The "Linux questions (and other stuff)" thread

[MoodyBlues]

That too, but back in the day they could track a typed page back to the typewriter that made it, which is pretty cool...at least to a mystery junkie.

Hey, I own the entire collection of Agatha Christie mysteries!

Give it a shot! It's 100% legal as long as you enlarge or reduce the size of the copies.

Oh...okay...I hadn't actually planned on doing any resizing.

 

[Dngrsone]

As I recall, all color copying machines over certain capacity had the yellow dots thing incorporated... it was implented specifically to combat Monetary counterfeiting.

In the US, you have to reduce or enlarge paper currency by something like ten percent when copying it for academic use, by law. Again, that is IIRC.

 

[zuben el genub]

I've got this:
antivirus - Problem after installion of NOD32 on xubuntu 12.04 - Ask Ubuntu


Is this answer right? I have Mint 14. I also threw out the download file.
I can't even back up with that command in the way

I did have Nod 32 working on Ubuntu 11.04. I only got it since I download for 2 offline XP
computers. What I do download are embroidery files. Every machine has its own format, but I can use any with my software. There are only one or two universal formats. This is pretty niche, but ir the digitizer is making money, I suppose even small potatoes are game. I will also download for a cutting machine. These files are usuall SVC and Inkster handles them, but the utility for the Cricut also won't run anywhere but windows

The other downloads are mainly Photoshop brushes and Adobe tutorials. There is a guy on one of the photo forums I use, he's been posting for years. If he wasn't reliable, someone would have said so. This is also niche. Anything else I can use Mint for. Designers Gallery will NOT run under Wine. There's barely a digitizing system for Macs. So I have no hope for Linux.

Thanks

 

[zuben el genub]

HP printers are a PITA. I had one I kicked out the door, another Photosmart 7560 that I'm looking to get rid of. They want to call home and do everything their way. The old scanners did that, too.

I got an Epson 300, found the fix for it online, installed it and both simple scan and Xane recognize the scanner. Nothing had trouble with the Canon i6000. I had to dork around to get the HP laserjet to work, I'd had an older TOL Epson from the 90s. Ubuntu had no problem with it. It wore out last year.

On the old typewriters, there were differences by the ways the keys hit. Some letters and numbers were a tad off. Once the Selectric came out, that made all typing pretty uniform. You'd have to check a ball rather than the typewriter itself.

BTW, while it works, I don't think Linux is too crazy about my old IBM clicker keyboard.
Don't ask me to use a Windows key, I ain't got one. The clicker is the only keyboard that could withstand the heavyfisted kid. I had one with the F keys down the side, it was old when she got it, and it held her for 10 years.

 

[MoodyBlues]

HP printers are a PITA.

Not in my experience. In fact, I always specifically look for HP when shopping for another printer because they've ALWAYS just worked with Linux. Even the all-in-one I currently have works perfectly--with no software needed. It just works.

I had one I kicked out the door, another Photosmart 7560 that I'm looking to get rid of. They want to call home and do everything their way. The old scanners did that, too.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Mine work perfectly and don't have any method of 'calling home.'

Don't ask me to use a Windows key, I ain't got one.

I cover up those ANNOYING, ubiquitous keys with Kubuntu stickers.

 

[nickdalzell]

Got FSX running again

Moody, perhaps Windows 8 is Gates' method to get people on Linux and off Windows? haha. however i don't think i'd like him commercializing it. you know he'd do just that.

 

[nickdalzell]

uh oh, new problem. i just walked away from my laptop for a second to use the bathroom. all that was open was Firefox with a webpage i was reading. came back to tons of text and at the bottom was:

Panic occurred, switching back to text console

tell me, please that this is not another bad omen! i've done nothing. haven't hacked any files, it was working fine and FAST all week long no problem at all! seems ok for the time being but now i'm worried. fsck reports nothing wrong this time

 

[9to5cynic]

Check dmesg, that might help.

 

[zuben el genub]

HP will print tons of gibberish. I've had a big color laser do it at work.
We used Adobe Illustrator to do a lot of our brochures, etc, and HP just plain choked on it.

