I just installed Linux on a desktop.
:smirk2:
now to go find programs to use with it. :hi:
Which one?
Ubuntu. I like it ok, but cant seem to figure out how to set up file sharing. it runs great, just not very easy to make changes. it blocks almost everything i have tried to change so far
Programs for Linux is easy. In Ubuntu (or variants thereof) go to System, Administration, Synaptic Package Manager. Hit Reload and Synaptic will download a list of all available programs. Then just search for something you want, like CD burner (k3b is good), music player (gotta be Amarok), picture editor (Gimp) and etc.
Linux is actually easier than Windows to bring up to speed after a fresh install. With Windows you have to sit and click each program to install it, wait, hit OK a lot, then go to the next program. With Linux you select all the programs you want, then hit Apply. It goes and downloads all the bits, installs them all in one go and you're done.
I'll bookmark this thread for a bit and check in if you have any other questions.
thank you for that info! main thing i cant figure out is getting it to share on my network. ugh
When you right click on a folder (in Ubuntu 10.04 which I'm currently running) it should have an option "Sharing Options." After following the steps from there, what do you do and why does it not work? If the other computer (that is trying to access the Ubuntu computer's shared files) requires user credentials, in the Ubuntu computer right click on the shared folder, hit Properties and make sure "Guest Access" is ticked.
This might help: http://matthewturland.com/2010/01/27/sharing-files-with-windows-from-ubuntu-karmic/
well on my network its only my two laptops and now the desktop. the laptops i have everything shared, makes it easier to move files around. but cant seem to share everything on Ubuntu. it sure does everything else better. so i will muddle through it lol
(Edit to previous post)
Quote from: Psalm_97 on January 01, 2011, 01:18:43 AM
hit Properties and make sure "Guest Access" is ticked.
i bet this is what i missed! thank you! and i will check out the link
i really only share music and video files. and photo work
http://xkcd.com/694/
Soon Windows will be just a fading, virus infested memory. :thumbsup2:
I've reached the point I use some sort of Linux variant for all internet, and I won't dare place an order online with my credit card on a Windows box. However much you pay for antivirus and antispyware (you got ripped off, 'cause there are great ones for free!) there's still the chance a new one has come out they haven't caught yet.
Of course the portability of Linux from a live CD or a USB install is great too. Boot your own system, your files, your programs, your settings from a flash drive, on any computer made after 2004. :D But for me security is the main reason I use Linux.
i am ready for them to rid the world of windows.
that cartoon was classic lol
i think i am going to put this on my laptop as well. i have one of those other really small laptops, an eepc, but i cant install it on that one. it dont have enough hard drive built in. and no cd rom. ugh but i only use it when i am traveling or something for email and stuff. its not big enough for anything else.
but i think it will be good for my acer laptop. i never reformatted it when i got it, so it needs a makeover badly
but overall i think i am hooked on linux :)
Psalm_97, are you Isaac?
About the eee: They make a nebook remix of Ubuntu. Look on their main site, ubuntu.com. Alternatively (and this is better in my opinion) try Crunch Bang Linux. It used to be a lightweight remix of Ubuntu, but recently they switched to a straight Debian base. Very good, very complete, very lightweight. About the CD drive, use an external drive. Yes it connects through USB, but any computer made after 2004 will be able to boot from a USB drive, whether it is hard drive, cd/dvd drive or flash drive. If you don't have an external cd drive, most distros (distro = Linux variant) can be made USB flash drive bootable without a cd. pendrivelinux.com is a good place to look for instructions, if you're not afraid of using command line.
Here's a good way to do it from within (gasp!) Windows. Using the enemy against itself, bwahahaha! Ahem... I mean, here ya go: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/crunchbang-linux-flash-drive-install-windows/
Download a Crunch Bang .iso, download Universal Installer, insert flash drive, use Universal Installer to install Crunch Bang on the flash drive.
And yes, I am Isaac. Haven't been here in years, had to re-register my nick. Chel popped up out of nowhere and gave me a link to this thread.
And by the way, the eee "really small laptop" is called a netbook, and the reason the hard drive is so incredibly small is because it is a flash-based drive. No spinning disk. Kind of like a permanently installed USB flash drive. The advantage is you can carry the netbook while it is running, juggle it if you wanted, and there is no spinning disk to break down. Disk drives don't like to be moved while in operation, which is why if your computer has a disk drive it is a good idea to put your computer on standby/sleep before you relocate it. Also a flash-based hard drive uses much less power than a traditional disk drive.
