The Linux Topic

[BLUEVOODU]

As part of the What Current OS Are you Running thread, we started mentioning Linux.

As part of my current studies, I'm going through Linux Admin Training.  I've worked in many different environments - IBM i OS, Windows (tons of different environments), IBM AIX, and now I'm trekking into Amazon Web Services / Linux. 

At this point, I installed and started playing around with UBUNTU and OpenSUSE.  Hyper-V is available in Windows 10 Pro... that is now setup on my laptop and I've created virtual machines.  Through some of my other training... I will be working with CENTOS and Fedora.

What do you work with and Game with LINUX wise?  What troubles have you encountered and what did you do to solve them? 
Any input @trkorecky @retro junkie @Polygon @medataoh ?

Post it up!

On another note, I am kick starting a tech site soon.  This is going to be to document many of the new Amazon Web Services Cloud studies / what I learned...etc.  This site will also be to document a large range of topics from easy to level III work across many systems.  The plan is to make it so that I can search my site if I need to recall that information, but it's also there to allow others to search and view.  I'm creating the site in Drupal - I spent the last 4 months learning Drupal and may add some of that knowledge as well lol.  I'll create more on this topic later.  IF anyone would like to help write some of these documents, I will be game.  There will be a standards and requirements for writing the documentation.  But I welcome anyone who wants to do this to put their notes out there and also use the repository of knowledge.  There won't be much or any of a forum... until Drupal has a better system or I can do an SMF style bridge or anything but Drupal's forum.

[retro junkie]

Good idea.
Here are just some of the things that come to mind.

Compatibility is a big issue that I have found over the years. There doesn't seem to be any up-to-date lists floating around. Sometimes I have found myself digging through forum's old topics just to answer a question. Or maybe I have not been able to locate a good list in my searches. And when it comes to compatibility, we are also talking about Distro orientation too, not just if it is compatible to Linux. And the item may be compatible with all linux Distros, it is just you need to tinker to find out why the Distro did not pick it up. Sometimes I just do not feel like fiddling and tinkering, so I find a Distro that works for me.

Wacom tablets seem to have a good compatibility rating. I have one on my desktop. I like drawing, so I use paint programs, I like piddling and dealing with graphic stuff. I have Photoshop CS3 loaded up with WINE. And of course GIMP. And I do have Krita and Fire Alpaca on my desktop as well. I have Blender loaded up but I do not have time to mess with it. Maybe when I retire.

I use the office program, Libre, a lot.

Printers are a big issue I have yet to resolve. HP seems to be the friendliest to linux. I usually end up with an old outdated printer. They are the easiest to find that linux has the drivers for. As Canon scanners are friendly also. The all-in-one printers are difficult to deal with when it comes to linux. Linux cannot find the scanner, or that has been my experience.

I don't game on my computer.

When picking a Distro it is either hit or miss trying to sort through the clutter. You can have a fully compatible computer, whether it be desktop or laptop. But when it comes to selecting a Distro, you end up trying and trying until you find one that will work with all of your hardware. The disappointment comes in when it isn't the one you wanted.

I also surf the net. Because of this, at some point I, or a user, will need to upgrade to a newer Distro. A Linux rolling release distribution is the best route to go. You will have a long term support with updates, usually five years, using that same install. Point release Distros, you need to do a full install to get the newer release of updates, usually every six months. If you have brought to life older hardware, as I like to do, at some point you will no longer be able to upgrade to a newer Distro release. Why? Because at some point a newer Distro release may have needs for a bigger faster processor, graphics card, require more power, more ram, etc. You can use older hardware to run linux just fine on an older distribution. But going on the net there might be some sites, like this one for example, in which an older browser cannot access. (Going to a lite weight Linux Distros can resolve this issue.)

[CreepinDeth]

When picking a Distro it is either hit or miss trying to sort through the clutter. You can have a fully compatible computer, whether it be desktop or laptop. But when it comes to selecting a Distro, you end up trying and trying until you find one that will work with all of your hardware. The disappointment comes in when it isn't the one you wanted.

This is where I would say Ubuntu excels at. I have tons of hardware, both old and new, and so far I have not encountered any issues. I also hear good things about Fedora but I haven't tried it.

