I am not a huge Linux user. I am a big Linux fan, though. I like what it stands for, I like the open source community, and I sincerely believe that it is a better "product" than Windows. By far.
But I am not "huge" into Linux. I've been using it off and on throughout the years, but never really got into the whole "power user" mode. I'm a casual user. Like most people who use Windows, I just want it to work so I can check my emails, see my pictures, and watch monk shots on YouTube.
I've posted here a couple of times about installing Linux. I thought about doing it again, but honestly, installing and getting Linux to run is almost a non-event. It installs way faster than Windows, doesn't muck up your hardware, and normally finds everything it needs to get you up and running.
Today I made the switch from Ubuntu - which is GREAT by the way - to Mint (Debian). The reason I made the switch is because my old Dell laptop is, well, old. Really old. I needed something just a little more slimmed down to meet the limitations of the memory and processor.
Installing Mint took literally minutes. When I last reinstalled window, probably xp, on this laptop, it took a day. A WHOLE day. And I had to reboot and reboot and reboot to get all the hardware drivers installed AFTER windows was installed.
With Mint, I clicked install, walked away for about 10 minutes to make coffee and when I came back it was done. DONE done. No extra drivers to install, no video to configure. Bam. Done. Running. Happy.
I did have to fight a tiny bit to get the wireless internet running. But that was a hardware configuration issue and not the fault of Mint. I went into the bios, flipped a switch, and it was done.
And it does everything windows does. Well, almost. For the average user, you won't need anything else. The Gnome interface looks and acts like Windows. It just works.
I'm still on the lookout for a good video editor. And by good I mean like Windows Movie Maker. Although I wouldn't complain if it was on the level of good that Final Cut Pro is. But this old computer doesn't have the memory to do video processing anyway, so maybe the next time.
To close let me just say, Windows sucks. Long Live Linux. Thanks.
Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Linux. Show all posts
Ex-Xubuntu
Originally posted at Adam's Blog, Igneous Quill. Visit him by clicking here for great stuff about Ubuntu, programming languages, and all kinds of other fun stuff!
_____________________
"It's just not... happy", I told him. My friend, Adam (whose blog is here) had made the jump from Windows to Linux some time before and got me looking into a Linux solution for my Windows XP problems. So, after a little research I chose the Ubuntu "brand" of Linux (as it seemed to have the most support for older Dell hardware), and took the plunge.
At first boot, it was love. Ubuntu 8.10 installed like a dream. I popped in the CD-ROM I had created from the download and that's all I really had to do. I was prepared to deal with some issues that had been reported regarding video and wireless drivers, but those issues never appeared for me. I was up and running and using the web in less than 30 minutes.
But a short while later, I just wasn't feeling that squishy love feeling anymore. "It's just not... happy", I told Adam. Ubuntu just didn't seem to have any pep. Everything was slow, painfully so, and the more I used it the more it seemed to just want to go to sleep.
"Have you looked at Xubuntu?", he suggested. I had looked at it, briefly, when I was doing my original research into different flavors of Linux, but for some reason had passed it by. Adam went on to explain that Xubuntu was built for systems like mine - older, slower, crankier, and that I should give it another look.
So, I did. It's really easy to switch from one "flavor" of Ubuntu to another using the Synaptic Package Manager. At heart, all Ubuntu distributions are all the same - the heart, lungs, kidneys, all Ubuntu distributions share the same guts. What's different is the bones and the skin. I won't get too technical, but it's enough to say that since the guts are the same, you can quickly and easily change the outside. Switching to Xubuntu just involves searching for it in the package manager, selecting it, and clicking apply.
I did that. I looked up Xubuntu in the package manager, which caused it to unload all the Ubuntu stuff, and we were off.
20 minutes worth of download and install and I was now an Ex-Ubuntu, Xubuntu user.
Again, I was in love. My laptop was alive again! If I wanted to run Firefox, BANG, it was open. If I wanted to run Gimp, POW it was open. No "click, wait, wait, run" anymore. Everything was quick, fast, slick and shiny.
But then...you got it. Something was just not quite right. The biggest, and I mean BIG, issue I had with Xubuntu was the network. Oh, I could get online, no problem. Other computers could "see" the Xubuntu machine and use files on it. But Xubuntu couldn't "see" them. This was a problem.
