Good suggestion wombat. I'd like to see a Linux section as well - my son installed it for me years ago but I lost interest due to no one to ask questions except for the Linux forum which is populated by young kids/geniuses.

oldbobsbus wrote:

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I would also read it with interest and if there is enough useful info and help offered I would be willing to give it another go for about the 5th time, I am hoping that maybe it has improved since I last tried Ubuntu 12.5 3 or 4 years ago..

 

I would also add that I wouldn't try to hijack it with Microsoft propaganda..

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 good one bob, would be good if somebody who knows what they are talking about could start a topic on the subject.

-- Edited by _wombat_ on Monday 17th of March 2014 04:24:25 PM

I gave a talk at the MLUG (Melbourne Linux User Group) some years ago to about 500 folks and I reckon 200 of them were retirees.

Wonder why it's lost ground in this particular segment of the market?

_wombat_ wrote:

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Cloak wrote:

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I gave a talk at the MLUG (Melbourne Linux User Group) some years ago to about 500 folks and I reckon 200 of them were retirees.

Wonder why it's lost ground in this particular segment of the market?

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 cos nobody here wants to start a topic on the subject, I have just sent NP and PeterD a PM in case they have not seen this post, on the other hand maybe they do not have the time to put into it, no problem some Google searching should give me more info I hope.

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 How about you start the thread Wombat and hopefully someone will come along and help us get our puters up and running with Linux..

I will be home in 2 days (After 8 weeks and 15000k on the road) and I have about 10 spare Pentium 4  and duel core towers that I can pick out one from to use to try it on..

Good idea Wombat. I am just about to give Linux a go and would apprexiate some expert guidance

Steve

rockylizard wrote:

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Gday...

Feel like ya got a bit of time to spend ?

This is an expansive read - seems to cover heaps of stuff. However, I cannot comprehend it without a "Linux technical guru" to translate for me. It's all double-dutch to me   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

I cannot see how I could simply "download Linux operating system" to my pooter without over-writing the WIN7 OS ... happy to be shown I am wrong.

Consequently, I would not wanna puddle in Linux without considerable assistance, before I decided, and during the process.

But it certainly seems to be a "highly accepted and preferred" OS.

Cheers - John

-- Edited by rockylizard on Monday 17th of March 2014 09:12:32 PM

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 RL, you do not need to install it just download to a dvd and run your computer from the dvd, well that is how I see it and I am no expert on Linux but would like to learn more about it, my paroblem is time I need 36 hours in a day

rockylizard wrote:

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_wombat_ wrote:

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 RL, you do not need to install it just download to a dvd and run your computer from the dvd, well that is how I see it and I am no expert on Linux but would like to learn more about it, my paroblem is time I need 36 hours in a day

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 Gday...

Interesting.  So, I download it to a DVD - not sure I could do that without saving it to the HDD first.

But that notwithstanding, I therefore assume that I continue to have WIN7 OS and my existing software on my HDD for me to use, but run the Linux OS from a DVD 'behind/beside/over the top of' WIN7 OS.

I am now REALLY confused. 

Cheers - John

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 that's the way I see it but we do need somebody who has more knowledge on the subject, I am no expert, I think you can use both on dvd or install and yes it can be used as well as Win 7 or any os I believe 

If you're going to try linux try Mint as it's probably the easiest and most reliable distro at the moment. Download the 32bit iso, burn it to disc just like you'd burn a movie to disc. You can also burn it to a usb stick, but that can be a bit more difficult and you can also install it on a usb stick so you can carry your operating system with you and just plug it into any computer.

Once you've done that put the disc in the computer and restart it, then your bios should pick the disc first and load mint. It's called a live disc as you can play with it use the internet and all the software, you just can't save or install anything. Remember it isn't windows so don't expect it to act as you are used to, as it won't.

When it loads it gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to install or use live disc. Choose live disc and go through it, at the bottom left of the screen is a menu, click that and it will open up all the software included, categorised into sections, making it easy to find and use.

