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Linux Distro Noob thread of Linux noobs

Hey folks.

I'm looking for distribution suggestions. After messing about over the past year or so with a couple of the more popular distros, I've often been deterred by the lack of systems that come with things I don't want as standard. I know I can remove such things more often than not, but that's hassle I would rather do with out.

What do I want?

Firefox.
Basic system tools.
Software center.

And that's it. I don't want an office suite, crapware games, IM programs, email software or any social networking fluff. Just a fast, enjoyable experience that offers me the things I want without anything else getting in the way.

Something super minimal like Crunchbang or minimal like Elementary OS? Elementary has some of the stuff you don't want, but it's still incredibly light for an Ubuntu based distro.
 

Nesotenso

Member
anyone here use linux mint cinnamon 17.1 with vmware workstation? I want to know if you can copy and paste between the guest and host and also if you could use unity mode.
 

Tenebrous

Member
Something super minimal like Crunchbang or minimal like Elementary OS? Elementary has some of the stuff you don't want, but it's still incredibly light for an Ubuntu based distro.

Elementary had this really irritating issue where it wouldn't boot up into the GUI most of the time. After doing some research, it turned out my PC was booting too fast... I was also getting some pretty strange performance issues (programs not loading as fast as they should), but overall, I did like its direction. I'll probably revisit it when Freya gets an official release, because I don't fancy messing around with Luna again.

I've not tried Crunchbang, though, so I'll do some research. Thanks for the tip!

Edit: Crunchbang looks absolutely ideal, but it's last release was from 2013... A shame, as it looks truly perfect.
 

injurai

Banned
anyone here use linux mint cinnamon 17.1 with vmware workstation? I want to know if you can copy and paste between the guest and host and also if you could use unity mode.

Not sure about vmware, but virtualbox has a shared clipboard between the host and guest. When you say unity do you mean the window manager? Because at that point I'm sure why you are going with mint over stock ubuntu.
 

Nesotenso

Member
Not sure about vmware, but virtualbox has a shared clipboard between the host and guest. When you say unity do you mean the window manager? Because at that point I'm sure why you are going with mint over stock ubuntu.

yeah you can say that. Unity mode brings up any windows I run in the guest onto the host desktop. Xubuntu allows for that and it is really convenient. I was wondering if linux mint does the same.
 

injurai

Banned
yeah you can say that. Unity mode brings up any windows I run in the guest onto the host desktop. Xubuntu allows for that and it is really convenient. I was wondering if linux mint does the same.

Oh, that unity mode. I know exactly what your talking about. I thought you mean the Ubuntu Window Manager which is also called unity. I really don't know about that haven't used it myself. I used Xubuntu in virtualbox so maybe I'll look into that. Sounds really neat.
 

phoenixyz

Member
You could also use Ubuntu Server. It leaves you with an absolutely minimal system (similar to an initial Arch installation) and you can then install exactly what you need via apt.
 

peakish

Member
The message tray is being removed in the next version of Gnome. Old notifications have been moved alongside the calendar, merging them with coming events.

new-notifications245kbf.png

It's reminiscent of how they're handled in Yosemite, which I think works decent-ish. The message tray is one thing in Gnome 3+ which has always felt a bit clumsy, apart from the chat integration (I wonder how they'll handle that now?), so it'll be fun to try this out. One obvious risk is sadly that they might clutter up the space when you just want to have a quick look at your agenda, and that it's not very obvious that notifications are gathered in the calendar area (not that the message tray was intuitive in any way, though).

More here: http://blogs.gnome.org/mclasen/2015/02/23/gnome-3-16-sightings/

Oh, and it seems like the Wayland porting is largely complete. Presumably I won't notice anything being different whenever it happens but it's still exciting for whatever reason.
 
It would make more sense to go with the volume and connection and power etc etc stuff rather than under the clock. Also the top bar doesn't fit the design of those drop downs and other shell-level things anymore.

That's just the things that seem bad, everything else seems good and I am very happy with Gnome. I'm looking around for a working Fedora 22 pre-alpha version to download it.
 

