Linux

[Captain_Snort]

Originally Posted by roger

Happy Natty Narwhal day.

I wish 11.10 would have been called "Onanistic Ocelot", not "Oneiric Ocelot"

12.04. I want "Priapic Penguin"

[Mister Earl]

I might very well give slackerware a shot tonight. I did put windows back on it (Game was released out of beta I'd wanted to play) and it's already getting my hackles up. For whatever reason, win7 on my machine makes it "rediscover" all USB attachments. Over and over again. Which is a pain when you're gaming and using a USB mouse.

[Alan]

I'm installing Windows 7 on a partition in order to have Steam working properly and iTunes for my iPod.

I'm still going to primarily use Linux as it is better for me in every other way.

EDIT: There are wireless driver and video card driver issues in Windows, argh.

[Alan]

I tried putting it in VirtualBox instead and that is much better, except it failed to get my iPod driver.

[Mister Earl]

Got slackware burned onto a disc. That'll be my weekend project. I hope the graphics card and monitor issue isn't one this time around.

[ForgePoet]

Ubuntu Netbook Remix was my preferred distro for my netbook for a long time, but I eventually decided I wanted a less restrictive interface and multiple workspaces. Linux Mint KDE (using mint4win) worked flawlessly. A fifteen second boot with netbook specs is pretty amazing -- not to mention that all the eye candy I had assumed was out of reach Just Worked!

I haven't really seen a reason to dual-boot my desktop, given that nearly all of the programs I use regularly are cross-platform. If I do, it'll probably be Linux Mint 11, maybe with Gnome 3.

[LandR]

I really don't think Unity was ready to be released.

So far:

Performance has been abysmal.

I hate the Launcher bar. It has apps in which I don't really care about and ones I use regularly nowhere to be seen. Accessing apps which I want to use is far more effort than it should be. For example, I wanted to take a screenshot. Click the Ubuntu logo. Open the horrid black window, click More Apps. It isn't in that list, so click over to the right. Click All Applications, on that menu click Accessories. It isn't in that list either, obviously the screenshot tool isn't popular so click Show all 10 applications. And there it is. The screenshot program.

I initally tried dragging and dropping items into the Launcher bar, but it doesn't respond to this. I eventually noticed that you can add applications by first opening them so an icon appears in the Launcher then right clicking on that icon and ticking 'Keep In Launcher'. I did this for the terminal program. The first time the Launcher auto-hid itself and then reappeared the icon was missing. I can still click it - but no icon.

To access my documents I go to the top menu, clicks Places, click Documents in the menu that drops down. Except if I have firefox open I can't do this because the top menu becomes firefox's menu. So to access my Documents folder I have to minimise all applications which I have open so the top menu bar goes back to being the base OS menu. Never mind you can drag and drop folders into the Launcher bar (like Documents) so you can always access them. Oh no. You can't.

I have firefox open. I click the button in the launcher to open my Home folder. The menu at the top still belongs to firefox, so even though I have a folder window open, which has focus the menu along the top still belongs to firefox (since it's maximised). This is awful! To access the menu for the window I am using I have to minimise all applications to access it's menu.

No way that I can see to rearrange the order of things in the Launcher bar.

I am also having intermittent problems regarding window contents not refreshing. Occasionally when I maximise a window the contents do not refresh and it's just a full screen white box. I have to then resize the window to get the contents back and force a refresh.

For some windows, I can't get the contents back at all. Here's what happens when I try to open a spreadsheet using File > Open in Libre Office Spreadsheets.



I have had the top menu bar disappear, the contents were still clickable but you had to guess where the text was.

I want to install a compiz tool so I try to open a terminal. I click Alt-F2. It doesn't open a terminal. Instead if opens what seems like a graphical command prompt at the top of the screen. I start tying sudo apt-get install then it tries to guess what I want and extends the command prompt window down over the window that contained the text I was copying :ranting: So I click in the window to move it down to find the name of the package I want to install and the command prompt disappears.

Why take away my terminal!!!!!!

My fan hasn't stopped going mental since I booted into Unity and all I'm doing is running firefox and an MSN client.

It seems like a really dumbed down OS which favours form over function. Yes, it might look pretty but from a usability standpoint it's hideous. It's also really flakey and a processor hog.

That is a statement I never thought I would make about Linux.

[psionl0]

Originally Posted by Mister Earl

Got slackware burned onto a disc. That'll be my weekend project. I hope the graphics card and monitor issue isn't one this time around.

