Perpetual Linux Distro Thread

Also started using Proxmox.

I was going to evaluate virt-manager/debian, cockpit/debian & proxmox, for a headless vm server.
Started with Proxmox, made 4 vm's. It looks like the test is now the permanent solution.

The HL-L3230CDW is the current equivalent. Just as good + wireless. Also takes compatible toner

 

I haven't played with Ubuntu for a very long time but my nephew who is about 14 is interested in exploring Linux. Is Ubuntu still the recommended gateway drug? there are no particular use cases or requirements besides being simple to install, easy to find help for and probably being able to install Steam on there and play a few games. If he wants more than that then he can start to explore for himself and recompile his kernel from source on his own time.

 

Kubuntu(?)... I /think/ kids like good looking..things.. & KDE Plasma looks sooo nice (IMO).
All the ease of Ubuntu, with the extra eye candy.

 

I will probably just say "start with one of these" with Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu then let him go from there. Part of the joy for him here in my mind is letting him forge his own path and decide what he likes and/or doesn't like thus opening his mind to the free and open world out there.

 

I recommend KDE Neon User Edition. Still based on Ubuntu LTS, but with a few tweaks and more of a rolling release desktop environment - A distro made by the KDE devs themselves.

I've been running the same install of KDE Neon for years across a number of PC's and it's never even come close to missing a beat.

 

Snap really f'd up Ubuntu.

Just straight debian for me these days.

 

So uhh someone put something funny in the new ubuntu
https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu...mmit/29069dbbd345b76ca75d0977952cd4716d414f85

 

Not a big believer in policing comedy, but that reads as funny as a heart attack.

*Edit* And caused Ubuntu to withdraw ISOs until it could be purged.
https://www.techradar.com/pro/ubuntu-2310-launch-hit-by-malicious-translation-changes

 

I just started using Fedora 39 after being in the Ubuntu-and-derivatives world for like 15 years and holy crap does this thing feel polished. Once you get used to it, the UX is definitely on par with MacOS and miles ahead of Windows

 

Interesting. Seems to be a fairly common opinion around the traps that fed 39 is pretty great. Might have to take it for a spin

Edit: Wow. This. is. a. release. The year of the linux desktop is a meme as old as time but holy hell this feels close to it. This is an incredible leap forward. my 2018 thinkpad is silky smooth and the experience from the install through to work has been something I haven't really experienced before. No little annoyances or bugs that require trouble shooting. I know thats probably luck but I really do echo what that zdnet article is saying. This is a really big leap forward for linux desktop

 

My experience with Fedora 39 was negative

Tried it on a Latitude E7470 with existing dual-boot of Win10 and MX 21.3

Used Gparted to get rid of MX, leaving just Win10's three partitions

Then booted F39 from a USB I'd used Rufus 2.15p to create from the F39 ISO

Install of F39 was going OK until it errored 'fedora 39 failed to set new efi boot target'

Proceeded, but as I feared, E7470 then rebooted to a Grub rescue CLI

After some Googling I found a tip to 'rm /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/dump-*', so I got rid of the F39 partitions and started the install process again, but after finding no dump files with 'ls -l /sys/firmware/efi/efivars/d*' immediately before starting the actual install, wasn't surprised to get the same error

Long story short, after wasting hours getting nowhere with the E7470, then a dual-booting Latitude E6330, I eventually put a blank SSD into the E6330 which finally resulted in an F39 install without error messages, and which subsequently booted

F39 on the E6330 is pretty slick, but it's given me such a bad impression, I doubt I'll try it much further

FWIW, it's gone permanently from the E7470 after I was able to get Win10 booting again, then reloaded MX dual-boot

The E6330 will probably get the same treatment soon

 

sounds like there was issues with the dual boot part rather than fedora. if you just deleted the MX partitions, did you clean up it's boot records? it was probably trying to figure out what to do with boot records pointing to no longer existing partitions.

I've been running Fedora on Dell laptops for many versions/years, but no dual booting, my most recent laptop, I didn't even let it boot for the first time, straight onto a USB, wipe the SSD, put Fedora 38 on it (was only a few weeks ago, pre-39 release)

 

How would I 'clean up it's boot records'?

I think for one try I got Win10 sole booting on the E7470 before proceeding with another F39 failure

 

Really the only two meaningful items for UEFI are the associated .EFI files for the MX Grub setup and any boot items which may be set. Run efibootmgr to get a list, then use efibootmgr -b <NUM> -B to delete anything which is no longer valid.

 

Following my experience with Fedora 39 at https://forums.overclockers.com.au/posts/19431301/

This is brought to you by a smooth running F39, dual-booting with Win10

I went back to first principles with Win10 on the Latitude E7470, and:

1. Disabled Legacy options in its UEFI setup

2. Then couldn't work out a way to get its existing Win10 installation to boot, nor could I boot from my existing Win10 install USB key

3. Researched, and created a new UEFI-capable Win10 install USB key from the ISO

4. Starting with a blank SSD, and booting from the UEFI-capable USB key, installed Win10 in the E7470's pure UEFI environment

5. Then booted from the same F39 install USB used previously, and started yet another install

6. Except this time the F39 install completed with a hiccough, and rebooted to a dual-boot menu

 

I did a similar process with Win11 and Ubuntu on this machine except I installed Windows first with the other SSD on the board disconnected. Then disconnected the Win drive & installed Ubuntu on a separate SSD.
Then booted to it, plugged the other SSD back in and ran GRUB.
All good until I upgraded the Ubuntu OS on it's next cycle which confused things a tad.
Now it boots straight to Win unless I F11 it to get to the MSI board disk menu, from which I can select the Ubuntu disk.
I've been to lazy to reconfigure it although I've gone down the google hole to try and find a relatively simple method to get it how I had it without doing the whole process all over again.

 

your 'bios' config should allow you to set which drive it preferences for boot. it'll identify all the UEFI bootable partitions (often with friendly names) and you can set the boot order.

 

Yes I've been in to it a few times & preferenced drives without any luck. Whichever one I tell it to boot to first it defaults to Win so something's overriding that sequence.
I've also checked that Ubuntu is installed in UEFI mode and boots in EFI.
Nearly due for a complete reinstall so if more fiddling doesn't sort it I'll go back to scratch.

 

I've been looking around at distros after not running a linux desktop for a very long time. I have came across this distro that might be good place to start: https://elementary.io/

 

Hi all,

I'm still on Windows 7 (missed the Windows 10 free upgrade) and was thinking about moving on from Windows since I won't be able to play OpenTTD (on Steam) once the year ends.

If I mostly use the PC for Steam, Diablo 3 (until PoE 2 comes out), youtube and web-browsing, then would Nobara be a good distro to take my Linux virginity?

I'd be ditching Windows cold turkey, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I've left the corporate world behind me, so I won't need to worry about using the regular suite of office products. I'm on a 6th gen i5 too, so leaving the TPM 2.0 worries behind is also a bonus.

Kind regards,