I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. Comments/suggestions? TIA
[OT] looking for LINUX USNET group
Started by ●October 1, 2010
Reply by ●October 1, 20102010-10-01
On 10/01/2010 01:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. > Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to > ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" > Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* > generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. > > Comments/suggestions?I was active on the Linux user groups, until they all got infected by some guy (or group thereof, I'm not sure), who would berate anyone who posted a question for even _thinking_ of using Linux instead of 'doze. I don't know if it was just some lame-o with time on his hands, or if it was a Microsoft employee doing his job. Add that to a steady background of "if you haven't used Unix since college then you're an idiot" crowd, and it made the groups pretty uninviting. At any rate, the Linux user's groups died off about then. See if there's a Linux users group in your area, and go through their archives to see if you want to join their mailing list. The Portland (Oregon) Linux Users Group (PLUG) is an awfully nice gang -- they've got some pretty expert people, but I've never seen anyone try to shame someone for not being a Linux expert. For that matter, I don't know that PLUG would spurn you if you wanted to join the mailing list -- the knowledge there runs pretty deep, and they want to evangelisize for Linux. I would say that if you haven't used any variety of *nix, if you're interested in learning, but you want to be productive immediately then your best bet is Ubuntu. It's Linux with Training Wheels, and it's one of the big distros out there. I've been using it almost exclusively* for five years or so. While I've had problems that have made me tear my hair out, my wife and son provide me with a nice ongoing demonstration of why Windows would be just as bad, only worse. (It helped that I was already using OpenOffice, Scilab, Eclipse and Thunderbird -- those all work just fine on Ubuntu, and probably account for 90% of the work I do). HTH. *I still do my books on an accounting system that needs Windows, running under VirtualBox on my main Ubuntu desktop. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●October 1, 20102010-10-01
On 10/1/2010 1:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. > Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to > ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" > Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* > generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. > > Comments/suggestions? > > TIA >I'm with Tim. The function choose_linux_distro has a default parameter of Ubuntu that should only rarely be changed. -- Rob Gaddi, Highland Technology Email address is currently out of order
Reply by ●October 1, 20102010-10-01
Tim Wescott wrote:> On 10/01/2010 01:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. >> Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to >> ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" >> Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* >> generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. >> >> Comments/suggestions? > > I was active on the Linux user groups, until they all got infected by > some guy (or group thereof, I'm not sure), who would berate anyone who > posted a question for even _thinking_ of using Linux instead of 'doze. > > I don't know if it was just some lame-o with time on his hands, or if it > was a Microsoft employee doing his job. > > Add that to a steady background of "if you haven't used Unix since > college then you're an idiot" crowd, and it made the groups pretty > uninviting. At any rate, the Linux user's groups died off about then. > > See if there's a Linux users group in your area,<GRIN :< It died a slow death ~2 years ago. This is *RURAL* region of SW MO, Homo Sapien in >= 4th place behind chickens, hogs, beef cattle. China's threat to raise import duties on chickens would have SIGNIFICANT impact.> and go through their > archives to see if you want to join their mailing list. The Portland > (Oregon) Linux Users Group (PLUG) is an awfully nice gang -- they've got > some pretty expert people, but I've never seen anyone try to shame > someone for not being a Linux expert. > > For that matter, I don't know that PLUG would spurn you if you wanted to > join the mailing list -- the knowledge there runs pretty deep, and they > want to evangelisize for Linux.OK, I've signed up to the general group and am waiting for the confirmation email.> > I would say that if you haven't used any variety of *nix, if you're > interested in learning, but you want to be productive immediately then > your best bet is Ubuntu. It's Linux with Training Wheels, and it's one > of the big distros out there. I've been using it almost exclusively* for > five years or so. While I've had problems that have made me tear my hair > out, my wife and son provide me with a nice ongoing demonstration of why > Windows would be just as bad, only worse.I can not honestly say that "Windows(tm) does not work". HOWEVER, Gates & company keeps telling me that they KNOW what's best for *ME*. They are just plain ignorantly *WRONG*!!!!!!> > (It helped that I was already using OpenOffice, Scilab, Eclipse and > Thunderbird -- those all work just fine on Ubuntu, and probably account > for 90% of the work I do).EVERYTHING I use: 1. was developed under a *nix and ported to Windows 2. has active deveopment under both *nix and Windows 3. is known to work well under WINE There are programs I would like to use that are *ONLY* available for Linux.> > HTH. > > *I still do my books on an accounting system that needs Windows, running > under VirtualBox on my main Ubuntu desktop. >Since there are at least two Ubuntu proponents here: 1. is there a bootable CD version avaialable? 2. is there a flash drive bootable version available? 3. can it read NTFS Widows drive(s)?