I hope you had a good weekend Earl. Slackware may not be the easiest distro to set-up or upgrade but if you have problems, they are much more fixable than those "run straight from the box" distros.

http://genek.net/LinuxAdventures/sys...allation1.html is a good installation guide. I recommend you follow it

If you run into problems, you could check out this site: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/. The people there are very helpful.

You have already tried the "easy" distros so this probably won't help you much but before installing linux, I booted Puppy Linux from a CD so I could check out the hardware issues. In my case, NVIDIA proved to be an issue but was easily solved by downloading the appropriate package (for both Puppy and Slackware).

PM me if I can help you.

[Alan]

I'm using Ubuntu 11.04, with Windows 7 on a 140gb partition compared to Ubuntu's 500gb partition. I'll only use Windows (on this computer) for Steam, and I'll try to find ways to play the games I bought with WINE and emulators.

If only we had Steam. I wasn't getting any sound using it through WINE. And I probably wouldn't be able to use a controller with it as WINE and USB things don't go together.

And I didn't find any 64-bit sega mega drive/genesis emulators.

[tuoni]

Originally Posted by Alan

I'm using Ubuntu 11.04, with Windows 7 on a 140gb partition compared to Ubuntu's 500gb partition. I'll only use Windows (on this computer) for Steam, and I'll try to find ways to play the games I bought with WINE and emulators.

If only we had Steam. I wasn't getting any sound using it through WINE. And I probably wouldn't be able to use a controller with it as WINE and USB things don't go together.

And I didn't find any 64-bit sega mega drive/genesis emulators.

I've got no problems running Steam under WINE, including a game that according to the WINE compatibility database won't even start (OK, so that one took some fiddling, but the others such as Portal worked just fine first time) - if you've got your controller set up in Linux, I see no reason it won't work through WINE, either. You looked at Play On Linux yet?

[Captain_Snort]

I have not tried steam recently on wine, but had it working fine and running CS:S and HL2 + HL with no problems way before vesion 1. Not tried it recently as I have it spearated now, if I boot up Linux, I am working and cannot just boot up a game for a bit of terrorist shooting.

[Alan]

I was using Play On Linux. I had heard that USB devices won't be recognised by things in WINE but hadn't tried.

I'll give POL another shot. Thanks.

[tuoni]

Originally Posted by Alan

I was using Play On Linux. I had heard that USB devices won't be recognised by things in WINE but hadn't tried.

I'll give POL another shot. Thanks.

I've just checked and my Steam was running on WINE 1.3.16. You can change this through Tools -> WINE versions, downloading whichever version you wish and then assigning it on the next tab

[Alan]

SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics, which is what I've been playing lately, stops responding after a few seconds. It's okay, though.

Thanks.

[tuoni]

Originally Posted by Alan

SEGA Genesis & Mega Drive Classics, which is what I've been playing lately, stops responding after a few seconds. It's okay, though.

Thanks.

If you don't mind having a play around with it in an attempt to make it work, if you run it through a debug console (again, you can do this through PoL) it will dump whatever's causing the error, allowing you to whack the error message into google and, potentially, you can fix it. That's how I got Killing Floor working... well, that and winetricks!

[AgeGap]

I have just helped a friend get shut of a stubborn piece of malware on her XP computer. I used a fedora live disc and a USB stick. This is the only time I have seen Gnome 3 as my ageing computer defaults to Gnome 2. The moral of this story is......erm......err......Good Samaritan(?).

[Alan]

Originally Posted by tuoni

If you don't mind having a play around with it in an attempt to make it work, if you run it through a debug console (again, you can do this through PoL) it will dump whatever's causing the error, allowing you to whack the error message into google and, potentially, you can fix it. That's how I got Killing Floor working... well, that and winetricks!

I've postponed doing that as I have other ways to play several of the games. I'll give it a shot eventually.

I am using Fedora 15's beta and I realised something nifty. Clicking on the battery icon shows not only my laptop's battery, but my iPod's battery, which is plugged in. I tried my android phone and it didn't show up.

[Xero]

Primarily using PCLinuxOS Gnome on main desktop, using Linux Mint 10 on laptops, netbook, and Ubuntu 10.10 on one of the notebooks. All work great. Keep trying others, but keep coming back to these. Great hardware support, ease of use, and Linux Mint and PCLOS Gnome forums are very friendly and responsive. Community is important. This is why I DON'T use Fedora, there;s has **** me to tears in the past, and I just gave up on expecting any kind of helpful support there.

