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Author Topic: Anyone gone totally Linux?  (Read 2734 times)

N1EN

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #45 on: April 15, 2021, 09:51:00 AM »

I'm late to the thread, but I'll offer a few thoughts in case someone surfs through looking for information or inspiration.

I cut my teeth as a computer power-user on Unix using machines at college and then later shell access at old dial-up ISPs.  However, for personal machines, I went (TRS-80) » (DOS) » (OS/2) » (Linux/Windows) » Windows.   I got sucked into Windows to be in sync with the tools I was using at work, and because given the amount of time I spend in front of a computer, I like polished UIs...which can be hard to find in a Linux environment.

A lot of my desire to move to Linux eased with the development of Cygwin, as I was able to gain a lot of the functionality I missed from *nix -- I like working with command-line tools, and Cygwin also made possible a decent amount of script-based automation.

More recently, Microsoft's introduction of WSL has come pretty darn close to creating an arrangement that's almost ideal to my tastes:  I have Ubuntu installed on my Windows boxes via WSL, making it possible to run both Linux tools/apps and Windows apps on the same machine, with acceptable performance. However, I haven't had the courage to try to interface Linux-based ham applications to my radio gear;  I understand that COM ports are accessible, but audio is a problem.

Given the improvements in remote access to machines across networks, and improvements in VPN performance...in the next year, I will probably need to retire my Win10 laptop.  There's a pretty decent chance that it will get replaced with a less-powerful laptop running Linux or maybe a Chromebook, but that machine is unlikely to be put into ham radio use, beyond web-based remote control, or remote-desktop access to the shack PC.
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N9XCR

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #46 on: July 13, 2021, 07:44:05 AM »

I'm late to this thread as well but want to add what I've done here. I run a Raspberry Pi 4 that's dedicated to radio use. There's plenty of software available for Linux. I don't take a second look at anything that runs only in Windows. It's not that I have anything against Windows. I just want a separate device dedicated to amateur radio use and don't want to run a second full-blown PC.

I'm also working on a Pi 4 in my car for portable use. Unfortunately, the Pi 4 generates some noise on HF in my car for some reason, so I'm going to move the Pi 4 to under my dash and run whatever cables I need from there to the trunk where the main body of my 7000 is mounted.

Chris
N9XCR
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KB9BVN

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #47 on: September 07, 2021, 10:04:08 AM »

For my digital modes, which I don't use much, I have gone Linux.  I run FLDGI and WSJT-X on a HP 2000 Laptop that has to be 11 or 12 years old.  My wife wore it out so I confiscated it and dragged it back to my mad scientist laboratory.  I jerked out the old 250 GB spinning disk and installed a cheap 500 GB SSD drive, I also yanked the 4GB RAM out and replaced it with 8GB new SODIMM RAM for mere pennies on the MB.  Bought a brand new battery and a brand new power supply.  Total invest was maybe $120, the laptop was already fully appreciated and depreciated.

Installed Linux Mint 20.2
Installed FLDGI 4.1.06
Installed WSJT-X 2.1.2

I log with N3FJP's AClog on a windows computer on my network.  FLDGI and WSJT-X talk to N3FJP over my WIFI network here in the dungeon.

My interface to my K2 is a Signal Link USB interface.  I'm no computer guru but with some readme docs and a browse of the FAQs I had it running in about an hour.

So I saved a laptop headed for the garbage heap, and it works great.  I also have Libre Office installed and I use it to take notes at my mens fraternal club meetings, since I am the Recorder.  Couldn't be happier.   Oh and it has a camera in the lid and does pretty well on Zoom meetings with my fellow club members.  I use Chrome for browsing and have had no issues.

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KG4CNA

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #48 on: December 31, 2021, 12:37:56 PM »

Same here. Saved an old laptop headed for the trash bin at the local thrift store. Replaced old hdd with ssd, maxed out ram, replaced battery, loaded Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. I use FLDIGI, WSJT-X and a few other packages with no problem. Yaesu FT-991A works just fine with it. Also use Gqrx and CubicSDR with my NooElec SDR dongle.
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K7LZR

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #49 on: December 31, 2021, 03:43:21 PM »

I tried Ubuntu on a couple of my computers and it did work okay but I found it to be far more frustrating than Windows in terms of software availability and ease of software installation.

In general, I've found that there is a far wider selection of software and  in particular radio software for Windows than for Linux. And the available programs for SDR receivers such as HDSDR, SDR Console, SDRUno, etc. for Windows are far superior to their Linux counterparts in terms of features, ease of installation, and general performance, and fit & finish.

As a software developer, I find it much easier to write quality & stable applications for Windows than for Mac or Linux. Windows has many, many more available tools for developer use, and the operating system itself can leverage the power of many programming languages and vice-versa via its extensive API system.