Reply by ●October 2, 20102010-10-02
On 10/01/2010 06:09 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:> Tim Wescott wrote: >> On 10/01/2010 01:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >>> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. >>> Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to >>> ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" >>> Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* >>> generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. >>> >>> Comments/suggestions? >> >> I was active on the Linux user groups, until they all got infected by >> some guy (or group thereof, I'm not sure), who would berate anyone who >> posted a question for even _thinking_ of using Linux instead of 'doze. >> >> I don't know if it was just some lame-o with time on his hands, or if it >> was a Microsoft employee doing his job. >> >> Add that to a steady background of "if you haven't used Unix since >> college then you're an idiot" crowd, and it made the groups pretty >> uninviting. At any rate, the Linux user's groups died off about then. >> >> See if there's a Linux users group in your area, > > <GRIN :< > It died a slow death ~2 years ago. > This is *RURAL* region of SW MO, Homo Sapien in >= 4th place behind > chickens, hogs, beef cattle. China's threat to raise import duties on > chickens would have SIGNIFICANT impact. > >> and go through their >> archives to see if you want to join their mailing list. The Portland >> (Oregon) Linux Users Group (PLUG) is an awfully nice gang -- they've got >> some pretty expert people, but I've never seen anyone try to shame >> someone for not being a Linux expert. >> >> For that matter, I don't know that PLUG would spurn you if you wanted to >> join the mailing list -- the knowledge there runs pretty deep, and they >> want to evangelisize for Linux. > > OK, I've signed up to the general group and am waiting for the > confirmation email. > >> >> I would say that if you haven't used any variety of *nix, if you're >> interested in learning, but you want to be productive immediately then >> your best bet is Ubuntu. It's Linux with Training Wheels, and it's one >> of the big distros out there. I've been using it almost exclusively* for >> five years or so. While I've had problems that have made me tear my hair >> out, my wife and son provide me with a nice ongoing demonstration of why >> Windows would be just as bad, only worse. > > I can not honestly say that "Windows(tm) does not work". HOWEVER, Gates > & company keeps telling me that they KNOW what's best for *ME*. They are > just plain ignorantly *WRONG*!!!!!! > >> >> (It helped that I was already using OpenOffice, Scilab, Eclipse and >> Thunderbird -- those all work just fine on Ubuntu, and probably account >> for 90% of the work I do). > > EVERYTHING I use: > 1. was developed under a *nix and ported to Windows > 2. has active deveopment under both *nix and Windows > 3. is known to work well under WINE > There are programs I would like to use that are *ONLY* available for Linux. > >> >> HTH. >> >> *I still do my books on an accounting system that needs Windows, running >> under VirtualBox on my main Ubuntu desktop. >> > > Since there are at least two Ubuntu proponents here: > 1. is there a bootable CD version avaialable? > 2. is there a flash drive bootable version available? > 3. can it read NTFS Widows drive(s)? >Yes, yes and yes. If you have broadband or lots and lots of patience you can download the ISO for the CD. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com and get it. IIRC you have terribly slow internet; if you don't want to wait for it send me email off-group and I'll burn you a CD of 10.04 -- or better yet, ask on the PLUG mailing list and see what you should do to get the latest and greatest image on CD. Normally you make a flash drive bootable version by booting from the CD then telling it to make one -- it's in the menus. And it reads (and writes) NTFS drives just fine. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●October 2, 20102010-10-02
On Fri, 01 Oct 2010 21:36:39 -0700, Tim Wescott <tim@seemywebsite.com> wrote:>On 10/01/2010 06:09 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:>> Since there are at least two Ubuntu proponents here: >> 1. is there a bootable CD version avaialable? >> 2. is there a flash drive bootable version available? >> 3. can it read NTFS Widows drive(s)? >> >Yes, yes and yes. > >If you have broadband or lots and lots of patience you can download the >ISO for the CD. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com and get it. IIRC you have >terribly slow internet; if you don't want to wait for it send me email >off-group and I'll burn you a CD of 10.04 -- or better yet, ask on the >PLUG mailing list and see what you should do to get the latest and >greatest image on CD.I'm partial to openSUSE myself. Seems to have more polish. However, one of the nice thing about Linux is that there are so many varieties (that's also one of the bad things about Linux, of course). If the OP has been out of the game for a while, he may want to hop over to http://distrowatch.com/ to get an idea of the variety of versions that are available. There are bunches, including some that are small enough to download via dial-up http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=links#floppy although many of the smaller ones seem to have gone dormant. If you need or prefer physical media vice a long ISO download, DistroWatch has some site sponsors that offer installation CD/DVDs ...>Normally you make a flash drive bootable version by booting from the CD >then telling it to make one -- it's in the menus.... and also flashdrive-based media for assorted distros. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Reply by ●October 2, 20102010-10-02
On 10/1/10 4:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote:> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. > Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable group to > ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?"I think any of the "main" Linux distros will work. Ubuntu, Redhat, SuSE, among others. Ray, who's used Slackware (1?), Redhat (upto 9), and now openSuSE 11.2