Hmmm... considering that, maybe Puppy Linux would be better than even Crunch Bang, just based on install size alone. Not as many programs available, java and flash are not automatically included (ya gotta go out and get them) but it has a VERY small hard drive requirement. How-to should be the same as for Crunch Bang, just use a Puppy .iso instead of a Crunch Bang .iso.
/me *HUGS* Isaac
I knew that sounded like you. :bigcheese:
so if i wanted to put this on my eeepc, would it delete the windows? because if i wanted to go with linux i would want to be rid of windows completely.
i have two usb drives, one 500 gig, and one 130 gig approx. and i have a 16 gig flash drive
Well with an eee (4 gig hard drive? 8 gig?) you would naturally want to delete Windows just for the space it would free up. Otherwise, you can dual boot or not on install. Dual boot = having both Windows and the Linux variant installed at the same time. When you install Linux (in most of the user-friendly distros anyway) it should give you a choice whether to wipe out current OS or to shrink it and install Linux beside it. You choose which to boot into when you turn the computer on, it gives you a list of current OS to select from.
The 16 gig flash is more than enough for even full-fledged Ubuntu. 4 gig is the minimum for Ubuntu, most others can make it on 2 gig or less. Puppy could probably be fine on a 256 meg flash drive.
To clarify, the USB boot will function like a live CD. When you boot from that you will either want to install to the computer's hard drive or just use it as a live USB boot, but it won't be like a normal installed OS until you install it.
its the 4 gig drive. i really wish i had waited to get it, because just a few months later larger ones came out lol
but i would want to wipe it clean if i go that route
so i guess i need to just load it on a flash drive and get to it. will check out the puppy one tomorrow and see about getting it downloaded
Crunch Bang would be at home on a 4 gig drive, and it has a lot more functionality. The disclaimer on the website says it might at any time go Crunch! Bang! but it hasn't happened to me yet. If it did, eh... I keep all the stuff I want to save on my external drives anyway, I can gain or lose an OS any time.
For the record:
Best all-you-would-ever-need OS: Super OS. Basically Ubuntu with aaaaaall the stuff any normal person would want to install after installing Ubuntu anyway. Java, flash, multimedia codecs for audio and video (play DVDs :D) Skype, VLC, RealPlayer, etc, etc, etc... Also a good alternative to real Edubuntu for classrooms - instead install Super OS, then install the Edubuntu packs in Synaptic.
Second best all-you-would-ever-need OS: Linux Mint. Pretty good. Not as good as Super OS, but good in its own right.
Best lightweight (all-you-need-on-older-computer) OS: Crunch Bang. Does everything Ubuntu does, but with a lot less hard drive and RAM used.
Best really-lightweight OS for really, really old computers: Puppy. Also Puppy is best for forensics and data retrieval on computers with crashed Windows OS that you want to rescue files from.
By the way, if you still want to stick with regular Ubuntu there is an easy way to change those maximize:minimize:close buttons back to the right of the window. THE biggest complaint from Ubuntu users to date, don't know why they changed it as of 10.04.
:yikes:
what to do what to do?!?!? lol
im thinking about trying one of the other versions you mentioned on my desktop, not really impressed as i feel i should be with the U. but at least now i know i def want a linux system.
guess i will have to spend some time looking at the sites
While I have some time to kill, might as well list best programs for Linux. These work in Ubuntu or Debian based OS (everything I mentioned in the previous post except Puppy.)
Disk burner:K3b. Better than the in-house cd burner that comes with most Linux variants. Uses KDE runtime, so if you're in a non-KDE environment it might seem like a lot of stuff being downloaded for one program, but it's worth it. Almost beats Nero, and I don't mean Nero for Linux.
Music recorder/editor: Audacity. Very easy to use, very powerful, very handy. I've set up a lot of people with this as a way to quickly and easily convert their old cassettes/records to CD.
Antivirus: Clam AV. Don't look at me like that, you still need an antivirus even in Linux. Not to protect Linux... to protect any Windows computer you might port that downloaded file to. Also it is handy on USB installed Linux to have an antivirus - if the virus just will *not* let Windows even boot, you can boot from the USB Linux and run an antivirus scan of the whole internal hard drive.
Bible program: Xiphos. The Search function has replaced my concordance, and you can load a commentary, click on a verse and get the commentary for that particular verse to pop up in the side window.
Music player: Amarok, has to be. Has a comprehensive music library setup, and it can interface with MP3 players like Windows Media Player (WiMP) does.
Games: Neverball, Neverputt, Chromium, Battle for Wesnoth... and tons of first-person-shooters that have lots of players online. For Battle for Wesnoth, be sure to get all the scenarios packs.
