The "Linux questions (and other stuff)" thread

[Dngrsone]

is Linux these days trying to be Windows? i just had to search high and low to disable two annoyances i thought were part of Windows. Ubuntu has this Dr.Watson type utility known as 'apport' that locked my machine solid as a rock because it 'thought' a program crashed (it didn't but since it was acting slow it 'thought' it was and tried closing it). the second is a Windows Update type tool that not only arbritarily pops up at the worst possible moment to try and update things without my permission and once even restarted my machine on its own

taking lessons from Microsoft, Ubuntu?! listen i tell my computer what i want it to do. i will not tolerate it doing things on its own! the last thing i want is to be in the middle of a movie and BAM! my machine restarts.

Another reason why I moved to Mint.

 

[MoodyBlues]

UPDATE: The particular piece of hardware in question is working on the self-built kernel (3.12.0-rc2). Thus, it's probably a lack of support in the "official" kernel used by Ubuntu

Hmmmm...okay.

Out of curiosity, what was plan B?

Beats me! I never know what plan B is until I have to come up with one! :laugh:

 

[MoodyBlues]

is Linux these days trying to be Windows? i just had to search high and low to disable two annoyances i thought were part of Windows. Ubuntu has this Dr.Watson type utility known as 'apport' that locked my machine solid as a rock because it 'thought' a program crashed (it didn't but since it was acting slow it 'thought' it was and tried closing it). the second is a Windows Update type tool that not only arbritarily pops up at the worst possible moment to try and update things without my permission and once even restarted my machine on its own

In the nine years I've been using *buntu, I have yet to see ANY of these problems. A machine that reboots on its own?! Never! So it must be a matter of settings.

taking lessons from Microsoft, Ubuntu?!

No, of course not. You're in full control, hence it's nothing like m$.

listen i tell my computer what i want it to do. i will not tolerate it doing things on its own! the last thing i want is to be in the middle of a movie and BAM! my machine restarts.

Settings, Nick. Check your settings.

 

[nickdalzell]

yeah i had to do an extensive Google search to disable apport (the Ubuntu equivilant to Windows Problem Reports/Solutions) and Update Manager (same thing as Windows Update) and landed on many forums where they just say 'don't do that, it's for your own good'. well....no..just no..

Yeah, in Ubuntu 12.04 it does initiate an auto reboot if it's an extensive update of something. unfortunately, if you're in the middle of a movie, you won't see the little pop-up saying it's going to reboot in 9, 8, 7,6....the dialog is a lot like the shutdown dialog if you tap the power button. it waits a few seconds offering a 'cancel' option but only if you see the thing.

Apport tried to come up once saying Chrome has crashed when in reality it was just a bit slower than normal (and it was still running and responding a bit in the background). eventually apport would not go away and then i got stuck with a circle waiting cursor (i suppose ubuntu's take on the Mac OS spinning beachball of death?) and had to force reboot it.

just a little over an hour ago, just before i posted the first comment about it, update manager decided to rear its ugly head and try updating software without asking me and i was in the middle of watching a youtube video, and had four other tabs open. it froze again. i hate automatic anything. why is this enabled default? people who use Linux don't need their hand held as in Windows!

 

[Dngrsone]

Ubuntu thinks that they are the Linux solution to Windows, though, and assumes that many users are just not that savvy

 

[MoodyBlues]

Where, oh where, should I start?!

yeah i had to do an extensive Google search to disable apport (the Ubuntu equivilant to Windows Problem Reports/Solutions) and Update Manager (same thing as Windows Update) and landed on many forums where they just say 'don't do that, it's for your own good'.

That's because a lot of window$ converts are known to use *buntu variants, and the self-appointed *buntu know-it-alls think the converts need that kind of hand holding. Have you ever heard me mention how I used to get admonished on Ubuntu forums that even TALKING about enabling root logins was a big no-no? Ha! :rofl:

well....no..just no..

Agreed.

Yeah, in Ubuntu 12.04 it does initiate an auto reboot if it's an extensive update of something.

No, it doesn't. Not on *MY* 12.04. Check those settings...

unfortunately, if you're in the middle of a movie, you won't see the little pop-up saying it's going to reboot in 9, 8, 7,6....the dialog is a lot like the shutdown dialog if you tap the power button.

That's not how my reboots work. Because I don't want them to. When I say restart I mean NOW!! Settings, Nick, settings.

it waits a few seconds offering a 'cancel' option but only if you see the thing.

Settings...

Apport tried to come up once saying Chrome has crashed when in reality it was just a bit slower than normal (and it was still running and responding a bit in the background). eventually apport would not go away and then i got stuck with a circle waiting cursor (i suppose ubuntu's take on the Mac OS spinning beachball of death?) and had to force reboot it.