I also had an HP scanjet that fussed at me if I tried to scan at 300 DPI. It's none of the scanner's business. I need the pixels for what I'm doing.

I use Canon at home - I've stuck just about everything you can think of in a Canon printer, and it usually prints. If it can't, it says so. It doesn't print pages and pages of machine gibberish. I use XP, and if necessary, I can run the i6000 with the Canon 600 drivers which are built into XP.

So far, Canon also has not chipped the carts. HP screams if I use a different brand. I will use cheap ones for the printer attached to the sewing computer. I don't print much, but when I want to print, I want to print. Since it's embroidery diagrams and not a picture, no problem.

HP also does not like my printing preferences. I do them through either Qimage or Photoshop. HP thinks it should control what I want. I wound up with that Photoprinter since I didn't want an all in one.

I use an Epson scanner. Epson has the controls I want and just shuts up and scans my way. Even in Linux. I don't like the new ones as much as my old 1250.

The other reason for Adobe - at the time, it and Quark were the standards for print.
You could just barely bring in a DOC file to a printer. My boss was setting up a web site, and I was supposed to do the layout in the POS Publisher. You should have heard the webmaster scream. I convinced Boss to buy Illustrator, We had peace all around after that. Illustrator will edit Adobe PDF files.

 

[zuben el genub]

I've got this:
antivirus - Problem after installion of NOD32 on xubuntu 12.04 - Ask Ubuntu


Is this answer right? I have Mint 14. I also threw out the download file.
I can't even back up with that command in the way

I did have Nod 32 working on Ubuntu 11.04. I only got it since I download for 2 offline XP
computers. What I do download are embroidery files. Every machine has its own format, but I can use any with my software. There are only one or two universal formats. This is pretty niche, but ir the digitizer is making money, I suppose even small potatoes are game. I will also download for a cutting machine. These files are usuall SVC and Inkster handles them, but the utility for the Cricut also won't run anywhere but windows

The other downloads are mainly Photoshop brushes and Adobe tutorials. There is a guy on one of the photo forums I use, he's been posting for years. If he wasn't reliable, someone would have said so. This is also niche. Anything else I can use Mint for. Designers Gallery will NOT run under Wine. There's barely a digitizing system for Macs. So I have no hope for Linux.

Thanks

How do I fix?

 

[nickdalzell]

Check dmesg, that might help.

I simply force booted as it was frozen then. It has worked fine without problems last night and all day today. Odd...a glitch? Fluke? Haven't seen Kernel Panics since Red Hat 7.1 and that one was caused by swapping motherboards...

Did a system check though, 88% of the memory is free, no swap utilization (there but none of it used). And that was after playing FSX for a bit.

Is the 'panic occurred' message Linux's version of a BSoD? It was up and running then BAM! There it was. Just like a BSoD.

 

[MoodyBlues]

HP will print tons of gibberish.

I've never seen that.

I've had a big color laser do it at work.
We used Adobe Illustrator to do a lot of our brochures, etc, and HP just plain choked on it.

So we're not talking Linux, correct?

I also had an HP scanjet that fussed at me if I tried to scan at 300 DPI. It's none of the scanner's business. I need the pixels for what I'm doing.

It's now in the garage, as I have an all-in-one that includes a scanner, but my standalone HP scanner worked just fine, including at 300 DPI. As does the HP Deskjet F4140 All-in-One Printer.

HP also does not like my printing preferences. I do them through either Qimage or Photoshop. HP thinks it should control what I want.

Not on Linux, right? It doesn't do that to me, but I only use Linux.

I wound up with that Photoprinter since I didn't want an all in one.

How come?

 

[zuben el genub]

Because I had a top of the line Epson Scanner that worked far better that the junk that comes with the usual all in one. I use the advance settings. I don't fax. Why should I buy a swiss army knife when I need a single blade? I might just change to a dye sub printer. If I change printers, I don't need another scanner. I don't have to rebuy all the other equipment. I can change pieces and parts at will. I have a laser and an inkjet. I was doing a lot of newsletters at one time, plus a website/newsletter for a local non-profit. (I was a member and could do it free)

I control print through Photoshop. Canon just doesn't fuss. I set things the way we were taught in classes for print. It might not be necessary now, but I like having the full control. Canon never fussed. Even most of the people that were edging for high paying jobs in the design market were impressed with what the Canon could do.