[Alan]

My new laptop's speakers no longer work.

It didn't work in Windows 7, Ubuntu 11.04 or a Linux Mint DE live CD. It happened unexpectedly. I followed some suggestions online but they didn't work. They were about installing some additional alsa things.

I don't think it's software-related.

[Bilbo]

Natty Narwhal here. Unity wont work on this laptop (T42) cause I only have a 2 ghz processor, but I'm ok with that. Didn't like what I have seen of it. Had a copy of Netbook 10.10 w/unity and it sucked.

Only complaint is, I cant get drivers for my Linksys usb nic...It runs the internal Intel 2100 fine, but I like the Linksys for ettercap, and wireshark, and firesheep.

For some reason I can use aircrack-ng with the Intel card (even in monitor mode) but can't use it for other network "tools".

Never going back to windows.

[KoihimeNakamura]

I usually go Xubuntu to avoid GNOME/KDE issues

[Alan]

I rang Acer support for my speakers last Wednesday. They said they would call back within four hours. I didn't receive the call. I thought they started working by themselves later that night, although it turned out to just be one of the speakers. And it stopped working again.

So I called up again, and I was transferred to the Out of Scope and Out of Warranty people and would need to pay for them to try to fix it. Even though I just bought it a month and a half ago. So I decided I'll install Windows 7 and call back! I first noticed the problem on my Windows 7 partition that I no longer have, by the way.

[Alan]

A change of plan! I rang up the manager of the store to complain about how although I had told the salesperson before buying it that I would be installing Linux, he sold me the extended warranty and did not say it would void the warranty. The manager told me that he had never heard of Linux voiding warranties.

The manager rang up a few minutes later and said that I could bring it in and they would restore it to factory settings (as I do not have the recovery partition) and I could pick it up the next day and Acer will cover me then.

[AgeGap]

@Alan. I know that PCWorld in the UK have not honoured warranties if you over write your hard drive with linux. Can you really expect to keep your warranty if you make data changes on your hard drive?

[Alan]

Originally Posted by AgeGap

@Alan. I know that PCWorld in the UK have not honoured warranties if you over write your hard drive with linux. Can you really expect to keep your warranty if you make data changes on your hard drive?

http://www.linux.com/archive/feed/119190
PC World, of the UK, denies reports that Linux voids warranties.

I had told the salesperson of my intentions and he did not say anything about warranties being voided. He sold me an extended warranty. I rang the manager and he said that it was the first he had heard of Linux voiding warranties.

The store respected the warranty.

Also:

Quote:

Linux devotee Laura Breeden has discovered an obscure condition in the warranty supplied by Hewlett-Packard that lets them off the hook — even in the case of a purely mechanical defect — if the customer installs an operating system other than the one that comes pre-loaded. The condition is obscure because it’s not actually in the warranty.

Read on, since I can't quote much more: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2007/03/run_linux_void_/

[Lolly]

In Australia, you can't "void" a warranty. There are statutory warranties which apply, and vendors can't impose conditions which affect those warranties. The contractual warranty simply doesn't matter, you just need to rely on the statutory warranty.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Lolly

In Australia, you can't "void" a warranty. There are statutory warranties which apply, and vendors can't impose conditions which affect those warranties. The contractual warranty simply doesn't matter, you just need to rely on the statutory warranty.

I know about statutory rights regarding things needing to be fit for the purpose but I didn't know about how far reaching it was. I'll look into this more.

Thanks.

[phaed]

Just found this thread. Awesome!

I generally stick to Debian-based distros. Mint on my desktop because sometimes I just want to get stuff done, Debian on my servers.

[AgeGap]

AgeGap recommends.......

1) Not shopping at PCWorld. Have a look in their end of line bins if you must.

2) http://www.dedoimedo.com/ This is a great blog full of linux stuff. Games, security, distros and other bits.

[Alan]

I didn't shop at PCWorld. I don't think they are even in this country. You were talking about PCWorld not honouring warranties when Linux is installed, and I found them apparently saying that's not true. I don't know if it's their current position, but if they change what they do over time then it's not deserving of a rolling eyes emoticon to not be aware of something.

I'm looking at that blog now. It looks good.

[AgeGap]

Here is my take on the PCWorld warranty thing.