Now, to be clear. Xubuntu is GREAT. If you have an older laptop, use Xubuntu. It's slick, fast, and can do just about anything you need. However, If you have a need to share files across your home network, then Xubuntu is not your best solution. It can't do that.
Simple as that, Xubuntu was not built with network file sharing in mind. The developers of the file manager either over looked it, or intentionally left it out. Either way, it was not coded to recognize your network.
I found this out the hard way. Really hard. See, the thing is, I like to take pictures. I'm not a photographer, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have kids. Lots of them. So I take lots of pictures. I currently have close to 100 gig worth of snapshots stored on my desktop machine. I am in the process of organizing, touching up, and compiling these pictures into albums that I can share with extended family. As such, I want to keep them stored in one central place and not have multiple copies floating around.
So, one thing that is important to me is to be able to access the pictures from the desktop computer on my laptop. I couldn't do that with Xubuntu.
But I tried. I really wanted it to work. Compared to Ubuntu, Xubuntu made my laptop extremely happy. It's a match made in heaven. It's like the people at Dell that designed the B120 laptop so long ago went out and said "hey Ubuntu people, here's all the stuff you need to know to make a version of your OS that would make this old hardware come to life like an Autobot."
Like any other Linux user with a problem, I went out to the forums. If you're a Linux user, you know the forums. And there's a lot of them. The most awesome thing about Linux and especially Ubuntu, is that people on the forums are the coolest people anywhere. You an ask the simplest, dumbest question and someone will politely, graciously, and with much detail, help you. 99 times out of 100, you don't even have to ask your simple dumb question because someone else already has and there's a fix waiting for you.
"Xubuntu can't see network", or something like that, is what I needed an answer for. The answer? There is no answer. Oh, I found some great suggestions on configuring Samba and creating a shortcut in the files. But every suggestion was answered the same way. "This doesn't work". And the final answer to every suggestion was "Xubuntu can't do that".
As I said earlier. The Xubuntu file manager just isn't built to "do" networking. Apparently, there will eventually be an update to fix that, but for now, it just can't do it.
Crap.
That was the deal breaker. Much as I love the speed and power of Xubuntu, I just can't live without the network. So I kissed her goodbye and with much sorrow and tears I switched back to Ubuntu...
But, in the meantime, the lovely people who work on Ubuntu had released version 9.04. And guess what? It's love again! I don't know what they changed, but at least on my Dell, it's just as fast as Xubuntu was. The video is better and everything is just generally peppy again! But that's another blog post...
In summary, Xubuntu is awesome. If you have an older laptop that is dying or has died from Windows, bring it back to live with Xubuntu. However, if you need to access your home network, use Ubuntu. Either way, your old hardware will be like new, saving you money and saving your computer from the landfill.
Ready to give Linux a try? Check out the Ubuntu, Kubuntu or (if you have a slightly older computer) Xubuntu distros. They're all good, and all free.
_____________________
"It's just not... happy", I told him. My friend, Adam (whose blog is here) had made the jump from Windows to Linux some time before and got me looking into a Linux solution for my Windows XP problems. So, after a little research I chose the Ubuntu "brand" of Linux (as it seemed to have the most support for older Dell hardware), and took the plunge.
At first boot, it was love. Ubuntu 8.10 installed like a dream. I popped in the CD-ROM I had created from the download and that's all I really had to do. I was prepared to deal with some issues that had been reported regarding video and wireless drivers, but those issues never appeared for me. I was up and running and using the web in less than 30 minutes.
But a short while later, I just wasn't feeling that squishy love feeling anymore. "It's just not... happy", I told Adam. Ubuntu just didn't seem to have any pep. Everything was slow, painfully so, and the more I used it the more it seemed to just want to go to sleep.
"Have you looked at Xubuntu?", he suggested. I had looked at it, briefly, when I was doing my original research into different flavors of Linux, but for some reason had passed it by. Adam went on to explain that Xubuntu was built for systems like mine - older, slower, crankier, and that I should give it another look.
So, I did. It's really easy to switch from one "flavor" of Ubuntu to another using the Synaptic Package Manager. At heart, all Ubuntu distributions are all the same - the heart, lungs, kidneys, all Ubuntu distributions share the same guts. What's different is the bones and the skin. I won't get too technical, but it's enough to say that since the guts are the same, you can quickly and easily change the outside. Switching to Xubuntu just involves searching for it in the package manager, selecting it, and clicking apply.