They all used Macs, and only Epson printers. I was the only cross platform - 98SE and Canon.

My 1300 laserjet started to print gibberish the other day. I was using Mint at the time, and when I deleted the job, it deleted. Windows will sit there with the crap in the print queue telling you it is deleting. You have to reboot the computer.
Getting the stupid thing to work in Ubuntu originally was the pits. It wasn't CUPS, it was a different problem. The Canon just worked. The Canon printer also never printed gibberish. If there was an error, it would just say there was an error, and not waste ink/toner and paper. If Canon software could be that compatible, it had to be HP.
I did have an Epson printer at one time - even that never printed gibberish. Also had a Brother Laser that didn't print gibberish, either.

If you work in an office, you use what the office uses. Your boss makes the choice.

For the machine that runs Designers gallery, I see I can get a color ribbon for the old impact printer. You can still get the paper. I don't need anything fancy, just a color chart. I have a USB to LPT1 adapter.

I replaced the original scanner (it died after 15 years) with another Epson. (Canon never released a driver for one of its scanners). Not quite TOL, but has the same software. I didn't have to buy any more printers or faxes. It's also more waste when you need to dispose of them. You have a sheet of glass and other mechanisms to work the scanner.

I needed the stupid printer right away. The camera store wasn't open or I would have bought a Canon i9000. All this damn town sells are the cheap all in ones. Most HP use different carts to boot. Printer was a stopgap until I could order from B&H or Adorama and get MY CHOICE.

The printheads on inkjets wear out as ink is forced through hot. Eventually the holes enlarge. The old HP carts did include new print heads - that was an advantage.
The photo printer does not do this. There are no print heads on the carts, so no advantage.

It's like Android/Apple. I don't like HP. I don't like their philosophy of marketing.
Until someone comes up with a design suite like Adobe for Linux, I'll use Photoshop and Illustrator, plus Indesign. The plugins for all have to be compatible. I can use all PS plugins in Illustrator.
I can't use Inkster in Gimp. I can't hook Digikam to Gimp like Camera Raw to Photoshop. There is no pure printing program that will give me the specs of Qimage. No one really saves to DNG. PNG is usable.

 

[MoodyBlues]

If you work in an office, you use what the office uses. Your boss makes the choice.

I was the boss. So I bought what I wanted!

Seriously, zuben, I've just never had any of the problems you're talking about. Not the gibberish printing, not the printheads wearing out, just none of it. Of course, I'm not doing the same things you're doing, or using the same software you're using.

It's like Android/Apple. I don't like HP. I don't like their philosophy of marketing.

I have no idea what you're referring to--I never watch commercials (thank goodness for DVRs!) and I haven't seen any other type of ad from them. I buy HP not because of any advertising influence on me, but solely based on decades of personal experience.

Until someone comes up with a design suite like Adobe for Linux, I'll use Photoshop and Illustrator, plus Indesign. The plugins for all have to be compatible. I can use all PS plugins in Illustrator.
I can't use Inkster in Gimp. I can't hook Digikam to Gimp like Camera Raw to Photoshop. There is no pure printing program that will give me the specs of Qimage. No one really saves to DNG. PNG is usable.

I don't know what some of those programs are, nor do I have any experience using their plugins with GIMP or anything else. Why do you want to hook digiKam to GIMP? The GIMP has its own raw image handler. I've never heard of DNG files, but the GIMP does PNG files just fine. I make all my designs [for my web sites' products] using the GIMP, saving them as transparent PNGs.

 

[zuben el genub]

We got the salesmen and the stupid brochures all over the office. Did you ever sit and read all the promotional literature in the box? I read everything.

