Linux Corner

[Alejandro24 575]

Welcome to the Linux Corner of Simropolis.

 

I started this topic here in General Off-Topic because is necessary a single topic for all the Linux related issues and topics. This is because all the linux related topics are scattered around this forums and are too short; and this need some more order. So here is the new topic, hope so this will not be forgett so easily as the others.

Starting with this news from The Linux Mint Blog, with the header Linux Mint 13 “Maya” RC released!
LM13RC is featuring the desktops MATE and Cinnamon, seems to be that the team of LM had discarded Gnome-Shell after all the instability of this desktop reported in the Linux Mint forums. Hope so this new version will come more better and fixed than the actual one, LM12.

----The rest of threads in ST about Linux and related topics----
The objective of this list is to link the another threads about this topic and don't left them isolated, if some is needed from them. If I forget one or there are more in the another forums, just link it in a post and the list will grow.

  Edited June 25, 2014 by Alejandro24  

[metaknight919 2]

Never used it. Is it good?

[Alejandro24 575]

Never used it. Is it good?

Yes, it is a good OS, and it is too easy to understand and use for those users who are not acquainted with Linux. Here is the official site if you want to take a look.

[hummer0328 6]

After spending the last year using Arch, I've finally found Unity mature enough to use and have switched back to it with Ubuntu 12.04. Must say, Unity has come along ways and I actually kinda like it. To my surprise, I've actually found Ubuntu w/ Unity to be faster than my highly customized Arch with Gnome, especially after I made a few necessary customizations that I've learned while using and maintaining my Arch install. I must say that Ubuntu 12.04 is a very polished and easy to use OS!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

While I found Mint more to my liking while the UBUNTU crowd were getting their act together, I too have switched back to UBUNTU with 12.04. With a few tweaks and little fixes from the distro, it has become quite useful.

There is a problem with the standard distro using wine, but all you need to do is go to the winehq site and pick up the latest beta to avoid the problem. Current is 1.5.4 and it works fine for SC4. Still has a problem between fglrx and wine that forces me into software rendering but it hardly makes any difference. This seems to be a problem with the AMD/ATI 780 chipset.

[Alejandro24 575]

Now, when there is with fanfare the anouncement of Windows 8, I've founded in the blog OMG! Ubuntu an article with the header Windows 8, competition for Linux?

Despiste all the new interesting features of Windows 8, starting with the new one of there of course there will no be a masive migration from Linux to Windows. There will be curiostiy, but I suppose nothing risky to the Linux users, including always will exists the curiosity from the users of Windows to Linux. But a risk, no.

What if we install Unity or Gnome Shell into a tablet (since both desktops could be adapted easily to tablets)? Will run more faster than Windows 8 and Android?

Now, another interesting detail with Windows 8 vs GNU-Linux: the 64-bit version of Win8 will come with Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), a security addition for the security, including the secure-booting. Sounds excelent, since many malware starts in the booting. But there is a trick: this secure of booting will block the posibility of install another operating systems, between them Linux distros, until the software is confirmed as secure from Microsoft.

Something annoying from Microsoft for users that use both systems (my case). But maybe this will not be a big problem, just look: we broke Windows Genuine Advantage and Windows Activation Technologies, UEFI will be no problem.

Another thing, more nice. EA Games arrive to Ubuntu with two games, Command and Conquer Tiberium Alliances and Lord of Ultima, both available in the Software Centre of Ubuntu for free. Hope so this is a good sign for the future.

  Edited May 20, 2012 by Alejandro24  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If Microsoft wasn't worried about dual booted machines, do you think they would go to all this trouble? Yet another reason to keep your dual boot Linux/Windows7.

This could be a warning to application builders that the dichotomy of operating systems is much more real than the pundits and statistics gatherers would lead one to believe. Stay portable folks. It isn't that hard if you use a good maintenance package such as git. Also, stick with languages that allow preprocessor directives to define for which machine you are compiling your application.

Microsoft has done a pretty good job of setting up lock-ins in Visual Studio, but wonder of wonders, most compilers and development suites run on Windows without it. Funny, these same compilers are available pretty much on all operating systems. Time for OpenGL graphics to shine.

[rweather5 22]

I think windows 8 will be no competition for linux. While I run windows 7, I have set up a virtual machine for Ubuntu and windows 8. I do not like windows 8 at all for a desktop computer. It is geared to much for tablets, and is not very good for desktops, it is very good for tablets. For my desktop, I would rather have linux than windows 8. Windows 8 will probably not sell very well for desktops/laptops.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I think windows 8 will be no competition for Linux. While I run windows 7, I have set up a virtual machine for Ubuntu and windows 8. I do not like windows 8 at all for a desktop computer. It is geared to much for tablets, and is not very good for desktops, it is very good for tablets. For my desktop, I would rather have Linux than windows 8. Windows 8 will probably not sell very well for desktops/laptops.