I did that. I looked up Xubuntu in the package manager, which caused it to unload all the Ubuntu stuff, and we were off.
20 minutes worth of download and install and I was now an Ex-Ubuntu, Xubuntu user.
Again, I was in love. My laptop was alive again! If I wanted to run Firefox, BANG, it was open. If I wanted to run Gimp, POW it was open. No "click, wait, wait, run" anymore. Everything was quick, fast, slick and shiny.
But then...you got it. Something was just not quite right. The biggest, and I mean BIG, issue I had with Xubuntu was the network. Oh, I could get online, no problem. Other computers could "see" the Xubuntu machine and use files on it. But Xubuntu couldn't "see" them. This was a problem.
Now, to be clear. Xubuntu is GREAT. If you have an older laptop, use Xubuntu. It's slick, fast, and can do just about anything you need. However, If you have a need to share files across your home network, then Xubuntu is not your best solution. It can't do that.
Simple as that, Xubuntu was not built with network file sharing in mind. The developers of the file manager either over looked it, or intentionally left it out. Either way, it was not coded to recognize your network.
I found this out the hard way. Really hard. See, the thing is, I like to take pictures. I'm not a photographer, by any stretch of the imagination, but I have kids. Lots of them. So I take lots of pictures. I currently have close to 100 gig worth of snapshots stored on my desktop machine. I am in the process of organizing, touching up, and compiling these pictures into albums that I can share with extended family. As such, I want to keep them stored in one central place and not have multiple copies floating around.
So, one thing that is important to me is to be able to access the pictures from the desktop computer on my laptop. I couldn't do that with Xubuntu.
But I tried. I really wanted it to work. Compared to Ubuntu, Xubuntu made my laptop extremely happy. It's a match made in heaven. It's like the people at Dell that designed the B120 laptop so long ago went out and said "hey Ubuntu people, here's all the stuff you need to know to make a version of your OS that would make this old hardware come to life like an Autobot."
Like any other Linux user with a problem, I went out to the forums. If you're a Linux user, you know the forums. And there's a lot of them. The most awesome thing about Linux and especially Ubuntu, is that people on the forums are the coolest people anywhere. You an ask the simplest, dumbest question and someone will politely, graciously, and with much detail, help you. 99 times out of 100, you don't even have to ask your simple dumb question because someone else already has and there's a fix waiting for you.
"Xubuntu can't see network", or something like that, is what I needed an answer for. The answer? There is no answer. Oh, I found some great suggestions on configuring Samba and creating a shortcut in the files. But every suggestion was answered the same way. "This doesn't work". And the final answer to every suggestion was "Xubuntu can't do that".
As I said earlier. The Xubuntu file manager just isn't built to "do" networking. Apparently, there will eventually be an update to fix that, but for now, it just can't do it.
Crap.
That was the deal breaker. Much as I love the speed and power of Xubuntu, I just can't live without the network. So I kissed her goodbye and with much sorrow and tears I switched back to Ubuntu...
But, in the meantime, the lovely people who work on Ubuntu had released version 9.04. And guess what? It's love again! I don't know what they changed, but at least on my Dell, it's just as fast as Xubuntu was. The video is better and everything is just generally peppy again! But that's another blog post...
In summary, Xubuntu is awesome. If you have an older laptop that is dying or has died from Windows, bring it back to live with Xubuntu. However, if you need to access your home network, use Ubuntu. Either way, your old hardware will be like new, saving you money and saving your computer from the landfill.
Ready to give Linux a try? Check out the Ubuntu, Kubuntu or (if you have a slightly older computer) Xubuntu distros. They're all good, and all free.
Phasse 3 and beyond
You know, I really don't have much else to say on this subject. I've had Ubuntu up and and running for a few days now, and it's gotten to the point that with a few exceptions, I don't even think about the fact that I'm using Linux.
There's only one program I miss and I'm a little irked at the developers, but it is what it is. Digsby is an all in one instant messenger application, it even alerts me when my friends make changes to their Facebook or MySpace pages. On their download page, they have a link for Linux, featuring the happy little penguin, but when you click on it you get an offer to submit your email to be notified when it's ready. A little misleading, but there ya go.