I happen to like the histograms and curves in Digikam. The lens adjustments work. I don't care for Gimp. I don't like the layout, the menus - Gimp just looks messy.
If something does not appeal to me aesthetically, forget it. I'll probably delete it.

Since it's my own setup and home, I can please myself. I like what I am using in Mint, but I'm not falling for the whole line of BS hook, line and sinker. That's exactly what Windows, Apple, Google, are trying to make you do. I'm a fanboy of what works the way I want it. I'd love to have a box that ran all OS so I could pick and choose what apps I want. Apple does have some interesting ones for a desktop. Chrome might have some. I also don't care if it's free - free might be all well and good for most people, but if it doesn't work for me, then free is no good. I've turned down crap I don't want or won (forum does random drawings, you don't enter) I hate hearing "IT'S FREE" Since I don't want it, I've left more for those who do, or the pigs that snag as much as possible because "IT'S FREE"

I'd have to keep an XP box anyway. There is no way that Linux runs any embroidery digitizing apps. I can design a quilt or wall hanging from my photos. I've digitized patches from photos or drawings. I have to convert them to vector anyway so the digitizing program will stitch right. Stitches use coordinates just like vector. And I'd have to keep windows software for converting whatever I want to digitize since that's what the digitizing programs use. I'm using Windows since it runs that software, and I want the software. I'm not running Windows for whatever it's normally advertised for.

 

[9to5cynic]

I don't like the layout, the menus - Gimp just looks messy.

I really am not a fan of the layout in the gimp either, but that's because I used photoshop first. I hear there is a Gimpshop project, where they use the photoshop layout using GIMP. Ya might want to give that a go.

Since it's my own setup and home, I can please myself. I like what I am using in Mint, but I'm not falling for the whole line of BS hook, line and sinker. That's exactly what Windows, Apple, Google, are trying to make you do. I'm a fanboy of what works the way I want it. I'd love to have a box that ran all OS so I could pick and choose what apps I want. Apple does have some interesting ones for a desktop. Chrome might have some. I also don't care if it's free - free might be all well and good for most people, but if it doesn't work for me, then free is no good. I've turned down crap I don't want or won (forum does random drawings, you don't enter) I hate hearing "IT'S FREE" Since I don't want it, I've left more for those who do, or the pigs that snag as much as possible because "IT'S FREE"

I'd have to keep an XP box anyway. There is no way that Linux runs any embroidery digitizing apps. I can design a quilt or wall hanging from my photos. I've digitized patches from photos or drawings. I have to convert them to vector anyway so the digitizing program will stitch right. Stitches use coordinates just like vector. And I'd have to keep windows software for converting whatever I want to digitize since that's what the digitizing programs use. I'm using Windows since it runs that software, and I want the software. I'm not running Windows for whatever it's normally advertised for.

I broke this into two quotes, but I don't really have a response to this part. :/

 

[MoodyBlues]

I really am not a fan of the layout in the gimp either, but that's because I used photoshop first. I hear there is a Gimpshop project, where they use the photoshop layout using GIMP. Ya might want to give that a go.

When I first started using the GIMP (for serious work), I did NOT like its interface at all. It was like...all over the place! Bits and pieces all over my screen, and I hated it. However, I've adjusted mine so that everything now opens where I want and is sized how I want. Its look now is more like a one-window app, rather than a messy multi-window, all over the place app.

BTW, I tried GIMP's single-window version when it was first available, and it had too many bugs. It was more hassle than it was worth. So I reverted back to an older, multi-window version, but like I said it LOOKS neat and single-window-ish now. I haven't bothered trying later revisions of the single-window version because I'm so used to mine now it really isn't an issue.

 

[MoodyBlues]

We got the salesmen and the stupid brochures all over the office. Did you ever sit and read all the promotional literature in the box? I read everything.

Ha! No, I don't have to deal with that crap any more.

I happen to like the histograms and curves in Digikam. The lens adjustments work.

The GIMP has/does all of that, too.

I don't care for Gimp. I don't like the layout, the menus - Gimp just looks messy.
If something does not appeal to me aesthetically, forget it. I'll probably delete it.