I also surf the net. Because of this, at some point I, or a user, will need to upgrade to a newer Distro. A Linux rolling release distribution is the best route to go. You will have a long term support with updates, usually five years, using that same install. Point release Distros, you need to do a full install to get the newer release of updates, usually every six months. If you have brought to life older hardware, as I like to do, at some point you will no longer be able to upgrade to a newer Distro release. Why? Because at some point a newer Distro release may have needs for a bigger faster processor, graphics card, require more power, more ram, etc. You can use older hardware to run linux just fine on an older distribution. But going on the net there might be some sites, like this one for example, in which an older browser cannot access. (Going to a lite weight Linux Distros can resolve this issue.)

Yeah, now that the web and cloud are dominating the computing space, you need a machine that can run all of that code properly. It's not the distros' fault, but the software creators who use the latest code to run their programs.

Honestly, I feel we need to move away from 32-bit. Once that gets completely deprecated, older machines shouldn't be hit as hard and should be able to use the latest distro keeping them running longer. I believe Ubuntu is already doing this and MacOS is also in the process. iOS is completely 64-bit now if I'm not mistaken. Don't know if Windows will be able to do it but they should. It's time.

[BLUEVOODU]

I've been playing with OpenSUSE a bit in another VM.  I didn't have issues installing it in  Hyper-V.  It seemed a bit more intuitive... but I'm having issues right now in VirtualBox.    I don't think I have things setup right and I haven't been able to get beyond the LVM (Linux Volume Manager) portion.  This is server software... not the desktop software.

I didn't have issues with UBUNTU server either.  In fact, I'm using this and CentOS in my certification studies as we speak.  I need a few more rounds of go around with OpenSUSE... but no time for love Dr. Jones.

So far, UBUNTU server has been very intuitive.

[BLUEVOODU]

SO... I had to take a detour on certifications I was taking.    I acquired the Amazon Web Services Cloud Practitioner and Solutions Architect Associate.    I Am back to Linux studies... currently going for Linux+ / LPIC1, LPIC 2, and then will be going for the Red Hat Certified System Admin.  The goal is to finish these up in the next 6 weeks to get back to AWS certifications.

With that... I am back to playing around with Ubuntu and Centos Server.   OpenSuse has been put to the side.. but right now, I'm working on the differences in the package managers.

Is anyone playing around with Linux OS's right now?

[BLUEVOODU]

Right now, I'm hoping to take my 1st Linux exam in 2 weeks.  I'm a bit behind... but working through some stuff right now.

For those running Linux ... how much do you know your environment variables and commands?  DO you stay mostly in a GUI... or are you running the command line?

[retro junkie]

I used to mess around with command line but I have grown very lazy. Haven't used it in years, GUI only now. 

There has been that occasional program install that needed command line. But that too has been way back there.

[CreepinDeth]

I try to use both. I, too, get lazy and want to just use the GUI but I force myself to use the Terminal since I never really learned it as well as I should have at this point. I got to keep fresh in case the GUI ever crashes on me.

[retro junkie]

in case the GUI ever crashes on me.

Hey! Don't say things like that! Bad vibes there!   

(rubs hand across desktop) Be nice. Big bad man didn't mean anything by that comment. 

LOL I really do need to get back into it.

[BLUEVOODU]

LOL... I'm still working with Ubuntu and Centos... though I'm hearing these certs may be more based on straight Debian.

At work... we are starting to work with Suse or SLES... Suse Linux Enterprise essentially.   I'm trying to get hands on with this.  I've worked a lot with the Windows OS, some Windows Servers, I lead the IBM i Operating System - iSeries group, I've worked a bit in the IBM AIX Operating System - a Unix variant.

If you want, as I go through my studies... I Could do a couple write-ups (posts) here and there providing notes on how to do certain tasks... if you think that would be of benefit.

[retro junkie]

I use to love Debian. Depending on GUI spoils. Those write ups could be a refresher course. 

[BLUEVOODU]

I use to love Debian. Depending on GUI spoils. Those write ups could be a refresher course. 

