Ubuntu ?

[wapiti]

I'm just now reading about this and wondering what Ubuntu (Linux?) can and cannot do.  We are finally going to buy a new computer for the kids to share but I'm still hoping to get some life out of the old laptop that really needs Windows 7 reinstalled (and yes, I've been talking about doing that re-installation for over a year but I'm lazy).  Anyway, I'm wondering if I ought to just install Ubuntu instead of reinstalling Windows 7 on this old laptop, or maybe both old laptops (Dell, one has an i3 and the other has an i5, both around 5 yrs old).

 

This old laptop is primarily used for internet searching, Minecraft and other games, and word processing usually via google docs.  Photo and video usefulness would be a plus.

 

Any reviews of Ubuntu?

[Lanny]

I have a small VPS (VIrtual Private Server), sort of a small Dedicated Server, that is running Ubuntu.  I use that for OpenVPN.  The VPN is for Security when running on a WiFi network, etc. Any network that is not in our house is not a Trusted network.  

 

If I were installing Linux on a Desktop, today, instead, I would install LinuxMint.  I believe that's the number one Linux Desktop distribution now. LinuxMint originated with Ubuntu but as I understand, has a lot of things that make it easier to use, out of the box, for the typical Desktop PC user.

 

NOTE: You can probably download the appropriate Distribution (Ubuntu, LinuxMint, etc.) and burn a "Live DVD".  You can boot from that (assuming that you have a bootable DVD drive) and try it out, without actually writing anything to your hard disk drive. If you like it, you can then click to install it onto your hard disk drive.    It will run much more slowly, off the DVD than it would if installed on your hard disk drive, but you can "check it out" without installing on your hard disk drive. A great way to "kick the tires".

 

NOTE: Depending on your Hardware, you need either the 32 bit version or the 64 bit version of the Operating System. If you have a 64 bit machine (probably you do) get the     64 bit version of the OS. 

 

You could run Windows 7 and Linux (Dual Boot) and have the best of both worlds, I did that for years, until a few months ago there was a  horrible corruption in the Windows 7 installation. When I tried to recover, I did not have the expertise, and I did not want to take the time to try to salvage that. I nuked that dual boot installation and only installed Windows 7.  In the very unlikely event that happens again, I can easily recover with my "System Image" back of the hard disk drive..

 

NOTE: GET THE LONG TERM VERSION of the Distribution you choose. The one that has Support for the most number of years. Not a version that will change every 3 to 6 months...

[Lanny]

Follow On: I read your post again.  If you have i3 and i5 CPUs, it should run well. We have 3 older Dell laptops (Latitudes for the Enterprise)  with Core 2 Duo CPUs.  2 of them are running Windows 7 and one is running Windows 8.1.  On the CPUs you have in those laptops, it should run much better.  We also have 2 Dell laptops with i7 CPUs (one has 8 GB of RAM) and those are *much* faster.  :-)

[forty-two]

I have ubuntu on my desktop, and prior to that I had it on an old laptop.  I'm mostly pleased with it - the biggest issue I have is that I can't get my computer to talk to my printer - the available ubuntu driver doesn't work, and I don't have the skill to modify it or write my own (and neither does dh).  Also, I can't watch netflix (or can't watch it easily) because it requires silverlight and that doesn't run on ubuntu (not officially, anyway), but that's minor.  It works just fine for websurfing and word processing. 

 

The main potential issue is that imo you need to be somewhat tech-y to use ubuntu on your main computer (where tech-y is defined as having enough skill and knowledge with computers to be able to easily figure out how to make them do what you want - not knowing how to do something doesn't panic you, because you are confident in your ability to figure out).  It also really helps to have had some unix experience.  I used to be tech-y but ubuntu showed me how that was kind of a past reality and not a current one, because while ubuntu worked fine for the small set of things of simple things I usually do, I had unexpected trouble figuring out how to do anything else - so many things require command line work, and some days I felt too overwhelmed to figure it out - I'd lost all my old knowledge of command line stuff and didn't want to be forced to relearn it to just install something.  I was well on my way to becoming my mother - scared of anything unexpected happening on the computer because I couldn't handle it.  (Which is really embarrassing in a former comp engr major, but I was never all that knowledgeable - just unafraid of figuring it out - and so I lost the specific knowledge from disuse.  IDK what to say about the developing computer anxiety, other than I'm prone to anxiety in general.  And I've been making strides in refusing to give into it.)

