Moving AWAY from Microsoft products IS very much possible for many people.

Discussion in 'Linux' started by smallhagrid, Dec 17, 2018.

  1. crayolaeater

    crayolaeater MDL Novice

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  2. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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  3. ktgrrl

    ktgrrl MDL Novice

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    All the more reason to take a Live usb along and test prospective PCs in brick and mortar stores before buying, especially laptops. If they won't let you do that, go somewhere else or at least insist on a favorable return policy in print if it doesn't install & run Linux when you get it home (and of course if needed you'll re-install the original OS before returning). Or build your own if it's a desktop. You can't trust a lone buyer review that claims that his new PC works great in Linux. Which distro? And do all the features work? How's the wifi?

    When my brother and I shopped for his new printer we took his Mint Linux laptop along. A quick test with the printers of interest narrowed the field considerably, and he went home with a printer he knew would work on his PCs. The sales guy was impressed. I wrote a good review to thank him for his help.

    UEFI may have started out as a good idea but MS had a very heavy hand in its development and essentially owned & controlled its implementation. Funny how for the first couple of years each Linux distro had to beg (and perhaps buy) "permission" from MS before it could include a UEFI/Secure Boot installer. And what do we really know about embedded back-doors and phone-home spyware in it? Rumors about NSA were rampant when UEFI came out. I'm not a tin-hat (much), but I suspect some of those rumors may hint at a grain of truth. Mind how you go, in case there be Dragons!

    eemuler, I hope you can get your laptop to boot that Live USB! Don't give up just yet. I have a firm (and maybe irrational) belief that most seemingly "impossible" problems can be solved with patience, thoughtful effort, and a little help as needed!
     
  4. eemuler

    eemuler MDL Senior Member

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    This is where the Live USB distro gets stuck: mounting /cow on /root failed.
    https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/booting-a-live-distro-from-pen-drive-on-usb-3-0.80315/
    ubuntu fail1.jpg
     
  5. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    As Eemuler has previously explained:
    Mounting cow would definitely be hazardous to health - best to find another way to make it boot up !!!
     
  6. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #186 ipx, Feb 17, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2022
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  7. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    It has been a fact for quite some time that the majority of servers for websites are Linux-based.

    Sadly, the cPanel folks have recently made things more difficult to afford for smaller sites and as such many hosting providers have switched to DirectAdmin just so they can stay in business.

    That course of action makes me wonder how the cPanel folks will fare as time passes because surely they did not make their radical price increases with the desire to alienate so many long-time users...?
     
  8. Kim100

    Kim100 MDL Addicted

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    #188 Kim100, Feb 19, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2020
    I have had hardware/bios conflict issues with my new PC over the last few days. I have a desktop PC from a company in the UK called Punch Technologies,they ship this PC with either Windows or Ubuntu, I have run it with Windows 10 for a few months, Windows in my experience is the best stress test for a new machine, so its been going great, very pleased with it.

    This week I decided to switch to my distro of choice MX which has until now been a rock solid performer for me. The first installation was wrecked when I installed nvidia drivers, on the second attempt I noticed on closing a red error message flash up, too fast to see, the log file gave the error which I investigated and got nowhere, very common but attributed to many things, bad software or bug in the kernel being the explanation a lot of the time. Personally I think it is a conflict between the OS and the UEFI bios. As I was getting nowhere with MX I tried Mint, Mint ran well from USB so I installed it, perfect, no issues at all.

    At the present time on a modern PC you may have to settle for a distro that is not your OS of choice. I have another modern PC in the house with hardware issues, probably a dodgy motherboard, that will run nothing other than MX. We are very luck to have so many distro to choose from.
     
  9. nodnar

    nodnar MDL Expert

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    hm. lucky?? with respect, kim, but we are not so very lucky at all, with all those damned distros..if a concentrated effort were made by all those contributors,we would have a stable
    operating system by now, for free, without spyware or backdoors, and unsafe uefi firmware..there will always be scavengers for profit in so many distros; [canonical springs to mind
    here almost automatically..] just my 2 cents.
     
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  10. Kim100

    Kim100 MDL Addicted

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    I'm not sure, there are over 100 distros to choose from which is crazy. On the other hand the one Linux OS you wish for could be Ubuntu which could then rival Windows and Apple in every respect, a real nightmare scenario. I'm just glad that this week I had an alternative distro to turn to. Linux was not to blame for my problem, I am convinced the BIOS is the issue.

    I have a little Gigabyte Brix box that has a very simple BIOS, hardly any settings at all but it has an OS selection button, just choose Linux and that's it, heaven.
     
  11. ipx

    ipx MDL Addicted

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    #191 ipx, Feb 19, 2020
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2022
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  12. Kim100

    Kim100 MDL Addicted

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    #192 Kim100, Feb 19, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2020
    Only trouble is they don't last like they once did, last one I had died after 18 months:mad: Just hope this new PC goes on for longer than that.
     
  13. nodnar

    nodnar MDL Expert

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    :g: i think the secret is capicitators... if you make,say 100.00 pc`s; and use chinese-made capacitators that cost you 2 cents, instead of japanese things that cost 25c, you will make a
    substantial saving.. what is even better; those chinese things will last ~18 months at best; and then..; you can sell the customer a brand-new pc for $$$.. [my machine works flawlessly
    from august 2012, and there is not a single chinese-made capacitator in it. only japanese stuff.]
     
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  14. smallhagrid

    smallhagrid MDL Addicted

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    There was quite a stir a while ago about PCs with 'exploding capacitors' which prompted a flurry of response from PC makers.
    After running across a couple of these failures I discovered that at least Biostar & maybe Gigabyte were offering some variations of 'ultra dependable' mainboards.
    Tried a couple of those with their solid capacitors and have stuck with them ever since because they've really owned up to a whole, better level of dependability - for once those claims were more than empty promises.
     
  15. Kim100

    Kim100 MDL Addicted

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    Good article and totally agree. I have finally switched completely to Linux, and this time I am not going back. At long last Linux can do everything I require from a PC and I now find Linux a lot less hassle than Windows.
     
  16. kumaramy

    kumaramy MDL Member

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    If people show interest to learn linux then Windows market share will drop by 40%
     
  17. shewolf

    shewolf MDL Senior Member

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    Ec_MWvfWsAIMGco.png

    :eek:
     
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