Image editing (like Photoshop): Gimp. Takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you are accustomed to PS, but it works and works well.
Instant Messenger: Pidgin. Handles Yahoo IM, MSN, Google chat, IRC chat rooms, ICQ, and a lot of stuff even I have never heard of.
IRC: XChat. Very good, very complete chat script. Or you can just let Pidgin handle IRC, but if you're a mod you'll want the popups XChat already has.
Office suite: OpenOffice (if your chosen OS doesn't already have it... most of the more popular Linux distros come with it by default.)
Don't forget Wine Windows emulator, although I don't have any programs I use in it... ya never know, you might need to run a win program.
If there's anything else I forgot it.
"guess i will have to spend some time looking at the sites"
Choosing a Linux... That can lead to trouble. Read this cautionary tale: http://xkcd.com/456/
Yes, it was just a joke. But the part about Gentoo was for real - avoid it like the plague if you have a life and want to keep it. :cool:
lol
i just say linux because i can spell it :freaky2:
Ya know what... I was fiddling around with latest Crunch Bang (just downloaded it last night) and never mind - Stick with Puppy. Crunch Bang doesn't even automount partitions. Even DSL automounts. :/
Of course the great thing about Linux distros being free (and USB bootable) is you can download as many as you want and try them - without paying and before installing anything. :clap:
ok i have puppy downloaded and put on the flash drive. will install later today.
as far as the desktop i am confused lol what of the versions you mentioned are best for a desktop?
This thread has inspired me to install Ubuntu again... :)
yay minnie!
well i downloaded the puppy and got it put on the jump drive but my eeepc wont boot it. ugh
Super OS. Used to be Super Ubuntu, but name was changed because of legal junk. You can actually convert regular Ubuntu into Super OS (Super has its own repo) but installing Super straight from the disk is for some reason more stable than installing Ubuntu and converting it to Super. Go figure.
But anyway, yeah... Super OS blows anything else out of the water. For now. Something better may come down the open source pike next year.
About the eee (it's what people say when they're scared for a reason... "eeeee!") have you set it to boot from USB in the BIOS? Most computers are not set to by default, and for a very good reason - if it is set to boot from USB and you have a normal flash drive or external hard drive attached at boot, the computer will check USB first, find a hard drive with no OS and stop there. No boot. You have to access BIOS and enable USB boot (a simple change in boot order.) After you install the OS on the hard drive be sure and disable USB boot, or you'll have to unplug any USB storage every time you boot.
Minnesota: If you are accustomed to Windows you might find Kubuntu more to your liking. Ubuntu runs Gnome desktop, meant to be more accessible for Mac users. Kubuntu is basically Ubuntu with KDE desktop environment, made for (you guessed it) Windows users.
www.kubuntu.com
Oh, and if you're going to the length of installing it (as opposed to just using it from the live disk) you want to get the older 10.04 version, not the latest 10.10. The reason is 10.04 is the most recent LTS (Long Term Support) version. The normal 6-month editions of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu have a short support life. The LTS is supported for years.
thanks ps i will check that. didnt think about the boot order. ugh. since i had those strokes i forget more than i remember.
i downloaded the super os and have it burned and think i am going to do a clean install for the desktop. i hate doing it again but i dont really have anything installed on it yet. will let you know how it goes.
you are such a help!
@Psalm_97: Heres the thread from when I first installed Ubuntu... http://godplace.com/forum/index.php?topic=24867.0
I wish we had a drink water-get surprised-spit smiley. No wonder minnesota's avatar is driving over such rocky terrain... 6.06 was terrible! Almost as bad as (ugh, acck, pfft!) Vista. As of this date, 9.10 is the best Ubuntu yet. Super OS best version is 10.10 (latest) and it's pretty good.
And by the way, never, ever, ever go the upgrade route. Fresh install ftw at all times. Save your files and .config on an external hard drive or three (rule of computers - unless a file is on at least three separate storage media, it doesn't really exist), wipe out everything and reinstall when you want a new Ubuntu. For some reason Ubuntu distro upgrade is always, always, ALWAYS fraught with frustration, whichever version you're upgrading from and to.
Never mind, I found it.
Ubuntu 6.06?!?? :spitlaugh:
:spitlaugh: we do sorta lol
Barb you have HOW many computers?! Gimme gimme gimme! I have a habit of taking old computers people are throwing out, cleaning them up (cleaning out Norton and other junk that slows it down), installing a lot of freeware programs most people would like and finding good homes for them with people who just want a basic computer to get online and check email on.
