Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, SecretSquirrel, notfred
balzi wrote:(for the un-initiated, this is the typical mating call boast of a red-bellied southern Linux Nerd)
Valhalla926 wrote:I tried using linux for over a year, until I realized I was trying to hard to get my computer to work. Consider buying an OS as buying convenience, same with buying a car or building a kit car. Sure, you could save money by building the kit car, but it'll rattle, the windows may stick, and the interior quality might be flimsy. But the Honda or Chevy will be worlds more comfortable. Up to you I suppose, but wrestling a computer into submission, and forcing it to obey at gunpoint isn't something I would make anyone deal with.
And I used Ubuntu, the everyman linux.
just brew it! wrote:I've found the opposite. Been running Ubuntu for several years and Debian before that. I can get Ubuntu up and running with everything I need on a new PC in very short order - especially if I just network boot a net install and let it download what it needs. I recently gave in and put Windows XP (with the latest Service Pack slipstreamed in) on a PC (needed for iTunes and my wife's VPN to work) and it took literally 3x as long to get the latest updates installed from Microsoft and all the drivers for sound and ACPI and such from the various manufacturers. I dare say if someone reinstalls Windows regularly then they have their CD of drivers and utilities to hand, but if you have to build that up from scratch that takes significant time.While it may have taken a bit longer to get my current Ubuntu desktops (work and home) set up and configured to my liking than it would've taken for comparable Windows boxes
just brew it! wrote:Definitely. That's what drove me off Windows in the first place many years ago - it would just break without you messing around with it. Linux just keeps on running without random breakages - that's not to say I haven't been futzing around with something and royally messed it up, but Linux doesn't decide that just because you installed a new game it is going to remove the driver for your network adaptor.I would also say they have required less maintenance after the fact to keep them running smoothly.
notfred wrote:just brew it! wrote:While it may have taken a bit longer to get my current Ubuntu desktops (work and home) set up and configured to my liking than it would've taken for comparable Windows boxes
I've found the opposite. Been running Ubuntu for several years and Debian before that. I can get Ubuntu up and running with everything I need on a new PC in very short order - especially if I just network boot a net install and let it download what it needs.
brain frog wrote:i did attempt to install linux software i got from softpedia but could not get any of it working, what file extensions are linux version of .exe?
brain frog wrote:i like how they come with firefox however i did not see any internet security have i just not seen it or must i find some for myself?
brain frog wrote:i assume right click unmount is how usb flash drives are safely removed?
brain frog wrote:also what are the best places to get linux software?
titan wrote:Ubuntu 9.04 at least and I think most other ones does a umount and flushes the buffers on right click umount of a removable drive. It will wait until the buffers are flushed an then pop up a "safe to remove" dialog box just like Windows does.brain frog wrote:i assume right click unmount is how usb flash drives are safely removed?
Not really. umount isn't aware of the needs of removable media. It's up to you to make sure that any transfers are finished before you umount and unplug the drive. Now, it won't really hurt anything if you remove the USB drive without umount'ing, but the mount point may become stuck.
titan wrote:If you are running Ubuntu just go to "Applications->Add/Remove...". On a Windows system this just shows you the software on your PC, on Ubuntu it shows you all the software that is in the repository on the Internet available for your PC. Different versions of Linux have slightly different ways of accessing the repository but things are way easier if you install from what is in the repository.brain frog wrote:also what are the best places to get linux software?
Through your distribution's repository. It helps if you tell us what you're looking for, too. There are usually several different choices to accomplish the same task.
brain frog wrote:i did attempt to install linux software i got from softpedia but could not get any of it working, what file extensions are linux version of .exe?
i liked how i could simply install them into xp without any modifications like a piece of software and it gives me the standard option at startup but it doesnt seem to let me install more than one form of linux at the same time
i like how they come with firefox however i did not see any internet security have i just not seen it or must i find some for myself?
also how would i go about lowering the multiplier in xp i adjusted it using crystalcpuid in xp as this pc doesnt have the option in the bios, i would like to lower cooling to make it as quiet as possible
i assume right click unmount is how usb flash drives are safely removed?
also what are the best places to get linux software?
i am currently downloading fedora its a massive file i assume it has a lot more or is bloated like vista
any input will be appreciated
Valhalla926 wrote:I tried using linux for over a year, until I realized I was trying to hard to get my computer to work. Consider buying an OS as buying convenience, same with buying a car or building a kit car. Sure, you could save money by building the kit car, but it'll rattle, the windows may stick, and the interior quality might be flimsy. But the Honda or Chevy will be worlds more comfortable. Up to you I suppose, but wrestling a computer into submission, and forcing it to obey at gunpoint isn't something I would make anyone deal with.
