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Considering switching to Linux....



Worthingite

Sexy Pete... :D
Sep 16, 2011
4,959
Worthing
I'm trying to work out whether it's worth switching to Linux, as I have heard it's a lot more user friendly and less frightening for new users. Given that I am dumb as rocks about these things, can anyone give me some advice? Currently using Windows 10 on a 2 year old Samsung laptop with 4gb RAM and a 500 gb hard drive if that is of any help!!! I gather there are a lot of different flavours of Linux, so which ones are best suited for novice numpties with no coding experience?!?!

Thank you for your help in advance!!!! :)
 

Ex-Staffs Gull

New member
Jul 5, 2003
1,687
Adelaide, SA
Ubuntu is the most popular desktop. You will still have a learning curve. I suggest trying it on a USB first. Make sure you get the LTS (Long term Support) version. I used it for years but have switched back to windows 10 now as it has really improved.
 

boik

Well-known member
If you use Mint you get all of the Ubuntu advantages, without the steep learning curve. Just burn and boot a DVD and see if you like it. No need to make any changes. My wife and 83 year old dad have both converted to Mint with no issues. The only limiting factor is if there are any specific apps that you can't be bothered to learn alternatives for.
 

Fungus

Well-known member
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
May 21, 2004
7,033
Truro
Go to the Linux Mint website, download the latest Mate version, burn it to a DVD or USB pen, and reboot from that. It won't install or do anything to Windows, but you can play with it. Of course it will be slower and limited compared to a full installation. If you like it, you can install it alongside Windows and choose one at startup.

Does anyone know if there is an issue with new BIOSes?

PS. I have it installed on an older Samsung laptop, and it runs beautifully.
 


happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
7,928
Eastbourne
I switched a few years back and never really looked back but I am a "fiddler" and like doing stuff like that for it's own sake.
Since I bought a Macbook & Mac Mini 18 months ago, I've only used my old linux box a couple of times.
 

Fungus

Well-known member
NSC Licker Extraordinaire
May 21, 2004
7,033
Truro
I had to choose "Legacy Mode Boot" when I showed it on a friends new laptop. Secure boot wouldn't pick up the DVD.

Cheers. Might try swapping the Linux SSD from my laptop into my new PC, and see how it flies!
 

Worthingite

Sexy Pete... :D
Sep 16, 2011
4,959
Worthing
Thanks chaps, just downloading Mint Cinnamon now. Very interesting reading up about it. Hoping that it is going to eke out another 6 months or so before I have to dig deep and buy a new laptop! Now I just need to find a piece of broadcast radio software that works on linux - I currently use Radio DJ but they hate the idea of developing a linux version because it mainly runs on .NET for a database.
 


D

Deleted member 22389

Guest
Cheers. Might try swapping the Linux SSD from my laptop into my new PC, and see how it flies!

That's the great thing about Linux you can take the hard drive out of machine and put it another, no driver issues as everything re is built in. When I used to do this with Windows I usually got BSOD.
 
D

Deleted member 22389

Guest
Thanks chaps, just downloading Mint Cinnamon now. Very interesting reading up about it. Hoping that it is going to eke out another 6 months or so before I have to dig deep and buy a new laptop! Now I just need to find a piece of broadcast radio software that works on linux - I currently use Radio DJ but they hate the idea of developing a linux version because it mainly runs on .NET for a database.

Hope you can find an alternative. That's the biggest reason lots of people go back to Windows because they can't find a good software alternative. I you can't find an alternative you could always install a Windows virtual machine inside Mint, it's not difficult at all.
 


KVLT

New member
Sep 15, 2008
1,675
Rutland
I thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than starting a new one.

I too am looking to start using Linux as is a friend of mine. Neither of us have any experience of it and are migrating from Windows. My friend (who is a novice user) wants to ditch Windows entirely, whereas I want to bring an old Acer laptop (1.2GHz, 1GB RAM) back to some sort of usable life as a second/spare machine.

From my research so far I'm liking the look of the ChaletOS distro. It seems to fit in very much with the look and feel of Win7 which will appeal to my friend, and is also very light on system requirements which is a must for my antiquated laptop.

So my main question is regarding an antivirus solution. My research leads me to believe that it is a good idea to have antivirus software (despite much debate/argument to the contrary). Of the options available that I have seen the free Comodo option looks like the best candidate (especially where my friend is concerned) as it has a familiar looking GUI (she already uses the Comodo firewall on Windows).

Now the thing is, when I go to the Comodo AV download page it lists a handful of distros that it provides different versions for. ChaletOS isn't mentioned, but one of those that is listed is Ubuntu which as far as I know ChaletOS is based on. So this begs the question will that version of Comodo AV work on ChaletOS?

If anyone has any other advice regarding my situation it would be very gratefully received.

Cheers. :thumbsup:
 


boik

Well-known member
I thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than starting a new one.

I too am looking to start using Linux as is a friend of mine. Neither of us have any experience of it and are migrating from Windows. My friend (who is a novice user) wants to ditch Windows entirely, whereas I want to bring an old Acer laptop (1.2GHz, 1GB RAM) back to some sort of usable life as a second/spare machine.

From my research so far I'm liking the look of the ChaletOS distro. It seems to fit in very much with the look and feel of Win7 which will appeal to my friend, and is also very light on system requirements which is a must for my antiquated laptop.