My mother lode was when this guy contacted me, said he had some computers. I drove up expecting maybe three non-working desktops I could frankenstein into one working computer. He was a systems admin who was moving. He gave me 11 computers, 4 worked, 2 worked after I took parts from the ones that wouldn't work. All long gone of course, found homes for them. The guy's wife sure seemed glad to see all that stuff go... :teeth:
i dont have many anymore. i have 3 laptops (one is the eepc, so not really a laptop) and one desktop and a second desktop i would have it if i could get it to recognize a hard drive but so far cant. even bought a new one but it wont recognize it either.
i do the same thing. before i had my strokes i had 28 working computers all running and on my network lol but alas i lost everything while i was in the hosp and was homeless for almost a year. so now i am basically starting over.
you would have died if you had seen how much computer stuff i had built up, just from what people wanted to throw away.
i was making working computers and donating them to the family violence shelter here. when a family was helped into a new home they got a working computer to take with them. and while they stayed at the shelter they took classes. i loved doing the classes almost as much as fixing the computers.
Sounds like a techno-rat after my own heart. What caused the strokes? I saw the mention of 12 computers on your network (in the old thread) and almost had a short-circuit.
It's amazing what people will throw away. I have an old (old, old, OLD) computer my workplace was throwing out, a Dell desktop, made back when Dells were white. Has a sticker saying "Made for Windows 98." Has two, count em, TWO P3 processors (coppermine), a whole whopping 256 megs ram, a 40 gig hard drive. For the Win98 days that was exorbitant in the extreme, more computer than any sane person would need. Right now it's in my office at church running Windows XP (quite impressive for a computer that old) quite happily. I type the church bulletin on it every week and burn off whatever CD copies the choir/sign team/drama team/children's church needs.
"i loved doing the classes almost as much as fixing the computers."
Then you know the reason for a previous comment: "you are such a help!" It's kinda fun.
For some reason I also get a kick out of setting up a computer to be as easy as possible for an average (non-nerd) person to use. This is a great time for that. Foobar2000 automatically starts playing where it left off last time you shut it down, Media Player Classic automatically plays DVDs when you put them in your computer, Esword automatically pops up the commentary for a verse when you click on the verse, etc.
hahah thats great! i did have the first home computer we had bought, it had 1 meg ram and no hard drive lol
they say they think it was stress on the strokes. i had been working 3 jobs for several years, had a 3.5 mile walk to work, worked over night for 10 hours, the walked across the street and worked 8 hours at the hospital, then walked 3.5 miles home. did that 5 days a week. not to mention building and repairing computers on the weekends and building websites etc.
guess i just got too old.
now i am at the other extreme. sit at home day in and day out. miss working. been messing with the computers some trying to get my mind to work right again, plus my hands. i lost a good percentage of use of my right side. so a year later i am still trying to recover. so this has been a good boost for me.
yeah i do my best to make it easy for each person. i try to custom it to what i know they like to do. and i am like you, i dont like alot of the so called paid programs. i have found so many free ones that do so much more than the paid ones.
The thing about freeware is, people who make it make it to work. They're not out to make money, they're out to make a program that does X and does X the way they want X done. Last "program" I bought was RealGuitar 2 (a virtual instrument) and that's only because nobody has made a good freeware one. Yet.
Eh hang it, I'm up for a bit. Might as well make this list too. Best freeware I've found for all my Winblows bound friends. I mean Windoze.
... Windows. Hmm, maybe I *have* been hanging around Linux chats too much.
Esword bible program
Audacity sound editor/recorder (totally rocks, totally easy!)
Foobar2000 music player
Irfanview video/audio player, pic editor. Very handy.
K-Lite Media Codec Pack, with Media Player Classic. Plays any media file that IS a media file.
XChat for Windows, from good ole Silverex. Handles IRC like no other freeware.
Pidgin IM, handles almost everything chat.
Firefox (I HOPE I don't need to explain to anyone what that is!)
Clamwin antivirus. Also Antivir. They seem to work well together, and one will probably catch anything the other misses.
Spybot antispyware
Zone Alarm firewall.
dBpowerAMP audio transcoder, goes from wma to ogg to wav to whatever. The old dB (11.x) is better and faster than 12.x or later.
MediaCoder audio and video transcoder. Never did video much myself, but I hear it's great...
Avidemux video editor.
Gimp picture editor. That is, if you really NEED something Irfanview can't do. Steep learning curve.
Infrarecorder and/or CDBurnerXP Pro, disk burning.
OpenOffice office suite. Who needs M$ Office? :P Opens and saves as M$ office files if you need them, plus Starwriter, WordPerfect and a lot of formats I've never heard of.
Abiword word processor. For older computers that don't need a full OpenOffice anyway.
