubuntu for me. Gotta be honest though, ever since 64x Win7, I've been using it less all the time. I finally found a Windows I really do like in all regards.
Without hijacking this thread AND starting an OS war, I'm genuinely interested in what you said. As an unabashed, avowed hater of all things micro$oft, it's actually hard for me to imagine them coming up with something that's "liked in all regards."
I don't get how paying through the nose for an OS that you can't even customize--I mean 100% customize, like Linux--can be acceptable. To say nothing of how limited windows is in general. I'd be lost without the power of the Linux shell, or multiple desktops, or the security of the *nix file system, etc.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moodyblues
Without hijacking this thread AND starting an OS war, I'm genuinely interested in what you said. As an unabashed, avowed hater of all things micro$oft, it's actually hard for me to imagine them coming up with something that's "liked in all regards."
I don't get how paying through the nose for an OS that you can't even customize--I mean 100% customize, like Linux--can be acceptable. To say nothing of how limited windows is in general. I'd be lost without the power of the Linux shell, or multiple desktops, or the security of the *nix file system, etc.
So if you're up for explaining, please do!
I dual-boot Windows and Linux Mint on a couple of laptops. And will explain a couple of reasons why I keep Windows around.
1) Mongolian Script and language. I'm studying and learning this for personal development, and to help me in my job as an English teacher in a Mongolian middle school. Basically support for Mongolian Script in Linux is to put it bluntly, unusable. Namely because there doesn't seem to be support for vertical writing systems. Mongolian is written and read top-to-bottom, like this..
2) MS Office. I've often found that the FOSS office suites like LibreOffice don't render mixed language PPT (Chinese & English) presentations correctly, to the extent that it's unusable. I tried running MS Office 2010 under WINE, but it turned out to be a no go.
BTW I'm currently using Linux Mint to make this post.
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1) Mongolian Script and language. I'm studying and learning this for personal development, and to help me in my job as an English teacher in a Mongolian middle school. Basically support for Mongolian Script in Linux is to put it bluntly, unusable. Namely because there doesn't seem to be support for vertical writing systems. Mongolian is written and read top-to-bottom, like this..
2) MS Office. I've often found that the FOSS office suites like LibreOffice don't render mixed language PPT (Chinese & English) presentations correctly, to the extent that it's unusable.
Have you made these issues known to the appropriate powers that be? It's user input that gets things added/tweaked/fixed in both Linux and various software applications for Linux. If no one's aware that these specific things are issues, they'll never get fixed.
Quote:
BTW I'm currently using Linux Mint to make this post.
Well when I worked the past two jobs before being laid off both, I was able to get the latest windows & office suite from them. Since then, I have Win7 but haven't used it much. I did need Windows up until around '09, but now don't need it at home on current job.
I recently got a C2D system and did install W7 & Mageia on it but after about 2 months, I've removed W7 and put Salix on it. I also use LibreOffice and have no regrets.
I just don't need a free computer with every new version of Windows to come out!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moodyblues
Thanks for explaining your reasons, mikedt.
Have you made these issues known to the appropriate powers that be? It's user input that gets things added/tweaked/fixed in both Linux and various software applications for Linux. If no one's aware that these specific things are issues, they'll never get fixed.
Mind me asking who do I contact for the powers that be? Canonical? Linux Mint devs? Debian Project? Linus Torvalds?
Thing with the Mongolian support, seems there has been some work done on this. There's a distro from Mongolia called Soyombo Mongolian Linux, which is flagged as discontinued by DistroWatch. DistroWatch.com: Soyombo Mongolian Linux
I think this concentrated more on Mongolian Cyrillic rather than the traditional script. Mongolian Cyrillic is relic from the Soviet era, but is still widely used in Mongolia, but not Inner Mongolia, China, where I'm living. Linux Mint and Ubuntu both support Mongolian Cyrillic just fine, but not traditional Mongolian Script. Probably would have to find some willing devs that have a working knowledge of Mongolian Script.
The other issue is MS PowerPoint compatibility, which I think is a known issue anyway, and apparently work has been done on it. If I was creating presentations from scratch using say LibreOffice, it wouldn't be a problem. However I download and share a lot of PPTs with other teachers. And everyone is mostly using various versions of Microsoft Office.
Last edited by mikedt; December 22nd, 2012 at 11:35 PM.
As I said before, if no one's aware that there's a particular problem, it'll never get fixed; if no one's aware that something's missing, it'll never get added. So if there's something that doesn't work as you expect, please report it!
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As I said before, if no one's aware that there's a particular problem, it'll never get fixed; if no one's aware that something's missing, it'll never get added. So if there's something that doesn't work as you expect, please report it!
