Thursday, August 26, 2010
Desire-Driven Computing Choices
Sometimes, we make choices based on needs, such as the use of a particular program needed for our work, but sometimes we can pick a system or a particular piece of software based on our wants instead. The vast majority of home PC users probably falls into this category. My daughter, for example, had migrated over to Linux last year after becoming increasingly with Windows, but a year earlier she had no interest at all in looking at her options. When she saw the Red Notebook application running on my system, she realized that it would be a very helpful program for her. Unfortunately, it's not available in the repositories for her current distribution, so this weekend, we'll change it over to Linux Mint, so she can run the the program too.
Choosing a new system based solely on a package that she wants to use, rather than because of a need, has been a rather eye-opening experience as she has begun to look at some of the other capabilities of the open source arena. It doesn't hurt a bit either that she will have access to a wealth of programs that won't cost her a dime - always a plus these days. Just for the times that she actually needs to use Windows, her machine will be set up to be dual boot, but I'm willing to bet that the Windows side won't be getting much action in her case. Especially since she saw Frostwire on my system and it looks like it might be possible to get her Sansa Clip to work as well....
Monday, August 23, 2010
What about...
Invariably, when talking about changing to a different operating system, the questions arise about various types of software that might be used, so first, let me say that there are still a few times when I have need of a Windows-cased machine. Those times, however, are few and far between these days - tax time each year and about once a month to do my business billing. Occasionally, I'll fire it up to check how a website looks in IE, but even that is a pretty rare occurrence as more folks seem to have migrated to Firefox from IE. I don't totally hate the Windows environment, but I really do like saving money, so I prefer finding alternatives.
If we all had as much money as we need these days, some of the benefits I talk wouldn't really matter, as we could all go out and buy all the toys we want, but, for many of us, right now, money is tight. There are, no doubt, some folks who have particular computing needs that can only be met through the Windows environment, but for many of us, there are lots of alternatives that could work out just as well, if not better.
One of the things to decide first is how you will be using the machine - what the application types that you absolutely need to have on it? Your answer to that question will help you decide if you really need Windows or if a Linux alternative would work instead.
If we all had as much money as we need these days, some of the benefits I talk wouldn't really matter, as we could all go out and buy all the toys we want, but, for many of us, right now, money is tight. There are, no doubt, some folks who have particular computing needs that can only be met through the Windows environment, but for many of us, there are lots of alternatives that could work out just as well, if not better.
One of the things to decide first is how you will be using the machine - what the application types that you absolutely need to have on it? Your answer to that question will help you decide if you really need Windows or if a Linux alternative would work instead.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Migration Questions
One of the more common questions that comes up when considering Linux for the desktop is the question of finding alternatives to the common Windows applications. How this question should be answered depends largely on how you use your PC now.
If your primary use is to browse the net, use email and occasionally use documents and spreadsheets, then this is a no-brainer. Virtually any Linux distro will easily support your needs. The OpenOffice suite can handle almost any Micro$oft format file with no problem and it works both on Linux and Windows. Numerous email packages are available on Linux as are lots of options for browsing the web. For the average home user, a setup like this is all that is necessary. We'll talk about higher-end users shortly.
If your primary use is to browse the net, use email and occasionally use documents and spreadsheets, then this is a no-brainer. Virtually any Linux distro will easily support your needs. The OpenOffice suite can handle almost any Micro$oft format file with no problem and it works both on Linux and Windows. Numerous email packages are available on Linux as are lots of options for browsing the web. For the average home user, a setup like this is all that is necessary. We'll talk about higher-end users shortly.
Tackling newer machines
Yesterday, I was talking about setting up Linux on a old laptop - today I'm using that laptop to write this, while updating the machine I was using yesterday. That probably says something about how much I like this new Linux distro. I also set up a newer laptop with Linux Mint yesterday, setting it up as a dual boot machine, since there was an existing older version of Mint on that machine that I wanted to keep.
Deciding how to make use of some of the various machines that I have here is always a bit entertaining. It becomes very easy to lose track of the various machines, since there are quite a few of them in the house - one of the side effects of working in the IT world for many years. Most of them are older Pentium class machines, none of which have much memory or a lot of disk space (at least in today's terms), so most of them are ideal candidates for being repurposed as Linux boxes (or boxen as some of us prefer).
Right now the machine that is being updated is grinding through the most challenging part of the installation - repartitioning the hard drive to make room for the new system. This one is a bit trickier than the others because, unlike the newer laptop I did yesterday, this machine has no free space in the partition table and so the install process has to actually resize the existing partition. So far, so good. The partitioning process has completed and now the the installer is copying files from the installation CD.
