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Linux Users general chat thread. |
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#1501 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
Also, for my main computer I'm still using Vista, so thought I might upgrade it to Linux instead of buying Windows 7 or 8. I was thinking of either Ubuntu or Mint. Which do people think is the best and easiest for a newcomer and what's the difference between Cinnamon, Mate, xfce etc? Thanks.
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For a newcomer the choice of which distro to use can be very difficult. I would recommend that you try 2. Ubuntu and Linux Mint Xfce.
Download the latest stable versions of each (Ubuntu 13.04 and Mint Xfce 15) create Live CDs (or preferably USB keys) and try them both out. Ubuntu has the Unity desktop which you will either like or not. Mint Xfce is much more like Win XP. Differences between distros you list are largely in the presentation of the desktop. It really comes down to personal taste. Quote:
I would say Mint Cinnamon rather than Xfce.
It all comes down to personal preference obviously, but Cinnamon is the one that Mint will continue to work on and improve themselves, whereas Xfce is a separate project. Xfce is a bit more lightweight in terms of resources though, but a Vista computer should be able to handle all the latest DEs Just download and burn to a cd\dvd or usb and try them before you commit to a final install. Just remeber you wont get the full speed of the os, but all the basics will be there for you to try. There is quite a difference between them looks wise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nCzIsx2oWU There is no best distribution with Linux, they all do the same job, just different ways, so its all down to personal preference what you choose. |
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#1502 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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More command line fun, and Ubuntu top app downloads
http://mylinuxbook.com/funny-and-int...mands-part-ii/
Taken from http://www.tuxmachines.org/taxonomy/term/63/all ---------------------------------------------------------------- Top 10 Ubuntu App Downloads for July http://developer.ubuntu.com/2013/08/...oads-for-july/ Steam still popular. |
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#1503 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Games, Steam.
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Well there's always Windows 8.
Oh. ![]() Ps hows the games/steam doing? |
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#1504 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 9
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Unix Sys Admin here, run Ubuntu on my work desktop, however for out of hours work etc, I always go for Windows. VPN, Email, vSphere client etc work much better on Windows (as much as it pains me), IMO.
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#1505 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
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I'm preferring Mint, so far. I think I will probably go with a dual boot, because I sometimes play World of Warcraft and I think that will be easier on Vista. I will gradually transfer most other stuff over to Mint. What happens when a new edition comes out, though, can we just upgrade or do we have to do a new install?
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#1506 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 4,234
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Unfortunately Mint doesn't offer an upgrade path, so you have to fresh install. I usually go that route anyway with all my distros, but I think for the next Ubuntu I'm going to try the in-place upgrade. Get fed up of installing all the time.
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#1507 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Mint do a version that in theory doesnt need re installing.
http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php But its not new to Linux friendly yet
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#1508 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
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Quote:
Mint do a version that in theory doesnt need re installing.
http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php But its not new to Linux friendly yet ![]() |
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#1509 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 4,234
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Quote:
Have you give it a go? Looks like I might have to go with Ubuntu instead.
I'm just a bit fed up of it after all these years. I've never tried the upgrade path, ever, so I figure for Ubuntu 13.10 it's the perfect time to try it. I sure hope 13.10 is as good 13.04...
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#1510 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
Have you give it a go? Looks like I might have to go with Ubuntu instead.
As Kal_El has suggested, just have a play with a few, you can install or run of live disk. Download a few, try KDE versions of mint etc. By the time new versions are out, if you start now you may have decided whats best for you ![]() So you can play for a few months, and get ready for the new ones ![]() PS Be warned, once you start to download to try different versions, you will be sucked into the distro hoping trap
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#1511 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
It is
I've never tried the upgrade path, ever, so I figure for Ubuntu 13.10 it's the perfect time to try it. I sure hope 13.10 is as good 13.04...Doesn't take too long to download , burn, install, update, set prefrences, load music and photos. Or go the separate home partition. thats my next move ![]() https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Pa...ng/Home/Moving |
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#1512 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Sheffield
Posts: 4,234
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Quote:
Or go the separate home partition. thats my next move
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Tried it a while back, but it was taking ages, got fed up waiting, just went back to clean install...
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#1513 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Unbootable Mint laptop
Out of the blue my Linux Mint 15 laptop refuses to boot up.
Normal boot give the Mint name and four dots but goes nowhere. Recovery mode puts up lots of stuff I mostly don't understand but there seems to be an unreadable sector on the drive. Attempts at repair via the recovery console have failed. I can boot Ubuntu from a thumb drive but can't access the laptop drive with it even though it's visible. If all else fails I could try reinstalling (unless the drive is cattled) but any less drastic suggestions would be welcome. |
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#1514 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,053
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Quote:
It is a good idea to get used to fresh installing. The in-place upgrades don't always go well for everyone, so it's good practice to learn how to back up your stuff and prepare for fresh installing.