Guy buys computer.
PCWorld also try to sell him anti virus, office software and an expensive extended warranty.
Installs linux.
Gets hardware fault.
Takes computer back to PCWorld.
Employee tells him due to installing linux the warranty is void.
Guy goes home and blogs.
PCWorld look bad and say it was a mistake.

The roll eyes was for the "Can you really expect to keep your warranty if you make data changes on your hard drive?" comment. It was my attempt at humour. Phail as they say on the internet.

The dedoimedo blog is very good. Much ripped off (scraped) though. I saw an article about Google Panda and dedoimedo was one of the genuine losers. Panda was to get rid of the content farms when returning search results.

[Captain_Snort]

Originally Posted by Alan

I rang Acer support for my speakers last Wednesday. They said they would call back within four hours.

Funnily I took back an acer due to the speakers being a big dodgy. It was a replacement laptop and I broke my usual. Took me 4 days to actually get round to using the sound, was watching a film, realised the sound was a bit iffy, played about with the stereo settings and one speaker was duff. Took it back to the shop for a complete replacement after I securely removed all my data and the Linux partition.

Working fine now.

[AgeGap]

You say Linux and I say Linux,
You say Ubuntu and I say Ubuntu.
LaTex, LaTex, GNOME, GNOME,
Let's call the whole thing off!

I have just had an almost spiritual moment where I have changed my mind about pronunciation of, amongst other things, Linux. If you are explaining to someone what Linux is, you really don't want to get their backs up by correcting their pronunciation. Has anyone got a compelling reason to keep calling it Linux rather than Linux?

The UK Government has been making noise about moving to open source to save money. There is a very old joke about how to tell if a politician is lying. Read this, then either laugh or cry.

[Blue Mountain]

Originally Posted by AgeGap

Read this, then either laugh or cry.

The article gave no idea how they arrived that the average cost. I'm assuming the author simply took the £12.1 million the Cabinet Office spent on IT and divided it by 3300 computers(no telling where they got that number from). (I derived the 3300 computers by dividing 12,100,000 by 3,664.)

Here's news for you: people cost money. I'll bet a lot of that 12 million pounds went to paying their IT staff. And their software. And for their network infrastructure.

One source I read indicates the initial purchase price of a PC is only 10 to 15 percent of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). At the high end of that range, the $3,664 per PC IT cost indicates an initial purchase cost of £549. Not much, but over the expected three year lifespan of the machine that's still £1650.

[AgeGap]

Originally Posted by Blue Mountain

Here's news for you: people cost money.

Is there still slavery in Canada? You guys know how to keep a secret.

Several schools/colleges in the UK due to budget concerns have moved over to free/libre/open-source software. The government, while praising this, are using little imagination and carrying on regardless with their old habits.
The article states that “costs cover the core infrastructure and applications – basically anything supplied by a third party” and "Internal IT staff costs were not included in the figures".

The Home Office could have saved on software, and potentially, hardware. Though if we were to 'Get the Facts' we find support would cost gazillions more.

I rang the Home Office for information and they said that "Crysis looks great on a 32" monitor played with all settings high. Especially when the frame rate is over 100fps" or I may have just made that up.

[Xero]

Originally Posted by AgeGap

@Alan. I know that PCWorld in the UK have not honoured warranties if you over write your hard drive with linux. Can you really expect to keep your warranty if you make data changes on your hard drive?

Of course you can. A different OS has no bearing on hardware issues. 2 separate things.

And as for "making data changes to your har drive", you do that every time you use the machine. Quit making excuses for them, you only look silly.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Xero

And as for "making data changes to your har drive", you do that every time you use the machine. Quit making excuses for them, you only look silly.

I think that part was a joke.

[KoihimeNakamura]

So, per the other thread, let me show you what I mean:

http://design.canonical.com/2011/03/quit/

[Alan]

Oh, I understand now. Thanks.

[Xero]

Currently dual-booting Win 7 (for work) and Linux Mint 11 (was previously running 10 on my laptop and netbook). Win 7 is just there to keep me familiar, I'm never really fond of using it. I don't "dislike" windows, I just don't "like" using it. Using Mint, and add the standard Gnome top panel and menu back, and rearrange things to make it more "me". Easy to use, good assortment of apps, and plenty more easy to install. Had to install a couple apps on Win install the other week, and I swear i had to click Next about 6 times for each thing. I was beginning to get rather annoyed. So I booted back into Mint. Much more comfy.