There is another, but I knew going it that it wouldn't work on Linux. Netflix has an awesome instant view feature, but it's built around Microsoft's DRM. So, of course, it only works on Windows. There are rumors that they are making an update based on a different DRM that will work on Mac and Linux. We'll see.
And I'm going to have to continue to use my Windows computer for my Ipod. Not because it's not possible on Ubuntu, it most certainly is, podcasts and all. But the issue isn't with Linux, its with the hard drive on this laptop. My Ipod is 30 gig, the hard drive is only 20.
I even got some emulation going. I had heard that one of my all time favorite games, StarCraft, would work on Linux using Wine (WINdows Emulator). I installed Wine, Installed StarCraft, and it works flawlessly.
So now I'm going hunting for things that Ubuntu/Linux does BETTER than Windows. Any suggestions?
There's only one program I miss and I'm a little irked at the developers, but it is what it is. Digsby is an all in one instant messenger application, it even alerts me when my friends make changes to their Facebook or MySpace pages. On their download page, they have a link for Linux, featuring the happy little penguin, but when you click on it you get an offer to submit your email to be notified when it's ready. A little misleading, but there ya go.
There is another, but I knew going it that it wouldn't work on Linux. Netflix has an awesome instant view feature, but it's built around Microsoft's DRM. So, of course, it only works on Windows. There are rumors that they are making an update based on a different DRM that will work on Mac and Linux. We'll see.
And I'm going to have to continue to use my Windows computer for my Ipod. Not because it's not possible on Ubuntu, it most certainly is, podcasts and all. But the issue isn't with Linux, its with the hard drive on this laptop. My Ipod is 30 gig, the hard drive is only 20.
I even got some emulation going. I had heard that one of my all time favorite games, StarCraft, would work on Linux using Wine (WINdows Emulator). I installed Wine, Installed StarCraft, and it works flawlessly.
So now I'm going hunting for things that Ubuntu/Linux does BETTER than Windows. Any suggestions?
Phase 3 on going - Linux can do that?
It's been a laid back kind of day. I haven't felt like doing much, so I've played a little here and a little there.
One thing that is taking a little getting used to is the interface. I haven't dug into it a whole lot, but all the changes I make have the same feel. It "kinda" looks like Windows, but it's got a cartoony feel to it. It's like Windows 3.1 pretending to be Vista. I'm using the default, which is Gnome. If you know of a better one, let me know.
I have been surprised by a couple of fun things. Ubuntu has this "Jello" thing with the windows. If you drag a windows it squashes and stretches and jiggles like Jello. Fun! Also, it came with a set of screensavers that are pretty cool.
And there's games - a lot of games. A lot of REALLY GOOD games. You like shooters like Halo? How about a bunch of them for free? Happy downloading.
I haven't gotten all my favorite apps set up yet, though. I want to be able to access files on my Windows machine without having to move them to my Linux machine and then move them back when I'm done. Haven't figured out that one yet. Also, I've heard that some Windows games and stuff will run like normal on Linux using emulation software. Haven't tried that yet.
So I'm just rambling. Mumbling. Mumbling and rambling. I'll post more serious when I'm feeling better.
One thing that is taking a little getting used to is the interface. I haven't dug into it a whole lot, but all the changes I make have the same feel. It "kinda" looks like Windows, but it's got a cartoony feel to it. It's like Windows 3.1 pretending to be Vista. I'm using the default, which is Gnome. If you know of a better one, let me know.
I have been surprised by a couple of fun things. Ubuntu has this "Jello" thing with the windows. If you drag a windows it squashes and stretches and jiggles like Jello. Fun! Also, it came with a set of screensavers that are pretty cool.
And there's games - a lot of games. A lot of REALLY GOOD games. You like shooters like Halo? How about a bunch of them for free? Happy downloading.
I haven't gotten all my favorite apps set up yet, though. I want to be able to access files on my Windows machine without having to move them to my Linux machine and then move them back when I'm done. Haven't figured out that one yet. Also, I've heard that some Windows games and stuff will run like normal on Linux using emulation software. Haven't tried that yet.
So I'm just rambling. Mumbling. Mumbling and rambling. I'll post more serious when I'm feeling better.