I've always gone down the upgrade route with Debian (this installation goes back to Debian Etch and is currently on Debian Wheezy), but then it's sort of designed to allow for upgrading. Sure, I've had a small issue here and there, but then I was prepared because I read the upgrade documentation and the issues were easily fixed or circumnavigated. So, if people are going to go down the upgrade route, then it's best to read up on the release notes for the new release prior to going ahead. You'll also learn a lot by upgrading instead of fresh installation, because if you find a problem, then it's a problem that provides a lesson. |
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#1515 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
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Quote:
It is a good idea to get used to fresh installing. The in-place upgrades don't always go well for everyone, so it's good practice to learn how to back up your stuff and prepare for fresh installing.
I'm just a bit fed up of it after all these years. I've never tried the upgrade path, ever, so I figure for Ubuntu 13.10 it's the perfect time to try it. I sure hope 13.10 is as good 13.04...Quote:
Yes, but too unstable for my liking.
As Kal_El has suggested, just have a play with a few, you can install or run of live disk. Download a few, try KDE versions of mint etc. By the time new versions are out, if you start now you may have decided whats best for you ![]() So you can play for a few months, and get ready for the new ones ![]() PS Be warned, once you start to download to try different versions, you will be sucked into the distro hoping trap ![]() |
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#1516 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
I do prefer Mint. I also like the look of another one called Peppermint. It just seems a bit of a hassle backing everything up if new editions are quite frequent. Although, it might be easier than what it sounds.
Peppermint is a old favourite of mine, just burn it or any other to a disk and try it. its a live dvd\cd so wont harm youre present setup, so long as you dont install it. Backing up is no hassle at all, i just select music/pictures/documents folder, select all, copy paste to a usb stick. Load new OS copy and paste back in. Whole process of loading and setting up new OS takes about 30min, no hassle if youre only doing it once or twice a yr. |
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#1517 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
Out of the blue my Linux Mint 15 laptop refuses to boot up.
Normal boot give the Mint name and four dots but goes nowhere. Recovery mode puts up lots of stuff I mostly don't understand but there seems to be an unreadable sector on the drive. Attempts at repair via the recovery console have failed. I can boot Ubuntu from a thumb drive but can't access the laptop drive with it even though it's visible. If all else fails I could try reinstalling (unless the drive is cattled) but any less drastic suggestions would be welcome.
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#1518 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Quote:
Sounds like HD is shot to me.
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#1519 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
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Quote:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqe6aEWMYRk
Peppermint is a old favourite of mine, just burn it or any other to a disk and try it. its a live dvd\cd so wont harm youre present setup, so long as you dont install it. Backing up is no hassle at all, i just select music/pictures/documents folder, select all, copy paste to a usb stick. Load new OS copy and paste back in. Whole process of loading and setting up new OS takes about 30min, no hassle if youre only doing it once or twice a yr. |
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#1520 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Quote:
When it's time to install one, which is the best way to do it? On it's own partition or inside Vista? Thanks.
But other ways.... http://www.ubuntu.com/download/deskt...u-with-windows Use to be a recommended way, but it seems to be getting a bit of bad press lately. Put it on its own partition https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot or if thats a pain, try it running virtual box, seems a favourite one with windows users. (Other versions are available) https://www.virtualbox.org/ within windows. As always, before you try any of them, make sure you have backups, and if the worst happens you can reinstall windows. |
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#1521 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 25,819
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Quote:
My personal choice, is to use 2 hard drives, one with Linux on, one with Windows on.
But other ways.... http://www.ubuntu.com/download/deskt...u-with-windows Use to be a recommended way, but it seems to be getting a bit of bad press lately. Put it on its own partition https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot or if thats a pain, try it running virtual box, seems a favourite one with windows users. (Other versions are available) https://www.virtualbox.org/ within windows. As always, before you try any of them, make sure you have backups, and if the worst happens you can reinstall windows. |
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#1522 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 158
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Another good guide to dual booting windows and linux based systems is the following
http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/d...-7-ubuntu.html Also you do not need any anti virus software for linux. |
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#1523 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,663
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Happy 20th Debian
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#1524 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: London
Posts: 8,651
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Quote:
Sounds like HD is shot to me.
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#1525 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Manchester, UK
Posts: 653
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I posted this as a separate thread earlier, but this might be a better place to get a decent reply....
I have an xp netbook which is dragging its backside its so slow. I want to install unbuntu in place of xp and I hear there is a netbook version. obviously my netbook doesnt have a dvd drive so I need to install via usb.is the netbook version any good or shall I just use the desktop version? thanks |
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I sure hope 13.10 is as good 13.04...