Lastly, I don't feel that I can trust operating systems other than Windows not to suddenly break compatibility with software. Both MacOS & some Linux distros stopped support for 32-bit apps which left ALOT of angry users, and ALOT of angry software developers who found that their apps would no longer run.

Windows has NEVER done that except once, from 16-bit to 32-bit. Microsoft was smart enough - thank God - to see that they would be committing business suicide by dumping 32-bit altogether. So Windows smartly supports both 32 and 64 bit apps equally well.

Windows may have its faults, but it is still by far the leading OS in the desktop arena worldwide and its easy to see why.         
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KX4OM

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #50 on: January 20, 2022, 06:52:16 PM »

I tried Ubuntu on a couple of my computers and it did work okay but I found it to be far more frustrating than Windows in terms of software availability and ease of software installation.

In general, I've found that there is a far wider selection of software and  in particular radio software for Windows than for Linux. And the available programs for SDR receivers such as HDSDR, SDR Console, SDRUno, etc. for Windows are far superior to their Linux counterparts in terms of features, ease of installation, and general performance, and fit & finish.

As a software developer, I find it much easier to write quality & stable applications for Windows than for Mac or Linux. Windows has many, many more available tools for developer use, and the operating system itself can leverage the power of many programming languages and vice-versa via its extensive API system.

Lastly, I don't feel that I can trust operating systems other than Windows not to suddenly break compatibility with software. Both MacOS & some Linux distros stopped support for 32-bit apps which left ALOT of angry users, and ALOT of angry software developers who found that their apps would no longer run.

Windows has NEVER done that except once, from 16-bit to 32-bit. Microsoft was smart enough - thank God - to see that they would be committing business suicide by dumping 32-bit altogether. So Windows smartly supports both 32 and 64 bit apps equally well.

Windows may have its faults, but it is still by far the leading OS in the desktop arena worldwide and its easy to see why.         

Here are the minimum requirements for Windows 11:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/whats-new/windows-11-requirements

Windows 11 requires a compatible 64-bit processor. It requires UEFI with Secure Boot. It requires Trusted Platform Module 2.0. It requires at least 4 GB RAM, and at least 64 GB storage capability.

The newest listed compatible lowest-spec Intel Core i3 CPU is i3-1000G1, launched in Q3 2019, Generation 10 (formerly Ice Lake). Intel is now in Generation 12.

My newest PC, a laptop running Windows 10 Pro flunked the Windows 11 compatibility checker. It has 16 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD. It has UEFI, but not Secure Boot. It has Trusted Platform Module, but only Version 1.2. It has a 64-bit Intel Core i3 CPU, but it is not new enough (5th Generation, Broadwell).

Windows 10 Home and Pro is currently on version 1H2 (November 2021). Microsoft has committed to continue to provide support for 1H2 through April June 13, 2023.

Windows 10 Retirement date is October 14, 2025.

Ted, KX4OM

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AC2EU

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #51 on: January 20, 2022, 07:56:45 PM »

"Tho Shalt Not use the Command Line"

People who don't utilize the command line are missing out.

I dumped Windows years ago, jumped straight into the deep end with a now-dead distribution called Crunchbang, and have NEVER looked back. I use Debian most of the time now. Literally, one of the BEST decisions I have made in my life.

Why Debian over Fedora over Ubuntu over...etc. I guess it's a decision based on what distro has the most useful software written for it?
Could you share the decision making process when it come to a Linux distro?

KX4OM

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #52 on: January 22, 2022, 03:45:56 PM »

"Tho Shalt Not use the Command Line"

People who don't utilize the command line are missing out.

I dumped Windows years ago, jumped straight into the deep end with a now-dead distribution called Crunchbang, and have NEVER looked back. I use Debian most of the time now. Literally, one of the BEST decisions I have made in my life.

Why Debian over Fedora over Ubuntu over...etc. I guess it's a decision based on what distro has the most useful software written for it?
Could you share the decision making process when it come to a Linux distro?

It is not that simple. However, the processes to actually get the software you want with the Linux distribution you want to use has been made easier through the use of package managers that are made to fit the particular distros. This explains it in general terms:

www.tecmint.com/linux-package-management/

Largely, the distros based on Debian, and they are many, like Ubuntu and its derivatives, Mint, which is a spinoff of Ubuntu with many changes, and RedHat based distros (Fedora, CentOS, etc, and Suse go back many years (decades).

A basic idea is that the Debian-based distributions can all use the .deb package manager, even though distros that still have a somewhat comprehensive Software Center as Mint does (and Ubuntu really does not anymore) can use apt-get  (Aptitude) to get virtually any software package in the huge Debian environment. That is either from the command line or from an Aptitude application from a menu in a distro.

Compounding the process is the relatively recent use of Snap or FlatPacks to bundle a lot of the individual software applications' code along with all of the many pieces of other supporting software that they need in one neat bundle. It takes the load off the target computer to assemble everything in real time to make it work.