Phase 3 part 1 - found a glitch
I'm getting to the limit for the day, in fact I may be past the limit. Maybe I'll take a bath and a nap and see how I feel after that.
In the process of setting up some of my favorite apps, I found a glitch. It's disappointing, but not disheartening.
In windows, I was able to set my home page on Firefox to open 8 different tabs at start up. These are all sites I use all the time. When I did that in Ubuntu, Firefox began to run so slow that it wasn't useable. I'd expect this functionality on Windows, I was hoping Linux was immune to it.
It took me a bit to figure out that it was the multiple tabs doing it and not just one site or the other. When I pruned it down to just 3 tabs, everything was fine.
So, I've had enough for today. I'll finish phase 3 later. Still, no real issues installing it or using it, just a glitch in Firefox.
In the process of setting up some of my favorite apps, I found a glitch. It's disappointing, but not disheartening.
In windows, I was able to set my home page on Firefox to open 8 different tabs at start up. These are all sites I use all the time. When I did that in Ubuntu, Firefox began to run so slow that it wasn't useable. I'd expect this functionality on Windows, I was hoping Linux was immune to it.
It took me a bit to figure out that it was the multiple tabs doing it and not just one site or the other. When I pruned it down to just 3 tabs, everything was fine.
So, I've had enough for today. I'll finish phase 3 later. Still, no real issues installing it or using it, just a glitch in Firefox.
Phase 2 - i made it harder than it needed to be
So here I am, all concerned that the Dell proprietary wireless LAN card is going to be a bear to install into Ubuntu. I went to the forums, followed the directions and splat. Nothing.
Then, a little box popped up and said "Updated drivers are available". And guess what? Bo-duh boom. Just like that, it's done. Working. In fact this is my first blog post on Linux.
Ok, so where's the challenge? Where's the hassle? Where's the headache? What am I missing here? This is almost too easy.
So, on to phase 3, installing programs I like. Among these are Digsby (an instant messenger), Picasa - a photo manager/editor from Google, and I don't know what else.
Then, a little box popped up and said "Updated drivers are available". And guess what? Bo-duh boom. Just like that, it's done. Working. In fact this is my first blog post on Linux.
Ok, so where's the challenge? Where's the hassle? Where's the headache? What am I missing here? This is almost too easy.
So, on to phase 3, installing programs I like. Among these are Digsby (an instant messenger), Picasa - a photo manager/editor from Google, and I don't know what else.
Ubuntu, Phase 1 - Wow that was painless!
I thought this first part would take all day, but it only took about 20 minutes!
I put the cd in the laptop and rebooted it. The Ubuntu install disk gave me the option to run it from the disk without making any changes to the computer. So I did. This let me test all the hardware to see where the holes were. As expected the wireless LAN didn't register, but everything else did. Flawlessly!
I tried all the programs I expected to use out of the box. Firefox, Gimp, Open Office. All worked without a hitch.
So now what? Install. There was alink right on the desktop that said "Install", so I did. I don't know if installing from within the OS was the best choice, but I did it anyway.
It offered to let me keep Windows on a partition, but since Windows was broken it needed to go anyway. So I closed my eyes, said a prayer and chose the full install option.
A I've installed and re-installed Windows on probably 100 different machines in the course of my career and personal life. Every time, regardless of version, it took a minimum of an hour. Most times it took 4-5. I think the average was about 4 hours. There were some that turned into 2 day affairs. I honestly believed I'd still be fighting the install of Linux at dinner time.
Here I am, 20 minutes later, and it's done. Totally done. (Except for the wireless - that's phase 2). It's up, it's running, it's happy, it's shiny, it's really cool looking! Ok, maybe that's over the top, but it didn't crash!
So, on to phase 2.
I put the cd in the laptop and rebooted it. The Ubuntu install disk gave me the option to run it from the disk without making any changes to the computer. So I did. This let me test all the hardware to see where the holes were. As expected the wireless LAN didn't register, but everything else did. Flawlessly!
I tried all the programs I expected to use out of the box. Firefox, Gimp, Open Office. All worked without a hitch.
So now what? Install. There was alink right on the desktop that said "Install", so I did. I don't know if installing from within the OS was the best choice, but I did it anyway.
It offered to let me keep Windows on a partition, but since Windows was broken it needed to go anyway. So I closed my eyes, said a prayer and chose the full install option.