Unfortunately, there are lots of young fry in the sea who have never had a computer and will fall in line like a shoal of sardines. Most of them don't even understand the terms desktop and laptop. All they want is a flashy tablet, which may or may not be able to do what they want when they get into high-school.

It is starting to look like Microsoft is creating a dichotomy in operating systems. One for computers and one for tablets. Divide and conquer?

  Edited May 21, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[metaknight919 2]

I had trouble with Mint running SC4 which I determined may be because I downloaded the 64bit edition, trying Ubuntu now (as in downloading the ISO).

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I had trouble with Mint running SC4 which I determined may be because I downloaded the 64bit edition, trying Ubuntu now (as in downloading the ISO).

Mint is effectively a Ubuntu clone. Your problem might well be a problem I encountered with wine 1.4. I am running wine 1.5.4. Just go to the winehq forum and follow the links to add the ppa to your software sources.

I quit using mint because I didn't like the way its bug reporting system behaved.

[Alejandro24 575]

I had trouble with Mint running SC4 which I determined may be because I downloaded the 64bit edition, trying Ubuntu now (as in downloading the ISO).

Mint is effectively a Ubuntu clone. Your problem might well be a problem I encountered with wine 1.4. I am running wine 1.5.4. Just go to the winehq forum and follow the links to add the ppa to your software sources.

I quit using mint because I didn't like the way its bug reporting system behaved.

What was exactly the problem?

I suggest you to do what Nonny is saying, also beware with the amount of plugins files in your plugins folder.

[Alejandro24 575]

Great notice, and I guess it come to fast. Linux Mint 13 "Maya" has just been released!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

wine 5.1.5 released.

[Alejandro24 575]

wine 5.1.5 released.

Great, now is just to wait to see the update in the upadate manager.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

wine 5.1.5 released.

Great, now is just to wait to see the update in the upadate manager.

Don't hold your breath. If you really want it, get it from the winehq site. Follow the links and use the Ubuntu update.

I am not in love with the update manager. Here is a script you can use to both check and install newly released stuff:

#!/bin/bash

sudo apt-get update;sudo apt-get upgrade

---

EDIT: Just a quick additional note.

The game is noticeably slower in hardware than software mode on wine 5.1 with my AMD/ATI 780 chip set (ATI Radion 3000). It is actually faster in software rendering mode.

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.2.0-24-generic x86_64)

Later: In fact it was so slow, I couldn't even get it to quit. I had to kill it from a console. However, it appears that they are now able to multi-buffer the graphics, but couldn't run long enough to really tell.

  Edited May 29, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Linus Torvalds receives major Technology prize from his home country.

Not bad for a man who started his career while still a student. His dedication helps keep us all free.

[Alejandro24 575]

Linus Torvalds receives major Technology prize from his home country.

Not bad for a man who started his career while still a student. His dedication helps keep us all free.

He deserves it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Too bad he is probably a Lutheran. I'd like to see him canonized.

[Alejandro24 575]

Too bad he is probably a Lutheran. I'd like to see him canonized.

As far as I know, depiste being lutheran he can be canonized .

Here is the interview of Torvalds with BBC, where he explains that Linux succeeded thanks to selfishness and trust.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Interesting article. The 1980s were very free wheeling software times. Many of are still wearing the scars, but those arrows you get in your anatomy (figuratively) is the lot of pioneers. In the 1960s my wife and I wrote some of the programs that these days, in a different form, you can purchase off the shelf. I think she was the first to computer typeset a directory in both English and French with actual identical content on facing pages. She took a trick I developed for treading a single character as a record in COBOL and another trick to outfox the CRC character generated by a magnetic tape drive. People who worked in service bureau programming groups were expected to have the computer do nip ups while playing God Save the Queen on the main bus.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

wine 1.5.6 released. Will auto-load the wine mono run time so you can run .NET programs. Don't be surprised.

Will test this further and report.

---

40 minutes later:

Still have my hardware rendering problem with SC4. Runs fine in software rendering.

And even later:

gmax doesn't work because you can't select an object for mesh conversion. The BAT installs but has the same problem.

  Edited June 20, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

wine 1.5.7 released.

My system (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (GNU/Linux 3.2.0-25-generic x86_64)) with the standard fglrx release for my ATI 3000 (AMD 780) chip set still has serious problems with some key apps.

gmax/BAT, while some bugs seem to have been fixed, are still unusable.

SC4Deluxe 1,1,641 remains so slow in hardware mode as to be intolerable. Can now close it without having to kill it.

Still runs quite acceptably in software mode.

This incremental improvement isn't much use to me, but it is a visible improvement.

[Ionic-Elm 13]

Ok guys, figured I'd post this.

As a project exploring code, I have wrote up a plan on a distro I might start working on by next month. I know it'll be a challenge, but I'm willing to take the challenge.