The other thing is software written for specific window managers or environments, such as Gnome variants or KDE. I haven't used anything other than Debian based distros and mostly Gnome-based window managers since about 1999. Several light weight window managers exist, such as Xfce which is widely used in Debian, Ubuntu and Mint and several other distros. That is drilling down into the "software I want/need" though.

You can survey the most popular distributions at the moment from DistroWatch:

distrowatch.com

The easiest to use distro in my opinion is Linux Mint; I've used it for several years. I would have to study a bit to use Fedora if I intended to use the command line. When using Mint, my go-to information source for help is the Ubuntu forums. I cobbled together my file server using Ubuntu command line stuff but from the familiar Mint environment.

Ted, KX4OM
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N7EKU

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #53 on: January 22, 2022, 04:50:54 PM »

"Tho Shalt Not use the Command Line"

People who don't utilize the command line are missing out.

I dumped Windows years ago, jumped straight into the deep end with a now-dead distribution called Crunchbang, and have NEVER looked back. I use Debian most of the time now. Literally, one of the BEST decisions I have made in my life.

Why Debian over Fedora over Ubuntu over...etc. I guess it's a decision based on what distro has the most useful software written for it?
Could you share the decision making process when it come to a Linux distro?

Good question,

Not necessarily, because the same software is available for pretty much any distribution.  The main thing is what version of the software to you want/need.  LInux is in a constant state of flux as programs are constantly being improved as bugs are found and fixes and as new features are added, and as new programs are written.  Distributions emphasize how "modern" they want theirs to be.

Fedora emphasizes being cutting-edge and strives to have the newest versions of programs available.  That can be handy if you want the newest version of things, but it cuts both ways as it also means you will run into more bugs and there will be many more updates.  It's a fun distribution, and you get a chance to submit bug fixes once you get used to diagnosing error logs.

Debian has been around for ages and typically offers three or more levels of "moderness".  The have an old stable track, a middle aged mostly stable track, and a cutting edge track.  They have many different installer versions (install over network, install from floppies, etc etc) and their main one was pretty old and I would say more difficult for beginners to use.  They also make their distribution available for different microprocessors like ARM, etc.

Ubuntu was taken up as a humanitarian project to make Linux very easy to install, maintain, and use.  They worked hard at getting the software out to anyone that wanted it (they would even mail you an installation disk for free!) and promoted it in Africa a lot.  They have their own team of software experts that work on their installation program, their update programs and maintaining the software packages for each distribution edition.  They make long term support "LTS" editions which are supported for many years so you can install one and count on it being safe and well running for a long time.  Ubuntu believes in only using free and open software so ones that are not (e.g. Adobe Flash, various audio and video codecs, etc) are not included in the initial installation and have to be installed by the user afterwards.

Mint is based on Ubuntu but allows these programs to be installed from the beginning.  That is handy, but what I most like about Mint is that it's even easier to use and maintain than Ubuntu.  Also, Ubuntu went with a new desktop style for awhile that turned off some users (like when Microsoft moved from their normal desktop to the Windows 8 tile thing).  When Ubunto did this, Mint developed their own desktop software (called Cinnamon) which is quite nice and traditional so it's easy to use.

Then there are hundreds of distribution offshoots (see distrowatch.com) that hobbiests or even countries put together and offer.  A lot of them come and go and don't last long.  They are fun to try if you have a lot of time on your hands.

And I have to commend both Debian and Fedora.  Both do a huge amount of work in providing installation packages (that many others use) and doing bug fixes.  Without them, many other linux distributions would be old, limited, and buggy!

73,


Mark

« Last Edit: January 22, 2022, 04:55:27 PM by N7EKU »
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Mark -- N7EKU/VE3

WW5F

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #54 on: January 25, 2022, 04:10:56 AM »

Linux, by definition, begins with the kernel.

https://www.kernel.org/

By definition, the kernel is not an OS.  An OS includes things like memory management, system calls, process and thread handling.

Can't run the kernel by itself.  First you need a way to boot it, like (the already popular) GRUB or LILO.

Then you need some sort of way to output strings and integers on the screen for debugging and a way to handle interrupts and exceptions.  Outputting to a serial port can make debugging your new OS easier.

Planning memory usage becomes important at this point.  (Assuming you're writing your own Linux distribution...)

Once you're here, some sort of GUI (mouse point and click screen) starts to become important, along with a file system.  And depending on what's important to you, your GUI may depend on your file system.

Popular GUIs are GNOME and KDE.  There are several others.

Popular file systems in Linux include Ext4 and BtrFS.  There are several others.  And Linux can access windows file systems such as FAT and NTFS.