@retro junkie  I'm getting ready to start posting some basic refresh stuff.   I hope to have that by the end of the weekend... just going to start basic command line.

Crappy thing is.. I've been studying for these certs to get ahead at work... and be ready for technologies we are going to.  Now, the company is changing their direction  so... we may not be basing in Linux now and doing something else straight in the cloud for our ERP system SAP.  I'm still getting the certs for myself and my knowledge... and to have them.  But man... lol... come on now.

[BLUEVOODU]

I passed the 1st part of the Linux+ / LPIC 1 exam.  I am taking the next exam Thursday to finish.

Again.. I plan to post some of my notes... just command line stuff you can do and what not.  It's fairly helpful if studying... OR just trying to learn new stuff.

[BLUEVOODU]

ANND as of a week ago... maybe 2... I am LPIC 1 and Linux+ certified.   Woot.

Checking up with everyone... what are you doing with your current Linux installations?

[retro junkie]

I haven't booted Linux since I got my Mac mini and my Mac pro. I was thinking that I might need to look for some more up to date hardware with a HDMI out put for my next Linux machine. I have really enjoyed this HDMI on my mac mini. (spoiled now) 

[CreepinDeth]

I haven't had a chance as well. I wanted to use it for emulation but the deeper I go the more I realize Windows has the better software support.

I will return eventually. I like to show love to it when I can. Open Source needs more love.

[BLUEVOODU]

@retro junkie and @CreepinDeth That's what we need... an open source topic.  Good suggestion!  Start one up

Were you having issues with HDMI out on Linux?

[trkorecky]

The forum seems a bit upset that I'm replying to an old topic, but it's just going to have to deal with it 

I jump into Linux every once in a while to mess around, but for the most part I haven't made it a primary OS over Windows. I'm generally held back from going all out by primarily gaming on PC and graphics development. Would have to reboot into a Windows partition for most multiplayer games and it's hard to program DX12 on a system that doesn't support it. I do have some old laptops laying around that I've installed various distros on (typically some derivative of Arch as a standard Ubuntu install is a bit heavy for them), and I do have an old 32-bit netbook that I had Gentoo up and running just for "fun". I'm considering installing some variation of Linux on my laptop and hacking in a Vulkan path for my side project renderer since I don't typically play games on it and mostly use it for development from the sofa, so we'll see if I give it a shot after I tear it apart for a few upgrades (re-paste the CPU and GPU, more RAM, swap the HDD for an SDD, solder in a new power port).

I do agree with CreepinDeth that 32-bit should've died out at least 10 years ago now, though I unfortunately don't see it changing for a while thanks to all the low powered single board computers -- I'm running a Raspberry Pi Zero as a Pi-hole DNS sink plugged into the back of my router and that only supports 32-bit and I know many of the other SBCs run similar chips. Thankfully most of the larger RPis run 64-bit.

[BLUEVOODU]

@trkorecky - Maybe I need to change that as posting in any topic is always welcome. 

you know... I never thought about that @trkorecky  -->  Direct Access 12 support in Linux.  Are they working on it?

I have been working heavily in Centos 7 and a couple other variants at work... working with Ansible and figuring out how to deploy settings ...etc... to hundreds of on floor machines over the world.   I am working to accomplish the Red hat Certified System Administrator... and a few other certs before the end of the year.    We are starting to move process from Microsoft based systems and more into Linux based systems.  Part of it is to start moving away from Microsoft licensing.  Red Hat licensing for various services are pretty expensive now as well.  That's partly why we are looking into Centos... but ... that brings complexities as well in the support realm if we ever needed it.

[retro junkie]

@retro junkie and @CreepinDeth That's what we need... an open source topic.  Good suggestion!  Start one up

Were you having issues with HDMI out on Linux?

@BLUEVOODU Just saw this. No I was not having any issues with HDMI. I just did not have any hardware that had an HDMI out.
I have been recently pulling out a couple of old laptops and installing some of the up to date Linux distros, Zorin and Bodhi.

[BLUEVOODU]

@retro junkie have you tried CentOS 8?

[retro junkie]

@retro junkie have you tried CentOS 8?

