elvis' big fat Free Software / Linux 101 sticky thread

Exactly! Not only am I learning how to make better use of shell commands and all that but I'm also becoming a master Googler to boot.

 

My next thing is to do Arch in a VM.
If I can get my head around that there will be some head wobbling.

 

Been forced to install Ubuntu (MATE) on a pissy little laptop, because the person wants it to work, and Windows 7/10 worked absolutely SHIT on it.

The damn thing only has 1gb of ram, a pissy atom 1.66ghz CPU.

Lagged chronically. So now, I've gotta fart around with this to get it set up, and then probably show them how it works.

Thank god for this thread though!

 

You need to cut your overhead. Although I love Gnome 2, there are lighter options out there than Mate.

 

I don't normally look to linux. I only did it in this case, because it originally had ubuntu on it (about a 3 year old version).

I wasn't sure which one would've been best.

I found Mate (which didn't exist last time I looked at Linux) and saw that it could be catered for laptops, so thought why not. And it's incredibly straightforward.

The version she had on it previously was not. Options were hidden all over the place.

 

I was a dyed in the wool gnome man until gnome 3 appeared. Since then I spent the last few years bouncing around tiling window managers and somehow have landed on XFCE and it's pretty good. No idea what it runs like on a machine with 1gb of RAM though. Probably great until they fire up a web browser.

 

LXDE or XFCE are pretty good if you need lightweight desktop environment that still is 'fully featured'. XFCE is a little prettier in my opinion.

Pantheon (ElementaryOS) is a nice desktop environment too, and claims to be pretty light weight, but I've never run it on bad hardware so I can't back that up.

 

I find XFCE to be good from a performance and versatility standpoint. For a user familiar with Windows, it's likely to be a good option. To reduce system load further would require sacrificing features.

 

If you're using Ubuntu or a derivative, you should just be able to install the 'xubuntu-desktop' package from the software centre / aptitude and it will install XFCE for you. You then should have the option to choose the desktop environment from the LightDM login screen.

 

I've just gone through 8 different laptops with vastly different specs, to find the best solution for each.

On some, Ubuntu 16.04 MATE run a whole lot better than Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or Kubuntu. To be honest, MATE is pretty light.

 

My netbook has seen pretty much every lightweight distro going in the quest for speed. Similar specs to that above, 1.6 atom etc.
I have yet to find a faster distro than Crunchbang++
https://crunchbangplusplus.org/
Cold boots in 27 secs.........on a mechanical hard drive.
It dual boots with Bunsen Labs for a belt and braces approach
https://www.bunsenlabs.org/
They are both continuations of the original Crunchbang project.
Openbox isn't to everyone's taste however. But if one perseveres...
Gotta love Debian
(In fairness I didn't test Puppy or Tiny Core)

 

A while ago when I was still working with Linux Servers (new job denies me such pleasure) I wrote(/adapted) a mini SQL Backup script that would backup certain databases, push them over smb (mainly Windows network) to a fileserver, and delete backups older than a week, unless it was from Sunday which was kept for a month.

Today I installed "automysqlbackup" and only minorly modified the SQL to backup specific databases on my home server.

I feel like I've cheated...

 

For CAD, on windows, Mac, and Ubuntu, check out DraftSight.

It's miles ahead of the other offerings.

https://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight-cad-software/free-download/

 

Hey everybody. I'm new to linux and just built my first computer. I'm wondering if there are any Speccy alternatives you would recommend that work well in Ubuntu?

EDIT: Just learned about lshw. It's helpful but I'm looking for something with a gui interface (I know, I'm such a newbie at this stuff).

EDIT 2: Trying HardInfo and it's doing exactly what I need. Sorry for the silly question.

 

Hey gurus,
I am trying to get around a tricky situation.
I require the use of a specific version of software, that is out of date.
Lets say transmission for example its a base install thats usually up to date automatically.

Where do I source an older version of this software?
And the steps required to install this are there any tips on removing the newer and installing the older?

 

There's a few different ways, depending on the application and what the "vendor" offers. (Could be just a manual install off to the side, could be package pinning in your software management tool).

First question is always: why do you want to use older software? Generally that's a security risk, and up-to-date/supported versions are always recommended over older stuff.

If you want to continue, let us know the specific name and version of the software, and we can have a look to see what's on offer.

 

A particular source has requested I only use specific versions.
From their list my preference is:

qBittorrent 3.2.3 (I currently run and use the newest version with no problems, happy to replace with 3.2.3)

or

Transmission 2.03 (happy to run side by side or transmission only)

Either way I am going to set up both with local gui access and remote mobile access.

Thanks

 

2.03 or 2.30? 2.03 is ancient (I'd be worried running it with code that old).

Also, what exact distro are you running (including version)?

 

Definitely 2.03
One of my reasons for the qb preference.

Running Ubuntu 16.04 LTS on Oracle Virtual Box VM. On a Ubuntu 16.04 LTS physical host.

 

Thought crunchbang was dead, cool to see it live on