[kwlug-disc] Linux on the Desktop

Mark Steffen rmarksteffen at gmail.com
Wed Feb 22 17:03:23 EST 2017


I don't presently use Linux on my desktop due to some specific applications
that don't work in Linux.  I did use Ubuntu as my daily driver for the last
couple of years though, and it is what I'd recommend.  However, I generally
use CentOS on all of my servers.

*Mark Steffen*
Office Direct: +1.226.476.1240 | Mobile/WhatsApp: +1.226.600.0464
*"Don't believe everything you read on the Internet." -Abraham Lincoln*



On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 4:44 PM, John Van Ostrand <john at vanostrand.com>
wrote:

> On Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 4:01 PM, Nelson F. <nelsonjfr at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi there.
>>
>> Was just reading email bellow about going cold turkey with Linux on the
>> Desktop and I was wondering what everyone experience is.
>>
>> I tried a few distributions in the 'live' modality (no install): Ubuntu,
>> Debian, Fedora, Elementary, Manjaro, Mint & Artegos.
>>
>
> I've used Linux as my desktop for a very long time. Over 10 years for
> sure. I've stuck to the Fedora distro mostly although I know people who
> like Debian flavours.
>>
>>
>> In most I found issues (screen suddenly froze, mouse did not respond).
>>
>>
>> You are using a live distro which is going to be sluggish. My laptop
> (Thinkpad) is my main system and it's on constantly and often has months of
> up time. Aside from update related reboots (e.g. kernels) the reason I see
> hangs are storage related, one when my NFS share goes away (wifi down or
> something like that) and I'm not patient enough to wait for a timeout (and
> not smart enough to put "soft" in the mount options. The second is when the
> local filesystem fills up. Linux should gracefully handle things like that
> so I'm a little confused as to why.
>
> I used to have Firefox crash/hang a lot (every few days, open all the
> time), but I switched to Chrome and now only one tab will hang.
>
> Fedora and Debian seemed to be the more stable ones.
>>
>>
>> Any suggestions? Experiences?
>>
>
> The downside to Linux on the desktop is that you often can't find the
> niche tools that seems so common with Windows. I'm not a utility junkie so
> it doesn't affect me. The example I used to use was printing CD-ROM labels.
> Remember those? You'd buy a kit that had labels and a device to align the
> label during application. It also came with an app to design a label. I've
> never found one for LInux, although there are templates for LibreOffice.
>
> Setting up some things takes a little work and doesn't provide all the
> functions of Windows, like say managing a network printer. I think Windows
> users get a better experience.
>
> But those are all minor things. I get my real work, email, facebook,
> spreadsheets, documents, programming, video/photo editing, drawing, 3D CAD,
> scuba dving logs, circuit board design, etc all done on Linux. I use the
> system literally 12 hours a day. I touch Windows only when a family member
> asks me to help (cringe) and I haven't touched a Mac in years.
>
> When I was in an office I used Linux on a variety of desktop PCs too and
> had lots of up-time on those.
>
> Be patient. It takes time to get used to the differences. Avoid
> proprietary software. Adobe Acrobat Reader is horrible on Linux.
>
> You may not be able to run setup utilities that come with devices like
> printers, routers, switches and you'll have to use their console or web
> administration methods. These things will make you smarter about
> configuration.
>
> You'll likely want "non-free" software. Free as in speech, that is. It's
> software that's burdened with licensing, mainly audio and video codecs. A
> web search will find great reasources on how to install the non-free codecs.
>
> You'll have to find the open source app equivalent to the ones you're used
> to now. There are sites that do that mapping for you. I have my favourites.
> Some aren't great, others are better than the proprietary ones.
>
> Be patient.
>
>
>>
>> Thanks
>> ------------------------------
>> *From:* kwlug-disc <kwlug-disc-bounces at kwlug.org> on behalf of
>> CrankyOldBugger <crankyoldbugger at gmail.com>
>> *Sent:* February 22, 2017 9:09 AM
>> *To:* KWLUG discussion
>> *Subject:* [kwlug-disc] Blogging software for Linux
>>
>> Anybody out there know of a good client for uploading to a Wordpress
>> blog?  I still have to maintain a couple of blogs and "back in the day"
>> when I had a Windows machine I uploaded using OpenWriter, a fork of MS's
>> Live Writer.  But now that I've gone cold-turkey to Linux I'm in the market
>> for a similar tool that works in Ubuntu.
>>
>> I tried Blogilo last night but found it lacking (it couldn't handle
>> photos at all).  It did have some nice features, though, but it's just not
>> "there" yet.
>>
>> Essentially the client sends me a .doc with all the new blog content, I
>> copy it subject by subject to the blog client software then upload it.
>> Piece of cake.  But Blogilo choked on any article with a photo in it.  It
>> handled the text-only articles fine.
>>
>> Anyone out there have a favourite to recommend?
>>
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> John Van Ostrand
> At large on sabbatical
>
>
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