So my main question is regarding an antivirus solution. My research leads me to believe that it is a good idea to have antivirus software (despite much debate/argument to the contrary). Of the options available that I have seen the free Comodo option looks like the best candidate (especially where my friend is concerned) as it has a familiar looking GUI (she already uses the Comodo firewall on Windows).

Now the thing is, when I go to the Comodo AV download page it lists a handful of distros that it provides different versions for. ChaletOS isn't mentioned, but one of those that is listed is Ubuntu which as far as I know ChaletOS is based on. So this begs the question will that version of Comodo AV work on ChaletOS?

If anyone has any other advice regarding my situation it would be very gratefully received.

Cheers. :thumbsup:

Well, I've been using Linux since '93 and never run any kind of antivirus and never had a problem. Well, a test server did get rooted after I deliberately opened up all ports to the outside world, but I was kind of expecting that.

Not used ChaletOS but if it's Ubuntu based then the package should work fine. You may have to install it manually if Comodos web page doesn't work, but it's very easy.

Have fun!
 

KVLT

New member
Sep 15, 2008
1,675
Rutland
Well, I've been using Linux since '93 and never run any kind of antivirus and never had a problem. Well, a test server did get rooted after I deliberately opened up all ports to the outside world, but I was kind of expecting that.

Not used ChaletOS but if it's Ubuntu based then the package should work fine. You may have to install it manually if Comodos web page doesn't work, but it's very easy.

Have fun!

Cheers for the reply boik.

From what I've been reading, although there is a 'minimal' risk from actual Linux based viruses, it does seem that the main threat resides in cross platform exploits in the likes of Flash/Java/Python etc. It's just so hard to decide what to believe in the plethora of differing opinion out there.

And please don't take this the wrong way or as an insult, but I often see folks whether they're on Mac/Linux or even Windows saying "I don't use AV software and I've never had a virus", but surely it's the case that without AV software alerting you to the fact how can anyone be sure that they haven't got an infection?
 

Puppet Master

non sequitur
Aug 14, 2012
4,055
I've noticed a marked improvement in battery life when I'm using my Ubtuntu boot as opposed to Win10.

The only downside is I can't use my Office package on Linux
 

happypig

Staring at the rude boys
May 23, 2009
7,928
Eastbourne
Cheers for the reply boik.

From what I've been reading, although there is a 'minimal' risk from actual Linux based viruses, it does seem that the main threat resides in cross platform exploits in the likes of Flash/Java/Python etc. It's just so hard to decide what to believe in the plethora of differing opinion out there.

And please don't take this the wrong way or as an insult, but I often see folks whether they're on Mac/Linux or even Windows saying "I don't use AV software and I've never had a virus", but surely it's the case that without AV software alerting you to the fact how can anyone be sure that they haven't got an infection?

When I was using windows 7 I caught a virus. I had bang up to date AVG Anti-virus and thought I was quite careful (never click on unknown links etc). No idea how it got in but it corrupted about 1500 html files.
On Linux it wouldn't be able to do this as it wouldn't have permissions needed to modify the files.
You could also consider that virus writers would go for the "lowest hanging fruit" which is Windows simply because something like 90% of people connect to the net via a windows PC (and windows users tend to be less tech savvy than linux users so more vulnerable)
 


KVLT

New member
Sep 15, 2008
1,675
Rutland
When I was using windows 7 I caught a virus. I had bang up to date AVG Anti-virus and thought I was quite careful (never click on unknown links etc). No idea how it got in but it corrupted about 1500 html files.
On Linux it wouldn't be able to do this as it wouldn't have permissions needed to modify the files.
You could also consider that virus writers would go for the "lowest hanging fruit" which is Windows simply because something like 90% of people connect to the net via a windows PC (and windows users tend to be less tech savvy than linux users so more vulnerable)

Cheers happypig.

Yes I am fully aware of this, and of course that Linux is inherently more secure. There is also the fact that there are thousands of people working with the Linux code on a daily basis which makes potential exploits more likely to be spotted and fixed.

I don't pretend for a moment that any AV software guarantees 100% protection - as this is clearly not the case, but it's more a question of mitigating the risk. Because Linux is clearly more secure that Windows, does that mean that an extra layer of potential protection should be ignored?

I have also read that with Linux becoming more popular now (especially with lots of folks taking offence at the path Microsoft seem to be increasingly taking) that Linux is becoming not quite so low hanging as it once was on the fruit tree.
 

sir_gullahad

Active member
Dec 20, 2013
111
Cheltenhamshire
Cheers for the reply boik.

From what I've been reading, although there is a 'minimal' risk from actual Linux based viruses, it does seem that the main threat resides in cross platform exploits in the likes of Flash/Java/Python etc. It's just so hard to decide what to believe in the plethora of differing opinion out there.

And please don't take this the wrong way or as an insult, but I often see folks whether they're on Mac/Linux or even Windows saying "I don't use AV software and I've never had a virus", but surely it's the case that without AV software alerting you to the fact how can anyone be sure that they haven't got an infection?

It's a reasonable question, however an all clear from AV software may give you a warm feeling inside but doesn't guarantee anything. It is very difficult/impossible to achieve certainty as you normally end up having to trust some third party whether it be a hardware or software provider.

In as far as anecdotal evidence counts for anything I have used Ubuntu exclusively for more than 3 years without becoming aware of anything associated with malware (fraud, id theft, performance issues etc.). I looked into AV software, but what little I found focused on providing alerts for Windows malware (ie for scanning on linux prior to use on Windows).

For anyone starting out I would echo what other have said with regard to using a Live DVD/USB to try things out first.
 

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