yeah, but you only need to use Synaptic to grab and install the apps, not the rest of that bit.
and recompiling the kernel is optional 🙂. i've done it on one of my oldest machine for fun, but didn't bother for the other two. it probably runs a bit faster. it is a lot easier than it used to be, if you use kernelcheck.
http://kcheck.sourceforge.net/
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Originally posted by zeeblebotWhat do you mean by 'mint doesn't eschew audio/video'? You have to find drivers compatible with Mint? If so, where are they?
my 12-y-o installed linux mint on the barebones computer we made. it has been a while since i've installed windows so i can't compare.
mint doesn't eschew audio/video, etc. drivers because they are proprietary.
games are a problem sometimes, but not so much given that the kids are all into Battle of Wesnoth now.
What do the ranking #'s mean or stand for in the rating system?
I just went to sourceforge, man what a bank of software, didn't know there was so much available for linux.
Originally posted by sonhousesome other linux distros don't package proprietary binary drivers. you have to search for them and install them yourself. mint has them included, i think. or selectable.
What do you mean by 'mint doesn't eschew audio/video'? You have to find drivers compatible with Mint? If so, where are they?
What do the ranking #'s mean or stand for in the rating system?
I just went to sourceforge, man what a bank of software, didn't know there was so much available for linux.
the rankings are the number of times users of distrowatch visited the distrowatch database pages for each of the distros listed, recently. i don't know the timeframe.
i've seen the author description for a couple of linux journal articles mentioning the author to be a drummer who uses Audacity (an audio package). search linuxjournal.com for "music", should be some articles there.
also, you could google for "linux music":
http://www.linux-sound.org/distro.html
...
Originally posted by sonhouseSourceForge isn't just Linux based software. It's an awesome repository of free software.
What do you mean by 'mint doesn't eschew audio/video'? You have to find drivers compatible with Mint? If so, where are they?
What do the ranking #'s mean or stand for in the rating system?
I just went to sourceforge, man what a bank of software, didn't know there was so much available for linux.
No more talk sonhouse.
Download the newest ubuntu ISO, burn it to disk and run the live version.
DO IT!
You won't be installing anything, so there's zero risk...
Originally posted by CrowleyWhat is the purpose of the kernel check deal? You have me convinced, just curious about that one.
SourceForge isn't just Linux based software. It's an awesome repository of free software.
No more talk sonhouse.
Download the newest ubuntu ISO, burn it to disk and run the live version.
DO IT!
You won't be installing anything, so there's zero risk...
Originally posted by sonhousethe kernels that come with ubuntu and mint are precompiled binaries.
What is the purpose of the kernel check deal? You have me convinced, just curious about that one.
you might get some speedup by running kernelcheck on your machine; it would compile a kernel customized for that machine. but you have to decide on about a 100 or more checkboxes (or maybe you can just use defaults, i forget, it's been several months since i used it).
then you edit your boot menu to add an option to boot this kernel instead of the default supplied by your distro.
as crowley mentions ... it could involve a lot of hairpulling, even if you've got mucho unix experience. you may wind up needing to reinstall.
maybe you should wait ... and play with it on your development sandbox, not on your wife's machine.
no matter what, kernel check or not, make sure you back up your user directories once in a while.
note that you can also use live Linux CDs as rescue disks. you can boot with them and retrieve windows home directories on a system that refuses to boot to windows (system file crash, etc.)
crowley says ubuntu, i like mint better. CDs are cheap, you could try both.
Originally posted by zeeblebotand video codecs, etc., not just drivers.
some other linux distros don't package proprietary binary drivers. you have to search for them and install them yourself. mint has them included, i think. or selectable.
the rankings are the number of times users of distrowatch visited the distrowatch database pages for each of the distros listed, recently. i don't know the timeframe.
i've seen t ...[text shortened]... lso, you could google for "linux music":
http://www.linux-sound.org/distro.html
...
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Originally posted by zeeblebotI wouldn't dare put anything like that on my wife's graphics machine, it would strictly be for the family machine. I am going to try it. It doesn't sound like plug and play though. I think I will try mint first because at least you can play music with it from the box.
the kernels that come with ubuntu and mint are precompiled binaries.
you might get some speedup by running kernelcheck on your machine; it would compile a kernel customized for that machine. but you have to decide on about a 100 or more checkboxes (or maybe you can just use defaults, i forget, it's been several months since i used it).
then you ed crash, etc.)
crowley says ubuntu, i like mint better. CDs are cheap, you could try both.
Well I am not sure how to proceed, I went to the mint site and the file is linuxmint-8.iso
not sure what to do with an iso file. Windows seems confused also, it says on the download box 'run' or 'save'. Which one do I do? Is an iso file an executable? How do I get it into the system so it actually runs?
Originally posted by sonhousedownload it to your hard drive.
I wouldn't dare put anything like that on my wife's graphics machine, it would strictly be for the family machine. I am going to try it. It doesn't sound like plug and play though. I think I will try mint first because at least you can play music with it from the box.
Well I am not sure how to proceed, I went to the mint site and the file is linuxmint-8. ...[text shortened]... I do? Is an iso file an executable? How do I get it into the system so it actually runs?
then, open your CD-burning application, find the Burn Image option in it, and browse to the .iso file at the point where your CD-burning app asks (or has a box asking) for which image file to burn.
-don't- just copy it to a Data CD. it has to be used to Burn an Image to the CD. it will become the entire filesystem on the CD.
note that the Main version at the top of the download page will work on both 32-bit and 64-bit machines. the x64 version at the bottom of the download page will only work on 64-bit machines.
for burning the ISO, check out pages 9 and 10 of the Mint User's Guide:
http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/docs/user-guide/english_8.1.pdf
after you've burned it, reboot the machine with the Mint CD in the drive.
if Mint doesn't come up, you likely need to change your BIOS settings to have the BIOS check the CD drives for a bootable CD when coming up. see the note near the bottom of p. 10 in the User's Guide.
you probably need to look over the User's Guide anyway.
you don't need to install to hard drive. you can just run from the CD.
DON'T install to hard drive unless you are sure you want to and you are sure you've backed up your existing hard drives.
when i install to a machine, i usually buy a new hard drive for linux, leaving the old drive for windows, and make it dual boot. if a bare machine, even better, no windows.
you can also install Mint over a 4-GB jump drive (or maybe 2-GB). it'll boot faster than a CD, but older computers are less likely to support booting from it. i use a Mint jump drive to boot my work laptop for personal email when i'm on the road.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-linux-mint-8-to-a-flash-drive-in-windows/
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3Apendrivelinux.com+mint&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=