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Author Topic: Anyone gone totally Linux?  (Read 2736 times)

KD0VYC

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #60 on: February 18, 2022, 04:45:07 PM »

Actually, use both Linux and Windows, as tools in the toolbox ... pull out (switch to) whichever one works the best, or is working, or whatever. One display, one or more systems (RPi, Windows, Linux).

linux variants on RPi, either Windows or Linux variants in VM's, one dedicated windows host, one dedicated linux host, etc. Solves gaming, specialized software requirements, and just about any other problem that arises.

Chocolatey (package manager) on Windows & vm's. linux package managers on the linux boxes/vm's.

For example, turbotax (as one of those possibly "pollutes everything it touches"), goes into a vm; now, it pollutes only itself and the guest vm dedicated to it. Same for any similar/weird software package.

Virtualization (VM's) are (usually) the answer for 99% of what ails us; WinXP, Win7, Win8.1 (and soon to be Win10) vm's still running. Linux distros in vm's. Need to play with something new ... fire up a vm, load up the windows/linux os, see what smokes. VM's transfer across failed host os disasters, data lives on a home nas (synology).

No sense picking just one tool, as developers live to spring stuff on us ... use everything in the toolbox. Virtualization is an "endless summer" ...
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N4MJG

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #61 on: November 29, 2022, 01:32:44 PM »

been running ubuntu many years  every once awhlie i run dell computer with win 7 before i can run linux again nothing wrong with either one of them

73
Jackie
N4MJG
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JACKIE GREEN

KE6SLS

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #62 on: November 29, 2022, 02:29:48 PM »

So, I'd like to have a discussion with hams here who have gone totally with Linux for their personal computing needs, how do you do digital, rig control, the stuff that HRD does.

Thanks
Jay
WSØY, formerly WDØEGC

Hi Jay,

Really like your name. .  :|

Yup, been *nix only since 1998 when I finally completely gave up trying to nurse M$ along.

Hard core digital fan: Code, mfsk32/psk31/js8call and more.  I use hamlibs to keep contact between the computer to rigs.  Added a Rpi 4 and really enjoying that too.  Shack is solar powered so the pi was perfect computer addition.  Otherwise, have an old thinkpad x61 (very early 64 bit) that I use heavily.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=377296&hilit=ham+radio

PS, someone posted trying linux in the 80's.  Um, no you didn't.  Linux was born in 91.   :)

73
Jaye
« Last Edit: November 29, 2022, 02:38:54 PM by KE6SLS »
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W0BCG

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #63 on: November 29, 2022, 06:40:27 PM »

I use Linux Mint for almost everything, except Garmin's software, and the Spike software for my spectrum analyzer.  Garmin I haven't tried, and Spike I had running, (with WINE) but couldn't find the com port.
LibreOffice does everything without having Clippie watching. (oh, is Clippie gone?)
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KC3TEC

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #64 on: December 06, 2022, 07:48:29 PM »

So, I'd like to have a discussion with hams here who have gone totally with Linux for their personal computing needs, how do you do digital, rig control, the stuff that HRD does.

Thanks
Jay
WSØY, formerly WDØEGC

Hi Jay,

Really like your name. .  :|

Yup, been *nix only since 1998 when I finally completely gave up trying to nurse M$ along.

Hard core digital fan: Code, mfsk32/psk31/js8call and more.  I use hamlibs to keep contact between the computer to rigs.  Added a Rpi 4 and really enjoying that too.  Shack is solar powered so the pi was perfect computer addition.  Otherwise, have an old thinkpad x61 (very early 64 bit) that I use heavily.

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=377296&hilit=ham+radio

PS, someone posted trying linux in the 80's.  Um, no you didn't.  Linux was born in 91.   :)

73
Jaye

Tried red hat in the early 90s, boy what a nightmare!
Then went to slackware around 1997.
Had to use win hosed at work but my home machines have been fully linux since 96
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N0NB

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #65 on: December 14, 2022, 09:43:22 AM »

25 years ago next month I embarked on using a Linux distribution as my primary system and I'm still at it.  That first year I did have to boot into Windows 95 to use Excel to record my income and expenses for my tax preparer.  From 1999 onward I've done it with Star|Open|Libre Office Calc.

Radio wise I use TLF and CQRlog.  I've used Fldigi and WSJT-X in the past but I've cooled on digi modes so am not up to date with them but they work just fine.