And I used Ubuntu, the everyman linux.
brain frog wrote:someone mentioned that it is important to log in as a user not root can someone clarify exactly whats the difference is within the system and how do i know what one i am using, i assume root is the equivalent of logging in a administrator in windows xp but am uncertain
brain frog wrote:i currently have fedora installed had a bit of trouble installing it at first but works fine but considering its file size it does not have that much extra
however one thing that did come up was a warning saying that the hard drive i was using is failing but that is no problem as i am only using it for testing
i found the cpu frequency monitor shortly after i last replied and i am wondering if anyone knows if it also lowers the cpu voltage and the fact that it will only go as low as 1GHz suggests it will only reduce the cpu multiplier as low as to 5 how do i get it lower and i can not find any other to save my setting in it
someone mentioned that it is important to log in as a user not root can someone clarify exactly whats the difference is within the system and how do i know what one i am using, i assume root is the equivalent of logging in a administrator in windows xp but am uncertain
brain frog wrote:*beats the person to death with a plastic haddock who mentioned slackware* I enjoyed that. After spending what feels like forever going through dos commands which is something from before my time I install it, work out how to log in, and discover more dos. Is slackware simply a more complex form of dos or is there a desktop hidden in it? I am far to stressed to spend another second looking through googled webpages trying to find out.
brain frog wrote:*beats the person to death with a plastic haddock who mentioned slackware* I enjoyed that. After spending what feels like forever going through dos commands which is something from before my time I install it, work out how to log in, and discover more dos. Is slackware simply a more complex form of dos or is there a desktop hidden in it? I am far to stressed to spend another second looking through googled webpages trying to find out.
flip-mode wrote:But, as for your situation, what were you trying to do? For me, right out of the gate when I first started playing around (last December), things were confusing, but the computer always worked just fine. The hardest part was just getting used to new software - GIMP instead of Photoshop - and the fact that Autodesk programs aren't available for Linux and there are no comparable replacements.
Valhalla926 wrote:flip-mode wrote:But, as for your situation, what were you trying to do? For me, right out of the gate when I first started playing around (last December), things were confusing, but the computer always worked just fine. The hardest part was just getting used to new software - GIMP instead of Photoshop - and the fact that Autodesk programs aren't available for Linux and there are no comparable replacements.
I was trying to do some basic computing. Can't get online? Wireless card isn't supported, buy another one. Printer not working? Buy another one. Want a resolution higher than 1024x768? Back to newegg.
I will admit, The video card is most certainly not linux' fault. ATI decided not to write drivers for the very last AGP cards they made (2600XT). I don't know if they ever did write a decent linux driver for that card, I just abandoned it entirely.
Between that, things randomly breaking, programs always trying so hard to play catch-up to the closed-source variants but always being two steps back and one to the left, and the elitist circlejerk community in some of the websites I tried to get help from ("You use mp3 format? Stupid noob." "Microslave!" "I won't use that software due to religious reasons.") I am not making any of those quotes up. They are all from various messageboards. I just couldn't put up with it anymore. I was trying too hard to get things to work. It wasn't cheaper for me to use linux at all, it cost too much time and effort.
brain frog wrote:I have spent ages trying to work out how to install my modem drivers but no luck.
I have a sagem f@st 800-840 adsl modem, downloaded the linux drivers from the sagem site the file is called Fast8x0_3-0-6.tgz , i have found guides to installing things on linux but none that seem to work.
Some example's of what i have attempted is going to synaptic package manager, add downloaded package but it can see them but not select it or any files I have extracted from it. And generate package download script i can select the appropriate files but then nothing. I am unsure what i am doing wrong and finding a guide to this has not been easy.
Can anyone help me or direct me to somewhere that can help me?
brain frog wrote:I really dont like having to have help with this on every step of this. However i am totally new to any kind of linux and this is advanced stuff and most problems are solved by going online but that is my problem.
I have gotten to the point where i use ./configure and it tells me it cant find kernel headers, i can find no useful guide to getting them on my system wile offline.
This part of the operating seems a mess nothing seems to quite work with anything else, not even the patch that came with the modem works properly.
The modem plugs into my pc using a usb port and my internet provider is tiscili.
Must i be logged in as root to do this could this be part of my problem?
Why must it be so complex to do something so basic?
brain frog wrote:The modem plugs into my pc using a usb port.