Giving Linux another shot.

[KB3LAZ]

So, I have a netbook with Ubuntu 11.10 on it. I have been using it on and off for about a year now and I have not been overly happy with it. Its kind of flaky. I have reinstalled it a few times with the same issues on more than one PC. Web cam is an issue, internet connectivity is tricky at times, and my pc locks up more often than I like. I guess this flavor is not for me so I will try another.

Last night as I slept I downloaded Mint 64 Codename Maya: Mate. We shall see how well that goes. If I decide I am not happy with this either, any other suggestions?

Also, any good alternatives to open office? If not OO will suffice.

[W4GPL]

I recommend & support Fedora. But I've heard very, very good things about Linux Mint.

The community seems to have adopted LibreOffice as the defacto office suite. It's a direct fork of OpenOffice after Oracle bought Sun.

[KB3LAZ]

I recommend & support Fedora. But I've heard very, very good things about Linux Mint.

The community seems to have adopted LibreOffice as the defacto office suite. It's a direct fork of OpenOffice after Oracle bought Sun.

Thank you for the advice.

I have not really used linux in depth just Ubuntu so I will have to DL fedora as well and try that and mint side by side. I am finally determined to give up windows. A limitation with win7 HP 64 that I was unaware of pissed me off to no end. I use ult but that is not the point. My MIL bought a new netbook which she wanted to switch to English to help her use the language more on a day to day basis. However, since the OEM is preloaded there is no language select and you can not change the display language on home premium. ...well I can do it but its not legal, it voids the warranty, and its just plain BS that I have to. She is still happy with her netbook but that was the last straw from windows that I am taking.

I will sadly keep windows around on my gaming PC but..not like I have too much of a choice there.

Also, I will try LibreOffice, ty again. Its not that I dislike OO but its kind of annoying. Its a bit slow and does not automatically close out sessions after you exit. IE its still listed as a task.

Side note: I am looking at the Mint Manual atm and in the tutorial about software packages it uses Amateur radio(universe) as the example. This made me smile.

[W4GPL]

Side note: I am looking at the Mint Manual atm and in the tutorial about software packages it uses Amateur radio(universe) as the example. This made me smile.Yeah, most of the major distributions have very nice amateur radio support. Fedora even maintains an amateur radio live CD..

Funny you mention this, because I was on a local 2 meter repeaters this evening and they were having a "learning net".. basically a net to discuss various technical issues related to ham radio. And someone asked about Linux packet applications and net control just started making derogatory remarks about Linux, calling it 'archaic' and 'not supported'. Of course, I couldn't let that stand. :lol: Turned into a 5 minute back and forth where in the end he says 'I think we're on the same page'.. yeah, if that page is 40ft long. :P

[KB3LAZ]

Yeah, most of the major distributions have very nice amateur radio support. Fedora even maintains an amateur radio live CD..

Funny you mention this, because I was on a local 2 meter repeaters this evening and they were having a "learning net".. basically a net to discuss various technical issues related to ham radio. And someone asked about Linux packet applications and net control just started making derogatory remarks about Linux, calling it 'archaic' and 'not supported'. Of course, I couldn't let that stand. :lol: Turned into a 5 minute back and forth where in the end he says 'I think we're on the same page'.. yeah, if that page is 40ft long. :P

LMAO.

Just got back from the bank..well it didnt work out. I cant get money from home..soooo I have to continue to use my CC until I can get a bank account setup and do a transfer. No big deal that is only three weeks away. I knew it was not going to work but I had to appease Pilar. Now that that is over I can get down to it and throw Mint on this pc.

All files that need saved are backed up. Im going to dual boot for a few days and if I can live with the setup I will ditch windows. At which point I may just have to throw fedora on here as well and play with both systems.

I have tried linux a few times but I am uber nub. Lol. The good news is that if I get stuck I have a group of rather knowledgeable and great people around here to pull my head out of my ass for me!

[KC2UGV]

If you don't need a lot of the more "extreme" features of an office suite; Google Apps works fine for about 90% of what I need an office suite to do.

[W4GPL]

If you don't need a lot of the more "extreme" features of an office suite; Google Apps works fine for about 90% of what I need an office suite to do.Agreed. And if you run into a situation where you need those features, you can just export your document back into LibreOffice.

