Try this again: is Linux Linpus any good?
in [Setup]
|
From: RayLopez99 on 1 Jun 2010 11:49 On Jun 1, 3:13 pm, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzk...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > Why would you want to use an obscure distro like Linpus?, just install > Fedora 13 or Ubuntu. If it can run Linpus it can run any distro so you > can use whatever you want. It takes 20 minutes to install Fedora so it > shouldn't be a concern that you have to do it yourself. > > As for connecting to a DSL modem, as long as it has an ethernet > connection you won't have a problem. General S*--thanks for the reply! Please tell me why Fedora is better than Linpus for a NON-power user. Linpus is based on some popular distro (I'm tempted to say Mandriva or something...) so for a NON- power user, somebody who just wants to connect to Yahoo email, and then surf to Google apps and do some light word processing, saving to the cloud, and then check out some TMZ gossip fan site or some recipe site and then some grocery coupons (which is what this girl does, as I've seen her in action), and then sign off, isn't Linpus good enough? No need for music downloads, for sound, for anything except the 10-15 minutes a day activities I outlined above. The goal is simplicity with this girl--she has been known to accidentally turn off the firewall and anti-virus protection on the Windows machine she's at now--she just clicks on icons and turns them off. One reason I'm tempted to put her on Linux, which is (in theory, if configured correctly!) "idiot proof". In fact, she has a hard time changing the printer cartridge (usually gets a neighbor to do it for her). Simplicity is the keyword here. RL
From: James Westwood on 1 Jun 2010 12:01 On Tue, 1 Jun 2010 08:49:25 -0700 (PDT), RayLopez99 wrote: > On Jun 1, 3:13�pm, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzk...(a)yahoo.com> > wrote: > >> Why would you want to use an obscure distro like Linpus?, just install >> Fedora 13 or Ubuntu. If it can run Linpus it can run any distro so you >> can use whatever you want. It takes 20 minutes to install Fedora so it >> shouldn't be a concern that you have to do it yourself. >> >> As for connecting to a DSL modem, as long as it has an ethernet >> connection you won't have a problem. > > General S*--thanks for the reply! Please tell me why Fedora is better > than Linpus for a NON-power user. It's better supported IMHO. > Linpus is based on some popular > distro (I'm tempted to say Mandriva or something...) so for a NON- > power user, somebody who just wants to connect to Yahoo email, and > then surf to Google apps and do some light word processing, saving to > the cloud, and then check out some TMZ gossip fan site or some recipe > site and then some grocery coupons (which is what this girl does, as > I've seen her in action), and then sign off, isn't Linpus good > enough? No need for music downloads, for sound, for anything except > the 10-15 minutes a day activities I outlined above. Any distribution should be able to easily accomplish that. > The goal is simplicity with this girl--she has been known to > accidentally turn off the firewall and anti-virus protection on the > Windows machine she's at now--she just clicks on icons and turns them > off. One reason I'm tempted to put her on Linux, which is (in theory, > if configured correctly!) "idiot proof". Password protect the firewall and AV programs so she can't turn them off. That should be pretty easy for a "power user" coding expert like you. > In fact, she has a hard time changing the printer cartridge (usually > gets a neighbor to do it for her). Simplicity is the keyword here. > > RL Throw out the printer and buy a new one. With cheap inkjet printers It's usually only a few dollars more than buying new cartridges, except for the Kodak line of printers which have inexpensive ink cartridges. Of course she can just take the printer to the place where she purchases the ink and they will install the cartridges for her. -- James Westwood Remove'spamo' to reply. Microsoft? Not on my watch. 6/1/2010 11:57:27 AM
From: General Schvantzkoph on 1 Jun 2010 14:04 On Tue, 01 Jun 2010 08:49:25 -0700, RayLopez99 wrote: > On Jun 1, 3:13 pm, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzk...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >> Why would you want to use an obscure distro like Linpus?, just install >> Fedora 13 or Ubuntu. If it can run Linpus it can run any distro so you >> can use whatever you want. It takes 20 minutes to install Fedora so it >> shouldn't be a concern that you have to do it yourself. >> >> As for connecting to a DSL modem, as long as it has an ethernet >> connection you won't have a problem. > > General S*--thanks for the reply! Please tell me why Fedora is better > than Linpus for a NON-power user. Linpus is based on some popular > distro (I'm tempted to say Mandriva or something...) so for a NON- power > user, somebody who just wants to connect to Yahoo email, and then surf > to Google apps and do some light word processing, saving to the cloud, > and then check out some TMZ gossip fan site or some recipe site and then > some grocery coupons (which is what this girl does, as I've seen her in > action), and then sign off, isn't Linpus good enough? No need for music > downloads, for sound, for anything except the 10-15 minutes a day > activities I outlined above. > > The goal is simplicity with this girl--she has been known to > accidentally turn off the firewall and anti-virus protection on the > Windows machine she's at now--she just clicks on icons and turns them > off. One reason I'm tempted to put her on Linux, which is (in theory, > if configured correctly!) "idiot proof". > > In fact, she has a hard time changing the printer cartridge (usually > gets a neighbor to do it for her). Simplicity is the keyword here. > > RL My first choice for that type of user is CentOS 5.5 assuming that it will run on her hardware. CentOS's virtues and faults stem from the same thing, it's an ultra stable distro. The upside is that it never breaks and it has minimal update requirements. You only need a few applications for a basic user such as web browsing and e-mail which CentOS has. If you need more then there are a few extra repositories that you can add which gives you CentOS versions of Fedora