Here's the plan (by the way, Shane Elmore is me):

Unwind Linux is a Linux distribution created by Shane Elmore. Elmore founded the project as a hobby when he was 16, to

find out more about computer programming, and was disappointed with the current "out-of-the-box" Linux distros as he would

call them (such as Ubuntu, Mint, Fedora, etc.). It was founded in 2012 out of Indianapolis, Indiana, US. Unwind is an Arch

Linux-based distro aimed at working right out-of-the-box, basically saying "relax, let us handle the drivers, firmware,

updates and such". While the project aims at working without any configuration needed, the project uses minimal proprietary and third-party drivers and software. Version 2013 (the first release) is aimed for a 2013 release or earlier.

Default desktop: MATE (future "flavors": GNOME 3, LXDE)

Base distro: Arch Linux

Update/Package manager: Pacman (custom manager in future versions)

Aim: Works out-of-the-box, with no or minimal updates/installs required.

Works on (platforms): x86_64, x86

Publisher/developer: Shane Elmore and team

Backwards compatibility with? (packages): Arch Linux-based packages

Tell me what you think.

  Edited July 12, 2012 by Suzaku  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I think it is very ambitious since you ask. Good luck to you, because it is a lot of work. I haven't looked at Arch, so I am unable to comment. I have run Red Hat (foo!), Debian (primitive), Mint (washed out desktops), and currently Ubuntu (12.04, shrug). Any of the above is better than windoze.

[Ionic-Elm 13]

I think it is very ambitious since you ask. Good luck to you, because it is a lot of work. I haven't looked at Arch, so I am unable to comment. I have run Red Hat (foo!), Debian (primitive), Mint (washed out desktops), and currently Ubuntu (12.04, shrug). Any of the above is better than windoze.

Yeah I chose Arch cause it seems simple enough: give a minimal operating area, and customize it however you want.

I tried Debian but didn't like how it wanted you to download several ISOs. Mint was OK, just it seemed too Ubuntu-y to me sans the Unity. Ubuntu was not that good, I liked the previous versions but then Unity came along.

Here's the computer I plan to develop it on:

1.9GHz AMD Athlon 64 x2

3GB DDR2 RAM

160GB HDD

Broadcom BCM4312 Wireless Card (oh my, Broadcom)

nVIDIA GeForce 8200G M

Built in early 2008/late 2007?

It's an older PC I know, but it'd be a good way to test running on lower-powered PCs.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

A good system for openers but you'll have to be able to test on several platforms if you are going into a general distro. If you are going to go for an XP-like desktop (e.g. Ubuntu 11.04) you might collect quite a few users.

But remember these have to be supported. You can't just throw software out there like slops before swine and expect everyone to fend for themselves. People just are not qualified to do their own serious troubleshooting these days.

You need to do some real digging into the Internet for your distro. You may find you need a much bigger machine than you expect in order to handle both the distribution traffic and the support stuff.

I cut my computer teeth pretty much in a big computer service and application centre. Believe me, the customer is right or gone. There is no such thing as a lock-in.

Were you planning on-line distribution or actually planning to box this? I don't recommend boxes as they are expensive to create and need a high amount of quality control and assurance.

And, don't forget, you will have to have all the offerings of the other Linux distros including the 50,000 ++ packages that are currently offered under the GNU license.

Make sure you've crossed your I's and dotted your T's.

[Ionic-Elm 13]

A good system for openers but you'll have to be able to test on several platforms if you are going into a general distro. If you are going to go for an XP-like desktop (e.g. Ubuntu 11.04) you might collect quite a few users.

But remember these have to be supported. You can't just throw software out there like slops before swine and expect everyone to fend for themselves. People just are not qualified to do their own serious troubleshooting these days.

You need to do some real digging into the Internet for your distro. You may find you need a much bigger machine than you expect in order to handle both the distribution traffic and the support stuff.

I cut my computer teeth pretty much in a big computer service and application centre. Believe me, the customer is right or gone. There is no such thing as a lock-in.

Were you planning on-line distribution or actually planning to box this? I don't recommend boxes as they are expensive to create and need a high amount of quality control and assurance.

And, don't forget, you will have to have all the offerings of the other Linux distros including the 50,000 ++ packages that are currently offered under the GNU license.

Make sure you've crossed your I's and dotted your T's.

Well, I was thinking about just online distributing it. Plus I won't have to worry about the packages thing, as I plan to just use Arch's repos/mirrors until the project is big enough to get it's own package manager.

I currently have a VPS I'm just going to run off a different distro until a full product is made, then asking if the host could build an OpenVZ image based on my distro.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Good luck, and try to have fun. KISMIF.

[Ionic-Elm 13]

Got the mirror page (somewhat) done:

http://kansascity.unwindlinux.org/

Since the VPS is limited to 2 terabytes of bandwidth and all mirrors will be grabbing off this server, I decided to throttle it at 384kbps. The link purposely doesn't work to the download.

What do you think?