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Post by Jj on Jan 11, 2009 21:29:21 GMT
As some of you know, a few days ago, I got brave and decided I wanted to try Linux on an old pc. Well this is an ongoing tale, of my adventure into Linux Mint.
First I followed a Link Mikkh had put up that took me to a site that gave me information on LM, and a user guide to installing and first usage.
Now the first big step, was to download an ISO file, which Ill be honest, I didnt have a clue about. But, download it I did. Then I had to 'burn' the iso to CD. And so it went on to tell me how, installing an Iso Recorder, then burning the image to disk. This was all new to me and was done over a two day period reading up constantly.
Then one evening, I turned on the old pc, which was riddled with Viruses, spyware, malware, and yes a trojan or two. But those little varmints are a little passion of mine, and so I set about clearing that before my next chapter in LM, because I knew if I messed it up, I was installing something else anyways. I surprised myself, though I will admit, to reading Major Geeks clean up stuff and following those instructions. Then i rebooted, ran all scans again, clean as a whistle the non genuine XP machine was. But I knew then, the next evening would be spent installing LM.
So, the evening had come and I picked up the burnt disk, started the old pc, rebooted with the Linux Mint CD in, and followed instructions. and boy, after less than 30 mins, I had a brand new OS installed and ready to use.
Everything I need is on here, I dabble with graphics programs, Psp usually, but this has Gimp on, I also play with a 3D program called Daz Studio, which is also free anyways, but Id ummed and ahhhed about installing a program called Blender to help in this field, and by gosh, thats there to be installed. Yes, theres lots and lots of programs come with the LM, but I install from a 'software manager' choosing just what I want on here and not bothering with what I dont. Its all open source, and costs nothing. I havent had to download a thing at all, its all there for me.
Then last night, I was having a look around the LM, and in the software manager stuff, I noticed Games, so, I clicked on each and boy, what a selection. i installed only a few things, and I can play all day, theres paint progs, theres even a 'lemmings' game with a penguin called Pingu, marvelous!!!!
LM comes with pidgeon installed, an instant messenger ( or did I install that, cant remember) but the sounds and look didnt impress me too much but it works great,. But, while looking at the games, and flicking through the lists, i saw something called amsn. and thats just what it is, an msn messenger, looks and works similar but better than the original. I love it, my hotmail opens in firefox now, oh yes, firefox and opera come with LM, and when Im talking to two people (family always asking me stuff) both are in same window and tabbed, you know, like firefox is when browsing. Tabbed! I tell you its great. So great, my brother borrowed my Linux disk, and went and installed it on his sons computer, because he's fed up having to clean the mess off every few months.
Oh yes, no need for anti virus software, no need for anti spyware, no one writes this stuff for Linux, just like they dont for mac's, but macs cost a lot more than Linux does. And so, this is the start to my tale in LM, my next instalment I hope will include how I get themes and how Im finding things with LM.
Stay tuned,
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Post by mikkh on Jan 11, 2009 23:57:40 GMT
Well done sweetheart, you, like 'lazysod' before you, have conquered the beast called Linux and found it's not as intimadating as most people think it is.
I really can't see why more people don't use it - or at least have a go
Your average computer user rarely goes beyond a bit of surfing, instant messaging, basic office work and trying to avoid (mostly unsuccessfully) the pitfalls of using a Windows based system.
I'd be out of a job if they did though, so let's hear it for Windows - the PC technians dream ;o)
I don't know if 'Xara' is available in the default Mint repositories, but if you like graphics type programs, it's freely available for Linux users and one of the most intuitive bits of software I've ever used
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Post by lazysod on Jan 13, 2009 21:10:02 GMT
Well done Jj for trying Linux. I was sure it was oh so complicated and only meant for people like Mikkh that knew everything about PCs, well that is until I tried my first live CD and I am hooked now I love trying different ones and have even managed to convert a couple of my friends. I have had a few small hiccups in the past but that was all soon sorted out with help from Mikkh if I ever had any problem that I could not get round he always helps out. It is like having a free 24 hour helpline being a member of CIT if you have any questions I am sure you will get an answer here. A lot of members just give up their time to help us out its great.