packages, EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) and the Fusion repositories which give you the binary drivers for Nvidia and the non-free media codecs. It takes a little longer to set up CentOS but once you've done it you won't have to touch it again for years. Redhat supports RHEL (CentOS is the free clone of RHEL) for seven years so once it's on a system it can remain for the life of the hardware. The downside of CentOS is that it has lousy support for new hardware because its based on an old kernel and RedHat takes their sweet time about backporting drivers for new hardware. However when it works it works great so if I were you I'd try to put CentOS 5.5 on the box. If it recognizes all of the hardware then you are golden. Your friend won't have to worry about anything changing on her and the software will just work. If CentOS doesn't work then you want to use a popular distro if for no other reason then lots of other people use them. Lots of people is another way of saying that they have large communities which means that there are lots of people who can answer a question and also that there are lots of people finding bugs. I use a combination of Fedora and CentOS on my machines. The last few releases of Fedora have been so solid that I am no longer hesitant to recommend it to general users. Fedora does the best job of handling hardware and all of it's software is absolutely current. However it's only supported for 13 months which means that you have to do frequent upgrades. In the past the only reliable way to do that was to do clean installs of the new version however that's no longer true. There is now a program called preupgrade that you can run that will do an in place upgrade. I've used it to go from F11 to F12 to F13 and it's worked pretty well. An Ubuntu LTS release is another solution. It's not supported as long as RHEL/CentOS but it is based on a current kernel so it has better compatibility with new hardware. If you are setting up a system for a naive user you will want to do the following. Put icons for the common applications on the lower panel, i.e. Firefox, e-mail (Thunderbird is my recommendation), Open Office and Acrobat. And leave it at that, it's important that it not be cluttered. Set up her e-mail and gmail accounts (if she needs calendering and a contact list). Gmail will provide the backup for the contact list and calender because it's automatically synced.
From: RayLopez99 on 1 Jun 2010 15:54 On Jun 1, 6:55 pm, ray <r...(a)zianet.com> wrote: > > Ok NoBalls - on the off chance that this is a legit post (which I doubt > very much): > Don't doubt. I'm serious (as I was BTW about Serious Work, as I define it). > 1) a DSL modem is a non-issue for virtually every modern linux distro. > You plug into it and connect via DHCP. That's it. If there is a wireless > router in the mix, then ease of setup may be determined by what > encryption scheme is used. > No wireless. Thanks for the advice "plug into it". So that part of the problem is fixed, as others have said the same thing. > 2) I, personally, would be reluctant to USE a distro hardly anyone has > ever heard of. Got the wife an Asus eeepc netbook a year plus back - it > came with a dumbed down version of Xandros - which looked really mickey > mouse. I did an install of Debian from the Debian eeepc wiki - it was > zero trouble and EVERYTHING worked out of the box. It required about 50mb > on a flash drive and then did a network install from there. I agree. Below is what a user said about Linpus Linux--apparently the strong suit is that it supports Chinese/Asian characters. I don't care for these characters. It's based on an old distro of Fedora Core 8--is this a good distro (good as in easy to install and works stably for a non-Power User)? But you raise another good question: the General S* in this thread recommends CentOS 5.5. You say Debian. Others will say others. Which do I pick? I am going to have to do the work to install it, and since this Acer machine has no DVD/CD (it's an external package you have to buy separately), just a USB port, I must fit the distro on Flash RAM (I have a 2 GB stick) or download it from the internet, then somehow (without a DVD!) install it...not easy to do in my mind. Of course, I could shell out the $100, and I probably will, just to buy the external DVD, and hope that the dang Acer machine will recognize the external CD/DVD upon bootup (I suspect it must) and then use the CD/DVD to install either CentOS or Debian. But again, which one is easiest to install? I don't want power. She will never do stuff like chat, or video chat. She does use Skype though, without a web cam. Any advice appreciated. RL http://www.reviewlinux.com/?m=show&id=11004 * from the web: Under the hood, Linpus is actually based on Fedora Core 8, which betrays its age a little since Fedora itself left that release behind some time ago. That does, however, mean that with a little digging its possible to turn on the more advanced features we are used to seeing on a desktop class machine. Pressing ALT+F2 brings up a useful launch prompt, from which you can start the XFCE preference manager that Linpus doesnt reveal by default the so- called Advanced Mode Hack. From here, all of XFCEs options can be customized, including turning on the right-click desktop menu. Having done that, all of Fedora Cores installed applications can be found inside this desktop menu, including the Fedora Package Manager. In theory, the sky would be the limit here. Unfortunately its not entirely safe to add a bunch of Fedora 8 package repositories and let fly, since the patched Linpus packages are sometimes lagging behind the Fedora 8 versions. As I mentioned in my Aspire One review, if you accidentally update to a Fedora GTK+, then Linpus XFCE breaks. Even so, yum is your friend: With appropriate care, and judicious force installing of Fedora packages that might otherwise try to make unnecessary updates to Linpus, its not terribly difficult to add any application you might be missing. By now, Ive updated to Firefox 3 and Open Office 2.4, and replaced the Acer media player with VLC, as well as added all the compiler tools so that I can compile things from source if necessary. Despite all that, the machine is still running as smoothly, if not smoother, than when I first took it out of the box.
