A Week of my life...

MiyoLinux · 2017-10-18 22:44:12

Part 1:

My wife recently asked me to replace her WIndows 8 with Linux ( she knows the way to my heart ). Knowing my wife, she needed something simple. After looking around, I finally decided on a Linux OS to put on her computer...a distro which won't be named.

Her computer was like a turtle on sleeping pills. S...L...O...W !!! She was really weary of its performance, but she needed her computer for her work as a Disney Travel Agent. 99% of her work is done online, Other than that, if she can watch Netflix, she's happy. So, I knew she'd have no real problems using Linux. She just wants to be able to point and click, use the internet, write an occasional document/spreadsheet, and watch Netflix...but don't even think about mentioning the word "Terminal" to her. She needed something that didn't require any real work on her part...and something that she could use without me having to be there to fix it since I work such long and crazy hours.

Now...I've never installed Linux on an UEFI machine before, so I was a bit concerned that I could possibly screw her computer up royally, but being the man I am, I didn't let her know that. LOLOLOLOL!!!

I did a small bit of research and found mixed results as to what I should do. The day came for the install, so I went into the BIOS, disabled Secure Boot, and I set it to boot from a USB. Nothing else. Told the installer to replace Windows, and...

...everything went smooth as silk. WHEW!

She kept talking about how fast it was now with Linux.

She obviously has a hardware problem though. On WIndows 8, after using the laptop on just battery power, when it was recharging, the screen would constantly dim and brighten while the battery recharged. It doesn't do that any longer with Linux, but it did constantly throw up Notifications about the battery status while recharging. So...I disabled the battery notifications. That fixed it. LOLOLOL!!!

We now have a new Linux user.

Part 2:

After using my Devuan Ascii LXQt build for a while, I started missing Miyo. Nothing was wrong with LXQt on Ascii whatsoever, but I wanted my Miyo back. So...I replaced it with a fresh install of Miyo-XTRA.

Synopsis: It's been a good week.

greenjeans · 2017-10-18 22:53:30

This last week I discovered the joys of Yad and Dash, found out that with the right backend you can use them to do almost anything, good stuff!

FOSSuser · 2017-10-19 08:58:00

...a distro which won't be named. big_smile

Must have been Vuu-Do..........or maybe AntiX...........surely not Ub*!!!

NFT5 · 2017-10-23 07:03:46

There is no shame in admitting installation of Ubuntu for some users.

As with OP my wife also has very simple needs - email via web, a simple update mechanism, a couple of simple applications and, all importantly, Flash, so she can watch streamed TV. Ubuntu MATE filled the need perfectly until a few months ago when Mozilla managed to catch out almost everyone. At the time MX-16 offered the only viable alternative and I installed that. Ubuntu have now fixed the Flash issue and it is back in contention, should MX drop the ball on Flash support.

Neither Debian nor Devuan offer these features which are essential for users who can't/won't/don't want to update manually or have to unpack and copy files to make things work or for whom the CLI represents terra horribilus. Fortunately Linux is a world of alternatives.

For myself, this week I fixed Flash in both Debian and Devuan, although with different levels of success. A little more work required, maybe.

Last edited by NFT5 (2017-10-23 07:07:09)

cynwulf · 2017-10-23 10:11:28

It can be tempting to install the various Debian respins and the Ubuntus and Mints, etc to 'help' relatives/friends... but if things go wrong - and they do, you will want a system you can support/administer and fix quickly and easily.

My father is over 80 and has been running FreeBSD on his old laptop for about 2 years. He can only manage basic web browsing, reading the papers, etc - and it more than does the job. If I were to install some Ubuntu or whatever and just leave him with that, when it came to upgrade time I'd be fighting with an unfamiliar system and wasting huge amounts of time. I recently upgraded him from 11.0-release to 11.1-release (a bit late) and now all is well for another few months.

All in all though, he's the exception, I tend to avoid proselytising about operating systems as 99% of people just aren't interested and want a working tool/entertainment system. I've found that while many are initially impressed by free *nix operating systems, when it dawns on them that they can't run the crap they used to run or do what they used to do - the novelty wears off very quickly - and you could be put in an awkward spot (even being asked to reinstall .e.g MS Windows).