Ironically, sometimes the older machines are easier to deal with than the newer ones. That was certainly true in the case of the laptops yesterday. Two of them. this one and its virtual twin, were both 10 year old machines with P3 processors and less than 500Mb of RAM. The newer laptop is an AMD64 dual core machine with a high-end NVidia graphics system and a bunch of other bells and whistles. In order for the installer to work properly, I had to set a few options for the install process, since the NVidia card needs special drivers that are not included in the install CD. Not a big deal, as they can be installed very easily after the installation is complete.
The desktop that is currently being updated is another AMD64 dual core beast with an NVidia graphics system, but the installer didn't need to be altered in this case (probably because it's an older graphics system and the installer recognized it without a problem). I did, however, have to disconnect the external US hard-drive that is usually attached to that machine before the partitioning portion of the install could run properly. At this point, the update is wrapping up, so I'll take a break here and finish that install. Back soon!
Deciding how to make use of some of the various machines that I have here is always a bit entertaining. It becomes very easy to lose track of the various machines, since there are quite a few of them in the house - one of the side effects of working in the IT world for many years. Most of them are older Pentium class machines, none of which have much memory or a lot of disk space (at least in today's terms), so most of them are ideal candidates for being repurposed as Linux boxes (or boxen as some of us prefer).
Right now the machine that is being updated is grinding through the most challenging part of the installation - repartitioning the hard drive to make room for the new system. This one is a bit trickier than the others because, unlike the newer laptop I did yesterday, this machine has no free space in the partition table and so the install process has to actually resize the existing partition. So far, so good. The partitioning process has completed and now the the installer is copying files from the installation CD.
Ironically, sometimes the older machines are easier to deal with than the newer ones. That was certainly true in the case of the laptops yesterday. Two of them. this one and its virtual twin, were both 10 year old machines with P3 processors and less than 500Mb of RAM. The newer laptop is an AMD64 dual core machine with a high-end NVidia graphics system and a bunch of other bells and whistles. In order for the installer to work properly, I had to set a few options for the install process, since the NVidia card needs special drivers that are not included in the install CD. Not a big deal, as they can be installed very easily after the installation is complete.
The desktop that is currently being updated is another AMD64 dual core beast with an NVidia graphics system, but the installer didn't need to be altered in this case (probably because it's an older graphics system and the installer recognized it without a problem). I did, however, have to disconnect the external US hard-drive that is usually attached to that machine before the partitioning portion of the install could run properly. At this point, the update is wrapping up, so I'll take a break here and finish that install. Back soon!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Old Machines and New Operating Systems
One of the major differences that separates Micro$oft from many of its competitors is ever increasing resource requirements needed to run its operating systems. While many of the newer Linux distros also require large amounts of system resources, there are also quite a few distros that have been created to be run on older machines with smaller hard drives and lower memory capacities. In many cases, this will allow older machines that would never be able to run any variant of Windows to be used happily as Linux machines, more than capable of handling modern computing tasks.
As I write this, I am running a Linux Mint install on a decidedly older laptop - an HP Omnibook 500 that is at least 10 years old, with a 40 GB hard drive and 256 MB of RAM. After a bit of a glitch because the system didn't find the driver for the wireless card, it's now happily downloading updates. Luckily, the install process copies a bunch of wireless drivers to the disk, so that it's pretty simple to find the right one and get connected properly.
There's something quite satisfying about taking an old machine that most would simply send to a landfill and giving it a new purpose though turning it into a Linux box. Since Linux and the vast majority of the software written for it is open source, there is no huge investment in software, for either a home user or a company, so Linux solutions can be a huge money saver as well. What's not to love about that?
As I write this, I am running a Linux Mint install on a decidedly older laptop - an HP Omnibook 500 that is at least 10 years old, with a 40 GB hard drive and 256 MB of RAM. After a bit of a glitch because the system didn't find the driver for the wireless card, it's now happily downloading updates. Luckily, the install process copies a bunch of wireless drivers to the disk, so that it's pretty simple to find the right one and get connected properly.
There's something quite satisfying about taking an old machine that most would simply send to a landfill and giving it a new purpose though turning it into a Linux box. Since Linux and the vast majority of the software written for it is open source, there is no huge investment in software, for either a home user or a company, so Linux solutions can be a huge money saver as well. What's not to love about that?
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