[KB3LAZ]

If you don't need a lot of the more "extreme" features of an office suite; Google Apps works fine for about 90% of what I need an office suite to do.

Spreadsheets and a word program would be my primary uses.

Shit, I use notepad most of the time. Lol. (The spreadsheets are for making database tables in MSSQL)

[KC2UGV]

Spreadsheets and a word program would be my primary uses.

Shit, I use notepad most of the time. Lol. (The spreadsheets are for making database tables in MSSQL)

If you don't do fancy pivots and what not, then Google Apps should work fine.

[KB3LAZ]

I should probably use chrome too. I remember reading somewhere that there was an issue with flash on FF when used in junction with linux. Unless that has been sorted out.

Oh yeah, Paint shop pro like program for linux, gimp?

[KC2UGV]

I should probably use chrome too. I remember reading somewhere that there was an issue with flash on FF when used in junction with linux. Unless that has been sorted out.

Oh yeah, Paint shop pro like program for linux, gimp?

People say GIMP is the PSP equivalent... Maybe it's just my mental capacity here, but I've never been able to get very good with GIMP, but I'm pretty handy with PSP.

[KB3LAZ]

Already ran into a snag. Can not seem to connect to the internet. It comes up and prompts for my password and I give it. After attempting to connect I get the same message over and over again. Password or encryption required.

[KB3LAZ]

Network settings, Ipv4 settings, automatic (DHCP).

Tried changing my security setup from wap personal to wep..no improvement.

[KC2UGV]

Dumb question: Caps lock key?

Sometimes, instead of entering the ASCII key I put into my router, I have to enter the Hex version.
http://jorisvr.nl/wpapsk.html

Use this to figure out what you should try. Unless you are using WEP, then use this:
http://www.dirtymonday.net/key_convert.html

[KB3LAZ]

Dumb question: Caps lock key?

Sometimes, instead of entering the ASCII key I put into my router, I have to enter the Hex version.
http://jorisvr.nl/wpapsk.html

Use this to figure out what you should try. Unless you are using WEP, then use this:
http://www.dirtymonday.net/key_convert.html

No, caps was the first thing I checked. I will check your link to see if I can make any progress.

[KB3LAZ]

In the meantime I am installing. I was just running as a live CD. I will see if that makes a difference first. ...After it is done resizing my partition.

[KB3LAZ]

o0 that is one hell of a big hex code, lol.

[W4GPL]

If you're using WEP, you might as well not use any security at all. WPA2 only.. WPA if you must.

What type of network card do you have? A lot of the Broadcom adapters will show up, but not work unless you pull the non-free firmware.

[KB3LAZ]

If you're using WEP, you might as well not use any security at all. WPA2 only.. WPA if you must.

What type of network card do you have? A lot of the Broadcom adapters will show up, but not work unless you pull the non-free firmware.

I use wap2 but I switched to wep just to see if I could get it to connect. Nothing changed and is now back to what it was.

atheros is what is in my laptop.

[W4GPL]

Can you be more specific? Atheros.. what?

[N2CHX]

Sounds like that netbook has some hardware issues. I've never had any problem with Ubuntu on any machine, at least using Gnome, and I've installed it on more machines than I can count on two hands; netbooks, laptops, desktops....

I personally don't use it anymore as of last year, not because it's not functional but because it's just too dumbed down like Windows now. I've moved to Fedora and concur with 'GPL, Fedora would be a good choice too. That or Debian.

[KB3LAZ]

Can you be more specific? Atheros.. what?

Not atm, I cant check anything as it is installing. I dont know off hand.

I am on another PC atm waiting. However upon inspection of the internet it says that this is the default card. Atheros AR9287

[KB3LAZ]

Sounds like that netbook has some hardware issues. I've never had any problem with Ubuntu on any machine, at least using Gnome, and I've installed it on more machines than I can count on two hands; netbooks, laptops, desktops....

I personally don't use it anymore as of last year, not because it's not functional but because it's just too dumbed down like Windows now. I've moved to Fedora and concur with 'GPL, Fedora would be a good choice too. That or Debian.