Turok_TTZ

Member
Recently upgraded my phone. I primarily use my Linux mint 17.1.
File transfer speeds are such bs... I'll assume they'll never fix this, fucking hell google.
was using a motorola photon, now using htc one m8.
 

Levi

Banned
Please help.

I installed kde plasma on my chromebook. I don't know how to install software. Online tutorials either tell me to use software center which I don't have, or to type in a sudo apt-get install command that doesn't work. I want to install wine, with the end goal of running Hearthstone on my chromebook. What do I need to do.

I also want to install chrome. I feel really dumb.
 

ricki42

Member
Please help.

I installed kde plasma on my chromebook. I don't know how to install software. Online tutorials either tell me to use software center which I don't have, or to type in a sudo apt-get install command that doesn't work. I want to install wine, with the end goal of running Hearthstone on my chromebook. What do I need to do.

I also want to install chrome. I feel really dumb.

Do you get any error message when you do the apt-get install command?
 
Please help.

I installed kde plasma on my chromebook. I don't know how to install software. Online tutorials either tell me to use software center which I don't have, or to type in a sudo apt-get install command that doesn't work. I want to install wine, with the end goal of running Hearthstone on my chromebook. What do I need to do.

I also want to install chrome. I feel really dumb.
Was this KDE Plasma installed in the form of Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, something else? This will determine what the software centre is called and what command to use to install software like WINE.

Chrome can be installed from this webpage, once you know what 'distro' (eg: Kubuntu) you installed. http://www.google.com/chrome/
 

Levi

Banned
Was this KDE Plasma installed in the form of Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, something else? This will determine what the software centre is called and what command to use to install software like WINE.

Chrome can be installed from this webpage, once you know what 'distro' (eg: Kubuntu) you installed. http://www.google.com/chrome/

Crouton? I followed the instructions here :

http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/795730-how-to-easily-install-ubuntu-on-chromebook-with-crouton
 

Frodo

Member
Rant time: I've been using Ubuntu since forever now, but lately I've grown more and more impatient with it. It seems the latest releases are always full of bugs and incompatibilities. I'm using 14.04 and I still have frequent problems with sound crashing at random that I just can't solve for the life of me.


Should have stayed with 12.04, tbh. I'll probably just abandon it and move to something else if this continues... :(
 

Levi

Banned
Installed a bunch of software but still can't get wine. My chromebook has an arm processor so I'm guessing wine is just incompatible. Dumb that it won't just say that instead of terminal and Ubuntu software center (which I installed) pretending wine just doesn't exist.
 

phoenixyz

Member
Installed a bunch of software but still can't get wine. My chromebook has an arm processor so I'm guessing wine is just incompatible. Dumb that it won't just say that instead of terminal and Ubuntu software center (which I installed) pretending wine just doesn't exist.
Well the package you are looking for (wine for ARM) doesn't exist... ;)

edit: or does it?
 

Massa

Member
Installed a bunch of software but still can't get wine. My chromebook has an arm processor so I'm guessing wine is just incompatible. Dumb that it won't just say that instead of terminal and Ubuntu software center (which I installed) pretending wine just doesn't exist.

I think the problem there is that people would find that more frustrating than anything. Other software stores do the same thing, if an app isn't compatible with your Android or iOS device it just doesn't show up in search on the Play and iTunes stores.
 
I think the problem there is that people would find that more frustrating than anything. Other software stores do the same thing, if an app isn't compatible with your Android or iOS device it just doesn't show up in search on the Play and iTunes stores.

Hearthstone shows up on my phone when I search for it in the Play Store. It just won't let me download it because it doesn't work for smartphones yet.
 
Who knew I can have the best of both worlds thanks to Oracle's Virtualbox. I can game and Photoshop on Windows, and program on Linux Mint without rebooting.
 

