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Thread: Linux Computers

  1. #1

    Linux Computers

    I just installed the Ubuntu Linux operating system on a seven-year-old Gateway desktop computer I wasn't using. It installed easily and works well for my uses.

    Linux is what you use if you get tired of Windows 10 phoning home to Microsoft about every little thing you do and you don't want to pay the "Apple tax" of higher prices for the Apple Mac. Linux is free. Linux works. Linux has available just about everything I need in a computer - word processing, spreadsheets, financial management, firewalls, browsers. This isn't the first time I set up a Linux system but in the past they were a lot more trouble to deal with than they are now. I used to set them up so that I could extend by a year or two old, outdated computer hardware that no longer supported the current Windows system, but this is my first experience with one that actually could run today's Windows. What can I say? It works.

    I think the biggest step was letting it completely erase the Windows 7 operating system that was already on it - no big deal if you have the original software disk that came with it, but my late father-in-law lost it, so with this install I was working without a net. The hardest step was installing the free software on a USB drive as a "bootable" drive. There are free programs for it, but it took awhile to figure out. The install itself took half an hour after generating the bootable USB. Cost to this point - $9 for a USB drive. It just needs to be two gigabytes, so I overspent with my 8-gig purchase. (Edit: You don't have to completely erase the current system if you'd rather not - you can dual-boot with the existing system.)

    I set up the computer as all computers are set up - just plug things into ports where they fit - and ran the Ethernet cable to the router, turned it on, and there was Firefox ready to launch and browse. I was connected to the internet, huzzah!

    The next day I did things like connect my VPN (okay, that took a little while), set up a firewall (20 seconds), found and installed KMyMoney financial program (another 20 seconds).

    It doesn't report back to the mother ship unless you tell it that's okay, so this is the thing for people who value their privacy. It's based on code that's similar to UNIX, so it's very stable, and some people go years without having to reboot. It's not immune to viruses, but there are automatic updates every day or week, depending on your wishes.

    Okay, I set it up as a test, as I haven't done one in five or 10 years, but it costs nothing to keep it going, so I will. I think it will be more than a backup if one of our laptops dies. This is a keeper, and did I say it was free?
    Last edited by Jaywalker; 09-01-2018 at 07:54 PM.

  2. #2
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Yeah I have a older Windoze hand-crank steam-driven Acer I’m about to throw through the window. Ubuntu might be a good option. We have a few Redhat boxes at work.

    Apache Open Office runs on Linux, right?
    Last edited by RJ; 09-01-2018 at 07:26 PM.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich_Jenkins View Post
    Yeah I have a older Windoze hand-crank steam-driven Acer I’m about to throw through the window. Ubuntu might be a good option. We have a few Redhat boxes at work.

    Apache Open Office runs on Linux, right?
    Yeah, LibreOffice, which replaced Apache OpenOffice and is the same thing, is already installed on it.

    I installed vanilla Ubuntu, which comes with the standard Gnome desktop. Some People prefer the toolset that comes with Kubuntu and uses the KDE desktop instead of Gnome. There are other desktops in Ubuntu if you need a smaller install because of the age of the hardware, for instance. And there are other "distros" besides Canonical's Ubuntu; it's just that Ubuntu and Mint are the biggest players in the game and generally have a more complete set of people willing to help when/if you get stuck.
    Last edited by Jaywalker; 09-01-2018 at 07:51 PM.

  4. #4
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Quote Originally Posted by Jaywalker View Post
    Yeah, LibreOffice, which replaced Apache OpenOffice and is the same thing, is already installed on it.

    I installed vanilla Ubuntu, which comes with the standard Gnome desktop. Some People prefer the toolset that comes with Kubuntu and uses the KDE desktop instead of Gnome. There are other desktops in Ubuntu if you need a smaller install because of the age of the hardware, for instance. And there are other "distros" besides Canonical's Ubuntu; it's just that Ubuntu and Mint are the biggest players in the game and generally have a more complete set of people willing to help when/if you get stuck.
    Got it.

    Might grab a USB drive at Costco and pipe my files off the W10 box, nuke it and put Linux on it.

    I like Penguins.

