[NetBehaviour] linux laptops

[ruth catlow]

I've been running Linux Mint on the same Samsung laptop for the last 4 
years without a single unfortunate incident... and low level 
maintenance. With Gimp, Open Office (sometimes annoying), Inkscape, 
Kdenlive, Audacity, VLC, Filezilla.
Good wireless connectivity. Some trouble with print drives (that's it)

Linux Ra Ra Rah!

Ruth


  On 23/05/17 19:15, Edward Picot wrote:
> Helen,
>
> Good for you! I agree that Linux is much less deterring than we are 
> generally led to believe. I started by putting it on an old spare 
> computer a few years ago, and since then I've been buying cheap 
> laptops and over-writing the existing Windows operating system with 
> Linux, which always gives me a bit of a transgressive thrill. Apart 
> from anything else you save a fortune in anti-virus fees. I started 
> out with Mandriva Linux - which was probably an odd choice, but I came 
> across a disc for it somewhere - but I now use Ubuntu. Unfortunately 
> Ubuntu 16, which is the one I'm currently using, has some 
> well-documented wireless connectivity problems, so I have to connect 
> to my router via an ethernet cable, not that that's the end of the 
> world. There are some rather lengthy fixes out there, but I haven't 
> got round to trying them yet.
>
> The range and quality of software available for Linux never ceases to 
> amaze me. Libre Office, the Gimp, Audacity, Kdenlive and Inkscape are 
> all wonderful. As for Blender, it's mind-bending to be able to get 
> your hands on a piece of software that powerful for nothing, although 
> it's extremely challenging to learn (I've only scratched the surface). 
> The only thing I genuinely miss is Flash - but Flash in its Adobe 
> incarnation is now so expensive that I wouldn't be able to afford it 
> anyway.
>
> Edward
>
> On 22/05/17 09:47, helen varley jamieson wrote:
>>
>> hi everyone,
>>
>> more than a year ago i wrote to this list asking for advice about 
>> buying a linux laptop. it took me a while, but i'm now happily 
>> working with ubuntu mate on a no-brand machine :)
>>
>> i spent quite a lot of time looking at second-hand & B-ware 
>> (ex-display) machines, & also at new models (lenovo, dell, hp, acer, 
>> asus, etc etc ... ) & got quite overwhelmed by the choice & 
>> variables. nothing was exactly what i wanted, & i couldn't decide on 
>> what to compromise. i had a couple of things that were definite - not 
>> bigger than 14", must have ethernet port, prefereably separate audio 
>> in & out; so that narrowed things down quite a bit, but still i 
>> wasn't finding anything that felt right.
>>
>> then i found a uk company that sells no-brand laptops with linux 
>> pre-installed (https://www.entroware.com). i could choose the hard 
>> drive, RAM, keyboard layout, etc & it arrived 5 days after i ordered 
>> it. i took it out of the box, turned it on, & started using it. the 
>> trickiest thing i've had to do so far was use the command line to get 
>> it to talk nicely to my printer - & i managed that without incident.
>>
>> i'm still adjusting to the non-mac keyboard shortcuts - it's easier 
>> to take a screenshot but more difficult to do an umlaut (ü), & there 
>> are a couple of things i still need to work out. & one loss is that 
>> there are no linux drivers for my wireless webcam, so i'm back to a 
>> tethered webcam for now. but it is soooo much faster than my old mac, 
>> & i've found most of the software that i need.
>>
>> so if anyone else out there is also considering making the switch to 
>> linux, i say - just do it! :)
>>
>> h : )
>> -- 
>> helen varley jamieson
>> helen at creative-catalyst.com <mailto:helen at creative-catalyst.com>
>> http://www.creative-catalyst.com
>> http://www.upstage.org.nz
>>
>> *We have a situation, Coventry! 
>> <http://www.wehaveasituation.net/?p=1402>*
>> 24 November 2016
>>
>>
>>
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