Prez

Member
Anyone running Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi 2? I don't really use a computer for anything but browsing, Youtube vids and Spotify, so I'm contemplating getting one to use as a desktop PC.
 

injurai

Banned
Who knew I can have the best of both worlds thanks to Oracle's Virtualbox. I can game and Photoshop on Windows, and program on Linux Mint without rebooting.

Don't forget to turn on multiple cores, extend the clipboard, set up shared folder with the host and accelerate 3D graphics.

Anyone running Raspbian on a Raspberry Pi 2? I don't really use a computer for anything but browsing, Youtube vids and Spotify, so I'm contemplating getting one to use as a desktop PC.

I'm thinking about getting one this weekend. I have a Pi 1 B. The Pi 1 can't do graphic stuff at all really. The Pi 2 apparently can and is quite good at it. The gui is smooth at least.

Raspian or Snappy Ubuntu Core both are good options. I know some people load the Arm distro of Xubuntu. That should work well too.

Not sure what your budget it, But if you need a desktop computer the Pi 2 is a great deal for those sorts of things.
 

Prez

Member
I'm thinking about getting one this weekend. I have a Pi 1 B. The Pi 1 can't do graphic stuff at all really. The Pi 2 apparently can and is quite good at it. The gui is smooth at least.

Raspian or Snappy Ubuntu Core both are good options. I know some people load the Arm distro of Xubuntu. That should work well too.

Not sure what your budget it, But if you need a desktop computer the Pi 2 is a great deal for those sorts of things.

I want to see how far I can go to get a cheap and low-power desktop computer. This would be <$100 for everything and consumption is 3W max. I'm just wondering though: if I ever want to change the micro SD card, can I simply copy-paste everything on the new memory card, or would I have to reinstall?

I definitely can't see the harm in buying one. If it doesn't work out as a desktop PC, there are plenty of other applications.
 

injurai

Banned
I want to see how far I can go to get a cheap and low-power desktop computer. This would be <$100 for everything and consumption is 3W max. I'm just wondering though: if I ever want to change the micro SD card, can I simply copy-paste everything on the new memory card, or would I have to reinstall?

I definitely can't see the harm in buying one. If it doesn't work out as a desktop PC, there are plenty of other applications.

You don't really install the OS, you write an image of a preinstalled operating system onto the card. Partitions and all. You use a tool for this, Win32DiskImager. But there are other options on the pi site for non windows.

But yea just as you can write an image to a card, you can read the image of a card to an image file. Makes it really easy to clone or backup your entire Pi if you want to mess around with it or duplicate the setup.
 

Milchjon

Member
So I'm having a bit of a problem (utter noob here).

Trying to run Ubuntu 14.04.something (64 Bit) in VirtualBox (on Windows 7).

All looked fine and dandy until I couldn't find some tools I needed. Looked around a bit and realized my software center only shows like 4000 items, whereas on a friend's PC it showed like 50k.

Main difference we could see was that he's running the 32 bit version. (I'm under the assumption 64bit should be backwards compatible, if that's the right word here).

Any way to make all that stuff available? Googling hasn't proved satisfying so far.

Thanks in advance!
 

ricki42

Member
So I'm having a bit of a problem (utter noob here).

Trying to run Ubuntu 14.04.something (64 Bit) in VirtualBox (on Windows 7).

All looked fine and dandy until I couldn't find some tools I needed. Looked around a bit and realized my software center only shows like 4000 items, whereas on a friend's PC it showed like 50k.

Main difference we could see was that he's running the 32 bit version. (I'm under the assumption 64bit should be backwards compatible, if that's the right word here).

Any way to make all that stuff available? Googling hasn't proved satisfying so far.

Thanks in advance!

Have you checked which repos you use? Try in the Software Centre Edit -> Software Source. For example, under 'Other software', is 'Independent' checked?
 
So I'm having a bit of a problem (utter noob here).

Trying to run Ubuntu 14.04.something (64 Bit) in VirtualBox (on Windows 7).

All looked fine and dandy until I couldn't find some tools I needed. Looked around a bit and realized my software center only shows like 4000 items, whereas on a friend's PC it showed like 50k.