Not on my netbook atm. Installing mint on my laptop. Netbook has Ubuntu.

[N2CHX]

Can you be more specific? Atheros.. what?

I know what's wrong. Plug a CAT5 network cable in, run all the updates through it, reboot and WiFi should work fine.

[N2CHX]

Not on my netbook atm. Installing mint on my laptop. Netbook has Ubuntu.

Ah, sorry. Seriously though, plug a network cable in, run all the updates and then WiFi should function OK. The older drivers often don't work right and are updated in the first round.

[W4GPL]

If you Google AR9287 and Ubuntu, there's several people who have experienced problems. You might need to follow the Ubuntu 'additional drivers' instructions via an ethernet hookup.

[KB3LAZ]

Well will that work with mint if it is an Ubuntu issue? I know I read one is based off of the other.

[W4GPL]

Sorry - I might have gotten a little mixed up. You're installing Mint?

Edit: If so, same principle. I think you're probably just missing the firmware. Just look for it in software updates or whatever Mint calls is.

[KB3LAZ]

Yes, I already have Ubuntu on another PC. On this one I am installing mint. I broke out the Ethernet cable. Will do some updating and see how it goes. ...194 updates, lol.

[KB3LAZ]

Okay, Ethernet plugged in and working just fine for updates. Lol, it insists that it still wants to continue to attempt to connect wirelessly in the meantime.

On another note, I would have expected so many updates to be large. Not really. Might take 15 mins at the most.

Or 1 minute! Damn. Now to wait for them to install.

Lol, Idk why I am but I am excited.

[W4GPL]

I don't know if Mint does anything similar, but Fedora uses what they call 'deltarpms' which is basically just a binary patch to the previous update. It limits the size by a large percentage..

[KB3LAZ]

Posting from my laptop now, on mint. Wired connection. Now that it is updated it is telling me that I need to find a compatable driver that is free. Something about the one I am using now would violate something or anoter. Lol. Message was too quick for me to catch it all.

[W4GPL]

After doing a little more research, as far as I can tell, your wireless chipset is supported by the ath9k driver.. which doesn't appear to need a non-free firmware. That should be available in most of the latest modern distros.. it's in my Fedora kernel tree (3.4.0-1).

[KB3LAZ]

Hum, looking on the web. Not sure what I am reading, lol.

[KB3LAZ]

Hum, if I am reading this right, updating my kernal to 3.2.6 will allow the driver to work.

[KB3LAZ]

Bleh. Im lost. Internet works but not wireless. Will keep reading while fedora downloads in the background.

[N2CHX]

Bleh. Im lost. Internet works but not wireless. Will keep reading while fedora downloads in the background.

Try deleting the entry for your AP in your "Edit Connections" --> "Wireless" section and then re-connectiing.

[KB3LAZ]

Lol, skype call from my parents. Gotta love it. People call when you are in the middle of something. I resume later, lol.

[KB3LAZ]

xD My brother is there. Mwhaha, lazy way out. I will make him walk me through the fix skype...but he uses fedora so that´s what I am likely going to end up with. TTYL. Thank you all so much for your help thus far. I will update in a bit.

Again, sorry, Im so nub when it comes to this.

[KB3LAZ]

Well, Fedora worked from the get go. I guess that solves that.

[N2CHX]

Well, Fedora worked from the get go. I guess that solves that.

That's one of the reasons it's on this laptop ;)

[KB3LAZ]

That's one of the reasons it's on this laptop ;)

That was so much easier. xD I am having fun with it. Its sitting beside me. Not as bad of a learning curve as I had though. Lol..My desk is a nightmare atm. Four computers sitting here.

So this is what I learned most from this thread. Listen to Jeff, Kelli, and Corey from the get go and your linux issues will be nonexistent! Next time, slap me on the back of the head and say "use this instead". Lol.

[KC2UGV]

That was so much easier. xD I am having fun with it. Its sitting beside me. Not as bad of a learning curve as I had though. Lol..My desk is a nightmare atm. Four computers sitting here.

So this is what I learned most from this thread. Listen to Jeff, Kelli, and Corey from the get go and your linux issues will be nonexistent! Next time, slap me on the back of the head and say "use this instead". Lol.