I just posted another reply about this; please read it!

I'm a fanboy of what works the way I want it.

And I'm a fangirl of what works the way I want--luckily, Kubuntu Linux fills that need for me.

I also don't care if it's free - free might be all well and good for most people, but if it doesn't work for me, then free is no good. I've turned down crap I don't want or won (forum does random drawings, you don't enter) I hate hearing "IT'S FREE" Since I don't want it, I've left more for those who do, or the pigs that snag as much as possible because "IT'S FREE"

Believe me, I understand. Although the software I use the most--KDE, SeaMonkey, the GIMP, among them--is free, I support them financially. For me, it's not that I want a FREE product, as in $$$, but a FREE product, as in no bullshit/strings/crap/bloatware/viruses/etc. attached. It makes me feel good that I get the high quality I expect because of dedicated programmers/developers who make this stuff available, and I reciprocate by supporting their projects financially.

BTW, regarding free things in general. I'm like you, just because something is free, if I don't want/like it, I don't care to have it. I remember winning two things back in the '80s from a radio station I always listened to, one was a pair of tickets to a Yes concert and the other a season pass to Six Flags Over Texas. You know what I did with both? GAVE THEM AWAY! I never was a Yes fan, and after going to SFOT twice, I knew I'd never want to go back.

There is no way that Linux runs any embroidery digitizing apps.

Only because there's no known need for such apps. If enough people voiced a need, I'm sure apps would start appearing.

I have to convert them to vector anyway

I don't really do anything with vector images, but I believe Inkscape works well for them.

 

[zuben el genub]

Inkscape doesn't save in the right formats. It does save vector, but not the right flavor for the Designer suite.
I have Inkscape on the Windows box for another program that prefers SVC. So I do use it. It isn't as polished as Adobe or the old Macromedia Freehand, but it does do the job.

While I don't care for MS in general, at least the machine language it uses has opened a lot of doors for very different apps. There were birding apps and lifelists, all kinds of crafting programs, embroidery programs. Recipe organizing programs. Small things that quite a few people will use. There are a lot of niche apps.


I see Android working with a lot of these now - the small guy can write and sell them.

There is starting to be a demand to shift some specialty apps to tablets. I see a lot of questions about running the apps on an Ipad. This is where open source and Android can lose out.

Information on any of these apps spreads by word of mouth on forums. The niche lovers (male and female) are quite good at doing it.

Palm had scads of useful special medical apps for doctors. They screamed bloody murder when Palm quit. Guess who picked up and redeveloped? Apple.

No one OS fills that need for me. I also like to see what is going on with new stuff whether I want it or not. It's mostly not, but I will look at the review or video before I decide it's crap.

Open source needs to wake up. I know a lot depends on licensing, but people are starting to use tablets more. One home security outfit lets you control your whole home through your phone or tablet. Right now, that's Android or Apple, but with Windows trying to standardize everything to run anywhere, Windows will be included.

I see Open Source trying to get games and succeeding. It might just be too little, too late. Open source looks like it might be realizing that not everyone is devoted to social sites, in business, or just wants to check email.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Inkscape doesn't save in the right formats. It does save vector, but not the right flavor for the Designer suite.

Oh, I see.

While I don't care for MS in general, at least the machine language it uses has opened a lot of doors for very different apps. There were birding apps and lifelists, all kinds of crafting programs, embroidery programs. Recipe organizing programs. Small things that quite a few people will use. There are a lot of niche apps.

Linux has [at least some of] those, too. There are recipe programs/organizers, book/library organizers, ham radio programs, small business management programs, etc.

Open source needs to wake up. I know a lot depends on licensing, but people are starting to use tablets more. One home security outfit lets you control your whole home through your phone or tablet.

I'm guessing you're referring to ADT, right? I have ADT, so I can speak to this. Yes, I can control everything via their Android app on my phone, but I can also control everything simply by logging on via my web browser on any computer. No tablet required.

I see Open Source trying to get games and succeeding. It might just be too little, too late. Open source looks like it might be realizing that not everyone is devoted to social sites, in business, or just wants to check email.

