Thoughts on Linux
Rocky Raab
Member Posts: 14,438 ✭✭✭✭
I’ve been test-driving a few Linux operating systems (OS) out of curiosity. You all know I’m a proponent of Linux. I absolutely know that 99% of you non-business computer users could switch to Linux and do everything you do now, and do it simpler, faster, and with fewer headaches. More importantly, with far fewer system issues, no spying on your use, no ad tracking, and no surrendering control of your computer to Microsoft.
So...here are my thoughts on three Linus OS for when you’ve finally had enough of Big Brother’s tyranny.
If your computer originally ran Windows 7, look at Zorin 16 Core. Chances are, you might not even know you’d switched to something new except that your machine will run a lot faster and have a whole lot of hard disk space left over. All the basics programs you need are there, from Firefox to Libre Office, plus an email client, utilities, maps, weather, photo manager and editor, calendar, contacts, video and audio players, basic games, and more. Plus a software store where you can find whatever you need to replace most of the bloated Windows programs you use now. Zorin is clean, elegant-looking, and familiar. It’s a great way to transition to Linux. https://zorin.com/os/download/
If your computer came with W10, you should by all means look at Linux Mint Cinnamon. The current version is 20.3. It includes everything in Zorin noted above, and lots more. There’s even an app that allows you to watch streaming TV and movies. It’s a Cadillac but it still takes up less disk space and memory than Windows. Again, you’ll feel right at home switching from 10 to Mint. Things are where you expect them, run like you’d expect, and do everything you want. It’s my favorite. https://linuxmint.com/
Then there’s MX Linux. This is a mid-weight program that is simply stunningly beautiful. It will not be as familiar to Windows users and is probably not the best choice for a true newbie to Linux, but it is an amazing OS. Give your self a year or so learning Linux before you tackle this one, but when you’re ready, give it a test drive. https://mxlinux.org/
Now here’s good news: You can test drive any of these (or hundreds more!) at a website called DistroTest. Go there and select an OS. It will load and you can explore it for 30 minutes absolutely free. The OS won’t run as fast or as smoothly as if it were installed on your box, but most functions work. You’ll get to see and actually use the OS of your choice. https://distrotest.net/index.php
For a better idea of how they work, Zorin and Mint websites have complete installation instructions, from how to create a bootable USB stick with the OS of your choice, to how to test drive the OS in live mode or actually install it. There’s nothing to lose and no risk.
Comments
I can't recommend unix derivatives enough. I'm on HP-UX and Linux all day every day, and my only complaint is big-endian to small-endian numeric conversions when I create a memory structure on one, and have to use it on the other.
Fantastic stuff.
@Nanuq907 what hardware you running HP-UX on? Also I doubt you are using Linux Mint in the environment you describe (coding) you using RH or Suse? or one of their derivatives?
Curious minds want to know LOL
Rocky, I have a great computer guy I use. I went over to see him and ask him about Linux. I told him all the positive things you said about Linux. He said you were correct, Linux would do 99% of what you were saying. Than he told me Linux was not for me. He said Linux was great for someone who really knows his computer. I've been using Kevin's computer store for over 20 years so he knows my abilities. More correctly he knows my inabilities!! 😁 According to him Linux would drive me crazy because I'm not good enough with my computer.
That may or not be true, dreher. Go to that Distrotest website and give Zorin 16 Core a test drive.
Linux can be intimidating, especially if you watch videos of guys using the terminal (command line) for command inputs. But the versions I have recommended can be run completely on mouse click commands. I have used Mint for more than two years now, and have only used terminal commands once. Your guy - as astute as he may be - may not have worked with Linux for a while. Things have changed dramatically over the past few years. It is MUCH more "newbie friendly" now.
The old days of Ubuntu being the most used Linux distribution are gone. It is now not that popular - or good. The best distributions today are based on Ubuntu (which is a good thing) but made vastly more friendly.
@Ruger4me Old Scabby is HP K580s that we've migrated away from many years ago. New Hotness is running RH.
In my work it's ALL about safety and regression testing. So the test tools on Old Scabby are comparative to ensure New Hotness gets the same correct results.
@Rocky Raab mentioned "guys using the terminal (command line) for command inputs" and that's where I live.
You are a better man than I am, Gunga Din...I mean Nanuq.
I need a GUI (pronounced Gooey for many of you) or Graphical User Interface. Meaning boxes where I can click a mouse cursor to get things done. I may be a bold experimenter in this stuff, but I am NOT a techie.
To install a program, I want a nice little box I can check and then click on "Install." Not a terminal line where I enter "sudo apt install..." And that's for simple things.
Yeah all my work is done on bare metal, I wish I could tell you about it, it's pretty stinking cool.
I have a t-shirt with this:
sudo rm -rf /
and beneath it, it says DON'T DRINK AND ROOT. 😂
😂🤣
For those of you using Linux, do NOT copy Nanuq's command line. If I'm correct, it will destroy your system.
If there's a drawback to a system that allows you complete control of almost everything, it is that it will not prevent you from wrecking it.
@Nanuq907 K class? dam that's an old machine... Probably one of the last computers I supported as a field engineer before I switched into training. Yea I also lived and died by the command line for many years, but eventually came over to the dark side, These days I used whatever make sense for what I need to get done.
Yep, that is the quickest way to cough free up some disk space. And unlike GUI boxes, there is no "undo".
I spent three hours this afternoon creating a test reality/scenario/environment where I could throw objects in and see how they behaved, and how the environment reacted to them. I was 8 ssh "hops" away from where I logged in, and once I got the environment right I had to get it, and the test objects, back home. I tar'd and gzip'd to make one object, but then I had to drag that blasted thing back across all those hops, with heterogeneous UNIX flavors and multiple different owner/group combinations, inherited permissions and sticky bits. I got it home, then had to push it back across the country again to a test bed on the east coast, where I could put it through the wringer. So I scp'd the bloody thing across six hops, pushing it instead of pulling it so I could take advantage of inherited permissions, and got it to the test lab. I un-gzip'd and un-tar'd the contents, did some strings -a <filename> | grep <pattern> commands to ensure I had what I wanted, and pushed them into memory, then peeked the structures to verify I had what I wanted. By then all the boys on the east coast had gone home for the night, so I said "screw it" and came to gunbroker.com to see if Dano has fallen off that 30k cliff yet!
Y'know, he only gets to do this one time. I suspect he will hesitate playing that card, so in a way we have him over a barrel. We can pretty much say anything and impugn his manliness as much as we want, and he can't say a word.
Is it TRUE that Dano sleeps at night with a baby-blue bunny onesie with footies?????? 😲 😲 😲
Your entire second paragraph there was complete gibberish to me, Nanuq. I have yet to figure out "layers" in GIMP...
No matter what, the next year or two will see a dramatic upswing in Linux users, simply because of Win 11's stupid installation requirements. Thousands of people will own perfectly good computers that became useless because they can't be loaded (infected would be a better word) with Win 11. Others will finally get fed up with Microsoft's tyrannical control and greedy licensing.
Dano? Book 'im.
LOL I understood everything he wrote... and being able to destroy a complete system with a basic command like rm -rf / is not a flaw, it is there by design... there is no oops key in Unix/Linux. By the way to call yourself a Linux user and not have basic CLI skill capabilities I would consider being "almost" dishonest.
I wouldn't. Unless you'd say that there are virtually no Windows or MAC users except IT guys. Using via GUI is still using in my book. I don't have to be a Toyota service tech to drive, either.
I'm a cheerleader for the team, not the equipment manager.
Yep, how many ghostscript images do you keep around? There is the mother of all "undo" buttons.