Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Thoughts on Linux

I'm amazed at the number of relatively powerful and newer computers that people give up on. I expect most of them now are seeing that their box is too old to upgrade to Win 11 so they scrap em.

Found a beast of an HP gamer computer at the recycle center. It has a 6 cpu, 12 core Intel Core I7 and 12 gigs of ram. It needed a hard drive and Linux installed. Works great and it was free!

Here's a cool detail about modern versions of Linux like Rocky is talking about. They install devices and set themselves up every time they start. Which means you can pull the hard drive out of one computer and stick it in another and have it work perfectly.

I used to like and recommend chromebooks but not any more. A high end chromebook can sometimes be erased and have linux installed and work beautifully, but it's pretty technical.

No Rocky Tails is Debian-based and easy to use. for those with a windows based system they can use Rufus to make the bootable USB with or they can Rufus to burn the ISO file. If they want it on a DVD or CD they can burn the ISO file onto that with windows. Instructions Here.

I like booting it best from a USB3 but some may not.

Tails will boot from the usb and leave no traces of your surfing or anything else you do unless you tell it to.

Those not comfortable with doing "techie" things can even buy it preloaded onto a thumb drive off of ebay for cheap.

Just an FYI Linux will run like a raped ape on new systems, I built a Ubuntu I7 Machine based on a Micro ATX system board and after the bios post it is booted to the password screen in 7-8 seconds.

Oh yeah, boot drive is an SSD.

Linux is a great operating system but requires a bit of tech savy. Apple run linux kernel and is easier for users to transition too from windows.

You can make linux run on about anything x86 based. I used make a living building custom kernels and OS images for oddball systems.

Manjaro is arch based.

Very easy to install.

I run the kde Plasma.

Ummm... 3D Modeling is a design mode of CADCAM. I've got an old laptop running Win7 with a virtual machine and Mint loaded on it. Also have a student copy of MasterCam. One of these days I'll try to load it and see what happens.

Rocky, You sound like Rob Braxman Tech. But I am so far behind that I can barely use the flip phone I inherited from my Mom. I still have a personal need to go the routes you have recommended. Keep on coaching us dinosaurs. You are doing mankind much good. Be Well, RZ.

Yep. I appreciate the coaching too Rocky.

Rocky, thanks for the information and advice. Everything helps us old geezers who are not too computer literate.

L.W.

My MacBook Air has been flawless for years, this in every respect including the kookanista worries.

Very good info and advice. Thanks for posting - most computer users do not have a clue about linux - thus, can be victim to MS, Apple, etc.

Simplicity, safety, ease. Been on Mint for a long time now.

I started playing with Ubuntu LINUXout 2014 with an old throwaway desktop. Within a year or so, I was fairly comfortable with it, and by 2016, I converted my main desktop and laptop to it. I'm writing this from a Dell Optiplex 7040 with a mfg date of 2014, and the latest Unbuntu LINUX distro. I've been on this hardware since 2016 and regularly upgraded the OS as new versions are released.

Rocky is right. His tastes in distros are bit different from mine, but that's just window dressing. His favorite, Mint, is geared towards stability and its close look and feel to Windows. I prefer performance and features. I'm getting all the new updates for my distro, but I could also dial it back if I wanted and maybe get a major upgrade only every 3 years or so. My user experience in non-Windows-like. However, I have learned to like it better. If I wanted, I could install an environment that was more Windows-like, but I've grown to like this one.

One of the big stumbling blocks folks have with LINUX is getting their Windows apps to run. I have several old turds that I find useful, and I spent the early years of my LINUX education working out that problem. I settled on using Q4 Wine. There are several similar WINE frontends. WINE itself is one of the neat features of LINUX. WINE (Wine Is Not and Emulator) is a whole Windows environment. Some of the WINE frontends have preloaded profiles for most Windows software. You just tell it what you're installing and it configures the environment so it will run well. WINE will work with Quicken and CAD software. You just have to do a little Google-Fu to get there.

That is one of the biggest hurdles: recognizing that the answers are right there for you. Unlike asking a question on 24hourcampfire and getting 10 pages of GFY and aleatory ramblings from old pissers, if I have a problem I am trying to sort out, I just go to my web browser search bar and type "UBUNTU How do I install Picasa?" or "UBUNTU How do I change the size of my mouse pointer?" I get page after page of answers, but usually get what I want in the first or second try. If you're asking the question, it's probably been asked before.

That's true, most distros have user groups and forums where help can be found almost instantly. Granted, there are a few sour apples on forums who will tell you you're stupid if you haven't flolixxed the LSMFT varble. But mostly there are good folks who will guide you through the steps to fix your issue.

I think there are something like 782 versions of Linux. The fact is it doesn't really matter a lot which one you choose. As Shaman said, the differences are largely window dressing. The top 10 or 12 are all good, but are configured to emphasize one or two things the others don't. Think of them all as .30-06 rifles. You might want a bolt or a pump, a carbine or a full-length, a walnut stock or synthetic. Get the picture?

The three I featured will serve you well. Zorin and Mint are full-featured, easy to navigate (once you learn a few new terms and file structure), and familiar in look and use. They're also stable, crash-free, and fully supported by development teams. Play around with them on DistroTest and you'll see.

Yes, Window$ 11 will probably make some really good hardware hardware available for cheap!

TPM 2.0 might be the worst of the hurdles but I'm sure there will be workarounds but how many average users will take the time?

A SSD and a relatively new machine will scream with Linux.

Probably 3/4 of casual users only need a browser and some sort of card game, I've helped a few of my older friends get away from Window$ and they all like it.

If a user has the tech savvy to work around W11's install limitations, they are over-qualified to install Linux.

That's true about most casual users, and that's the audience I'm trying to reach. A familiar system with a decent browser, an office suite, and a game or two is all they need. It's actually all I need, to be honest.

What do you run for anti-virus, firewall, etc with these Linux OS versions? My daughter has a Windows laptop she is using for college and it has slowed to a tortoise pace, she is ready to junk it. Thinking this might take care of her issues.

Mark in GA

I seem to have a complete mental block when it comes to installing Mint, I cannot get it to run no matter what I do wit it. The thumb drive you sent me Rocky loaded and Mint worked one time after it said to remove the drive it would not restart it kept saying it had errors. Just tried to load it again the other day and it won't even start to install, I'm about to give up on the whole Linux idea since I guess I'm just not smart enough to get it to work.

You usually don't need a virus program with Linux. Technically it may be possible for a virus to attack linux but they are extremely rare so far. Virus programs can be installed, but my understanding is they would mostly look for windows viruses.

Most Linux distro's like Ubuntu or Mint come with a basic firewall. Deep under the hood there's a lot of adjustments and settings to lock things down (or mess things up). I have found no need.

Sometimes a slow acting computer is windows going bad. Sometimes it's a slow mechanical hard drive. Linux will act better than windows but the real problem is it needs a new hard drive.

Replacing a desktop hard drive is pretty easy. Laptops vary but are often a pain to change hard drives.

Sounds like the thumb drive went bad, that's all.

You guys have me thinking mint for my laptop.

We recently went to an SSD drive to one of my sons gaming computer. That’s another game changer for quicker response.