Once you've had a play which you can do as many times as you like until you're used to it and decide to install it, just click on install and it will run you through the system as it is installed. Live disc doesn't download or install anything on your system, it's just like an interactive movie.

First it will tell you there is Win on the computer and ask if you want to install mint alongside as a dual boot with windows, or over write the computer entirely, choose dual boot and let it do all the work automatically. Don't try to install it yourself, you may wipe out everything if you aren't sure what you're doing.

The installation will take about 15 minutes, depending on how many updates needed to be downloaded. During the install it will run you through the system, once loaded it will ask you to reboot. When it reboots you will be asked which system you want to boot into, linux or windows.

I'm yet to use Mint petra 16, use LTS (long term support) releases, which provide support for up to 5 years, but there is not one of those for another release or so. If there is anyone really interested in getting into this, then will download mint 16 and run it in a VB so I can emulate any problems others come up with and try to help. Probably others here that are using mint/linux, so should be enough help to get anyone up and running.

Once you get used to mint, you can download any number of distro's and try them out in a VB to see what you think of them.

native pepper wrote:

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If you're going to try linux try Mint as it's probably the easiest and most reliable distro at the moment. Download the 32bit iso, burn it to disc just like you'd burn a movie to disc. You can also burn it to a usb stick, but that can be a bit more difficult and you can also install it on a usb stick so you can carry your operating system with you and just plug it into any computer.

Once you've done that put the disc in the computer and restart it, then your bios should pick the disc first and load mint. It's called a live disc as you can play with it use the internet and all the software, you just can't save or install anything. Remember it isn't windows so don't expect it to act as you are used to, as it won't.

When it loads it gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to install or use live disc. Choose live disc and go through it, at the bottom left of the screen is a menu, click that and it will open up all the software included, categorised into sections, making it easy to find and use.

Once you've had a play which you can do as many times as you like until you're used to it and decide to install it, just click on install and it will run you through the system as it is installed. Live disc doesn't download or install anything on your system, it's just like an interactive movie.

First it will tell you there is Win on the computer and ask if you want to install mint alongside as a dual boot with windows, or over write the computer entirely, choose dual boot and let it do all the work automatically. Don't try to install it yourself, you may wipe out everything if you aren't sure what you're doing.

The installation will take about 15 minutes, depending on how many updates needed to be downloaded. During the install it will run you through the system, once loaded it will ask you to reboot. When it reboots you will be asked which system you want to boot into, linux or windows.

I'm yet to use Mint petra 16, use LTS (long term support) releases, which provide support for up to 5 years, but there is not one of those for another release or so. If there is anyone really interested in getting into this, then will download mint 16 and run it in a VB so I can emulate any problems others come up with and try to help. Probably others here that are using mint/linux, so should be enough help to get anyone up and running.

Once you get used to mint, you can download any number of distro's and try them out in a VB to see what you think of them.

---

 Hi NP, thank you for that info a couple of questions, what is a VB?   what is a distro?    I have just Googled Mint and here's some info for those that are interested in LinuxMint

http://www.linuxmint.com/

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/104581-linux-mint-the-new-ubuntu

_wombat_ wrote:

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native pepper wrote:

---

If you're going to try linux try Mint as it's probably the easiest and most reliable distro at the moment. Download the 32bit iso, burn it to disc just like you'd burn a movie to disc. You can also burn it to a usb stick, but that can be a bit more difficult and you can also install it on a usb stick so you can carry your operating system with you and just plug it into any computer.

Once you've done that put the disc in the computer and restart it, then your bios should pick the disc first and load mint. It's called a live disc as you can play with it use the internet and all the software, you just can't save or install anything. Remember it isn't windows so don't expect it to act as you are used to, as it won't.

When it loads it gives you the opportunity to decide whether you want to install or use live disc. Choose live disc and go through it, at the bottom left of the screen is a menu, click that and it will open up all the software included, categorised into sections, making it easy to find and use.

