pcstru Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I just cannot get on with Linux, it always seems like an effort to do something on it, nothing seems simple like Windows. Am I doing something wrong? People like what they like and generally the like what they are used to. Change costs energy (simple physics innit) - you need to learn new stuff, learning actually physically changes your brain. It hard and it's painful. People generally don't like it and that is ... understandable. So no, I'd not think you are doing something wrong - you are just going through that learning process and probably quitting before you see any benefit. 1
SHimmer45 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I have tried Ubuntu, Mint Linux (which ran like a dog on my laptop) I just cannot get on with Linux, XFCE is your friend, i cant stand alot of the flashy modern linux GUI's
Netwacky87 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 and probably quitting before you see any benefit. That is my problem, I install Mint or Ubuntu, Cannot do something simple, likeee play my media files in a way that im used to, and I just think "ah sod this, back to windows"....I think persistance is my friend
SHimmer45 Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 alot of distro's dont ship with the require codecs etc for common formats its to do with licensing. adding some 3rd party repo's and you will be able to play the files. (like this RPM Fusion - RPM Fusion)
DanielRF Posted June 17, 2013 Posted June 17, 2013 I use XUbuntu successfully on some very under powered computers and it's the distribution of choice when someone asks for an operating system CD. But previously I was used to GNOME2 so it was a very familiar layout to learn. You will need to install Libreoffice for a full featured office suite (rather than just the default word processor and spreadsheet programs) and xubuntu-restricted-extras if you want to play some media files that require patented codecs etc. Both available within the (X)Ubuntu software store.
ConradJones Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 That is my problem, I install Mint or Ubuntu, Cannot do something simple, likeee play my media files in a way that im used to, and I just think "ah sod this, back to windows"....I think persistance is my friend I'm suprised you've had that with mint? apt install vlc would play most media files. i used to go back to windows but haven't felt the for some time, in fact the idea of using windows doesn't fill me with confidence. i've just installed visio on mint using wine, and its working pretty well which pretty much removes my day to day need for my windows vm at home i do still use a windows vm at work, mainly for outlook. the breaking point for me at work with windows was when i adjusted the screen resolution on my second monitor and it blue screened on me.
localzuk Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 You don't need to use apt. The software center let's you find a media player in mint, and Ubuntu. I use Mint on my laptop and I have zero issues with it.
ConradJones Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 You don't need to use apt. old habits die hard. personally i prefer command line to gui most of the time. i was showing someone our switches the other day, and they mentioned they preferred using the web interface and i realised i hadn't even bothered enabling the web gui. I think its force of habit with most linux systems for me to use whichever command line tool they have for packages, as i find it easier to do something like apt search vlc | grep lib than look through lots of packages on the gui, i also have bad memories of using fedora a few years back and the package manager never working mainly because packagekitd was doing somethin in the background, by the time i'd loaded the terminal to kill/disable packagekit i might as well stay there. I use Mint on my laptop and I have zero issues with it. same, i also use it for my desktop machine at work
catch21 Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 I use Mint 14 on an old Dell DS server and it rocks.
Jamo Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 We use CentOS exclusively now, have to say its much cleaner than ubuntu. I use the CentOS minimal command line only for web servers etc, installing webmin if I need to schedule Cron jobs as its still the only part I am not good at without a UI!
ConradJones Posted June 30, 2013 Posted June 30, 2013 We use CentOS exclusively now, have to say its much cleaner than ubuntu. I use the CentOS minimal command line only for web servers etc, installing webmin if I need to schedule Cron jobs as its still the only part I am not good at without a UI! i wouldn't use ubuntu or a derivative for servers, the thought makes me shudder. I do think mint is good for desktops as things like chrome/flash work easily. Personally i almost always use suse for servers unless the service/app dictates otherwise. @localzuk does 4od work for you? that and five demand don't work on my laptop. youtube and iplayer are fine.
mikecampbell Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Ubuntu server is good for .. well, servers. I've also heard good things about the GUI version but have no experience of it myself. I used Fedora back at university which was fairly easy to adapt to, coming from Windows-centric background. Depends on what you're looking to do.
ConradJones Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Depends on what you're looking to do. exactly the right tool for the job.
pcstru Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 i wouldn't use ubuntu or a derivative for servers, the thought makes me shudder. Why? We use the server edition for ... servers (generally LAMPS) and it's been rock solid. Apart from anything else, it's extremely well documented.
localzuk Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 Indeed, I've been using Ubuntu server since 2006! Never had any issues. What would make you shudder using Ubuntu server compared to Suse??
