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Geek Culture / i've joined the linux crowd, finally

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Phaelax
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Posted: 28th Sep 2010 23:07
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I played with redhat a long time ago, before wifi was really around. Then I tried Ubuntu a few years ago but couldn't get it installed, it just didn't like my hardware. Now, with my new dell laptop I thought I'd try it out after seeing several posts about users running linux on this exact model. One mentioned Mint, so I looked it up because I never heard of it before.

Mint is based on Ubuntu (but there's other versions) and uses Gnome. So far, the initial hardware support is about the same as the Win7 install. Mint has better support for the trackpad (i can scroll with it), but the wifi isn't working whereas Win7 it does.

I have to say, installing Mint was the easiest OS install ever, and it doesn't feel all that unfamiliar as windows. But I'm basically a linux newbie, so how 'bout everyone share all the cool linux apps I should be checking out!


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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data 98junkiee
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Posted: 28th Sep 2010 23:24 Edited at: 28th Sep 2010 23:30
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Good to hear it, if there's any way of breaking away from Microsoft open source is it. Apple products aren't enough unless they officially make MACOSX a standalone OS.

I'd suggest making it known to the manufacturer that you want the support for your product, it might not mean they help you out but its the only way they can tell that Linux users want to able able to use their products, the more emails they get regarding Linux support the more they'll take notice and make their products less M$ inclusive.

As for getting a solution I suggest either trying another distro or look around at Linux specific forums, I know a lot of distros have community's and fan-bases who make lists and help to develop drivers for non Linux compatible products, so just keep looking around and you should eventually find a solution.

A man's reach must exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?
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Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 00:02
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I didn't buy the laptop directly from Dell, I received it as payment for fixing another. All it needed was a new harddrive and it works great, except for not going to sleep when I close the lid like it should be (it just reboots).

I did manage to get the wifi working, just needed the Broadcom driver installed (and turned on!). Needless to say, it was pretty simple had I known where to look for the settings. Installing Chrome as we speak.

Now, I'm a big iTunes user on Windows and OSX, what would I similarly use on Linux? Unfortunately, I'm out of time today to play around with this, have a cookout to attend.


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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Neco
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 00:13
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I don't know if there really is an itunes alternative on linux. Not in terms of purchasing music or anything..

But you could check these out

http://www.osalt.com/itunes

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Indicium
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 00:48
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Run it in Wine?

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Yodaman Jer
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 00:51
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There is the Ubuntu One Music Store. It's integrated with the default music program, but I dunno if there's anything for Mint. I imagine it would be included since it's essentially the same OS as Ubuntu.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 02:48
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I guess I should've mentioned that I don't use it for the store, just playback and organization. Suppose I have a new reason for finishing my java tunes clone. I thought songbird might have a linux version, but nope.

What about syncing iPods?

I know I'm asking a bunch of questions I could probably answer through google, but just curious to see what other ppl might be using.



p.s. Cookout was canceled


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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dab
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 07:20
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I wish I could offer advice, but I only use Linux for my server which doesn't use GUI :/. Good luck with your daily life transition to Linux though! Keep us(me) posted!~

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Libervurto
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 18:07
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Linux for me has been more frustrating than anything. Maybe it's just the version I have (PureDyne based on Ubuntu) but I hate having to type into the console when I want to do simple things that are really easy in windows, like installing software. It feels like half an OS, part of it is great but it feels unfinished. I don't know why anyone who isn't a programmer would want to use this OS, it isn't user friendly at all. I don't want to have to learn another language to use my computer I just want to get on and use it.

My digital camera doesn't connect because the CD can't be read and my USB stick can't be read either. Any help with these problems?

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data 98junkiee
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 18:39 Edited at: 29th Sep 2010 18:41
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@OBese87
I kind of do and don't think of Linux as being half an OS,it isn't for those who like a lot of clicking instead of typing. I find it a lot more difficult to use at times but I realise that once I know how to do things they're generally quicker within Linux as those who can type faster and know what they're doing will get stuff done a lot faster by typing one command than if clicking through endless windows and menus, Linux tends to be a lot more flexible giving you more control over the more intimate aspects of a computer system and network.

I appreciate the lack of hardware support can be irritating isn't due to Linux being worse than Windows in any way though just through the annoying catch 22 of there being no one who wants to write drivers cause they feel no one will want them and those who need drivers but cant find them because no one wants to write them.

It may not happen today or tomorrow or even next year but I think as computer and software firms are becoming increasingly more aware of Linux as a viable platform it may slowly make the tradition to becoming a decent mainstream choice.

A man's reach must exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for?
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Melancholic
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Posted: 29th Sep 2010 19:26
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@Phaelax, I'm using Banshee media player in Ubuntu 10 and having no problems. I have a 80 gig classic, not sure how a touch/iphone would work though. A great feature of banshee is that it automatically gets album covers. i went from having itunes with 1 or 2 covers to a full library with covers


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The Wilderbeast
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Posted: 1st Oct 2010 19:15
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Quote: "@Phaelax, I'm using Banshee media player in Ubuntu 10 and having no problems. I have a 80 gig classic, not sure how a touch/iphone would work though. A great feature of banshee is that it automatically gets album covers. i went from having itunes with 1 or 2 covers to a full library with covers"


+1 for Banshee, it's quite underated I feel - it's a great app. Wine with MS Office is a good combination too. 2007 works flawlessly. Unfortunately GIMP is the only decent art package available which is a but of a shame as I find it very unintuitive.


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Phaelax
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Posted: 2nd Oct 2010 00:42
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Mint came with Open Office pre-installed, so I'm good with using that.