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Post by highlandpark on Jan 17, 2009 17:04:48 GMT
Could someone help please I have installed Linux Mint it installs but when I take the dual boot choice for linux I get a black screen and this message
Try (fd0) : invalid or null missing MBR-helper .
has any one any ideas what i have done wrong please
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Post by Jj on Jan 22, 2009 19:00:39 GMT
Hi Highland Park, sorry its took so long for someone to answer you, and Im even sorrier that I cant help. Im still getting to grips with Linux Mint myself. The best person to ask is Mikkh, If you start your own thread it may be easily seen by him.[/size][/font]
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Post by Jj on Jan 22, 2009 19:02:44 GMT
And finally, after many attempts to get a 'dock' Ive finally found the answer, now Id like to chnage the look!
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Post by elvisuk on Jan 22, 2009 20:20:13 GMT
H! Jj
What's a 'dock' ?
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Post by Lynnrose on Jan 22, 2009 20:21:22 GMT
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Post by Jj on Jan 22, 2009 21:21:20 GMT
Its Cairo dock elvis, means those icons in the centre are docked there. i was going for a 'mac' look. but i now need to find some nice icons, and install them. its all a learning curve, but itll be nice to have a desktop ive made eventually. which ill probably end up creating once i get the hang of things.[/size][/font]
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Post by elvisuk on Jan 23, 2009 1:15:04 GMT
OK thanks Jj
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Post by Jj on Jun 25, 2009 22:21:02 GMT
... My ongoing life in Linux Mint. everyone knows back in January Mikkh mentioned Mint 6 as being one distro that worked right out the box. and having an old pc going spare I tried it. and boy what a revelation. Its a great OS and I'm a total convert.
Couple of weeks ago I put Mint 6 on a neighbours old laptop, she wasn't that impressed but could talk to her friends through amsn and could get on the net. but it was a little slow she said. (having 512 ram maybe didnt help, but it seemed ok to me.)
Then my daughter gave me an eee pc and the xp on it was sluggish and no matter what i did I couldn't speed it up. I wasn't familiar with the eee pc or anything.
By this time as we all know Mint 7 has been out for a month? well, my old desktop got it put on, picked everything up as i knew mint would. got to say too, this version seems faster.
Then this week I thought right, Ill try mint live on the eee and if i can get wireless and a dongle to work ill install mint 7 on that, and sure enough after tussling for a few days and getting settings right, the eee now has mint 7 on. and is a perfect addition to my family of pc's.
Then the friend mentioned she didn't use her laptop with mint 6 on, so i said pop it in ill put mint 7 on, well again everything just worked, and its definitely faster and shes happier now.
Then...... I had a thought, an old old laptop sat doing nothing, in fact i nearly gave it away twice on freecycle, and once even thought about giving it to the scrap man. I thought the hard drive was dead. been stuck under the desk since November, and no matter what I tried, I could never revive it. But, having used a usb to install mint on the eee, i thought go on, one more try, so set up to boot from usb, restarted the lappy, and by jingles, there it was, live as you and me, plugged in the ethernet and online, thought right see if it would install. I should never have doubted it. I now have 3 varying pc's running the best OS Ive ever come across, picked everything up, from printers to drivers, web cam (still need software to run it mind, but test went swimmingly) one even needed a driver for the modem , but mint comes out the best thing since 'chips'.
I rarely use the Xp machine now, and Im a total convert!
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Post by mikkh on Jun 26, 2009 1:00:01 GMT
It's good to hear you like Linux - well one version of it anyway, and that's what saddens me a little reading your reply.
There's no problem in sticking to one version if it does what you want, but part of the fun of learning Linux - for me anyway, was trying all the different versions. I was a bit like a kid in a sweetshop to be truthful. Trying one after another, instantly liking some, hating others, but always on the lookout for the perfect Linux.
I did actually find what I thought was perfect twice, only to have both snatched away from me for different reasons.
The first was called Libranet and in a way it was the 'Mint' of the time. Based on Debian, just like Ubuntu/Mint is, but it was years before Ubuntu even existed, which is another thing that saddens me. People I talk to in recent years seem to think Ubuntu is the only Linux available such is the hype that millionaire Mark Shuttleworth generated about his new project. It saddens (and mostly annoys) me because Ubuntu seems to get the credit for bringing 'user friendly' to the Linux world, when in truth it already existed well before Ubuntu and it's many clones hit the market.
Libranet's founder died and although the business was passed to his son, he chose to cease all development of it, so Libranet just died too. I then chanced on Conectiva which was a popular South American 'distro' that outdid Ubuntu long before it even materialised. They sold their soul to Mandrake (now known as Mandriva because of that merger) and in the process lost all their identity - although a lot of their flair seems to live on in the Mandriva spin off called PClinuxOS
Am I boring you yet with this history lesson?