Distro issues like what you experienced are really down to the particular hardware. For example, I've never had an issue with LM (Or Ubuntu). Apparently, your hardware doesn't like the custom kernel they use; and prefer Fedora's (Not surprisingly, Fedora is a little more "bleeding edge").

But, glad to hear it's working out. Let me know what you think of Fedora.

[KB3LAZ]

Distro issues like what you experienced are really down to the particular hardware. For example, I've never had an issue with LM (Or Ubuntu). Apparently, your hardware doesn't like the custom kernel they use; and prefer Fedora's (Not surprisingly, Fedora is a little more "bleeding edge").

But, glad to hear it's working out. Let me know what you think of Fedora.

Will do. I will also try to throw Mint on another PC. One that has Ubuntu on it. If ubuntu works then I figure mint may work on that pc without issues. Like I said, I like ubuntu but I have stability issues with it. If not for that I wouldnt switch.

[KB3LAZ]

Was thinking about getting a MacBook air for something new but..damn expensive little buggers. 1100$ for one with 8g. Man, that is a new rig! Well..almost.

[n2ize]

Distro issues like what you experienced are really down to the particular hardware. For example, I've never had an issue with LM (Or Ubuntu). Apparently, your hardware doesn't like the custom kernel they use; and prefer Fedora's (Not surprisingly, Fedora is a little more "bleeding edge").

But, glad to hear it's working out. Let me know what you think of Fedora.

I the old days everyone used to customize and compile the kernel. Nobody used an "out of the box" kernel for very long. It was basically there to get you started to the point where you are ready to compile a custom kernel.

[XE1/N5AL]

I the old days everyone used to customize and compile the kernel. Nobody used an "out of the box" kernel for very long. It was basically there to get you started to the point where you are ready to compile a custom kernel.Thankfully, we now have Linux loadable kernel modules.

[KB3LAZ]

Thankfully, we now have Linux loadable kernel modules.

Yep or I would have never tried. Lol.

[W4GPL]

Glad Fedora is working for you. Now we can speak the exact same language. :) I speak fluent EL5 & 6 & Fedora.

http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration -- you'll want to install RPMFusion Free & Nonfree from this link. This will let you use packages that have licensing issues that can't be distributed within Fedora proper. This includes things like MP3, various video codecs, and other important desktop-ish stuff. Let me know if you have any questions. RPMFusion is fully compatible with Fedora's upstream -- you don't want to mess with the other repositories that are out there, with the exception of Adobe's Flash & Google Chrome's repo's..


[*=2]free - for Open Source Software (as defined by the Fedora Licensing Guidelines (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging:LicensingGuidelines)) which the Fedora project cannot ship due to other reasons
[*=2] nonfree - for redistributable software that is not Open Source Software (as defined by the Fedora Licensing Guidelines); this includes software with publicly available source-code that has "no commercial use"-like restrictions


Google Chrome (though I'm currently a Firefox guy): http://www.google.com/landing/chrome/beta/ -- this will automagically install the .repo file in yum so it'll grab all future updates when updating your system with Fedora's utilities; whether it's through the GUI fancy-pants stuff or yum (via the CLI).

Adobe Flash: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ -- Choose 'yum for Linux' and then install flash-player via the aforementioned utilities.

[KB3LAZ]

Glad Fedora is working for you. Now we can speak the exact same language. :) I speak fluent EL5 & 6 & Fedora.

http://rpmfusion.org/Configuration -- you'll want to install RPMFusion Free & Nonfree from this link. This will let you use packages that have licensing issues that can't be distributed within Fedora proper. This includes things like MP3, various video codecs, and other important desktop-ish stuff. Let me know if you have any questions. RPMFusion is fully compatible with Fedora's upstream -- you don't want to mess with the other repositories that are out there, with the exception of Adobe's Flash & Google Chrome's repo's..