Sumatra PDF viewer. Sure, Adobe viewer is free, but it's soooo slow!
IzArc, for all your compression and decompression needs. Handles .rar and almost anything else, will even decompress .iso
Games... this is a whole section. When I was setting up my brother's computer I got him for his birthday I plowed through hundreds of freeware games. Wound up with 50 or so really good ones. Here goes...
Install games: Aquadelic, Abarlith, Battleship 88, Catalyst, Code Red - Battle for Earth, Code Red - Martian Chronicles, Highway Pursuit, Hurrican, Ardentryst, Marble Arena, Mech Commander, Mech Commander 2, Outbound, Red Valkyrie, Super Tux, Super Tux Kart, Star Wraith series (1-4, Star Wraith Reviction), UFO AI, Battle for Wesnoth, TAGAP (a bit bloody but good gameplay), Theseus (has ads, but free to play.)
Portable games: Area 2048, Ball Racer, Ora Soft: Cleaning of the trash done in outer space, Echoes, End Effector, Eternal Daughter, Exit Fate, Legend of Flan: Flan Rising, Freehunter, G-Speed, Guardian of Paradise, Gunroar, Gun Viper, Iji, Freedroid RPG, Last Scenario, Illegal Communication (just try it), Ludo Race, Minigolf Maniacs, Neverball and Neverputt, Op Genocide, Rayhound, Sonic 3D, TechnoSylph, The Desolate Room, The little eggy that could, Titanion, Torus Trooper, Trackballs, Glaxium, Return to Sector 9. All tested and virus-spyware free.
BTW, ever tried portableapps.com? Most of the apps you like in Windows, in portable form. Portable OpenOffice, portable Infrarecorder, even (be still my heart) portable Audacity! I almost swooned when I saw that last one. :clap: :clap: :clap:
no i havent. really havent needed to? what are they for? lol
They're for EVERYTHING... portably. Basically they take already good freeware like Pidgin, OpenOffice, Audacity, and make portable versions a guy can carry on his flash drive. Don't have to clutter up your friend's computer installing stuff in order to use your favorite program.
Of course if I have a flash drive anyway, I'll just install a whole OS and boot from that instead of the friend's internal hard drive. :P
oh lol i never use anyone elses computer. if i cant take a laptop then i dont go lol but good idea if i ever do. may make me a flash drive of progs like this, for those just in case. never think about it
Quote from: Psalm_97 on December 30, 2010, 05:25:29 PM
I'll bookmark this thread for a bit and check in if you have any other questions.
erm i need help lol i cant find any of those programs you named. i opened sys, admin, synaptic pkg mgr. but none of those programs are in the lists or i cant find them. i have the super os version
1. Which programs are you looking for? I made a list of Linux programs I use, and a list of programs I install on other people's Windows computers.
2. Did you hit the Reload button to get a fresh list of available programs? Before it connects to the internet, all the programs your computer will know about will be what is on your computer.
yeah i was trying to find the cd burning prog you suggested, but it isnt in the list. but i will deal with it later. my laptop really really really dont like this, ugh.
Oooooooh, are you running Puppy on your netbook? No, k3b won't be available. All the other OS I yakked about are Debian based, but Puppy is in its own little universe.
If you're running Ubuntu (or Super OS, or Linux Mint, or Crunch Bang) and you have hit Reload and k3b is still not showing... In Synaptic Package Manager go to Preferences > Repositories and make sure they're all ticked, main, universe, restricted, multiverse. Then hit reload again.
no i put Super OS on my regular laptop. havent done the eeepc yet. kinda scared to lol
oh ok, i will try that. they werent all checked. wasnt sure if i wanted them checked or not.
Did any of this stuff we were yakking about work? Ever get your eee Linux-booted? Ever get Synaptic to give you the full list of programs?
Quote from: Psalm_97 on January 11, 2011, 11:55:10 PM
Did any of this stuff we were yakking about work? Ever get your eee Linux-booted? Ever get Synaptic to give you the full list of programs?
sorta, no, yes lol still too chicken to try it on my eee. my laptop really isnt liking it at all. i may have to go down to a smaller version or something. prob not enough ram
(http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad154/allelujah_hallelujah/618068-1.gif)
somehow this made me think of you PS lol
Who, me? I use Windows XP a lot, it's my go-to OS for music. I just wouldn't trust it for three seconds online. Even with an antivirus/antispyware/firewall there's so much that can happen... the newest viruses and spyware are always able to get in until the antivirus/antispyware catches up.
i havent used virus programs for years. once you learn where and how you get them. it should be a no brainer. i cant even remember the last one i had.