Three reasons to hold off on Windows 10

[fgentges at mindspring.com]

Phil,

I have been having good results with Mint Linux here.  I am using the 
Long Term Support Version 17.2 and get updates every day or two to 
something.  I use Firefox as a web browser and Mozilla Thunderbird as 
the email program, both downloaded from the Mint Linux site. I am moving 
over to this as a replacement for Windows.

Rob has given you some good info.  I was going to pass you similar info 
when Rob provided his email.

Frank K0BRA



On 9/4/2015 8:42 AM, Philip Miller Tate via Tacos wrote:
> Hi Rob
>
> I did what you said, and... guess what? It worked! In fact, I'm sending
> this e-mail from my new Ubuntu machine right now.
>
> Having a Vaio laptop compromised by a botched Windows 7 installation (my
> fault entirely), I found and downloaded the Ubuntu installation on my
> Mac laptop and saved it to DVD following clear instructions from the
> provider. I then transferred the DVD to my Vaio and started up - and it
> all worked as described. Perfectly. No incomprehensible questions or
> uninformed options. Better still, the screen kept me reassured that
> things were happening - unlike the Win 7 installation which sat there
> for hours looking like it had frozen, or...? I got the distinct
> impression that this installation process had been designed by
> professionals.
>
> The adventure begins... Thanks for your concise and accurate advice to a
> Linux newb.
>
> Phil M1GWZ
>
>
>
> On 03/09/15 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
>>
>
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