Reply by ●October 2, 20102010-10-02
Reply by ●October 3, 20102010-10-03
Tim wrote:>On 10/01/2010 06:09 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >> Tim Wescott wrote: >>> On 10/01/2010 01:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >>>> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. >>>> Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable groupto>>>> ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" >>>> Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* >>>> generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. >>>> >>>> Comments/suggestions? >>> >> I can not honestly say that "Windows(tm) does not work". HOWEVER, Gates >> & company keeps telling me that they KNOW what's best for *ME*. Theyare>> just plain ignorantly *WRONG*!!!!!!One nice thing: once you get comfortable with *nix, you might consider a more flexible distribution (in case the one you chose "got things wrong", too). But what I'm hearing here is consistent with what I generally hear people say to those starting out: debian/ubuntu. I'm partial to gentoo myself, but I just like the feeling of control. Of course, first you'd have to get that internet connection fixed, if what Tim says is still the case for you.>> 3. can it read NTFS Widows drive(s)? >> >Yes, yes and yes. > > >And it reads (and writes) NTFS drives just fine.The following page may have been updated more recently than 2008 (or may not have been), but has the status of the NTFS driver: http://www.linux-ntfs.org/doku.php?id=status Because the specs are closed (unlike with FAT*), a lot of RE goes on. READ support has been stable for a long time. They've progressed rapidly. I remember looking this up a few years ago (studied disk structures in detail when I had to recover some files manually from a drive with a corrupted MFT) and finding that you could only overwrite files of the same size (useful enough if you want to load grub or lilo off the 2k/XP NTLDR, since a 512-bytes-every-time file is fine), but it seems files can be resized now. There may still be some features it's lacking, though. Short story: I'd personally be careful writing to NTFS drives if you don't make regular backups. I don't doubt Microsoft has introduced some landmines in the design of NTFS. And I certainly would create non-NTFS partitions for day-to-day use of Linux (ext3 or ext4 should be good). Michael
Reply by ●October 3, 20102010-10-03
Tim wrote:>On 10/01/2010 06:09 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >> Tim Wescott wrote: >>> On 10/01/2010 01:44 PM, Richard Owlett wrote: >>>> I've grown terminally annoyed with MS Windows. >>>> Having never used any variety of *nix, I'm looking for suitable groupto>>>> ask "Which distro would best meet my needs?" >>>> Browsing groups carried by supernews.com I don't find an *ACTIVE* >>>> generic Linux group aimed at users rather than developers. >>>> >>>> Comments/suggestions? >>> >>> I was active on the Linux user groups, until they all got infected by >>> some guy (or group thereof, I'm not sure), who would berate anyone who >>> posted a question for even _thinking_ of using Linux instead of 'doze. >>> >>> I don't know if it was just some lame-o with time on his hands, or ifit>>> was a Microsoft employee doing his job. >>> >>> Add that to a steady background of "if you haven't used Unix since >>> college then you're an idiot" crowd, and it made the groups pretty >>> uninviting. At any rate, the Linux user's groups died off about then. >>> >>> See if there's a Linux users group in your area, >> >> <GRIN :< >> It died a slow death ~2 years ago. >> This is *RURAL* region of SW MO, Homo Sapien in >= 4th place behind >> chickens, hogs, beef cattle. China's threat to raise import duties on >> chickens would have SIGNIFICANT impact. >> >>> and go through their >>> archives to see if you want to join their mailing list. The Portland >>> (Oregon) Linux Users Group (PLUG) is an awfully nice gang -- they'vegot>>> some pretty expert people, but I've never seen anyone try to shame >>> someone for not being a Linux expert. >>> >>> For that matter, I don't know that PLUG would spurn you if you wantedto>>> join the mailing list -- the knowledge there runs pretty deep, andthey>>> want to evangelisize for Linux. >> >> OK, I've signed up to the general group and am waiting for the >> confirmation email. >> >>> >>> I would say that if you haven't used any variety of *nix, if you're >>> interested in learning, but you want to be productive immediately then >>> your best bet is Ubuntu. It's Linux with Training Wheels, and it's one >>> of the big distros out there. I've been using it almost exclusively*for>>> five years or so. While I've had problems that have made me tear myhair>>> out, my wife and son provide me with a nice ongoing demonstration ofwhy>>> Windows would be just as bad, only worse. >> >> I can not honestly say that "Windows(tm) does not work". HOWEVER, Gates >> & company keeps telling me that they KNOW what's best for *ME*. Theyare>> just plain ignorantly *WRONG*!!!!!! >> >>> >>> (It helped that I was already using OpenOffice, Scilab, Eclipse and >>> Thunderbird -- those all work just fine on Ubuntu, and probablyaccount>>> for 90% of the work I do). >> >> EVERYTHING I use: >> 1. was developed under a *nix and ported to Windows >> 2. has active deveopment under both *nix and Windows >> 3. is known to work well under WINE >> There are programs I would like to use that are *ONLY* available forLinux.>> >>> >>> HTH. >>> >>> *I still do my books on an accounting system that needs Windows,running>>> under VirtualBox on my main Ubuntu desktop. >>> >> >> Since there are at least two Ubuntu proponents here: >> 1. is there a bootable CD version avaialable? >> 2. is there a flash drive bootable version available? >> 3. can it read NTFS Widows drive(s)? >> >Yes, yes and yes. > >If you have broadband or lots and lots of patience you can download the >ISO for the CD. Go to http://www.ubuntu.com and get it.I forgot to mention that you might instead consider a slight variant, kubuntu, if you prefer the KDE window manager over Gnome.