[*=2]free - for Open Source Software (as defined by the Fedora Licensing Guidelines (http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Packaging:LicensingGuidelines)) which the Fedora project cannot ship due to other reasons
[*=2] nonfree - for redistributable software that is not Open Source Software (as defined by the Fedora Licensing Guidelines); this includes software with publicly available source-code that has "no commercial use"-like restrictions


Google Chrome (though I'm currently a Firefox guy): http://www.google.com/landing/chrome/beta/ -- this will automagically install the .repo file in yum so it'll grab all future updates when updating your system with Fedora's utilities; whether it's through the GUI fancy-pants stuff or yum (via the CLI).

Adobe Flash: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ -- Choose 'yum for Linux' and then install flash-player via the aforementioned utilities.


Thank you, Jeff.

[n2ize]

Thankfully, we now have Linux loadable kernel modules.

True. But even today sometimes you still need to compile a new kernel to get certain things to work.. And some people still like to streamline and roll a customized kernel anyway. But yeah, nowadays you can do pretty well with an "out of the box" kernel, at least most of the time.

[n2ize]

Will do. I will also try to throw Mint on another PC. One that has Ubuntu on it. If ubuntu works then I figure mint may work on that pc without issues. Like I said, I like ubuntu but I have stability issues with it. If not for that I wouldnt switch.

I've been using Fedora when it was still called "Redhat Linux". I remember it was originally called "Fedora Core". Personally I like Fedora. I enjoy it. You'll notice that new releases come out very fast. I generally don't upgrade/install with every new release. I do it more like every few releases or when i find myself having to spend too much time upgrading libraries and stuff in order to get a piece of software to compile and run. I install most stuff via rpm's but I still also like to custom build and install a lot of stuff from tarballs.

[KB3LAZ]

So far so good with Fedora. I am keeping a dual boot configuration for now. It is nice to fall back on something I have used for as long as I can remember. It will take time to get intimate with Fedora. I really like the idea of putting it on an 11.6 netbook with a dual core and 4g of ram. Nice little portable device. Will be my next project.

[N5KAT]

[QUOTE=W4GPL;442804]Yeah, most of the major distributions have very nice amateur radio support. Fedora even maintains an amateur radio live CD..
QUOTE]

Where can I d/l the ISO for this live CD ham package? I searched but did not find...

I'm about ready to give Linux another shot myself.

[W4GPL]

Where can I d/l the ISO for this live CD ham package? I searched but did not find...

I'm about ready to give Linux another shot myself.http://noname.math.vt.edu/Fedoraunity/isos/

[N5KAT]

Thanks GPL...will try to spin it this weekend.

Been running a Kachina 505 using kcat and since this CAT program and fldigi are both Linux oriented, this will give me a platform for experimentation. It has been years since I ran Linux and the distros and ham applications seem to have come a long, long way.

[ad4mg]

http://noname.math.vt.edu/Fedoraunity/isos/

Fedora now sports the Unity desktop? I'm suffering through trying to learn to like it, but it's tough going.

[W4GPL]

Fedora Unity != Unity Desktop

Fedora Unity is a break away group [mostly defunked] of Fedora that does things on their own terms. They've been around longer than Unity Desktop, by many years.

[ad4mg]

Fedora Unity != Unity Desktop

Fedora Unity is a break away group [mostly defunked] of Fedora that does things on their own terms. They've been around longer than Unity Desktop, by many years.

Good for them! I'm not sure I like the direction Ubuntu is taking with the last two versions. In 11.10, you could revert back to Gnome, but it's Gnome 3. Do - not - like. In 12.04, it seems harder, if not impossible to revert back to Gnome without breaking the desktop. The Unity desktop is OK, kind of, but it is clear Ubuntu will stay with Unity even if the decision is an unpopular one.

I would imagine Unity is quite difficult to manage for new users. Documentation is poor. Hardware support has backpedaled. Don't have the hardware for Unity 3d? You get Unity 2d, a hideous bastardization at best.

[KC2UGV]

Good for them! I'm not sure I like the direction Ubuntu is taking with the last two versions. In 11.10, you could revert back to Gnome, but it's Gnome 3. Do - not - like. In 12.04, it seems harder, if not impossible to revert back to Gnome without breaking the desktop. The Unity desktop is OK, kind of, but it is clear Ubuntu will stay with Unity even if the decision is an unpopular one.