<assumes a polite no and carries on waffling>
It's great you've found one you think is perfect too and the grass is not necessarily greener elsewhere, but I would encourage you to try others to further your education and enjoyment of Linux.
PClinuxOS is one definitely worth a look at, and if you want something suited to older machines I would heartily recommend Puppy too.
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Post by Jj on Jun 26, 2009 7:09:13 GMT
Believe it or not Mikkh, I am beginning to think that now I should be trying other distros. I have learnt a lot since January, and I have one more pc that still runs with win 98 on it. My problem would be, which of 4 pc's to play with. The netbook will keep Mint on, and for now so will this desktop, but the old laptop now that i could swap and change and maybe the old 98 pc too. I do like mint but i really do think I should play with other flavours too.
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Post by mikkh on Jun 26, 2009 9:16:45 GMT
Yes you'll get some nice surprises because Linux can be almost infinitely variable with the different desktops available, but also familiar enough with the same or similar programs installed to pick it up quite easily.
Linux is a bit like 98, in that it's a DOS shell with a GUI on top. So far you've only seen one GUI and that's Gnome in both Mint and Ubuntu. KDE is arguably a more popular GUI and more Windows like according to some, but I don't see the similarity myself. Those are the two main ones, but XFCE is catching up fast and one I prefer myself
Most of the other GUI's available are so called 'lite' versions designed for speed or older computers with iceWM the pick of the alternatives IMO.
If you go to distrowatch (www.distrowatch.com), you'll see an alarming number of different 'distros' to try, but a lot are either inferior versions of others or just plain not good enough - or designed for experienced users. Either way there's a lot to discount as not suitable for one reason or another, so I'll give you a small list of ones worth a look at
PClinuxOS (most serious rival to Mint IMO)
Granular (similar to the above, but worth a look at)
Berry (Make sure you watch the startup and pick English on this very neat Japanese distro)
Wolvix (excellent live CD)
Puppy (brilliant live CD and ideal for older computers) - also look out for variants of it like 'tiger', 'vesta', 'teenpup' and 'macpup'
Pardus (Install only (all the rest can be run 'live') but worth a look if you're feeling confident enough to do a real install)
There are a few more 'interesting' ones, but those are the pick of the crop IMO
Ones to avoid, but you might get recommended
OpenSuse (looks nice but incredibly slow to the point of annoyance)
Sabayon (looks great, but they adopt the everything but the kitchen sink approach which doesn't quite work for me) It also uses source code and compiling to get new software which is a mind numbing exercise that can take literally hours. I guess that's one of the reasons why it comes with so much software already - to save you the pain.
That's not an exhaustive list and if you see another not mentioned, leave a message and I'll either say yes, give it a try or don't waste your time downloading it
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Post by elvisuk on Jun 26, 2009 19:54:17 GMT
H! Mikkh,
Is Berry Linux a live CD?
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Post by lazysod on Jun 26, 2009 19:55:50 GMT
Good luck Jj yes try others I am kind of addicted to trying out different version's of Linux now ;D and I too like mint on my notebook. Mikkh is brilliant try the ones he advises I have not tried Berry yet but was really impressed with Granular and and PCLinuxOS ;D If you have an old PC as you say then there is no harm done Ive tried so many since Mikkh introduced us to Linux it is great fun and my hobby now ;D
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Post by mikkh on Jun 27, 2009 0:45:22 GMT
Yes Berry can be run 'live' and the latest version seems to be missing from 'distrowatch' so here's the direct link for the very latest version (24/6/09) sourceforge.jp/projects/berry/downloads/40492/berry-0.97.isoIt describes itself as the most beautiful OS in the world, which is a tad ambitious, but it is pretty. It's based on Fedora 10 (which I would describe as one of the ugliest - well plainest anyway) so they've obviously done a lot of work. Fedora is an offshoot of Red Hat, which is still the mostly widely used business Linux, so you know it's based on rock solid foundations. Going back to the perfect Linux briefly.... A true test is whether you're still using it - or want to still use it, 6 months down the line. I'm pretty sure Mint would pass that test but I'm disappointed to find one of my favourites (Vector) has just failed that test and I'm now back on PClinuxOS as my main Linux
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Post by elvisuk on Jun 27, 2009 16:35:04 GMT
H! Mikkh,
Thanks for the link it took 5 times to get it to download but it's done now ;D i just want to have a look at what the japs have done to it, i am still using Linux Mint on both my computers and XP but i don't use xp much know i can use my scanner in Mint ;D
Thanks
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