I have a couple of old laptops I want to put Linux on. I have Ubuntu on one computer and like it, but I'm looking at other versions too.


Ubuntu vs Kubuntu vs Xubuntu vs Mint: Which one do you think is the best, safest, etc.?

Blessed are the murderous.

I use Ubuntu - I haven't tried the other versions of it.

If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University

eesh Wrote:
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> Ubuntu vs Kubuntu vs Xubuntu vs Mint: Which one do
> you think is the best, safest, etc.?

security-wise, all the ubuntu variants are the same. the only issue i have is that with ubuntu, a normal user can run anything by just using sudo. i dont know about mint. however, there isnt any malware for linux, so security shouldnt be an issue for a normal home user.

Ubuntu is Gnome.
Kubuntu is KDE
Xubuntu is XFCE.
Mint also comes in all three flavors.

i STRONGLY recommend that you do NOT use KDE. KDE currently has huge stability problems. they redesigned and rewrote it, released it waaaay too early and now it's unstable as hell.

Gnome is the most complete desktop environment. XFCE attempts to be a faster "lite" version of Gnome but it lacks functionality i find important.

my recommendation is to use Gnome which is either Ubuntu or the default Mint. i havent tried Mint, so no idea about it.

Ubuntu is rather well put together for new users, so i recommend using Ubuntu.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

On a side note, if you don't want to download and burn the ISOs, you can just grab the latest LinuxUser - actually there is an Ubuntu User as well - magazine that has the latest 10.04 install on it. Very easy to setup.

If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/04/2010 03:28PM by Registered Voter.

Registered Voter Wrote:
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> On a side note, if you don't want to download and
> burn the ISOs, you can just grab the latest
> LinuxUser - actually there is an Ubuntu User as
> well - magazine that has the latest 10.04 install
> on it. Very easy to setup.

seriously? SERIOUSLY!? just download the disc image from ubuntu.com and stop making shit complicated. http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
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> Registered Voter Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > On a side note, if you don't want to download
> and
> > burn the ISOs, you can just grab the latest
> > LinuxUser - actually there is an Ubuntu User as
> > well - magazine that has the latest 10.04
> install
> > on it. Very easy to setup.
>
> seriously? SERIOUSLY!? just download the disc
> image from ubuntu.com and stop making shit
> complicated.
> http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

True, I forgot that after I got the magazine I went to their site and saw they allowed for you to load it to a USB or CD directly. But, if you happen to be out at Microcenter or someplace with computer magazines - just saying you could grab the magazine and be ready to install without having to do the intermediary download step.

If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University

Thanks Gravis for the information.

Blessed are the murderous.

eesh Wrote:
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> Thanks Gravis for the information.

your bill is in the mail. :)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Try FreeBSD too.

linux Wrote:
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> Try FreeBSD too.

freebsd has poor driver support.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Gravis Wrote:
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> eesh Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
however, there isnt any
> malware for linux, so security shouldnt be an
> issue for a normal home user.

Why write malware when you can just embed the hacking and phishing code into the next release of something.

No admin is going to check the next version update of some app that gets automatically loaded in an apt-get update.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/06/2010 11:53AM by Lurker..

Ubuntu caused my Dell D820 to freeze/crash multiple times in a 24 hour period. Of course YMMV.

I installed Fedora 13 on both my D820 laptop and a HP my in-laws were nice enough to give me. It's worked ok for me, it's been rock solid on the HP and only crashes the D820 if I try to redock it.

Lurker. Wrote:
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> Gravis Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > eesh Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> however, there isnt any
> > malware for linux, so security shouldnt be an
> > issue for a normal home user.
>
> Why write malware when you can just embed the
> hacking and phishing code into the next release of
> something.
>
> No admin is going to check the next version update
> of some app that gets automatically loaded in an
> apt-get update.

i guess that explains all the malware loaded on my machine. oh wait, i forgot, there is none.

sucks to be you.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Just installed an old Karmic Koala CD I had on an off-lease HP I just got off ebay.

Linux is sooooooo much better than iOS or Windows.

you would have to learn how to recompile the OS for it to run fast on y our old laptop. its not that hard to do but better to pay a nerd $40 to do it for ya.


But if you do not want to recompile the OS to your CPU specification then get Linux mint.

if you don't have a strong opinion: the one that installs easy

locked up dell? no. you got bad bits or installed wrong kernel.

once installed you can get years of operation without reboot (power outage aside).

one that installs easy. but check the hardware compatibility lists make sure it works on that top. the distribution that has most software avail you need and installs easier and with desktop and networking working is best. unsure if best is ubantu (proprietary debian), or pre-installed laptop with suse or redhat (both proprietary), or what for you. look at problem report / questions to help you decide what might bite your ass.

try live (internet) install of whatever you decide. avoid downloading whole thing it's likely not what u want for an old laptop.

if you have an old laptop you might installing smaller or earlier distribution if you find it's all (too big, installs slow). if earlier: the web browser might not be up to date and you'll need to configure it more, but you can upgrade later once running if need be.