And then you need a way to install software and programs other people have already written.  There are many of these.  Debian uses the APT command, or Synaptic.  Fedora uses RPM, YUM, or DNF.  And there are several others.  Most Linux distributions come with with their own software repositories, or are customized distributions from other distributions that use the same repositories.  And there's a movement to try to standardize software distribution among all distributions, as already mentioned, such as SNAP and FlatPacks.

Popular Linux distributions:
Ubuntu
Fedora Project
Arch Linux
Linux Mint
Debian GNU/Linux
Red Hat
OpenSUSE
SUSE

It helps to view the distribution tree occasionally to see where the distribution you're trying to figure out came from.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions#/media/File:Linux_Distribution_Timeline_21_10_2021.svg

I started out with Red Hat back in the 90's.  And I taught Fedora for several years.  I'm a 100% Fedora guy now, but I occasionally dabble with other distributions just to see what they're doing.  I have a boot disk with Win 7 on it, but I haven't needed to put it back in a computer and boot it in over a year now.
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WA6III

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #55 on: February 06, 2022, 11:32:29 PM »

One thing to consider when considering total Linux is tax software.  I've not been able to find any tax software that runs under Linux, not with Wine or even VB.  I have to boot to the windows OS, and since that's Win7 it says 2020 tax software (TT or HRB) won't run. 

If anyone got a good (decent) tax software for Linux I'd be interested in reading about it.
//
You're wasting your time trying to get Turbotax to run under Linux with wine or other "emulators" .   Haven't tried any of the other tax programs though, and  Turbotax online isn't supposed to work on a browser running under Linux...... I haven't tried that either.  I prefer to use the installed version.

I have been using Linux for everyday computer use since 1998, starting with Redhat 7.0 ending with RH 9

Switched to OpenSuSE and have stayed with it to today (using SuSE Leap 15.3 x64)
I also have a Macbook pro (Mid 2012) and the only thing that kept me from driving a MAC (Truck) over it again and again was to "wipe" it and install KDE Neon.  (Now it's ok!)

Now, having said all that, The only reason I also have a separate (HP) laptop running Winblows 10 is so I can run Turbotax, SDRuno, and a couple of other programs that easily play only on Winders.I'll never go back to Windows for internet browsing, email or even online banking etc.
Regards,

Rick


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WW5F

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #56 on: February 08, 2022, 04:29:13 AM »

There is no turbotax program for linux.

But going to turbotax.com and doing taxes online last year worked fine for me using Fedora and Dissenter (a derivative of Brave).  Will be doing that again this year near the end of March or beginning of April.
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AC9QC

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #57 on: February 08, 2022, 03:10:44 PM »

My daily machine has been OpenSuSE for a long time. I will admit I do keep a Windows Desktop to run CAD Software. There's some pretty severe limits there IMO. Also if you're into video gaming there's definitely limits there. Overall I like the experience and the speed is fine. For an increasingly webapp world it matters progressively less and less. I have an accountant buddy do my taxes hence I am not concerned nor have ever needed to be about tax software. I also use HPTuners now and again and that requires Windows too. Then again all that stuff is really nichey.

My opinion is if you need it toss a Windows VM on under Linux and you'll probably be fine in most cases.
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WA6III

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #58 on: February 09, 2022, 01:58:50 PM »


But going to turbotax.com and doing taxes online last year worked fine for me using Fedora and Dissenter
\\
I tried it when they first offered the online version several years ago and a couple of times since.The first time, it did not work at all and returned an error (wrong operating system/browser etc)

A few years later, I "spoofed' the browser ID and it would allow me to start a return but I didn't trust it from that point.  Besides, I had a working, up to date Winblows computer (and still do)   

The price for Turbotax premium is approx the same for the online and CD version  (and usually a little more than the Costco CD version) .  I also didn't want to upload all my "stuff" to Intuit.  (I know, you probably do if you E-file anyway)

I don't really care if they ever offer a Linux version. 

And for business, they don't even offer a MAC version.  It's just not worth it to them. 

I wouldn't do it on a MAC anyway, about halfway through, I'd be out in the garage with a 10-pound sledge turning that MAC into a "thin-client",  pounding it into the concrete!!

I feel I'll always have a (no) Win computer.  They really don't cost that much  and the old PC it replaces will always be good for Linux anyway!
And to keep this from being a thread hijack, to the OP, Keep your PC. ;D
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AC4RD

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #59 on: February 09, 2022, 04:05:04 PM »

Could you share the decision making process when it come to a Linux distro?

ME!  (raising hand)  I picked Fedora around 2004-2005.   My research and my decision-making process were this: "Gee, Ed (AF4YN) uses Fedora, so he can help if I've got questions."   Never looked back.  :-)   I keep a couple of machines that i can boot to windows (7 and 10) but hate using windows.  Fedora is so simple and straightforward these days that it's no-fuss even for a non-technical XYL.  :-)  (Who also prefers OpenOffice to Microsoft Office, bless her heart)  :-)
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