Never seen it...

just a little over an hour ago, just before i posted the first comment about it, update manager decided to rear its ugly head and try updating software without asking me and i was in the middle of watching a youtube video, and had four other tabs open. it froze again. i hate automatic anything. why is this enabled default? people who use Linux don't need their hand held as in Windows!

Settings...

 

[palmtree5]

Where, oh where, should I start?!


That's because a lot of window$ converts are known to use *buntu variants, and the self-appointed *buntu know-it-alls think the converts need that kind of hand holding. Have you ever heard me mention how I used to get admonished on Ubuntu forums that even TALKING about enabling root logins was a big no-no? Ha! :rofl:


Agreed.


No, it doesn't. Not on *MY* 12.04. Check those settings...


That's not how my reboots work. Because I don't want them to. When I say restart I mean NOW!! Settings, Nick, settings.


Settings...


Never seen it...


Settings...

tl;dr SETTINGS

 

[nickdalzell]

i have already disabled the crap. but it took terminal hacks. have you seen 'settings' in Unity? there are none. only dumbed down stuff like desktop background, power, users, think Windows control panel without classic icon view.

Disabling apport:

sudo service apport stop

then there's some command involving gedit to disable it permenantly

as for Update Manager, i needed to actually run that app and turn it off.

now i just got the Google Chrome problem where i need to disable the stupid 'page(s) unresponsive' garbage that forces chrome to kill two or more of my open tabs forcing me to reload them again. i am not sure about you guys/gals but i'm even more annoyed at Google's attempt at humor lately (i hated Aw, Snap! and i hate He's Dead, jim!' even more.) i'll close tabs when i feel like it. any about:config/dev mode options in Chrome?

 

[Dngrsone]

Here's one for the funny papers... I can't get Mint to connect to the college Wi-Fi network. Win 8 connects just fine.

I went into the tech support office, and apparently no one does Linux.

 

[palmtree5]

Here's one for the funny papers... I can't get Mint to connect to the college Wi-Fi network. Win 8 connects just fine.

I went into the tech support office, and apparently no one does Linux.

Is it one that you have to log in with your username and password when you connect?

 

[MoodyBlues]

i have already disabled the crap. but it took terminal hacks.

Interesting.

have you seen 'settings' in Unity?

Not lately. I don't do Unity. KDE all the way for me.

there are none. only dumbed down stuff like desktop background, power, users, think Windows control panel without classic icon view.

My [unhappy] memories of dealing with window$ have faded enough that I have no idea what that would look like.

Disabling apport:

sudo service apport stop

then there's some command involving gedit to disable it permenantly

Just FYI, it's not that it required gEdit, it required a text editor. Any editor, including mine of choice, vi, would accomplish this.

as for Update Manager, i needed to actually run that app and turn it off.

now i just got the Google Chrome problem where i need to disable the stupid 'page(s) unresponsive' garbage that forces chrome to kill two or more of my open tabs forcing me to reload them again. i am not sure about you guys/gals but i'm even more annoyed at Google's attempt at humor lately (i hated Aw, Snap! and i hate He's Dead, jim!' even more.) i'll close tabs when i feel like it. any about:config/dev mode options in Chrome?

In general, I've literally never seen any of the issues you've described. I don't know what it is about your luck, but good grief. My *nix just works the way I want, as do my browsers. So I don't know...

 

[Dngrsone]

Is it one that you have to log in with your username and password when you connect?

Yes. It uses WPA-Enterprise, EAP, as I recall... the Linux network manager wants a certificate, I think that is where the problem is; but it'd the college won't provide me with a cert...

 

[palmtree5]

Yes. It uses WPA-Enterprise, EAP, as I recall... the Linux network manager wants a certificate, I think that is where the problem is; but it'd the college won't provide me with a cert...

Choose PEAP for authentication and you should have the option to provide a username and password

 

[Dngrsone]

Choose PEAP for authentication and you should have the option to provide a username and password

Pretty sure I tried PEAP, but I will try that out at my next opportunity.

 

[saptech]

is Linux these days trying to be Windows

No linux is not but Ubuntu is trying very hard! It is not for everybody. According to Distrowatch, Ubuntu is loosing it's mojo!

 

[palmtree5]

No linux is not but Ubuntu is trying very hard! It is not for everybody. According to Distrowatch, Ubuntu is loosing it's mojo!