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if your making android ware, make sure it's setup so the browser emulator and the app sdk will work and the android kernel will build. or whatever you do: make sure what your goals are can work. oh yea. who's paying for your time? (really?) it's amazing what linux can do but likely for work you need apple or dell, a whole telco system, etc

XFCE attempts to be a faster "lite" version?

no. it's upgraded Open Desktop from 1983 (yes, before microsoft even had graphics), also from SCO release and or from Sun's Solaris (which used CDE later on). SCO was an i386 rel of an ATT release of X / Xerox Windows wares from palo alto ? difficult to know since back then code sharing was the norm and gov paid for the making (today only microsoft gets the gov money ?). it's all on wikipedia somewhere. it's not all of Open Desktop just the desktop shell.

i got no opinion on desktops: they just hold the windows per say and all have neat features. try many. OLWM, KDE apps and gnome apps still load and work whichever you use. gnome or NextStep if you want lisp / corba hacking, many others are better if you don't.

free BSD for intel has received allot of foreign hacks and ALLOT of install complaints lately (as has many linuxes). it had been rock solid before the "new guys" hacked in. you have to build everything from scratch so if your not privy to compilation issues and not resourceful and don't have days to wait while it compiles it is not an easy start. on the other hand: there may be smaller pre-built images of the base and a few things. i've seen complaints about installing the newer ones. never tried.

i'm surprised anyone in the area uses linux other than MD gov classes teaching it (fx schools have always heavily pushed microsoft and defunded all unix wares).

there's ALLOT of hacking going on so if it's linux, apple, or microsoft don't depend on "security" in new releases. you'd probably get better security on an old release than totally internet hacked out new one. and in the end the cops will seize your computer if they want it !

have fun :) ask more questions i enjoy it. never seen linux talk in fx.

apple runs X Windows and unix and most softwares, ie gimp(1), linux has

while more xpensive it'd be a huge time save and much more pleasant way to hack unix, just not using linux kernel or X compiled by the french

true story !

Just installed Ubuntu on an old nettop I had. Everything speeds up considerably, internet browsing, streaming media, Linux does it better.

whatyoudontknowmaydelayyou Wrote:
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> free BSD for intel has received allot of foreign
> hacks and ALLOT of install complaints lately (as
> has many linuxes). it had been rock solid before
> the "new guys" hacked in. you have to build
> everything from scratch so

FreeBSD is nothing more than a test bed for Apple products anymore. None of the FBSD developers use FreeBSD as their main OS, they run it in a virtual machine on their Macbook Pros. Simple shit like KMS, suspend from resume, switching back to console from Xorg, binary package upgrades, have been broken for YEARS now. Apple hired them in the middle of the last decade and the devel team has pretty much sold out on making a viable desktop operating system.

All of the new development and hardware support are going to OpenBSD first. WiFi drivers are developed there, PF, Gnome3 port, full disk encryption. OpenBSD is pretty much where the cool shit is happening.

Linux cannot help itself. The horde of new developers and users are of the "let's over-engineer everything" mentality. They grew up in a world where Windows Server and Active Directory were ubiquitous, they have never had to configure a GUI, never developed anything outside of an IDE (VS.net, XCode), never had to deal with memory management or resource allocation, etc. Instead of following UNIX principles of code reuse and designing simple programs that do one thing and do it well, they like to reinvent the wheel for no other purpose than getting their name out there. Thus we have projects like Wayland, Mir, systemd, PulseAudio, ConsoleKit, KDE4, etc. that are bloated regressions of what they were intended to replace.

Just installed Mint Cinnamon that I got from OSdisc. Far superior to Ubuntu.

I don't know much about Ubuntu. Does it have all the drivers I need, like wifi?

I've been using linux for what, geez, about 20 years now. Holy moly I'm old. Anyway. Ubuntu used to be the bomb (for old linux guys and gals) but I swear it has been hijacked by microsoft developers. It's not nearly as customizable and user friendly as it used to be. However, that is all relative. If you are new to it it s a great OS. It has tons of free software and free support. Chances are you will have no problem with drivers unless it is some odd, rare hardware. Even then you may be able to have somebody write a driver for you for free. At least people used to do that. If you are a gamer, Steam is now supported for linux so that is totally awesome. I have a dual boot system on my laptop because I use programs like Autocad and 3rd party software that is not available for linux. Using Wine is not an option, that just sucks.

For the people that are upset about the changes in Ubuntu they all switched to Mint. If you want 100% control of your distro, go that route.

Also, be prepared for lots of updates. However, that's not much different from Microshaft.

Enjoy.

Hussein Obama sucks!

Ubuntu is shit and always has been.

jammer audio: http://www.jammerfromchina.com/categories/Wireless_Video%7B47%7DAudio_Jammers/