Actually last night I did encounter a bug with the Banshee music manager & media player on Linux Mint not playing music. It's been known for four years. https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=532632
...but was marked as "fixed" two years ago.
Has to do with Banshee's database becoming corrupted or something. Solution is to delete the database and re-import the music library.
I'm currently awaiting membership of Gnome Bugzilla, so I can re-report it with the appropriate terminal logs and version numbers.
Actually last night I did encounter a bug with the Banshee music manager & media player on Linux Mint not playing music. It's been known for four years. https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=532632
...but was marked as "fixed" two years ago.
Has to do with Banshee's database becoming corrupted or something. Solution is to delete the database and re-import the music library.
I'm currently awaiting membership of Gnome Bugzilla, so I can re-report it with the appropriate terminal logs and version numbers.
The last time I checked, which was a year or two ago, many of the hard core maintainers were still using the tried-and-true USENET news to deal with things like this. Have you tried combing through the maze of NNTP servers to see if there's a Banshee forum out there?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Speed Daemon
The last time I checked, which was a year or two ago, many of the hard core maintainers were still using the tried-and-true USENET news to deal with things like this. Have you tried combing through the maze of NNTP servers to see if there's a Banshee forum out there?
I know about usenet, used to use it quite a bit back in the day. I used to use a paid service, Giganews. Not sure about accessing it now though, apart from subscribing and paying for Giganews again.
I know about usenet, used to use it quite a bit back in the day. I used to use a paid service, Giganews. Not sure about accessing it now though, apart from subscribing and paying for Giganews again.
Doesn't your ISP include newsgroups? I've had Earthlink for years, and Netcom before Earthlink bought them out, and I've always had access to Usenet, and make good use of it!
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Originally Posted by moodyblues
Doesn't your ISP include newsgroups? I've had Earthlink for years, and Netcom before Earthlink bought them out, and I've always had access to Usenet, and make good use of it!
Nope. I'm sure China Unicom doesn't do that bastion of unmoderated free speech...usenet. When I was in the UK my ISP then was Telewest then Virgin, they did newsgroups but the service sucked. That's why I subscribed to Giganews, mainly for the binaries.
BTW it's living in China, that made me take a serious interest in using Linux and FOSS more and more.
Nope. I'm sure China Unicom doesn't do that bastion of unmoderated free speech...usenet.
Ah! I wasn't even THINKING about the fact you're in China. Oh my goodness. Okay, got it.
But then...I wonder if you'd even be able to access something like Google Groups or Giganews. I mean, doesn't the government pretty much control/censor what people have access to?
Without hijacking this thread AND starting an OS war, I'm genuinely interested in what you said. As an unabashed, avowed hater of all things micro$oft, it's actually hard for me to imagine them coming up with something that's "liked in all regards."
I don't get how paying through the nose for an OS that you can't even customize--I mean 100% customize, like Linux--can be acceptable. To say nothing of how limited windows is in general. I'd be lost without the power of the Linux shell, or multiple desktops, or the security of the *nix file system, etc.
So if you're up for explaining, please do!
Sorry, kinda lost track of this thread. I can't imagine buying windows as a standalone purchase, it came preloaded on a new machine I purchased awhile back. I don't need customization beyond what Windows allows I guess. I like to customize my phone like no other but not so much on the PC. Not sure why I don't apply it to both situations but I just don't.
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Originally Posted by EarlyMon
Google Groups is a usenet portal and it's free.
Google Groups is blocked here, as are many Google services. I found if I try logging into Google via a proxy or TOR, it seems to think my account might have been compromised and forces a password reset.
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Originally Posted by iowabowtech
Sorry, kinda lost track of this thread. I can't imagine buying windows as a standalone purchase, it came preloaded on a new machine I purchased awhile back. I don't need customization beyond what Windows allows I guess. I like to customize my phone like no other but not so much on the PC. Not sure why I don't apply it to both situations but I just don't.
A few weeks ago that's exactly what I did, rather than use the pirated hacked copy that came with a Lenovo laptop I bought recently. Did it online with Microsoft UK. As apparently one can't actually buy Windows in China, except when it comes with a new PC.
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Best Linux of 2012
)
If I wanted a slow computer, I'd use windows! So instead of downgrading to an older Kubuntu, I tried several other distros, including MacPup and Lubuntu, before deciding on Bodhi. That laptop now flies as if it's brand new! 
Oh, I also tried putting Fedora 16 on the old laptop...and couldn't even get to the install option. It ran slower than frozen molasses. 
)
To say nothing of how limited windows is in general. I'd be lost without the power of the Linux shell, or multiple desktops, or the security of the *nix file system, etc.