  5. #5
    i finally settled on Etcher https://etcher.io/ to burn the downloaded .iso file to the USB. It's what Ubuntu uses in its tutorial - makes it easier.
    Last edited by Jaywalker; 09-01-2018 at 08:06 PM.

  6. #6
    If anyone is worried about trying to learn Linux, then Linux Mint is a really good distro that has a little more of the windows look and feel.

    I recommend booting a couple distros off of a usb and seeing which one you like before doing a full install.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter MGW's Avatar
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    May 2012
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    Kansas
    I have an old XP laptop I’ve been thinking about trying Linux on just for fun. All my work stuff is Apple and sometimes I get the urge to play a little.

    Any tips on doing an install?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by GreggW View Post
    I have an old XP laptop I’ve been thinking about trying Linux on just for fun. All my work stuff is Apple and sometimes I get the urge to play a little.

    Any tips on doing an install?
    Yea, download a could different versions of Linux it a usb drive and find one that you like. Just change your BIOS to boot from the USB drive and you should be set. Ubuntu is the most popular, other good ones are Mint and CentOS. I have not played with others, but I have heard good things about RedHat.

    There should be pretty good instructions on google for creating a USB to boot from, as well as doing the install.

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by GreggW View Post
    I have an old XP laptop I’ve been thinking about trying Linux on just for fun. All my work stuff is Apple and sometimes I get the urge to play a little.

    Any tips on doing an install?
    Hawk87's idea has merit - create a "bootable" USB and run the distro from the USB without installing it. At least you'd know if you had enough RAM for an install. The last time I installed a Linux distro prior to this I was putting it on a then-14-year old Dell box. The only thing I could get it to run on back then was Puppy Linux, which was designed to run from the CD disk and not install completely; I think that's the idea with the bootable disk.

    Here's a link to a review of "desktop environments," though that's just their opinion: https://itsfoss.com/best-linux-desktop-environments/ . It might give you a direction to go if you need lower resources (RAM) for an older computer. Another way is to pick a distro and join their forum and ask opinions - they're almost always ready to talk. (Think asking a P-F question - "Is a Glock better than a 1911?" The answer doesn't matter as much as you'll learn from the context.)

    Personally, at first I'd stay with Ubuntu or Mint as they're oriented towards beginners and have healthy support forums. There are various flavors within each, e.g., Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, depending on which desktop environment you like. OTOH, it's free, except for the USB, so how bad a mistake can you make? Don't like it, change it.

    Edited: And as Hawk87 said, change your BIOS so that you can boot to the disk. You do that by pressing the right keys (don't know which for your computer) as you do a normal reboot in order to access BIOS. Then change the boot sequence so it starts with "USB," then "Hard drive." That lets it boot to the USB if it's installed.

    Edited: Oh, and the bigger the install, the fewer programs you have to manually install later.
    Last edited by Jaywalker; 09-01-2018 at 09:16 PM.

  10. #10
    Welcome to Linux!! I fuckin' love it.

    Misc ramble:
    About half of my computers have been running various versions of GNU/Linux (what some prefer it to be called) for years. I still need Windows for some work tasks and that is unlikely to change so I'm stuck with it. My current favorite is Fedora with the KDE Plasma desktop environment, but Ubuntu is an excellent "set it and forget it" OS. Another great one for Linux beginners is Linux Mint. ZorinOS is very nice newbie OS as well.

    For very old machines with more limited RAM (the amount RAM is more important than disk space for older PC's for smooth operation) superb choices are LXLE, ZorinLite, Lubuntu.

    Manjaro (based on Arch) is top ranked on Distrowatch.com, but steer clear of that one until you are more comfortable with the Linux environment. At some point Arch *will* shit the bed after an update and you'll need enough experience/knowledge to track down the problem -- or be stuck with starting over.

    ETA: Coming from Mac's, ElementaryOS will have a familiar feel.
    Last edited by critter; 09-01-2018 at 08:59 PM.
    You will more often be attacked for what others think you believe than what you actually believe. Expect misrepresentation, misunderstanding, and projection as the modern normal default setting. ~ Quintus Curtius

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