Ubuntu Live CD Q

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
So MATE is better still, eh?


I don't know much about "better"; but I know that both Unity and Cinnamon require pretty powerful 3D-enabled video chips in order to be passable in their performance. MATE, which is nothing more than a fork of the (old and no longer supported) Gnome version 2 (both Unity and Cinnamon are forks of the wildly unpopular Gnome version 3) is much less demanding.

Gnome 2 was just about the perfect desktop in a lot of people's opinions; which is undoubtedly why the Gnome folks decided to change *everything* about it for version 3! MATE, like Gnome 2 before it, does *not* require whiz-bang 3D-accelerated graphics and runs just fine on modest hardware.

It should be noted, too, that in essence MATE, although a newer project and featuring a much smaller team of developers than Gnome - being a fork of the Gnome 2 code base - is extremely stable and solid. Extremely. It may not have the pretty elements that grace Cinnamon and Unity and it may be boring as heck; but it is *solid*, mature and robust. If you go into a library or school or internet cafe or corporate somewhere that is running a Linux desktop it'll surely be Gnome 2. MATE is that exact same code but re-branded and with some development and progress having taken place since the big fork.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
[censored] odd that.....Nero 6 thinks only disc images are CD? No option for DVD? Guess they left that out in the "express" OEM version. It shot out the door too fast to be included...or finished!

This anecdote is illustrative of why I left Windows many years ago. There are simply way too many proprietary programs with loud, obnoxious marketing trying to accomplish a simple task that should be easy to do out of the box. The notion of having to use some additional, proprietary chunk of software (whether bundled or paid for, and happens to be terribly cludgy) to use a very standard piece of hardware is appalling.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
That Nero is complaining about this seems a bit odd; but may be related to "crippleware" in an attempt to coerce you into buying their stuff. Once you finally get Ubuntu or Mint running you will not miss those weasel-y tactics!

Exactly. Windows is crippleware enough without the bundled, half-baked garbage.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Use LiLi to make a USB key with the image. It's easier and MUCH faster than a CD/DVD, plus you can use the leftover space on the USB stick to actually store files:

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

That would be great. Unfortunately, the old B130 won't boot from a USB.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: dparm
Use LiLi to make a USB key with the image. It's easier and MUCH faster than a CD/DVD, plus you can use the leftover space on the USB stick to actually store files:

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

That would be great. Unfortunately, the old B130 won't boot from a USB.



Really? Are you sure? Almost any computer made within the last 10 years can do it.

 

[sleddriver]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: dparm
Use LiLi to make a USB key with the image. It's easier and MUCH faster than a CD/DVD, plus you can use the leftover space on the USB stick to actually store files:

http://www.linuxliveusb.com/

That would be great. Unfortunately, the old B130 won't boot from a USB.



Really? Are you sure? Almost any computer made within the last 10 years can do it.

Actually, you're correct. When I cut to the boot menu with a F12, it only lists internal HD, optical drive or onboard NIC. Thus my original answer. So I checked the BIOS settings and it DOES list USB there. Odd it doesn't say anything about it in the F12 list.

So I WILL try this out! Thanks.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: sleddriver
[censored] odd that.....Nero 6 thinks only disc images are CD? No option for DVD? Guess they left that out in the "express" OEM version. It shot out the door too fast to be included...or finished!

This anecdote is illustrative of why I left Windows many years ago. There are simply way too many proprietary programs with loud, obnoxious marketing trying to accomplish a simple task that should be easy to do out of the box. The notion of having to use some additional, proprietary chunk of software (whether bundled or paid for, and happens to be terribly cludgy) to use a very standard piece of hardware is appalling.


Pardon me for the interruption here, but I don't see how a shortcoming in Nero indicates any specific shortcoming in Windows. Imgburn is a completely free and open source software that you can install in Windows that does everything the OP wants to do. I have Imgburn on every one of my Windows machines and it works a treat. In fact, I made a Ubuntu 12.04 DVD last night with Imgburn on my Windows 8.1 desktop.

Windows doesn't force you to "use some additional, proprietary chunk of software (whether bundled or paid for, and happens to be terribly cludgy) to use a very standard piece of hardware." The Nero software has the shortcoming in this situation, not Windows.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Actually, you're correct. When I cut to the boot menu with a F12, it only lists internal HD, optical drive or onboard NIC. Thus my original answer. So I checked the BIOS settings and it DOES list USB there. Odd it doesn't say anything about it in the F12 list.