From: RayLopez99 on 1 Jun 2010 16:01 On Jun 1, 9:04 pm, General Schvantzkoph <schvantzk...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > My first choice for that type of user is CentOS 5.5 assuming that it will > run on her hardware. Assuming. That's the problem. > CentOS's virtues and faults stem from the same > thing, it's an ultra stable distro. The upside is that it never breaks > and it has minimal update requirements. You only need a few applications > for a basic user such as web browsing and e-mail which CentOS has. She don't need e-mail. She uses only web email (Yahoo, Gmail). > If you > need more then there are a few extra repositories that you can add which > gives you CentOS versions of Fedora packages, EPEL (Extra Packages for > Enterprise Linux) and the Fusion repositories which give you the binary > drivers for Nvidia and the non-free media codecs. It takes a little > longer to set up CentOS but once you've done it you won't have to touch > it again for years. I see. So I have to find out what video drivers the Acer cheap machine uses...I doubt they use NVidia, which is a high-end graphics card. But they might. Another hassle. > Redhat supports RHEL (CentOS is the free clone of > RHEL) for seven years so once it's on a system it can remain for the life > of the hardware. The downside of CentOS is that it has lousy support for > new hardware because its based on an old kernel and RedHat takes their > sweet time about backporting drivers for new hardware. However when it > works it works great so if I were you I'd try to put CentOS 5.5 on the > box. If it recognizes all of the hardware then you are golden. Your > friend won't have to worry about anything changing on her and the > software will just work. "IF" it recognizes all the hardware. This is a $300 machine. Lots of potential problems. > > If CentOS doesn't work then you want to use a popular distro if for no > other reason then lots of other people use them. Lots of people is > another way of saying that they have large communities which means that > there are lots of people who can answer a question and also that there > are lots of people finding bugs. Good point. One reason I like Windows--lots of users so when things go wrong you can ping them. > > I use a combination of Fedora and CentOS on my machines. The last few > releases of Fedora have been so solid that I am no longer hesitant to > recommend it to general users. Fedora does the best job of handling > hardware and all of it's software is absolutely current. However it's > only supported for 13 months which means that you have to do frequent > upgrades. In the past the only reliable way to do that was to do clean > installs of the new version however that's no longer true. There is now a > program called preupgrade that you can run that will do an in place > upgrade. I've used it to go from F11 to F12 to F13 and it's worked pretty > well. And note, as I replies to AZNomad, that "Linpus Linux" is an OLD Fedora 8 distro--one that apparently, as you imply, was not stable-- maybe. Therein lies the problem. > > An Ubuntu LTS release is another solution. It's not supported as long as > RHEL/CentOS but it is based on a current kernel so it has better > compatibility with new hardware. > OK, yet another distro though--do I keep trying them all until one works? And do they all fit on 2GB FlashRAM stick (see my reply to AZ Nomad)? Do I just buy a external DVD for this cheap machine (which costs about 33% of the total price of $300!)? Probably I will buy a DVD, so I can install N versions of Linux--but which one first? I'm not going to make a hobby installing Linux distros--not my thing. > If you are setting up a system for a naive user you will want to do the > following. Put icons for the common applications on the lower panel, i.e. > Firefox, e-mail (Thunderbird is my recommendation), Open Office and > Acrobat. And leave it at that, it's important that it not be cluttered. > Set up her e-mail and gmail accounts (if she needs calendering and a > contact list). Gmail will provide the backup for the contact list and > calender because it's automatically synced. Right, good points. RL
|
Next
|
Last
Pages: 1 2 3 4 Prev: Try this again: is Linux Linpus any good? Next: task manager like tool for linux? |