 

I know tech-y people say that you don't have to be tech-y to use ubuntu - and you don't - but imo you *do* have to be confident and unafraid of facing problems that exceed your current knowledge - and ime that requires a certain level of techiness. 

[wapiti]

Thanks for your ideas, Lanny!  Looking around at new laptops, I see the i3 and i5 still on the market, so I figure they must still have some life (I can't remember the ram, maybe they were 4 and 8).  I'm just not sure if I can bring myself to finally reinstall Windows 7 and I'd love for there to be a viable, non-Microsoft, non-updated-poorly-every-week OS.  Per our previous discussion on this, I will not do Windows 10 if I can help it.  Which will beg the question, what am I going to buy for the new one, but fiddling with an alternative OS is more fun to contemplate today.

[rutheart]

I have used Ubuntu for my primary computer for a few years, since my husband is a Linux admin. The biggest drawback for me was the selection of games/education software. There is software for Ubuntu, but not as much variety as Windows. There is an office suite, a pdf viewer, web browser, etc. Personally, I ended up going back to Windows to be able to use other software.

If nothing else, it would be a great educational experience for the kids to play around with a different OS.

Ruth

[wapiti]

I used to be tech-y but ubuntu showed me how that was kind of a past reality and not a current one, because while ubuntu worked fine for the small set of things of simple things I usually do, I had unexpected trouble figuring out how to do anything else - so many things require command line work, and some days I felt too overwhelmed to figure it out - I'd lost all my old knowledge of command line stuff and didn't want to be forced to relearn it to just install something.

 

Sadly, this is me, and I wasn't even as tech-y as that to start (I only had something like a minor in CS 25 yrs ago).  I'm even too lazy to do the Windows 7 reinstall even though I had figured out a way, though perhaps I'll still force myself to do it, once we have a new laptop so that it doesn't matter if I mess up the old one.

 

Dh just said buy a new one... his usual response.  We have 6 kids though and I'm not buying everyone a new device every 3 years or whatever.  I'm just handing down the old ones to the younger kids as we go along, as they begin needing/wanting more time.  The old one could become the "little kid" computer for dd6 ds7 and ds9.  My ds13s have Surfaces though I now feel like I under-bought for them; one hogs the aforementioned i5 in his bedroom.  He could probably handle experimentation with some sort of Unix OS and now that I think about it, he's asked me about it before.  He seems destined for CS and knows way more than I do about a lot of things.  (Main user of new laptop will be dd, nearly 15 y.o., who is planning to experiment with photography... she only has an iPad to herself at the moment)

Edited March 7, 2016 by wapiti

[forty-two]

Sadly, this is me, and I wasn't even as tech-y as that to start (I only had something like a minor in CS 25 yrs ago).  I'm even too lazy to do the Windows 7 reinstall even though I had figured out a way, though perhaps I'll still force myself to do it, once we have a new laptop so that it doesn't matter if I mess up the old one.

 

Dh is the designated "tech person" in the family, so that makes it easy for me to not have to figure things out on my own.  He's the one who did the ubuntu install on both machines (he actually tried to get the laptop to be able to dual-boot windows and ubuntu, but only the ubuntu really worked and he gave up on trying to fix it).  It's kind of funny  - I have more programming experience than dh and more formal computer-related education, but he has much more interest in hardware and more practical nuts-and-bolts experience than me.  And he's kept up his interest, unlike me, who traded in computers for philosophy and theology ;).

 

 

[Lanny]

Suggest that you Google something like this, without the quote marks:

 

"Comparison of Ubuntu Linux and LinuxMint"

 

As I recall, LinuxMint includes things out of the box that many/most Home Desktop users will find it an easier Distro to work with.

 

LinuxMint has access to most or all of the underlying Ubuntu software that is available and uses their Repoitories for some things as I recall. 

 

Linux is free (legally) which is a huge plus.   I am running Windows 7 now, only  because the Web Development software I use  was produced by Microsoft...