Best Linux?

[klr]

I suppose so, but you can always sell it with the OPTION of linux, or both, if you do what I suggested.

Generally though, windows does increase the value over linux, even if it's shit windows.

One major thing I use my laptop for, is as a tv recorder, and I don't think my editing program, videoredo tv suite, will install on Ubuntu.

I love the way it removes ads, and saves as any format you want. And the same with cool edit pro for audio recording and mixing. I haven't got a linux version.
All I use linux for is practice, to keep up with it, and for deleting the odd thing that windows will sometimes refuse to delete.

I've had to do that as well. although in some cases it was Linux that created the offending file/folder name in the first place.

[Rum]

Hmm..revisited Ubuntu and if you overlook the creeping commercialization, (which you can turn off) it looks like the friendliest for a noob. Have downloaded it. Wish me luck!

[klr]

Hmm..revisited Ubuntu and if you overlook the creeping commercialization, (which you can turn off) it looks like the friendliest for a noob. Have downloaded it. Wish me luck!

Ubuntu?????? You heathen!!!!

Have fun.

[mistermack]

I used this to install Ubuntu on a USB stick. All you need is a stick of at least 2 gig, preferably 4.

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/help/cre ... on-windows

Works fine, just as quick as on a hard disk. Seems to be anyway. MUCH faster than Ubuntu on a dvd.

[pErvinalia]

As mentioned elsewhere I have a laptop with W8 I bought a few weeks ago. I'm really not happy with W8 and the laptop, while useful is not an essential item as I also have the desktop. It sits mostly in the living room and is used casually in commercial breaks mostly!

So bearing in mind I'm over 60 and not the wizz I once was with new tech and also bearing in mind I want it (if possible) to plug into the house wireless system, use the internet etc, which is the bet distro with the least strenuous learning curve?

Also I suppose - can I install over Windows or is a reformat and start from scratch the best way?

Also #2, I assume most distros are free, yes?

Yep, all free. You can install it over windows, but i'd recommend doing a dual boot, so you can retain your windows if you need it in the future.

I like Mint. The other most popular one is Ubuntu. I've had trouble with various versions of ubuntu before, but have never had a trouble with Mint. I'm not sure where the latest distros are up to, but the newest Ubuntu uses a new interface that a number of traditional users aren't happy about (Gnome 3.0). Mint, when I last checked still uses the old school familiar interface.

Regarding wireless, Linux is renowned for having some problems handling wireless. Mint and Ubuntu are the best in this regard, and I've never had trouble running wireless on either of them. I have had trouble running a wired ethernet connection on ubuntu before, though. If you do get wireless troubles, there are fixes out there. If you stick with Ubuntu or Mint then the fix is likely to be prepackaged and easier to manage.

The best place to get the latest distros (and see what is available ) is distrowatch.com (and .org).

[pErvinalia]

Don't touch ubuntu with a shitty stick. They have sold their souls to amazon. Mint is probably your best bet to start with. If you get into it you can look at something a bit more involved

I didn't realise that had happened with Ubuntu, the last version I used was 12.04. While it's obviously easy to opt out of all the Amazon stuff, an automatic opt in seems a bad move for a linux distro, and a pretty bad business model for Canonical too.

Still, I think Ubuntu's an excellent OS, and especially good for a linux newbie. It would only take 30 seconds to disable all the Amazon stuff.

Another good alternative is Debian. Extremely stable and has an excellent package system.

I've found Mint to be excellent as well when downloading packages and/or installing updates.

Mint and Ubuntu are Debian based. Anything of a Debian flavour is going to be well supported with packages. I didn't realise that Ubuntu has done some deal with amazon. In that case, I'd highly recommend you go with Mint. I've tested and installed 10's of linux distro's and Mint is the smoothest and easiest to install and use. And it looks good, too!

[pErvinalia]

Or just create a new partition and install along side it.

Not as easy as it used to be. W8 doesnt play well with others

Linux regularly fucks up my boot tables when I install as a dual boot (on Vista/XP). It's a pain to find out how to fix it, but it's happened so many times to me I've written down the instructions. If anyone has any problems with a Linux distro "disappearing" your windows, let me know. I wonder what it is that W8 does to make it hard to dual boot? I can't think what they could do to stop it.

[Jason]

Or just create a new partition and install along side it.

Not as easy as it used to be. W8 doesnt play well with others

Linux regularly fucks up my boot tables when I install as a dual boot (on Vista/XP). It's a pain to find out how to fix it, but it's happened so many times to me I've written down the instructions. If anyone has any problems with a Linux distro "disappearing" your windows, let me know. I wonder what it is that W8 does to make it hard to dual boot? I can't think what they could do to stop it.

It's not so much W8 as the new firmware asshat M$ is shoving down our throats: http://arstechnica.com/information-tech ... microsoft/

2nd comment gives a good synopsis that isn't laden with technojargon:

So here is the situation, if you care more about what is happening than you do about the language people are using to debate it. The point of the patch boils down to enabling the Linux kernel to trust third-party binary drivers which have been signed by Microsoft. Yes you read that right; Linux drivers signed by Microsoft.

The purpose of UEFI Secure Boot is to make sure that only code that is signed by a trusted authority can be booted. Nearly all devices that support UEFI Secure Boot will ship with Microsoft's key/cert preloaded, and most will allow you to load other keys/certs, but not all. So to get around this Redhat and others wrote a small shim bootloader signed by Microsoft that will then run anything. This is nice for people who don't care about Secure Boot, and just want to be able to install Linux and have it work without messing with BIOS settings.

However, the vast majority of people who actually want to use Secure Boot in Linux would like for that code signing to extend all the way through the OS. That is UEFI verifies that the bootloader is trusted, the bootloader verifies that the OS is trusted, and the OS verifies that any drivers it loads are trusted. Linux supports this using standard x509 certificates, and all the major distributions sign the binary modules they distribute, so if you add their key as one that is trusted, everything is great.

Except for binary drivers. Redhat doesn't want to sign third-party binary drivers, but they want those drivers to work in this secure boot scenario. And they don't want the users to have to manually add the keys for NVIDIA, AMD, etc (which would the secure thing to do). Instead they had the idea to let third party driver developers submit their drivers to Microsoft to be signed, since the kernel will trust any certificate in UEFI by default anyway and the Microsoft certificate is on nearly all computers. (Edit: Microsoft is cool with this, and does it all the time; as far as they are concerned, they are just verifying the code comes from the specified developer, not that the code isn't malicious)

The complicating factor is that Microsoft will only sign executables in it's own PE format, so they want to enable support in the Linux kernel to load kernel modules that are wrapped in PE binary format. Linus thinks it is stupid to make a Microsoft certificate the root of your trust to begin with, and thinks it is even more stupid to add a bunch of code to parse the PE format into the kernel, just to enable this work-around.

[Jason]

Basically it's M$ pulling fucking antitrust shit again by forcing hardware manufacturers to ship with firmware that will only allow you to run "trusted" (read non-pirated Microsoft produced) operating systems, and quite possibly more as well.

[pErvinalia]

fuckn microsoft. They are a pox.

[Pappa]

My only main grip with Ubuntu is the lack of an applications menu in Unity... it's beyond weird.

[Azathoth]

Other than the spyware that is?

[Pappa]

Other than the spyware that is?

From what I understand, you can switch that off easily though.

[klr]

My only main grip with Ubuntu is the lack of an applications menu in Unity... it's beyond weird.

That's my main gripe as well. It's OK if you're using a netbook with limited screen real estate, but otherwise ... no.