A I've installed and re-installed Windows on probably 100 different machines in the course of my career and personal life. Every time, regardless of version, it took a minimum of an hour. Most times it took 4-5. I think the average was about 4 hours. There were some that turned into 2 day affairs. I honestly believed I'd still be fighting the install of Linux at dinner time.
Here I am, 20 minutes later, and it's done. Totally done. (Except for the wireless - that's phase 2). It's up, it's running, it's happy, it's shiny, it's really cool looking! Ok, maybe that's over the top, but it didn't crash!
So, on to phase 2.
My Journey into the Land of Ubuntu
It's been a while since I've had something to blog about. Well, that's not true, in reality it's been a while since I've really cared to blog. It's just hard to sit at my computer for more than a few minutes and by the time I've checked my email I'm pretty much done for the day.
Hopefully that will change and maybe I can be a little more productive and maybe even find a way to get a job.
My wife's old laptop is dying. I don't believe it's a hardware problem - other than the batteries, I really think it's suffering from what I call Bill's Bloat. It's a Dell Inspiron B120 running Windows XP. It's been working great, but over the last year or so, it seems to be getting slower and slower. Microsoft is still issuing security patches for it and we've noticed that every patch seems to take a little more life out of it. A check of the hard drive confirms that Windows has gone from using less than 1 Gig of hard drive space to around 3 Gig. The more stuff Windows has to sort through just to run itself, the slower it gets. Bill's Bloat.
A friend of mine recently switched his computer from Windows to Linux using the Ubuntu distribution. It sounds like he had great sucess and has no regrets. Rather than fix XP, which is no longer supported by Microsoft anyway and is set for the scrap heap with the release of Windows 7 later this year, I've decided to replace it with Linux.
I've had a little experience with this. I built a server for my church when we lived in Colorado. It was primarily a web server, which is a little different than an installation meant for desktop functions, but I'm fairly optimistic that I can pull this off. In both instances, the computer was/is a Dell. In that case I used Red Hat, in this case I'm using Ubuntu.
I chose Ubuntu for one primary reason: Dell is already offering it as an option on computers you order from them. I know that doesn't translate into good things for older computers from them, but it shows that Dell found enough support for their hardware to go with it. I've done some Googles on installing Ubuntu on Insprion B120s and except for a hiccup with the wireless LAN (which seems to be proprietary Dell hardware) most users have had great success.
So, I've transferred all the old stuff off the laptop, I've got the install disks that came with it in case we need to roll back, and I've got Ubuntu on a CD ready to go.
Wish me luck.
Hopefully that will change and maybe I can be a little more productive and maybe even find a way to get a job.
My wife's old laptop is dying. I don't believe it's a hardware problem - other than the batteries, I really think it's suffering from what I call Bill's Bloat. It's a Dell Inspiron B120 running Windows XP. It's been working great, but over the last year or so, it seems to be getting slower and slower. Microsoft is still issuing security patches for it and we've noticed that every patch seems to take a little more life out of it. A check of the hard drive confirms that Windows has gone from using less than 1 Gig of hard drive space to around 3 Gig. The more stuff Windows has to sort through just to run itself, the slower it gets. Bill's Bloat.
A friend of mine recently switched his computer from Windows to Linux using the Ubuntu distribution. It sounds like he had great sucess and has no regrets. Rather than fix XP, which is no longer supported by Microsoft anyway and is set for the scrap heap with the release of Windows 7 later this year, I've decided to replace it with Linux.
I've had a little experience with this. I built a server for my church when we lived in Colorado. It was primarily a web server, which is a little different than an installation meant for desktop functions, but I'm fairly optimistic that I can pull this off. In both instances, the computer was/is a Dell. In that case I used Red Hat, in this case I'm using Ubuntu.
I chose Ubuntu for one primary reason: Dell is already offering it as an option on computers you order from them. I know that doesn't translate into good things for older computers from them, but it shows that Dell found enough support for their hardware to go with it. I've done some Googles on installing Ubuntu on Insprion B120s and except for a hiccup with the wireless LAN (which seems to be proprietary Dell hardware) most users have had great success.
So, I've transferred all the old stuff off the laptop, I've got the install disks that came with it in case we need to roll back, and I've got Ubuntu on a CD ready to go.
Wish me luck.
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