You may find that it works, and you may find that it doesn't. The eMachines desktop that I installed Ubuntu on last night will not boot to a USB, even though a USB option exists in the BIOS. It simply won't do it. It will boot from only the hard drive or the optical drive.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Pardon me for the interruption here, but I don't see how a shortcoming in Nero indicates any specific shortcoming in Windows.


It certainly does not directly; but the Windows application ecosystem is *full* of crippleware, trialware, adware and all-around general gimme-gimme-gimme-more-ware.

In the Linux application ecosystem you'll generally just find software made by the people who needed it, shared with everyone else for free.

K3B kicks the holy mackerel out of Nero; and Brasero, the Gnome default, while a little lacking in features that hardly anyone ever uses, is fast and stable. Both are entirely free; both as in "no cost" and as is "freedom".

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: uc50ic4more
It certainly does not directly; but the Windows application ecosystem is *full* of crippleware, trialware, adware and all-around general gimme-gimme-gimme-more-ware.


No argument there. But good software is out there.

I use Imgburn, Clip Grab, and Handbrake pretty regularly. All are completely free. The only "gotcha" with some is you need to make sure to uncheck the "also install this rubbish partner app" during the installation process.

My first stop for an app that I might need is souceforge.net. In my experience, if there's an app on SF.net, it's usually pretty well developed (meaning high quality and generally bug-free) and completely free to use. I've found other apps through word-of-mouth and general familiarity.

If I start using Linux/Ubuntu more, I look forward to getting more familiar with their application ecosystems.

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I use Imgburn, Clip Grab, and Handbrake pretty regularly. All are completely free. The only "gotcha" with some is you need to make sure to uncheck the "also install this rubbish partner app" during the installation process.


Handbrake is "completely" free (free as in "no cost" AND free as in "freedom") and is available for Ubuntu and most other Linux-based OS's. I am pretty sure the other two are no-cost but are closed-source. This is the marked difference between "freeware" and "free software". Free software is gotcha-free.

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
But good software is out there.


Absolutely no argument there!

 

[sleddriver]

Update:
Success! Created a boot-USB using LiLi, set USB at the top of the boot list and I'm now looking at Ubuntu on the Dell B130.

Cool. I noticed that LiLi only allows one OS/stick. I may pick up a small one just for this. Or try another boot USB creator to allow multiple Linux distros.

Thanks for the assistance.

 

[sleddriver]

Update II:

Had some time this afternoon to use Ubuntu/Unity on the Dell B130 with 2G RAM and an old Pentium M? 1.7 GHz cpu. I ran it off a USB stick.

Not sure about all the fuss regarding Unity, but it ran fine on this machine with std Intel gpu. No issues. I was at a public spot. It worked fine with the iNIC, FF 26? ran fine. I didn't have flash installed. No worries.

Unlike Mint, I didn't need to enable touchpad selecting. I am curious where to find something like system properties, specifically cpu details.

Re: Mint. Again, no issues with Cinnamon on this old machine at all. Mint actually ran fine with only 500MB ram, on the other B130 machine. Ubuntu/Unity didn't like that at all.

I also noticed Mint/KDE...what flavor animal is it? Pros/Cons? Who uses it?

 

[uc50ic4more]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Unlike Mint, I didn't need to enable touchpad selecting. I am curious where to find something like system properties, specifically cpu details.


Click the little "gear" icon in the very upper right of your screen, select "System Settings". In 14.04, there is an evtry right above "System Settings" called "About This Machine".

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
I also noticed Mint/KDE...what flavor animal is it? Pros/Cons? Who uses it?


KDE is a completely different desktop environment, built atop a different code base than Unity, Gnome, Cinnamon, MATE and XFCE. Back in the day there were two main DE's (Desktop Environments): Gnome and KDE. XFCE, built using the GTK (GNU ToolKit, the graphical elements of the interface) was a lesser player, catering to lower-spec machines.