I like Banshee, but I find myself using RhythmBox more because of the DAAP support.


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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JoelJ
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Posted: 6th Oct 2010 04:38
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Quote: "What about syncing iPods?"

Rhythmbox in Ubuntu 10.04+ has support for iphones right out of the box. I've used it for my iPhone 4. However, I did find that when I used it my album art got screwy. Don't know who caused it (Rhythmbox or iTunes giving me bad data). I like Rhythmbox more than any other media player I've ever tried.

I have been using Ubuntu almost exclusively on my laptop since Ubuntu 8.10 (2 years) except for a few months where I only used Win7 to see how I liked it. I switched back to Ubuntu after I couldn't stand being away from it. Developing in Ubuntu is a much better experience than on Windows.

Things you should try out: you said you're using Gnome. Check out Gnome-Do. It's like Spotlight on drugs. Also, I recommend getting friendly with the terminal. Not so much because you NEED to, but you should want to. I refused to figure it out at first because in the Ubuntu world, you really don't NEED it. But I have found that knowing how to use grep and other command line tools has saved me a lot of time.
Also, I prefer Empathy over Pidgin. It is a bit newer so it's not quite as feature rich, but I like using it more.

Your mother has been erased by a mod because it's larger than 600x120
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Libervurto
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Posted: 6th Oct 2010 11:12 Edited at: 6th Oct 2010 11:38
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I am gradually warming to Linux. I still think it's frustrating because there's almost no help at all, I have to check on line when I want to do anything. I don't know how these people know what to type.

I would never recommend Linux to someone who isn't that interested in computers, I don't think it can be mainstream in its current form. I am starting to get into it though and I have changed the layout around so it is pretty sweet, so much more you can alter than Windows. I even downloaded a little picture of Tux and he is now my "Start" button

I got my USB stick to mount, it turns out I was clicking mount but my user didn't have permission to mount the USB drive!! Is there any way I can permanently turn off all these local security features? Or can I sign in permanently as the root?

I keep forgetting the name of aptitude... that is... annoying. Hmmm I wonder if I can make a launcher for it.

[edit] Woot! Was pretty simple.
[edit2] It didn't take 18 minutes! More like half a minute.

Oh bum I need to be root before it will let me do anything in aptitude.

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David R
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Posted: 6th Oct 2010 14:45 Edited at: 10th Oct 2010 14:53
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Quote: " keep forgetting the name of aptitude... that is... annoying. Hmmm I wonder if I can make a launcher for it.

[edit] Woot! Was pretty simple.
[edit2] It didn't take 18 minutes! More like half a minute."


?

If you're on Ubuntu you should be able to use Synaptic's GUI to install programs rather than manually calling apt

09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0
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TheComet
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Posted: 7th Oct 2010 17:36
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Quote: "What about syncing iPods?"


There's this awesome program called "rythm box" (or similar), personally I think it is far better than Itunes, because it has a ton more features. Give that a go

Also, I don't know if this runs on Mint, but if you like a fancy interface, check out Compiz Fusion

TheComet

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bruce3371
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Posted: 8th Oct 2010 05:19
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I currently have a multi-boot pc. On the first partition I have Win ME (don't laugh, It actually runs with no problems!) for playing older pc games, then I have Win XP Pro which I use for FPSC and Half-Life 2 etc, then I have Ubuntu 10 for everyday use.

I don't really like using Wine in Ubuntu; the way I see it is, I already have 2 versions of Windows on my pc, so why do I need to emulate it in Ubuntu?!

Other than that, I really like Ubuntu, it was really easy to install, with no hardware issues. I find it nice and easy to use as well, it even runs slightly faster than my Windows partitions!

I'm hoping Canonical adopt Gnome Desktop 3 for their next version of Ubuntu, it looks like the dog's proverbials!

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Phaelax
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Posted: 9th Oct 2010 00:55
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Is it not possible to just upgrade Gnome or does the desktop have to be recompiled with the kernel or something?


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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bruce3371
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Posted: 9th Oct 2010 16:31
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I don't know what's involved with integrating Gnome into Ubuntu so I can't really answer your question. All I know is that I would rather let Canonical do the integration for me, rather than try to do it manually myself!

I already tried installing a previous update manually, but it got messed up for some reason, so now I'm waiting for the official release of Gnome 3 next April.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 11th Oct 2010 00:25
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You can probably install it from the application manager.


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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bruce3371
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Posted: 11th Oct 2010 01:53
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Tried that as well, it messed up the same way as when I tried to do it manually!

Like I said, I think I'm just going to wait and see whether or not Canonical integrate version 3 with their next release.

They probably will, because according to the list (which can be found on the official Gnome website) of Linux distros which use Gnome, Ubuntu is the one that uses the most up to date version.

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Phaelax
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Posted: 11th Oct 2010 23:49
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I think Linux is trying to tell me something. If I leave my laptop on for a long time, sometimes Win7 will just reboot; or maybe it's just hibernating and kicking back out? Either way, I'll just be sitting at my desktop then my laptop will bring up the linux login screen.

I'm looking to see if it's possible to get a hackintosh running on the laptop as well, it'd be interesting to have Windows, Linux, and Mac all on 1 laptop.


"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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bruce3371
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Posted: 12th Oct 2010 02:54
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Quote: "Windows, Linux, and Mac all on 1 laptop."


Now there's a multiboot lappy I'd be interested in seeing!

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Melancholic
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Posted: 14th Oct 2010 09:22
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Quote: "it'd be interesting to have Windows, Linux, and Mac all on 1 laptop."


Don't forget BSD!


I can count to banana...
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