Elementary OS, Freya (Linux): tried it?

[dualstow]

Checking out the reviews this week and last. It's got some warts, but I'm intrigued.

[Jack Jones]

Checking out the reviews this week and last. It's got some warts, but I'm intrigued.

I'm a Debian Stable guy. Now that I think of it, it's sort of like the PP of Linux distros.

[l82start]

i am in the middle of a chaotic switch to Ubuntu 14.04 involving an attempt at dual boot with win 7 and Opensuse that fried my boot up in bios and left me with no OS and a non booting computer, (after trying everything under the sun, running Ubuntu was the only way to get an OS installed and my boot repaired, so much for a dual boot and dipping my toes in slowly... its the Linux deep end for me) i am now at the beginning of the process of recovering files from a win backup (ugh), and figuring out what is the Linux version of the software i use, and converting my now non functioning spreadsheets from open office to libre...  if i cant figure the last one out i may resort to posting a thread...  wish me luck 

[Xan]

I'm a Debian Stable guy. Now that I think of it, it's sort of like the PP of Linux distros.

I'm with you, Jack.  For laptops, desktops, and servers.

[dualstow]

good luck, l8. Fingers crossed!

Raspberry Pi users seem to be into Debian. I'm keeping it on the backburner.
EDIT: I see that Debian installs & runs fine on the Mac mini model 3,1 which is great, b/c I have a spare one. There are actually instructions on how to install it right. How friendly!

I remember that Kevin (M or W? I confused the pp Kevin with the boglehead Kevin) said to just jump in and stop playing with distributions, but since I have my Mac to keep my printer and scanner running and do all the things I really need to do, my Linux experience is indefinitely "in beta." I'm having a good time watching reviews of different OS's on youtube, especially the one in which the kid has his "mum" try each one out for novice-user-friendliness.

[MWKXJ]

OpenBSD here.  Excellent book is available for learning the system inside and out.

[dualstow]

OpenBSD here.  Excellent book is available for learning the system inside and out.

Ah, I recognize the No Starch Press cover. I have (or did have) the book on Ubuntu, feisty fawn era, by the same publisher.

[Jack Jones]

OpenBSD here.  Excellent book is available for learning the system inside and out.

I also prefer OpenBSD when it has support for my hardware.

[Reub]

Checking out the reviews this week and last. It's got some warts, but I'm intrigued.

Is it true that this is the perfect OS for libertarians because it shuts itself off at the first sign of trouble?

[gizmo_rat]

I tried it a while ago, it's good in that its fast, stable and looks inoffensive. However it felt a little clumsy to me particularly once I'd started adding in a couple of other applications, I then fubar'd it fiddling around. Which actually pretty much sums up my whole linux experience.

I'm looking forward to Ubuntu's next push forward / backward / sideways  on the desktop.

[dualstow]

Finally an answer, thank you!

[dualstow]

LOL, I remember that one well.

[MachineGhost]

LOL!  Almost as funny as the cute little black boy playing with his toy truck among the True Believers.

Anyway, I feel in the mood to dual boot this weekend.  What is currently the most Windows-like distribution?  There was one mentioned in another thread.

[dualstow]

Zorin, I guess.
That's what I'm putting on a USB this evening.

EDIT: didn't work, but Mint 17.2 32-bit worked fine.

[dualstow]

Jack, could I shoot a few quick Linux questions at you via PM? I use forums, too, but sometimes it's not worth posting some of these.
No rush on replies, of course.

[Early Cuyler]

LOL!  Almost as funny as the cute little black boy playing with his toy truck among the True Believers.

Anyway, I feel in the mood to dual boot this weekend.  What is currently the most Windows-like distribution?  There was one mentioned in another thread.

Linux Mint with the cinnamon desktop environment is pretty close.

[Jack Jones]

Jack, could I shoot a few quick Linux questions at you via PM? I use forums, too, but sometimes it's not worth posting some of these.
No rush on replies, of course.

Sure!

[dualstow]

Found this in the emacs manual today (my original screenshot). Even you can appreciate this, Tenn. No linux or emacs prerequisite here:
http://imgur.com/nje19m6

[Mountaineer]

Found this in the emacs manual today (my original screenshot). Even you can appreciate this, Tenn. No linux or emacs prerequisite here:
http://imgur.com/nje19m6

??  I don't see any screenshot?

... M

[dualstow]

M, the screenshot is of text. Click the link and you should see it beginning with the word "Specify".
It's not very large so it might be easy to miss at first.

Found this in the emacs manual today (my original screenshot). Even you can appreciate this, Tenn. No linux or emacs prerequisite here:
http://imgur.com/nje19m6

??  I don't see any screenshot?

... M

[Jack Jones]

Found this in the emacs manual today (my original screenshot). Even you can appreciate this, Tenn. No linux or emacs prerequisite here:
http://imgur.com/nje19m6

Richard Stallman (RMS) was the maintainer of Emacs for a long while. You can find more of his rants on his website:

https://stallman.org/

[dualstow]

I've been aware of him since the 80s, but only had an inkling before the birth of the internet.
Really interesting guy.  As is Linus Torvalds, Bill Joy, et al.

[Tortoise]

What would be a good "minimalistic" Linux distro to use on a 10-year-old clunker PC? Just for tinkering around on the Linux command line.

I had previously been using Ubuntu on that PC, but one of the recent software updates screwed something up and now it won't even boot. So a distro that uses the least amount of resources (i.e., graphics) would be nice to avoid that kind of thing happening again.

[dualstow]

I'm guessing Puppy Linux, but I'll wait for the experienced users to chime in.

[Early Cuyler]

What would be a good "minimalistic" Linux distro to use on a 10-year-old clunker PC? Just for tinkering around on the Linux command line.

I had previously been using Ubuntu on that PC, but one of the recent software updates screwed something up and now it won't even boot. So a distro that uses the least amount of resources (i.e., graphics) would be nice to avoid that kind of thing happening again.

As dualstow mentioned, puppy linux may be what you are looking for. Lxle is another possibility;one plus is that it is based on Ubuntu,which you are familiar with already, while still being fairly full featured. I've included a link that you may find useful.

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?categ ... +Computers

good luck!