Ubuntu just happens to be the first Linux distro most people coming from Windows start off on. Thus it kinda seems to make sense (to me anyway) why it is like that. Doesn't mean I agree though

 

[saptech]

Ubuntu just happens to be the first Linux distro most people coming from Windows start off on. Thus it kinda seems to make sense (to me anyway) why it is like that. Doesn't mean I agree though

In Ubuntu's early days it was the goto distro, but and it's my opinion, its moving more & more away from the linux philosophy!

 

[Dngrsone]

In Ubuntu's early days it was the goto distro, but and it's my opinion, its moving more & more away from the linux philosophy!

I agree wholeheartedly.

Unity started the ball rolling.

It isn't that Unity was so terrible an interface (it's basically an integrated Docky), it's that it was introduced too early and made part of an LTS distribution before it was ready for Prime Time.

The waffling from Rhythmbox to Banshee and back certainly didn't help any, either.

 

[saptech]

I agree wholeheartedly.

Unity started the ball rolling.

It isn't that Unity was so terrible an interface (it's basically an integrated Docky), it's that it was introduced too early and made part of an LTS distribution before it was ready for Prime Time.

The waffling from Rhythmbox to Banshee and back certainly didn't help any, either.

I did try Unity earlier this year, it came preinstalled on a refurbished machine I bought. I actually liked it, which I kept for about 3 months or so before installing a different distro. I had also been trying out Gnome 3 before trying Unity, so that may have prepared me for it!

 

[palmtree5]

So, out of curiosity, what is everyone's favorite distro?

 

[9to5cynic]

@palm - mine is probably Debian. I think I used debian the longest with a single install before curiosity won over. It's just great. Pure gnome 2, simple apps, stable as all get out. I also really like the idea and philosophy behind Arch, but without having a reliable internet connection, it just isn't too practical for me all the time.
--

Yes. It uses WPA-Enterprise, EAP, as I recall... the Linux network manager wants a certificate, I think that is where the problem is; but it'd the college won't provide me with a cert...

Just from the settings you've listed, I'd bet it's either Kerberos or Radius...

It almost sounds like the tech didn't understand what you wanted (or doesn't understand PKI). You may be able to get the cert from the win8 box though? I'm not really sure - it isn't something I've tried.


---
and @nick - man, you are always having problems with ubuntu

---
on my end, I'm hoping to install crouton (a special chroot environment) on my chromebook one of these days - next time I get to a place with some fast internet. If I've read the documentation properly (which I probably didn't) I should be able to get a few instances (even with GUIs) up and running - all from within chromeos. I'd like to get a working arch instance up on an SD card along with Kali.

 

[Dngrsone]

Currently, I am rocking the Mint 15.

Still *buntu, but slightly more behaved. Cinnamon is still a newish desktop manager, but I like it.

I am looking forward to finding a utility that allows me to mess about with the themes a bit, an I would still like to have a different wallpaper on each desktop (sorry, Moody, but I can't stand KDE), but otherwise, I am perfectly content with this install.

 

[nickdalzell]

ChrUbuntu is currently the only distro available for a Chromebook laptop. I have Kubuntu running on my Toshiba Dev machine, and still Windows 8 on my gaming laptop (all the games running on it require Windows--they ran in linux but very poorly and lacked acceleration and anti-aliasing) Currently the only playable games running in Linux are steam games and Wine-enabled games like Star Trek Online and Rigs of Rods. those two play pretty well but i still had to skimp on graphics. too high and it performs like a 486SX

the rest is Android which is sorta Linux.

i don't hate Unity so much, it kinda reminds me of Mac OS X. i don't like how the dock is locked on the left side taking up screen space when i'd want it on the bottom like a taskbar but that's about it. perhaps it's just the distro i'm using that has all that noob stuff turned on by default.

 

[Dngrsone]

Just from the settings you've listed, I'd bet it's either Kerberos or Radius...

It almost sounds like the tech didn't understand what you wanted (or doesn't understand PKI). You may be able to get the cert from the win8 box though? I'm not really sure - it isn't something I've tried.

I went into the Tech Support center and told them, "I have a Linux laptop and it can't connect to the campus wifi."

The girl told me that the network was up, and the other woman told her it might because I was using Linux (duh). So the girl went into the back and started asking around.

After about five minutes, she returned, shaking her head. "I'm sorry, nobody here seems to be familiar with Linux."



I did a lot of research into the .desktop files to customize the Unity bar. I created a half-dozen different files for Unity, so that I could have several Firefox instances open at the same time (each with a different profile) and each instance would be associated with its custom icon on the Unity bar.. Luckily, some of that work is also usable in Cinnamon, which is cool.

 

[saptech]

So, out of curiosity, what is everyone's favorite distro?

Mageia & Salix.