@BLUEVOODU  I know that Linux is Linux, but there are those flavors that are just not appealing to me. And CentOS is one of them. I have tried it several times over the years. The flavor of a linux distro is mainly in the feel and overall execution of the OS. And due to the fact that I use older equipment, some distros just do not fair very well.
For some reason I am just so fascinated with getting older hardware to run with a modern distro and make it usable. That is the reason I love Bodhi. Zorin is not bad, good distro, but Bodhi will make something like, my desktop, a Lenovo ThinkCentre M58e 7298 become a modern workhorse even though it is about 12 years old. I will purposely purchase old hardware and make it usable. My Lenovo desktop I purchased for $30 with no hard drive. Sometimes I get that itch to go onto ebay looking for something old with no hard drive, no memory, grab it up and make it usable. I have no idea why I find that so satisfyingly fun and fascinating.

[BLUEVOODU]

I used to really enjoy doing that.  Now I just don't have a lot of time to tinker with that anymore.  I do a lot of spinning up and down instances in the cloud... but not so much physical machines.

I was more thinking of CentOS for drivers and what-not that you were having issues with drivers.   Ie Give it a shot and see if you are able to get by the HMDI issues.

[retro junkie]

I used to really enjoy doing that.  Now I just don't have a lot of time to tinker with that anymore.  I do a lot of spinning up and down instances in the cloud... but not so much physical machines.

I was more thinking of CentOS for drivers and what-not that you were having issues with drivers.   Ie Give it a shot and see if you are able to get by the HMDI issues.

@BLUEVOODU I don't think you fully grasp the situation. The issue with the HMDI is the hardware is so old that it does not have the output for HDMI. If I had hardware new enough to have the output there would be no issue. I use old stuff.

[BLUEVOODU]

@retro junkie ah yes. I read it / remembered it wrong.  You don't have an output for it yet.   Yes - you need to get on that 

I used to take even odd bits of hardware (ie an old box That was used as an internet filter)... old school pieces that had basic hardware.  I would find a few pieces... put it back together, and would use It for something  just to see if I could get it to work.  I just haven't done that for a long time.

[CreepinDeth]

I'm about to take the plunge again. I'm going to force myself to use Linux as my daily OS along with linux native apps. I'm going to stay with Zorin and eventually move on to Arch Linux as the end goal. I'd also build a PC around it.

I'll have a Windows PC if there is ever that off chance something does not exist on Linux but not before I try every avenue. I think it's going to be fun. 

[retro junkie]

@CreepinDeth building a rig around Linux is fun. It has been a long time since I did that. Not only is it a learning experience, but also satisfying using the end product when you're done.

[BLUEVOODU]

@CreepinDeth That's awesome!  I'm thinking about doing that with a cheaper Linux build at some point.    I've been heavy into Linux in the server realm over the last 2 years.  I've used Linux for a long time... but I'm talking in the DevOps Engineer space.  It's been a lot of fun with sprinkles of frustrating challenges.

I am very curious how this progressions goes for you.  Keep us up to date on what you find that you like and do not like.  The same for the apps realm if you don't mind AND relating to experience versus Windows.  It looks like MATE Gui is available for Arch.  That's a decent desktop Gui.   Ever think about trying CentOS or Rocky Linux builds?

I'm thinking of a couple new Linux topics to post up to try to keep the Linux topics going.

[CreepinDeth]

@BLUEVOODU - I don't know much about CentOS and don't know Rocky Linux at all. I decided on Zorin because it seems to have the closest experience to a windows desktop (even moreso than linux mint) and is based on debian/ubuntu without actually using ubuntu.

I was thinking that I might create tutorial videos for people who want to convert over from windows. That's another reason I went with a debian based distro since the apps are easily installed through the app "stores". It's also gaming friendly.

I'll probably look at Red Hat distros as I get more experience, but for now, I'm treating this as a project from someone who just wants an OS that is stable and works "out of the box" so to speak compared to windows.

[retro junkie]

@CreepinDeth zorin is a very good excellent choice. My Daughter and I have used it for years and it is very user friendly. And you are right it does give a very windows like experience. Or rather it gives a very intuitive interface, which lowers your guard for the unknown, and offers a lot of familiarity for the average user.

Looking forward to your updates.