I keep seeing comments like this and they truly baffle me. I've used nothing but *nix for eons, and believe me I do WAY more than just check e-mail or use social sites. I do everything from play games to watch DVDs to create graphics for products to...you name it. I don't get where this gross misconception about Linux comes from.

 

[Prinny]

I keep seeing comments like this and they truly baffle me. I've used nothing but *nix for eons, and believe me I do WAY more than just check e-mail or use social sites. I do everything from play games to watch DVDs to create graphics for products to...you name it. I don't get where this gross misconception about Linux comes from.

My assumption is how it used to be. For me ten years ago, getting certain wireless drivers to worked involved this, that, some beer, and cussing. These days its more straightforward. Either install it...or use make, depmod -a, modprobe.

Linux has certainly come a log way, and can do...what....90% or so of all functions now? Give or take.

 

[MoodyBlues]

My assumption is how it used to be. For me ten years ago, getting certain wireless drivers to worked involved this, that, some beer, and cussing. These days its more straightforward. Either install it...or use make, depmod -a, modprobe.

Yeah, I remember when some wireless cards--like the notorious Broadcom 43xx series, wouldn't work without some hard-core tweaking. I used to have to do the ndiswrapper workaround to get wireless working with Broadcom, but those days are long gone.

Linux has certainly come a log way, and can do...what....90% or so of all functions now? Give or take.

See, this I have a problem with! Linux has always been able to do WAY more than window$. That's because of its UNIX heritage. Just like UNIX was to DOS as the space age was to the stone age, Linux is to window$. Linux is more powerful, more versatile, more secure, more stable, etc. Linux 'under the hood' can do things just with its built-in commands that window$ users can't even imagine. But I think what you're referring to is how Linux has evolved over the years, from its original very geek-oriented beginnings to its current 'even clueless computer illiterate people can use it.' I can't argue with that, but it bothers me when Linux is characterized as working on catching up with window$, when the truth is that micro$oft has ALWAYS stolen concepts from *nix...and then implemented them badly. :laugh:

 

[Prinny]

By 90%, I mean there are a few games that WINE and Virtual Box will not work with.

Which I know, isn't the fault of Linux, but rather the makers of the software.

While Linux can do almost everything, there are sadly a few things that it cannot do. That is, until the developers realize how powerful and great Linux is

 

[palmtree5]

micro$oft has ALWAYS stolen concepts from *nix...and then implemented them badly. :laugh:

UAC anybody?

 

[zuben el genub]

It may be more powerful, but not in marketing. All the stuff advertised is Windows/Mac, Android/Apple/some Windows.

That's where your data goes - to sell more stuff. You don't believe it, I don't believe it but Joe Shmo from Idaho does, and he will back it up with his money. The companies that are pushing all this stuff will do almost anything to keep edge and profits. Merge, sue, whatever. Linux the OS is great and all you say - Linux as a marketable product does have catching up to do. I've never seen an ad saying anything like Linux is Cool or to make a young person want it.

Linux will have a hard time. If patent trolls smell money, even if wrong, they can tie up or hurt whomever they sued. Just looking at the list of who bought which company for what purpose and patents can make your head swim. I see Nokia wants Instagram also for socializing. I've been watching money and marketing trends for years. I don't like the way all this is heading. Makes it hard for open source.

Linux might have a music/video service like Google or Apple, but does it have the tunes the kids want? Can they put it on another device? Like DL on computer and switch to tablet or phone? If Sony has the rights, Sony can dictate where the songs go.

People want the crap. So the money will go with the crap. But some of us do have the right to run a certain OS for any reason. If I get torked with Google, I can shove all my books on a memory stick in PDA format, buy a dumb phone and use my Sony UX-50 Clie. I'll go back to using Astromist rather than Sky Safari.

BTW - some Linux groups don't want to hear from you if you can't write a script. So if it's an oddball problem, they have no interest, and too bad. If you search for answers, most are pre 2010 or the question wasn't deemed worthy of notice. That is also no way to win friends and influence people.