Computer Gurus: Linux

[GA Russell]

I am thinking about picking up a desktop computer with Linux.  Just for internet surfing and the usual office tasks.

Any suggestions regarding the Linux version?  The retailer?

Thanks!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I have about 6 laptops running Ubuntu. It's perfect for what you describe. It comes standard with Firefox and Open Office for surfing & basic office stuff.

Ubuntu is free. You just need to make sure you have at least 8 GB of RAM for the latest version to run.

[GA Russell]

Thanks, Kevin.  Ubuntu is the distribution I read most often about.

Second place might go to Mint.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

8 hours ago, GA Russell said:

Thanks, Kevin.  Ubuntu is the distribution I read most often about.

Second place might go to Mint.

I tried Mint a few years ago. As I understand it, Mint is a graphics overlay onto Ubuntu that gives it a "Windows" look & feel. I used it on one of laptops and liked it. I was going to install it on several more machines but then an update happened and that Mint laptop stopped working. I switched it back to Ubuntu and I haven't tried it again since. I might try it again just to see if they've fixed that bug.

The main reason I use Ubuntu/Linux is because I used to get old laptops from various corporate places and these corporations deleted the Windows operating system, so I needed something. Additionally, these older laptops run super fast with Ubuntu.

[GA Russell]

Kevin, my hard drive is 930 gig, and I have rarely used 300g of it.  

Do you think I should try downloading ubuntu onto the half that is never used?

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I don't believe that you can download Ubuntu onto your computer as an operating system. What I have had to do is download the .iso file and "write" that to a USB thumb drive making it "bootable", using something like Rufus. Then, you boot off of the thumbdrive and you can try it for a bit or install it. I would recommend trying it first.

When you install it, you can make your PC capable of "dual boot", which will let you choose which operating system to boot into (Windows or Ubuntu) but I have never done that so I can't tell you if it works well. If you choose to use dual boot, you might need to worry about how much memory you allow Ubuntu to use, as Windows runs using "virtual memory" that grabs extra hard drive space to run smoothly. If you take too much of your hard drive for Ubuntu, you Windows system might run very slowly.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I have to add something here as a cautionary tale. I have Ubuntu running on several laptops & have installed it on quite a few more for family & friends. Dell laptops make it pretty easy. You just press F2 or F9 after you press the power button, go into the bios screen and change the boot order, boot from the USB drive and install Ubuntu.

Hp laptops on the other hand, can be a huge pain in the ass. Some Hp computers have the bios "locked" to a Windows operating system. I managed to hack a couple of these to get Ubuntu onto them but it was incredibly difficult. It took me days to figure it out. Installing & re-installing Ubuntu with different configurations in the bios until I finally got it to stick. I have little interest in doing that again.  

The worst thing about it, is that I managed it on one, duplicated the process on a second, and it didn't work. Ha ha ha.