Main difference we could see was that he's running the 32 bit version. (I'm under the assumption 64bit should be backwards compatible, if that's the right word here).

Any way to make all that stuff available? Googling hasn't proved satisfying so far.

Thanks in advance!
The issue seems to be with the 'repositories', which are the lists of the software that Ubuntu knows about.
Does this process help?: http://askubuntu.com/questions/124017/how-do-i-restore-the-default-repositories/192388#192388
 

Nesotenso

Member
need some help. I was running Xubuntu on Vmware with Windows 8.1 as the host. Expanded the virtual disk space. Now I when I start up xubuntu it brings in the login screen but after logging in it doesn't load the desktop at all.
 

LaneDS

Member
need some help. I was running Xubuntu on Vmware with Windows 8.1 as the host. Expanded the virtual disk space. Now I when I start up xubuntu it brings in the login screen but after logging in it doesn't load the desktop at all.

Can you switch to another virtual terminal and try logging in without X? From there, can start parsing through logs to see what's borked, assuming you can get in.
 

Nesotenso

Member
Can you switch to another virtual terminal and try logging in without X? From there, can start parsing through logs to see what's borked, assuming you can get in.

terminal wouldn't show up at all. Nothing would respond, not even key strokes. did clean using GRUB and it seems to be working again for now.
 

Frenden

Banned
I've usually used LTS releases of Ubuntu, but I'm setting up a new box and am tempted by the 15.04 beta.

When 15.04 proper rolls out, will I need to wipe and reinstall? Or will I be able to update as normal through the update center?
 

Massa

Member
I've usually used LTS releases of Ubuntu, but I'm setting up a new box and am tempted by the 15.04 beta.

When 15.04 proper rolls out, will I need to wipe and reinstall? Or will I be able to update as normal through the update center?

You can update. At this point you may even want to use one of the daily images, which are very close to what 15.04 final will be.
 

Dicer

Banned
Anyone using HBO GO?

I have a fresh mint 17,1 install and I followed the steps to install hal and widevine and it works in firefox but not chrome for some reason?

Anyone got a clue?
 

Massa

Member
Anyone using HBO GO?

I have a fresh mint 17,1 install and I followed the steps to install hal and widevine and it works in firefox but not chrome for some reason?

Anyone got a clue?

Don't know anything specific about it, but Chrome doesn't support NPAPI plugins so that's likely the problem.
 

Prez

Member
I'd like to know if it's possible to build a Raspberry Pi in an original Gameboy Advance. I don't know where to ask though. Anyone know a forum where someone could tell me if it's plausible and could help me out a little? My main concern is getting the original buttons of the GBA to work. It hasn't been done before but people have built a Raspberry in a Gameboy Pocket before.
 

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Ha! But seriously, I kind of want to try it. It looks like Arch except everything is compiled from source.
I used to use it a bit on the PS3 when that was still usable.

It's alright.

The best thing was that it was pretty light and customizable, but it could get buggy for some random reasons. Fortunately since you'll be running on a typical CPU you won't have a lot of problems.

In the end it's easier to use emerge than to compile things, but the option is there.
 
I used to use it a bit on the PS3 when that was still usable.

It's alright.

The best thing was that it was pretty light and customizable, but it could get buggy for some random reasons. Fortunately since you'll be running on a typical CPU you won't have a lot of problems.

In the end it's easier to use emerge than to compile things, but the option is there.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like it would be a fun learning experience but a hassle to maintain. I would like to give it a go, but I'm still pretty happy with Arch.



Aw, I'll probably install it this weekend.
 

jvm

Gamasutra.
Anybody have any experience with Gentoo? I'm getting the itch...
I used gentoo back in 2002-2004. It was fun, but I eventually realized I wanted that time for something else. Really fun if you've got the time.

I have no idea how much it's changed in the intervening decade, however.
 

phoenixyz

Member
Anyone here running Arch can tell me why I have to install libgl, wayland, mesa and cairo when trying to install openMPI? Is there some dependency broken?
 
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