I have a Lenovo laptop that came with Win 10 Pro and I have the Kenwood programming software on it for the TKR-750|850 repeaters and the Kenwood mobiles radios in use here at the farm.  Aside from that all I do is keep it updated on occasion, otherwise I mostly use it with Arch Linux installed on a USB SDD.

For writing letters and addressing envelopes I moved to Groff with the MM macro set for letters and a custom macro for superscripts and for letters I use raw roff requests.  I had to give up on Libre Office for printing envelopes as it had a long standing bug that broke printing #10 envelopes, as I recall.  I use groffer to generate a PDF and print from evince.

Nearly all of my authoring is in Vim now.  I recently decommissioned my self-hosted installation of WordPress on my Web host and switched to generating the blog content locally with Hugo and uploading it to the Web Host with rsync over SSH.

I love this stuff!
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73, de Nate
Bremen, KS

SKCC 6225

N1AUP

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #66 on: January 30, 2023, 01:47:20 AM »

My three computers at home are pretty old, 10 years old, an old iMac, a Mac laptop (with hardware issues), and an old Windows machine I inherited from an estate.  I've used Macs for a long time, but now I read that Apple is going to a new chip (M-1).  This is the second switcheroo.  They went from Motorola to Intel, eventually stranding a lot of my software, and now they are going from Intel to M-1, which will also strand a lot of software, probably most of it on my old Macs.  I should also say that I am retiring soon, and that my Mac at work is really old, too. 

As far as ham radio goes, I'm using the old Windows PC.  I'm running HRD on it, but my guess is that the computer's days are numbered.

So, I'm toying with the idea of keeping the iMac in good repair for legacy stuff from work, but going with Linux-based computers into the future/retirement. 

So, I'd like to have a discussion with hams here who have gone totally with Linux for their personal computing needs, how do you do digital, rig control, the stuff that HRD does.

Thanks

Jay

WSØY, formerly WDØEGC


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mFuekXaEKXo
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W7XTV

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #67 on: January 30, 2023, 12:23:05 PM »

Tried red hat in the early 90s, boy what a nightmare!

Fedora (the old Red Hat) works fine, but has a one-year shelf life.  A new version must be installed every year.  Not even Windows is that anal.  But since Fedora is supposed to be a test bed for RHEL, and not a consumer distro, it's doing its job.

Quote
Then went to slackware around 1997.

I've been a Slackware user since 1997, with version 7.1, but 15.0 has been a nightmare for me.  I still have two older machines running 14.2, but I'll be upgrading them to something else.

Slackware has shot itself in the foot too many times in the last half-decade or so.  It took way too long for 15.0 to be released, and it was still buggy when it did come out.  And that's unfortunate because Slackware used to be the most stable Linux distribution of all.  It has audio and video issues with some hardware, notably my 2012-vintage Mac that ran 14.2 with no problems after crApple declared my machine EOL (MacOS hadn't been upgradable since 2018).  I now run Mint 20.3 on it, and have no problems whatsoever.

It also has a problem with lack of software.  Granted, that's because it's a one-man show, but it's now dependent on Slackbuilds or building from source.  I can do it, but it's a pain.

It also has booting issues (ELILO instead of GRUB?  I believe Slackware is the only major distro that still uses it), kernel updates now require creating an initrd and entering the kernel to the bootloader manually.  Mint does this for you, as it should.

Need 32 bit libraries if you are running 64 bits?  Lotsa luck.  Those "multilib" packages are from a 3rd party in the Netherlands, and if you mess up the installation (it's not done automatically), you're screwed.

I would still recommend it for servers, but for the desktop, Slackware's time is gone.
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He speaks fluent PSK31, in FT8...  One QSO with him earns you 5BDXCC...  His Wouff Hong has two Wouffs... Hiram Percy Maxim called HIM "The Old Man..."  He is... The Most Interesting Ham In The World!

KE6SLS

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #68 on: January 30, 2023, 12:35:51 PM »

Hi Keith,

Tnx for the update on Slack.  I ran a "one man" distro very early 2000's (Libranet) which was Debian based and really amazing for the time.  However . . .  He died.  His son tried & failed to keep the doors open, but wasn't savvy enough hacker to pull it off.  After this experience, I tried another live distro, liked it, learned it too was a one man gig and decided to finally move to the very new Ubuntu.