Once you've had a play which you can do as many times as you like until you're used to it and decide to install it, just click on install and it will run you through the system as it is installed. Live disc doesn't download or install anything on your system, it's just like an interactive movie.

First it will tell you there is Win on the computer and ask if you want to install mint alongside as a dual boot with windows, or over write the computer entirely, choose dual boot and let it do all the work automatically. Don't try to install it yourself, you may wipe out everything if you aren't sure what you're doing.

The installation will take about 15 minutes, depending on how many updates needed to be downloaded. During the install it will run you through the system, once loaded it will ask you to reboot. When it reboots you will be asked which system you want to boot into, linux or windows.

I'm yet to use Mint petra 16, use LTS (long term support) releases, which provide support for up to 5 years, but there is not one of those for another release or so. If there is anyone really interested in getting into this, then will download mint 16 and run it in a VB so I can emulate any problems others come up with and try to help. Probably others here that are using mint/linux, so should be enough help to get anyone up and running.

Once you get used to mint, you can download any number of distro's and try them out in a VB to see what you think of them.

---

 Hi NP, thank you for that info a couple of questions, what is a VB?   what is a distro?    I have just Googled Mint and here's some info for those that are interested in LinuxMint

http://www.linuxmint.com/

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/104581-linux-mint-the-new-ubuntu

---

 A distro is a linux distribution, which comes in hundreds of flavours and types, you can check out what's available distro watch. This is where most linux developers submit their new release, you can choose from hundreds to suit your purposes, hobby or business. However many are not good for the average user and require a bit more understanding of how things work. There's a distro for just about anything you want to get into, many small and very large businesses run on linux/open source very successfully and the economies of scale are brilliant.  http://distrowatch.com/

A VB is a virtual box, which is a software package that allows you to install and run a number of distro's from within a linux box, (computer). There is a virtual box for windows, which does the same thing, but from reports I've read windows doesn't really like it and there may be bugs to contend with. https://www.virtualbox.org/

If you're a Windows technical person, you may have more trouble with linux than the average user. Windows techs seem to be very reluctant to change the way they think things should work and can create many problems for themselves. Much better to let linux do it for you and then as you get int it, questions and software needs will come up. That's when you can begin to learn how it works under the hood, how to tweak and customise your distro, or just continue using automatic installations and fixes. What ever you do don't try to understand all the tech stuff on the web, that's for developers and linux nerds who like to tinker and play under the hood. In the end they make their own custom distro, which is pretty easy once you understand how it all works.

Open Office is standard in mint, as is just about every bit of software you may need for using your computer, camera's, printers, whatever. It's all in synaptic package manager, which is found in preferences in the menu. When you click on the menu and any item, it will tell you what it is and does. On the left of the menu there are icons which you can click on to get started, one if Firefox for browsing and one is the software manager, which is different to synaptic package manager and tells you about the software you are about to install, synaptic is a bit more technical. Check out all the menu and you will find everything you need to get started.

-- Edited by native pepper on Tuesday 18th of March 2014 10:27:53 AM

 

thank you NP, I asked Cindy to change the topic heading, making it easier to find for Linux users, thanks Cindy.

 

-- Edited by _wombat_ on Tuesday 18th of March 2014 10:59:37 AM

thanks NP, I have to go out soon, will try that later today or tomorrow 

I'm having another go at Linux as well. Just downloaded the iso and in the process of burning it to disk. See if i play with it more than I do with the win8 laptop i've used twice in the 5 months since i bought it.

Peter thanks for that, I used open office for so long forgot libre office took over, it's what I use for proof work and is installed in mint and most other distro's. Great set of packages, which are becoming the standard in many professions.

I run mint and Ubuntu studio as my main distro's on the pc and Ubuntu studio on laptops, which are used when travelling. Have Suse, Debian and different others in VB at most times, just can't stop checking new distro's and beta software. Used Suse for a couple of years, but the girls found it to finicky, so stick with Mint for them.