Gnome went from version 2 to version 3 and the whole world flipped right out: Ubuntu forked Gnome 3 and called theirs Unity, a team of people forked Gnome 2 to keep that wonderful DE alive and called it MATE; and Mint forked Gnome 3 as well and called it Cinnamon. There are now two lower-spec oriented DE's: XFCE and LXDE; both are GTK-based (as are all of Gnome and it's derivatives). To "fork" a project is to copy it's source code and begin changing it in order to re-brand it. This is part of the beauty, but also part of the chaos of free, open-source software. Even OpenOffice got forked into LibreOffice. Many open-source projects begin as forks of other projects that either were no longer properly developed or went in a direction that the party initiating the fork found objectionable. The Gnome team, for example, were not listening to the Ubuntu developers enough for the Ubuntu team's liking, so a fork was born (Unity). Unity and Cinnamon still use a majority of Gnome's code; changing only some look-and-feel elements and some behaviours.

KDE (The "K" Desktop Environment), however, is based on the Qt toolkit and features a bunch of applications built with the Qt toolkit. Some of these applications are awesome. KDE is almost infinitely configurable and has a reputation as being "heavy" though that is changing. I have always wanted to like KDE - it seems like a well-designed DE. It is intuitive to use, but I have always found some of the applications a bit crashy to me. Plenty of promise, in my opinion, but never quite as solid as Gnome 2, which was indestructible. KDE is often viewed as extremely pretty and flashy, in stark contrast to Gnome's minimalism. Some see this "flash" as being cartoon-ish.

Many modern OS's mix and match between GTK and Qt-based applications. Almost all GUI applications in Linux use one or the other. Firefox, Chrome and LibreOffice all use GTK 2. VLC uses Qt. You can use GTK-based application in KDE and Qt-based applications in Gnome (and derivatives). It'll cost you a bit more RAM usage and the applications may not look completely consistent, but those are not really mission-critical factors for most users.

 

[sleddriver]

Nice answer UC. Thanks!

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Windows doesn't force you to "use some additional, proprietary chunk of software (whether bundled or paid for, and happens to be terribly cludgy) to use a very standard piece of hardware." The Nero software has the shortcoming in this situation, not Windows.

I'm not convinced.

In fairness, I did leave Windows many years ago, and the open source community in Windows back then isn't what it is now. But that doesn't change the fact that there is an excessive amount of crippleware out there. An OEM Windows install has more baloney installed that barely works or works only for a fixed period than you can shake a stick at.

Let's not install a free or open source AV. Let's install Norton or something else and give them a few months. Let's provide a watered down version of Office. Let's provide burning software with 15 year out of date functionality.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Let's not install a free or open source AV. Let's install Norton or something else and give them a few months. Let's provide a watered down version of Office. Let's provide burning software with 15 year out of date functionality.


Our complaint, here, is with the OEMs (Dell, HP, etc). Very much like the Verizon Android phones I used to have. There was so much "bloatware" on those phones to make one sick. That's not a shortcoming with the Android operating system; that's Verizon probably pocketing a buck from software companies for letting them install their rubbish on the phone, hoping to get a few folks to take the bait.

 

[sleddriver]

Big thunderstorm came through this morning. Power is still out after about 3.5hrs. I plugged my cordless phone and ADSL modem into a portable PS I always keep charged up. I also plugged in a flourscent light as it was so dark outside.

I fired up this LT (Dell B130) for a bit of internet then it occured to me that if I used Ubuntu on the mem.stk that I'd save power by not spinning the HD! I like that! Allowed me to report my power outage on the 'net.

Currently the rain has stopped and it's begun to clear up outside. Temp here went from a humid 78 yesterday to 48 this morning! Plus, I've received about 0.5" rain! Badly needed.

Saving power with Ubuntu!

 

[ClutchDisc]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Saving power with Ubuntu!

Ubuntu saves my sanity!

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Big thunderstorm came through this morning. Power is still out after about 3.5hrs. I plugged my cordless phone and ADSL modem into a portable PS I always keep charged up. I also plugged in a flourscent light as it was so dark outside.

I fired up this LT (Dell B130) for a bit of internet then it occured to me that if I used Ubuntu on the mem.stk that I'd save power by not spinning the HD! I like that! Allowed me to report my power outage on the 'net.

Currently the rain has stopped and it's begun to clear up outside. Temp here went from a humid 78 yesterday to 48 this morning! Plus, I've received about 0.5" rain! Badly needed.

Saving power with Ubuntu!


Your hard drive was still spinning unless you went into the disk manager and enabled powersaving to turn the hard drive off.