Prior to all this, I ran straight Debian.  It's good but requires a normal person to become abnormal (super geek) to either install or maintain it.  Too many times and update borked things.  Ubuntu ended that with a very timely updater that actually didn't ask ubbergeek querries, just click and bingo, system updated and no harm to any small animals.

Ubuntu's latest really broke a lot of ham stuff for me and I finally returned to Mint.  Mint also has very good ham support in their forums which helps is solve issues collaboratively. 

Agn, tnx for a quick review of Slack!

PS:  I saved my old 32 bit desktop which still has Libranet running on it :)

73
Jaye
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KC3TEC

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #69 on: January 31, 2023, 03:51:29 PM »

Hi Keith,

Tnx for the update on Slack.  I ran a "one man" distro very early 2000's (Libranet) which was Debian based and really amazing for the time.  However . . .  He died.  His son tried & failed to keep the doors open, but wasn't savvy enough hacker to pull it off.  After this experience, I tried another live distro, liked it, learned it too was a one man gig and decided to finally move to the very new Ubuntu.

Prior to all this, I ran straight Debian.  It's good but requires a normal person to become abnormal (super geek) to either install or maintain it.  Too many times and update borked things.  Ubuntu ended that with a very timely updater that actually didn't ask ubbergeek querries, just click and bingo, system updated and no harm to any small animals.

Ubuntu's latest really broke a lot of ham stuff for me and I finally returned to Mint.  Mint also has very good ham support in their forums which helps is solve issues collaboratively. 

Agn, tnx for a quick review of Slack!

PS:  I saved my old 32 bit desktop which still has Libranet running on it :)

73
Jaye

Debian itself is not too bad. Bit of a pain but not as bad as trying to customize an install of Gentoo!😱.

You can do default install but run the risk of booking it if you want smo modifications.
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W7XTV

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Re: Anyone gone totally Linux?
« Reply #70 on: February 02, 2023, 05:54:40 PM »

Hi Keith,

Tnx for the update on Slack.  I ran a "one man" distro very early 2000's (Libranet) which was Debian based and really amazing for the time.  However . . .  He died.  His son tried & failed to keep the doors open, but wasn't savvy enough hacker to pull it off.  After this experience, I tried another live distro, liked it, learned it too was a one man gig and decided to finally move to the very new Ubuntu.

Prior to all this, I ran straight Debian.  It's good but requires a normal person to become abnormal (super geek) to either install or maintain it.  Too many times and update borked things.  Ubuntu ended that with a very timely updater that actually didn't ask ubbergeek querries, just click and bingo, system updated and no harm to any small animals.

Ubuntu's latest really broke a lot of ham stuff for me and I finally returned to Mint.  Mint also has very good ham support in their forums which helps is solve issues collaboratively. 

Agn, tnx for a quick review of Slack!

PS:  I saved my old 32 bit desktop which still has Libranet running on it :)

73
Jaye

Upon further review, I got the year wrong.  I first ran Slackware when 7.1 was released in 2000, at the time I first got high-speed internet and got rid of dialup.  My bad.

In any case, my opinion still stands as far as Slackware exists today.  Requiring that the whole shebang be installed is a double-edged sword.  Prior to 15.0, if one didn't want to install KDE or XFCE, it didn't matter.  It was rock stable without them.  That's not the case now.  Most things will work to a point, but it's now too integrated with KDE.  I don't care for KDE (too slow and bloated, but looks nice), and I don't want to install it. 

Installing only XFCE leaves you without many accessories that come in handy.  Things like a text editor that doesn't require a computer science degree to use (the horrible, stuck-in-the-'80s vi), a calculator, and an X session manager that actually functions.  Actually, not even KDE provides a fully functional session manager anymore.  SDDM only loads KDE and XFCE by default, despite Slackware installing everything from TDM on up.  Bring back KDM and/or GDM!

And as far as ham software goes, it's all Slackbuilds or straight source code.  Hamlib has issues but is doable.  Fldigi is so old that it still works fine.  WSJT-X 2.5.4 gave me fits, mostly because of audio hardware issues that didn't exist with Slack 14.2.  QSSTV requires KDE.

It used to be that Slackware was Slackware done right, while Ubuntu was Debian done right and Mint was Ubuntu done right.  That's not true anymore.  I wish it was, and I hope it is again someday.
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He speaks fluent PSK31, in FT8...  One QSO with him earns you 5BDXCC...  His Wouff Hong has two Wouffs... Hiram Percy Maxim called HIM "The Old Man..."  He is... The Most Interesting Ham In The World!
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