linux suggestions

pappa_golf

OK plunge time , I have tried Linux variant's over the yrs , and even have a offshoot running on my media player (openelec) , but I am a windows man at heart.




I have a spare machine here , and a spare 30g SSD , so which one?


I am going to use a AMD chip in a MSI AM11 motherboard , I know that the wifi dongle I use on this works on windows or Linux (works on openelec)


to start with I just want a OS that is fairly PNP.


one last thing , the M/board is UEFI bios , in case that causes problems




any suggestions with links will be tried out




thanks

forgotmyname

Mint, Cinnamon or whatever the latest one is called or Ubuntu Mate.

So sort of resemble Windows enviroments and I did consider putting it only the oldies computer until i had to install a driver manually.

GunJack

Puppy maybe? I'm similar to you, so have a look at this thread.... some of the nuances of trying to go totally linux on a machine

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5374888

oh, and set the bios for legacy (if it will let you, some UEFI bios' will, some won't) so it can still boot from other devices, POST and the like... it also can ease things like disk partitioning during installs..

Fightsback

Whatever you use make sure to have a separate home and root partition, I'm looking at you Shuttleworth and your bad windows style practises. This makes life much simpler as you can nuke a root partition while keeping your home (user) partition, all the settings and personal files.

Be prepared to get your hands dirty on occasions and remember, Linux is not windows.

I'd say Opensuse but I've been using it for years, best off with Mint or Ubuntu for starters.

Fightsback

GunJack wrote: »

Puppy maybe? I'm similar to you, so have a look at this thread.... some of the nuances of trying to go totally linux on a machine

I blame the chef, not the ingredients :);)

pappa_golf

ok thanks for input Fightsback , as you suggest Mint or Ubuntu will be d/loaded,


a couple of quick questions that might help install


1: the hard drive using windows and a caddy, format as what,


2: suggested prog for "burning" is to pendrive


3: do you agree on the legacy boot up


ta

Fightsback

pappa_golf wrote: »

ok thanks for input Fightsback , as you suggest Mint or Ubuntu will be d/loaded,


a couple of quick questions that might help install


1: the hard drive using windows and a caddy, format as what,


2: suggested prog for "burning" is to pendrive


3: do you agree on the legacy boot up


ta

1) ???? - not clear what you mean, proper English sentences please.

2) Rufus

3 ) Yes to legacy, no need for UEFI boot as you are not booting a drive bigger than 2TB. Legacy boot is still UEFI but I won't bend your head with that one.

Roger Echo foxtrot, over and out.

pappa_golf

question 1:


the hard drive sat here has several windows partitions on it , is it advantageous to remove those partitions and reformat as a single partition , and would it make installation easier if it was formatted as a different format (ext 3 or 4 perhaps )

Fightsback

pappa_golf wrote: »

question 1:


the hard drive sat here has several windows partitions on it , is it advantageous to remove those partitions and reformat as a single partition , and would it make installation easier if it was formatted as a different format (ext 3 or 4 perhaps )

Completely wipe it if you have nothing you want to keep, the installer will do that for you anyway should you so choose. When you are choosing the partition set up, select separate home and root.

NB Ext3 is obsolete in favour of Ext4 now and there is talk of completely removing Kernel support for it, it may have even been removed already. There are many linux file systems to choose from but I'd strongly suggest sticking with Ext4.

psychic_teabag

Fightsback wrote: »

NB Ext3 is obsolete in favour of Ext4 now and there is talk of completely removing Kernel support for it, it may have even been removed already. There are many linux file systems to choose from but I'd strongly suggest sticking with Ext4.

I believe they have removed the ext3 sources from the kernel, but only because the ext4 driver is used for mounting ext3 partitions too, ext4 being a superset of ext3.

pappa_golf

ok now minted , typing on firefox in mint 17.3 , just trying to import favorites from other machine (ie) or folder on nas drive