Why would I want to install Linux?

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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:10 pm

Sean Hayden wrote:Yep, a quick search shows people are making it work. Now get in there and beat your head against the keyboard. :dance:
I think you assume a skill level I don't have.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by PsychoSerenity » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:21 pm

Gawdzilla Sama wrote:
Sean Hayden wrote:I'd just google your netbook and the linux distro you're looking at. Ubuntu runs great on this little thing.
:?
It's pretty straight forward actually. I'd recommend Linux Mint. If you want to give it a go, this is all I did:

Download UNetbootin, a tool to create a bootable USB stick with Linux installer: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/unetb ... latest.exe

Download the iso for the latest Linux Mint version: http://mirror.umd.edu/linuxmint/images/ ... -32bit.iso

Plug in a spare empty USB stick. Run UNetbootin. Selcet the iso you just downloaded and the correct USB drive to write it onto, and let it do it's thing.

Back up anything you want from the netbook.

When the USB is ready, plug it into the netbook and reboot from the USB.

You will be able to test out Linux for a bit, check it all works, and then run the installer to get it onto the netbook's hard-disk.
[Disclaimer - if this is comes across like I think I know what I'm talking about, I want to make it clear that I don't. I'm just trying to get my thoughts down]

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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Sean Hayden » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:34 pm

That sounds like a plan. :biggrin:

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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:36 pm

And may Dawg have mercy on my soul.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by MiM » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:50 pm

Yes, I understand that leaving the safe haven of microchurch feels scary and difficult, but to me you seem ready for it. Just make the plunge, you will see how nice it is on the other side, as a real free pinguinist. :pardon:
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Thu Aug 08, 2013 5:53 pm

MiM wrote:Yes, I understand that leaving the safe haven of microchurch feels scary and difficult, but to me you seem ready for it. Just make the plunge, you will see how nice it is on the other side, as a real free pinguinist. :pardon:
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by klr » Thu Aug 08, 2013 9:26 pm

DaveD wrote:If there's a problem with Windows that a fresh reinstall is the easiest solution for, having Linux as well can be useful, as you can access all the files on the Windows partition and copy them elsewhere (not on the same drive). I often hear of people bemoaning the loss of important documents or precious photos, and being able to boot into Linux would let them rescue them.
There are specialist Linux utility distributions for doing things like that, without have to install anything on the hard drive. Parted Magic is the most well-known.
mistermack wrote:
DaveD wrote:If there's a problem with Windows that a fresh reinstall is the easiest solution for, having Linux as well can be useful, as you can access all the files on the Windows partition and copy them elsewhere (not on the same drive). I often hear of people bemoaning the loss of important documents or precious photos, and being able to boot into Linux would let them rescue them.
I would be wary of using Linux to copy windows files. I was once copying backed up files created on windows, when I kept getting a message saying that the file name was too long on a file, and the copying would stop. It was doing my head in so I thought I'd use UBUNTU to do the job.
It was great, it went through the lot without stopping once.

Only later, I found that lots of the files were un-usable. Why, I don't know, but never again.
I had to do a rescue of the deleted hard disk and lost some files permanently.
Linux can handle file names that Windows can't. For example, you can include a ":" in a file name on Linux. Save that on a Windows partition. Restart in Windows. Try and open, copy or just delete that file - no joy.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Mysturji » Fri Aug 09, 2013 11:34 am

mistermack wrote:
DaveD wrote:If there's a problem with Windows that a fresh reinstall is the easiest solution for, having Linux as well can be useful, as you can access all the files on the Windows partition and copy them elsewhere (not on the same drive). I often hear of people bemoaning the loss of important documents or precious photos, and being able to boot into Linux would let them rescue them.
I would be wary of using Linux to copy windows files. I was once copying backed up files created on windows, when I kept getting a message saying that the file name was too long on a file, and the copying would stop. It was doing my head in so I thought I'd use UBUNTU to do the job.
It was great, it went through the lot without stopping once.

Only later, I found that lots of the files were un-usable. Why, I don't know, but never again.
I had to do a rescue of the deleted hard disk and lost some files permanently.
Linux/Unix doesn't like filenames with spaces in them. You can get around that byt putting a backslash before each space in the file/directory name
e.g.
# cd My\ porn
# cat furry\ sites.txt

Also, Windows uses the wrong character for CRLF (^M) so you often get those at the end of each line in text files.
There's a utility called dos2unix (and unix2dos) that will fix that.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by MiM » Fri Aug 09, 2013 1:08 pm

Mysturji wrote: Linux/Unix doesn't like filenames with spaces in them. You can get around that byt putting a backslash before each space in the file/directory name
e.g.
# cd My\ porn
# cat furry\ sites.txt
:whisper: Or if you are a Windowsy person you can use the GUI and don't have to bother.
Also, Windows uses the wrong character for CRLF (^M) so you often get those at the end of each line in text files.
There's a utility called dos2unix (and unix2dos) that will fix that.
Now that is very very annoying
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by pErvinalia » Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:10 am

I actually had cause to use Linux for the first time in a couple of years, the other day. Because something is borked with my Windows machine, I can't install any software that relies on the %temp% directory to unpack and install. I have copied some old image files back onto my main drive, and was certain that I had duplicates there. As none of the find duplicate software I came across would install on Windows, I created a Linux Mint USB bootable drive and found and deleted the duplicate images in Linux. And Mint ran VERY nicely and very fast from a USB2.0 stick. Quite impressive. That's the first USB bootable Linux I have done.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Robert_S » Sat Aug 10, 2013 4:19 pm

rEvolutionist wrote:I actually had cause to use Linux for the first time in a couple of years, the other day. Because something is borked with my Windows machine, I can't install any software that relies on the %temp% directory to unpack and install. I have copied some old image files back onto my main drive, and was certain that I had duplicates there. As none of the find duplicate software I came across would install on Windows, I created a Linux Mint USB bootable drive and found and deleted the duplicate images in Linux. And Mint ran VERY nicely and very fast from a USB2.0 stick. Quite impressive. That's the first USB bootable Linux I have done.
Mint is lovely!

:swoon:

The only problems I've had with Mint were when I had that steampunk login manager.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Gawdzilla Sama » Sat Aug 10, 2013 4:20 pm

So come on down and sort me out, Robert. :begging:

I'll feed you and take you where I took Lou last week. :whisper:
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Daedalus » Sat Aug 10, 2013 5:05 pm

To run your own BNC.
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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Jason » Sun Aug 11, 2013 4:42 am

Actually it's your shell that doesn't take kindly to whitespace in calls to directories and files. Like everything about linux, you can get the code, change it to suit your tastes, compile it, run it, and even freely distribute it if you want.

So.. that's a reason you'd want to install Linux.

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Re: Why would I want to install Linux?

Post by Jason » Sun Aug 11, 2013 4:48 am

But most of them seem to come with bash. I grew up on tcsh damnit. :lay:

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