Three reasons to hold off on Windows 10

[Phil]

Thanks, Rob - you've given me hope, as well as guidance!

Phil M1GWZ


On 3 Sep 2015, at 17:21, Rob Seastrom wrote:

> 
> Phil via Tacos <tacos at amrad.org> writes:
> 
>> Folks keep telling me of the joys of Mint Linux, so I have looked into it for
>> my old Vista laptop. Trouble is, I was immediately confronted with a choice of
>> four different editions (all of which looked much the same to me) and two
>> documents telling me that, if uncertain, I should definitely load Cinnamon. Or
>> MATE, depending on whose advice you take. Add to that some unclear
>> explanations as to how I could download and install, plus several pages of
>> 'simple' Linux programming for setting configurations, and I was totally
>> lost. I haven't got time to read "Linux for Dummies", so if some knowledgeable
>> AMRADer could direct us to "How to get Linux running usefully on an old laptop
>> for complete Dummies", I guess at least two of us would be very grateful.
> 
> The people who are getting you down in the weeds on which window
> manager or edition of a fringe fork of Debian/Ubuntu you want to load
> are not doing you any favors as a novice.
> 
> If you:
> 
> a) don't have the time to read Linux for Dummies
> b) want to maximize the number of people you can ask intelligent questions of when stuck or confused
> c) are more interested in getting something that works than engaging in petty politics
> 
> then you probably want to get the most recent (14.04) LTS (Long Term
> Support) version of Ubuntu Desktop, and not goof around with trying to
> re-skin it or otherwise change what the GUI looks like.  You'll figure
> it out easily enough.
> 
> As part of installation, you will be asked to set a password for your
> default account (which you'll need subsequently to log in).  If asked
> if you want to enable disk encryption or other silliness to complicate
> your life, say no thanks - after all this is a toy and a learning
> experience, not your office laptop.
> 
> A getting started guide (pdf format, free as in free beer) is here:
> 
> http://ubuntu-manual.org
> 
> There are plenty of us here who are willing to field questions about
> Linux.  Some of us more useful than others - for my part I'm more
> useful for knowledge domain stuff where there is a ton of overlap with
> other Unix flavors than I am with things like device drivers.  I can
> usually figure out the sysadmin stuff given a little time to fool with
> it.
> 
> -r
>