CyberNerd Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 What would make you shudder using Ubuntu server compared to Suse?? Provisioning and maintaining a bunch of them is a bit of a pita compared to satellite or spacewalk on Centos/Scientific Linux (aka SUSE manager) Spacewalk: Free & Open Source Linux Systems Management I think there are some paid for canonical tools in ubuntu? do you use those?
localzuk Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 How many schools run a bunch of linux servers though? Not many. Its not like we have data centers full of them...
pete Posted July 1, 2013 Posted July 1, 2013 (edited) Provisioning and maintaining a bunch of them is a bit of a pita compared to satellite or spacewalk on Centos/Scientific Linux (aka SUSE manager) Spacewalk: Free & Open Source Linux Systems Management I think there are some paid for canonical tools in ubuntu? do you use those? We use Puppet and were it worthwhile, I'd probably use Cobbler to deploy images. MAAS and Juju are available for Ubuntu, but overkill for our needs. The Foreman ( theforeman.org ) is interesting and built on Puppet addon, but also probably overkill from a complexity vs cloning a VM template POV. Saltstack also suffers from the complexity vs "our current method is fast enough*" problem. If I were deploying lots of test server instances (developers, students doing computing), or managing a lot more servers, it would be a consideration. *5 minutes virtual, 10-15 minutes physical, then Puppet takes over. Edited July 1, 2013 by pete
cpjitservices Posted July 3, 2013 Posted July 3, 2013 I use Fedora across the board for anything Laptop/Desktop. Servers I use CentOS. I have just installed WINE on my Fedora laptop, now usually Im not fussed about any windows programs in Linux, but I needed this one program as Linux doesnt have an alternative, I've always had issues with wine, but this time no problems at all. Installed wine with one command, downloaded the .EXE and ran it, the Windows program runs great, no issues at all. I tend to stick with XFCE Desktops on Fedora, I dont like the new GNOME at all.
jinnantonnixx Posted November 26, 2013 Posted November 26, 2013 (edited) Arise, old thread! Fickle old me. I've been quite a supporter of Unity for a while, but my Ubuntu 12.04 & a bunch of PPAs were getting a bit untidy so I went to 13.10. Eugh, it was like one of those horrible toolbars you see on friend's computers suggesting all sorts of wierd stuff. Well anyway, I thought a blank laptop would be an ideal opportunity to try out a distro I took a shine to a while back. I tuned into Sabayon to see what was new and gave their Gnome version a spin. Boy, am I impressed. It's a very pure distro, with (to my mind) no bad choices of apps or weird customisation. Hardware detection is spot-on, performance is good. It works out of the box, with all common codecs present and correct. The software repo is huge, not as big as the humongous Debian, and is very up-to-date. It's also a rolling distro, which means no version and precarious upgrades. The only thing I'm not used to is the package management. I'm used to apt and yum, but Sabayon's software is based on Gentoo. The GUI software installer, Rigo, seems nice and friendly, similar to Ubuntu but not quite as garish. I've been using it for a little while, and so far it doesn't seem to have any weaknesses. Give it a try - you'll like it. Sabayon | Home As for servers, I've used Centos, Debian and Ubuntu. Without doubt, Centos is the gold standard for reliability. It's ultra-conservative, and the software can be quite old, but it prizes reliability above all. Edited November 26, 2013 by jinnantonnixx
jinnantonnixx Posted December 21, 2013 Posted December 21, 2013 (edited) I think I've found my new favourite distro - SolydXK | Home of SolydX and SolydK There's a KDE version (SolydK) and XFCE version (SolydX). If not a fan of KDE (too busy and feature-rich for my needs) and XFCE has always seemed a bit old fashioned - until I saw the Whisker menu. The Whisker menu is excellent. It's very much like the Cinnamon menu from Mint. SolydXK's founder is the same guy who maintained Mint's LMDE spinoff. The home edition of SolydX/K is based on Debian testiing, but with an additional testing stage. Show-stopping bugs are held back (you can see this with apt). This means it's a good mix of new software but with very few bugs and glitches. It also means it's a rolling release. I've been using SolydX for three weeks and haven't found a single bug. It's very lightweight and is fast on my old i3 laptop. All device drivers (including the notorious Broadcom wireless) load and are configured automatically. Nice. The only change I made was replacing Thunderbird with Evolution as Evolution's integration with Gmail and Google calendar is better. If I was to recommend a distro for someone coming from Windows, this would be it. The business version (KDE only) is based on Debian stable. Spatry does a Youtube review. SolydX - SolydK - Edited December 21, 2013 by jinnantonnixx
rich_tech Posted December 22, 2013 Posted December 22, 2013 I am still on ubuntu here, ive ping ponged between Fedora and Ubuntu primarily, though overall I have stuck with ubuntu most, better gfx card support I found and less issues, though I have tried Arch, OpenSUSE, Freebsd and most variants of ubuntu (xubuntu and so on) In work we have 2 servers now, one ubuntu for media capture purposes and another I am building up for monitoring our network using zabbix
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