Three reasons to hold off on Windows 10

Fri Sep 4 11:09:22 CDT 2015

I have deployed Linux Mint at the local community library on random old donated Dell computers.   These things has various flavors of Windoze XP and riddled with Mal ware.   No install media to get back to a clean start,  and at least one,  sometime more, anti-virus things running.

Just a nightmare.   You can't really delouse these things; that's just a fool's errand.   We built a Linux Mint system from one box that was completely hosed due to mallard and out it out there.   The feedback was:  "Wow!   This one sure runs fast!" 

They all got wiped and Mint installed on them,  and the 95% of users that never ventured beyond the Web browser mostly didn't notice the difference.  The public "patron"  login automatically restores it's home directory after each user session,  so a multitude of security problems with cookies and previous user sessions got fixed. 

As far as Mint goes,  just use the Cinnamon version and ignore the rest unless you have a strong opinion otherwise.   The difference is the flavor of GUI environment,  and that's just a religious battle not worth fighting over.   (unlike the choice of text editors: emacs vs the evil vi(m). 

louie
wa3ymh

On September 4, 2015 12:48:41 PM EDT, "fgentges at mindspring.com" <fgentges at mindspring.com> wrote:
>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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>> Tacos at amrad.org
>> https://lists.amrad.org/mailman/listinfo/tacos
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-- 
Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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