I would imagine Unity is quite difficult to manage for new users. Documentation is poor. Hardware support has backpedaled. Don't have the hardware for Unity 3d? You get Unity 2d, a hideous bastardization at best.

Unity Desktop is what had me convert to LinuxMint for desktops. Still use Ubuntu for servers, however.

[KB3LAZ]

As was asked of me by a few, it is now recap and review time.

How do I like using Fedora? Or is the better question, how do I fare?

Well here is what I have to say. First of let me say that on the surface everything is fine but not without its irritations. For basic computing it is going just fine. However, I still find myself at a loss when trying to find things and am still stuck in a windows grove. That, I suppose, is normal for someone that has been using windows for their entire lifespan. Other than that, there are a few programs that are taking me time to adjust to. As well as the fact that boot time is just horrendously slow, after initial load up everything runs better than windows.

Since I am currently out of my gaming phase. Well, Im not sure it is fair to call it a phase as the better part of my life has been spent gaming on a daily basis but that is beside the point. Anyway, since I am not gaming I do not really have a need for windows. It really was the only glue holding me to the system.

As time progresses I am sure I will learn the ins and outs of linux as I have windows. Only time will tell. I think that when I get situated I will build a linux only PC. By that I mean tailored to linux, hardware for the most part seems to be rather compatible these days but it seems that some hardware is more compatible than others. I think by doing this I may circumvent some of the issues I previously had when setting linux up.

One of the major issues I had was due to my own stupidity. I first installed mint and when I tried to remove it I did so by uninstalling and reformatting the partition with linux. The problem with this was that windows would not read the format because it did not create it. Fine, reinstall, nope! Could not reabsorb the partition and in fact it was not even reading as free space. At this point I had become fed up and just washed the drive clean. To my dismay, nothing changed. ...Long story short I stopped being an idiot and used PW which solved my issue. Learned something new in the process.

I do think that in the future I will have to review different versions of linux to see what is best suited for me. So far I do like fedora and do not really care for Ubuntu. I really did not get to test mint as my computer would just not cooperate with it.

All in all, I am happy thus far. Learning, and somewhat at a loss at times but that goes with any change in life. I am glad to have you all around to steer me in the right direction when I go wrong. Believe me, it is only a mater of time.

[mw0uzo]

It took me a year to fully migrate over to linux, just have patience and try to use it as much as possible, particularly for your day to day work.
Got through several Ubuntu releases, got annoyed with upgrade breakages every 6 months and Unity/Gnome3, moved to Debian stable 'squeeze' and stayed there. Now very happy with the OS. When the next debian stable release is ready, I will either go with XFCE or MATE for the desktop.

You will find more bleeding edge distros supporting more wireless cards etc, due to the newer kernels. But that doesn't mean you need to nuke your install to get the wireless to work. Look for the 'backports' software repository for your distro and slip in the latest kernel :)

[n2ize]

As was asked of me by a few, it is now recap and review time.

How do I like using Fedora? Or is the better question, how do I fare?

Well here is what I have to say. First of let me say that on the surface everything is fine but not without its irritations. For basic computing it is going just fine. However, I still find myself at a loss when trying to find things and am still stuck in a windows grove. That, I suppose, is normal for someone that has been using windows for their entire lifespan. Other than that, there are a few programs that are taking me time to adjust to. As well as the fact that boot time is just horrendously slow, after initial load up everything runs better than windows.

.
What type of machine are you running. I have Fedora installed on my Dads 64 bit dual core machine and with systemd as a replacement fdor init and parallel boot the sytem, starts up fas as hell.

[W4GPL]

Yeah.. Fedora shouldn't be slow to boot up.. sounds like a service or hardware device is failing to start properly.

If you hit 'escape' during the default boot up process, you should get all the debugging messages. Is there any one thing that is taking a long time?

[KB3LAZ]

I have it on two computers at the moment. An acer laptop and my desktop with the same load time. Approximately 3 minutes. Both are 64 bit, both have 8g of ram, one has a 2.2g quad core and the other has a 2.8g quad core.

And yes, in both instances the screen goes black right after the loading screen. It does this for about 20 seconds on one and 15 seconds on the other. After it actually brings up the desktop it runs perfectly.