Flash needs to die fast. I'm not sure why someone would run a free *nix like OS and install a horrible obfuscated piece of (proprietary) crap on top of it, which comes loaded with numerous security and privacy issues. Youtube and 'catch up TV' sites have mostly moved to HTML5 already.

Last edited by cynwulf (2017-10-23 10:25:13)

FOSSuser · 2017-10-23 10:41:14

In case it went over some peoples heads - I was just having a joke with MiyoLinux.

Last edited by FOSSuser (2017-10-23 10:41:39)

MiyoLinux · 2017-10-27 22:59:13

The adventure came to a screeching halt today...

cynwulf and FOSSuser nailed it...and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

In my hesitancy of installing on a UEFI computer for the first time, and not wanting to screw up my wife's computer, I took the easy route and installed a distro that would basically take care of it for me. I don't want to name it, but it starts with an "X" and ends with an "ubuntu".

My wife installed updates last night, and I got a call at work this morning from her...her computer wouldn't boot up.

To make a long story short, I installed Miyo-XTRA-Ascii on another one of my partitions, changed it over to EFI, built a new .iso of it, and installed that on her computer (with the xfce panel as default for her).

All I can say is that fsmithred is a genius!

edited to correct the spelling of cynwulf's name

Last edited by MiyoLinux (2017-10-28 13:12:26)

LambOfNothing · 2017-10-28 18:45:43

MiyoLinux wrote:

The adventure came to a screeching halt today...
cynwulf and FOSSuser nailed it...and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
In my hesitancy of installing on a UEFI computer for the first time, and not wanting to screw up my wife's computer, I took the easy route and installed a distro that would basically take care of it for me. I don't want to name it, but it starts with an "X" and ends with an "ubuntu".
My wife installed updates last night, and I got a call at work this morning from her...her computer wouldn't boot up.
To make a long story short, I installed Miyo-XTRA-Ascii on another one of my partitions, changed it over to EFI, built a new .iso of it, and installed that on her computer (with the xfce panel as default for her).
All I can say is that fsmithred is a genius!
edited to correct the spelling of cynwulf's name

I could understand your hesitance to admit to it on a forum dedicated to a project that exists to spite the technical direction of the aforementioned, but it's all well and good to take baby steps. Before I found this project and various technical explanations for its legitimacy and value, I used Debian exclusively. Was thrilled to know that my familiarity with the distro wasn't entirely wasted since Devuan is based off of my past preference.

cynwulf · 2017-10-28 19:57:51

MiyoLinux wrote:

My wife installed updates last night, and I got a call at work this morning from her...her computer wouldn't boot up.

Needless to say, I didn't expect it to all go to shit quite that fast... bad luck.

MiyoLinux · 2017-10-29 02:43:45

cynwulf wrote:

MiyoLinux wrote:
My wife installed updates last night, and I got a call at work this morning from her...her computer wouldn't boot up.
Needless to say, I didn't expect it to all go to shit quite that fast... bad luck.

Tell me about it...

Oh well, live and learn. Kind of reminded me of changing a diaper. Had to "wipe" it clean.

MiyoLinux · 2017-11-15 23:27:58

Well, my wife's computer went on the fritz again today. Booted up with a fsck error....corrupted file system...

Not sure how it happened, or why it happened. However, I learned that MiyoLinux can be used as a rescue disk.

Popped in the Live version of Miyo, opened the terminal, became root, and was able to fix it with

fsck -f /dev/sda2

Had to do it twice for some reason.

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#1 2017-10-18 22:44:12

A Week of my life...

#2 2017-10-18 22:53:30

Re: A Week of my life...

#3 2017-10-19 08:58:00

Re: A Week of my life...

#4 2017-10-23 07:03:46

Re: A Week of my life...

#5 2017-10-23 10:11:28

Re: A Week of my life...

#6 2017-10-23 10:41:14

Re: A Week of my life...

#7 2017-10-27 22:59:13

Re: A Week of my life...

#8 2017-10-28 18:45:43

Re: A Week of my life...

#9 2017-10-28 19:57:51

Re: A Week of my life...

#10 2017-10-29 02:43:45

Re: A Week of my life...

#11 2017-11-15 23:27:58

Re: A Week of my life...

Board footer