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The "Linux questions (and other stuff)" thread

I've recently installed ArchLinux and been having a ball using it. It is a very nice minimum distro and you add whatever else you need/want to it. I guess it is very good on low spec hardware.

I'm currently running Mate, a fork of Gnome2, one of my favorite desktop environments.
I also installed Openbox and i3 Window Manager.

I'm trying to keep the bloat, unnessary software, off of it, so I won't install anything to do with KDE.
 
My only problem with Linux right now...bcm4313 drivers for the newer kernel. They don't seem to always work. Even the open source b43 gives me issues on anything newer than kernel 3.2 I believe...
 
I just read a pretty positive review of Mint 17... I have to get hold of Toshiba for a battery problem (warranty expires in August), and may end up having to rebuild my laptop.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone here has tried the Cinnamon variant of 17.

I am running 15 Cinnamon with KDE on top of that (I prefer different wallpapers on each desktop) and I'm curious about the new version.
 
Geez, been busy doing a bunch of new linux stuff since I last posted in this here topic. :thumbup:

First, I decided to throw Ubuntu server 13.10 on my old legacy desktop rig (the one running Win98SE and a 3Dfx Voodoo5 AGP card :p), which I last had upgraded with a second, now primary hard drive containing WinXP sp3 -- that drive now is split between ubuntu server and XP-SP3, with the win98 drive being relegated to being the secondary drive, resulting in my first at-home triple boot! :D

Mainly did this so I can use the legacy rig as a print server, and so that I can use grub to boot into 98SE without messing with bios configurations (NTLDR didn't want to admit 98SE existed on the second drive. Talk about stubborn). Got everything set up properly, and printing across the network at home is NICE. :)

Which brings me to my second and third points. Mint 17 came out, and I used the opportunity to migrate my laptop's linux partition away from mint 16 kde (sorry, Moody!!) to mint 17 cinnamon, and it works well. My experience with ubuntu server on the legacy rig introduced me to tasksel, and in its listing I saw ubuntu studio /audio creation utilty stuff. :D

So, I used tasksel on my Mint 17 install to put that stuff on -- the result of which is that my apps menu is now too tall for my screen resolution, so back to tasksel I went to remove it.....and it removed too much! :eek:

I'm still picking up the pieces. Cinammon, MDM, software sources, software manager, and I'm sure more were removed in the blanket chaos. Xfce and lightdm somehow got installed as a fallback, so the next time I booted I had a hearty WTF. :pcguru:

But hey, repairing it has been a fun learning experience! :cool:
 
I just spotted this article:
Linux Today - 11 ways LXLE Linux will make you forget all about XP

This is the one big rant I have with Linux and accessory makers. I don't want a damn all-in-one or an HP printer or scanner. I had a professional Epson scanner that was better than all of them. I also like my i6000 Canon inkjet. It still works. It prints great photos through Photoshop. (GIMP doesn't control the printer - you can't calibrate printer and screen to software) Why do I have to buy new? (I did finally figure out a workaround) I know mfg wants you to buy new, but they are making profits off the INK, not the device.

Can't this workaround be made available for all distros?
 
My Brother AIO printer has been working great on a few distros without issues. It has to be over 5 yrs old or older. I'm currently running Mageia 4 and Archlinux and its working fine with those.
 
Having spent a bit of time dabbling... I now have 4 laptops (used by various family members) running ubuntu gnome.. and they're doing all they need to do, a lot faster than when they were running the now defunct windows xp.

Just wished i'd switched earlier
 
Agreed, I'm using 12.04 unity Ubuntu, best decision I've ever made. Gave life to my old PC, an official release, Ubuntu is easy to use, while allowing crazy things to happen if I so desire.

A lot of people complain about Linux, its free man, compare that to 199 USD for the home edition of proprietary. Plus wine makes things a whole lot easier. And I mean, a whole lot.
 
Looks like Mint 15 is end of life, so I will be trying to install 17 on the side... I may try going straight to the KDE version then adding in the Gnomish programs I prefer.
 
Dngrsone said:
Looks like Mint 15 is end of life, so I will be trying to install 17 on the side... I may try going straight to the KDE version then adding in the Gnomish programs I prefer.
Click to expand...
That's what I like to do, install KDE and then pick and choose the few GNOME programs I like, such as gParted and Synaptic.
 
I've never been a fan of KDE. Don't get me wrong. Its very polished and works well. I just prefer OpenBox. Much more minimal, which is what I aim for. Even my conky script is incredibly minimal. Shows my HDD, ram, CPU, and net speed. No uptime, weather, mail, etc.
 
Prinny said:
I've never been a fan of KDE. Don't get me wrong. Its very polished and works well. I just prefer OpenBox. Much more minimal, which is what I aim for. Even my conky script is incredibly minimal. Shows my HDD, ram, CPU, and net speed. No uptime, weather, mail, etc.
Click to expand...
Aren't 'Conky script' and 'minimal' mutually exclusive terms? :rolleyes:
 
Exactly! Unlike Windows where you can change minor things. Linux, you can be like "man, this DE is lame...*opens terminal and installs a new one*"

I have to say. OpenBox and Arch on my netbook is an awesome combination! Though next best for performance would be LXDE. It performs surprisingly well on the little netbook.
 
argedion said:
The double edged sword of Linux "Choice" lets face it some people can't even figure out what they want to eat much less what they want running their computers :D
Click to expand...

Very true, my froggie friend. :) BUT, at least with Linux we can say, "oh, no, there are too many choices! I'll leave things as they are." Or not. :D
 
argedion said:
The double edged sword of Linux "Choice" lets face it some people can't even figure out what they want to eat much less what they want running their computers :D
Click to expand...
Give me a pizza or a burger. Done. Lol. Deciding what I want to do with my OS....that takes forever.
 
Prinny said:
Give me a pizza or a burger. Done. Lol. Deciding what I want to do with my OS....that takes forever.
Click to expand...
Exactly! I could easily spend days just fine tuning my preferred widget style, QtCurve. Good grief, its options combined with other system options literally yield infinite choices. I've finally gotten to where I just set it up a standard way and be done with it. Otherwise...I'd never get anything else done. :D
 
Prinny said:
Exactly! Unlike Windows where you can change minor things. Linux, you can be like "man, this DE is lame...*opens terminal and installs a new one*"

I have to say. OpenBox and Arch on my netbook is an awesome combination! Though next best for performance would be LXDE. It performs surprisingly well on the little netbook.
Click to expand...

So true. Personally I'm a fan of LXDE and GNOME (I have both but can never seem to decide which one I like better)
 
Damn!

I downloaded the .iso, verified the md5 hash, and tried burning the image to DVD.

Three times-- twice using Brasero (hangs up trying to verify the burned disc), once (theoretically successfully) with Win 8.1.

The laptop fails to recognize any of the discs as having any data on them.

I am going to have to use Dngrswife's machine, I guess.
 
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