• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!

    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

LinuxFX

PAUL161

Great Pumpkin
Silver
Country flag
Offline
Just installed Linuxfx on my Linux machine and it's quite impressive! Uses a Windows format but the benefits of Linux. Using the free version to check it out which has some limitations. So far I like it. The full version has a small one time fee. If your a Windows user it's a no brainier to use. More later. PJ
 
I'll be anxious to see your take on it, Paul.
 
So far I like it Doc, I'm in it now but having a problem setting up my mail, eventually I'll work it out. To be continued. :thumbsup2:
 
Linuxfx is fairly new and just released recently. Because the edition I have is the free version, good only for 30 days and quite limited, I ordered the full version on disc. So far there is only one company supplying the disc version and they're from Bulgaria! Not expensive 10 bucks. The program has multiple language options. Should be here in about a week. PJ
 
While testing the free version which is very limited, I found out it's very slow, takes too long to boot up and switch between programs. I have the pro version coming on disc for the price of shipping, $10. So right now I'm back on Linux Mint 20. Later. PJ
 
Given most folks' reluctance to escape the Micro$haft corral to adapt to another O/S, I'm surprised at another release of a Linux kernel system.

Mint and Fedora have proven to be the least onerous of the Linux "flavors" to get used to, been around for years now. I'd be reluctant to trust this "FX" version based on a couple things: Bulgar origin and a fee for it. I'd want to dissect it in isolation (clean scratch drive) before it'd go on a dual-boot or primary use box. Let alone allowing it access to a LAN and 'net. Just my suspicion and paranoia kicking in. 😉
 
The only thing - literally - that keeps me from adopting Linux, is the hassle and headache of finding drivers for devices, and support. There are many user forums, but us end users with little or no Linux experience, are usually lost in the technical jargon. The o/s is efficient and intuitive, but finding drivers and help can be nuts. Users seem happy to share their initial positive experiences, but then often spend time improving gui appearance, instead of utility.

grumble grumble
 
I have two HP laptops and a Dell, the Dell doesn't get used much, simply because I don't like it! One HP has Windows 11 in it and works very well, but a ton of safety software in it keeps the bad stuff out, my other HP is strictly a Lenox machine, I don't mix the two systems on the same hard drive (duel boot). I've found on my machine that W-11 seems to take over the machine and creates problems with duel boot, so I keep them separate on two computers. The HP computers are identical each with 500 gig SSDs, but the Lenox machine boots 3 times faster, almost instantly compared to W-11, which takes anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds. I agree with Tom that Linux isn't for everyone, I still have problems running Terminal as I'm not a typist and it takes me too long typing commands, the reason I like Mint, it's so user-friendly. (y)
 
Personally, I jumped in with both feet at the Red Hat 6.0 release, went on to Open Source versions as they became available. Built servers and networked 'em on small LAN (up to 35 Win workstations) installs, SAMBA and Class-C LAN's... a progressive familiarity.

In earlier versions the driver issue was somewhat of a bother, but finding NIC's and various hardware the kernel would recognize or command line fussing usually solved issues. Now, the CEntOS and Fedora versions seem to have few problems with device drivers. GNOME has always been the GUI of personal choice, the default install. As for utility, there are so many Open Source choices as to be dizzying. Open Office and Office Libre can be made compatible/interoperable with MS, graphics proggies like GIMP and Darktable are as powerful as any of the DOS-based Adobe and Corel stuff. Browsers are no issue.

But still confuse "ifconfig" and "ipconfig" sometimes.
 
The only thing - literally - that keeps me from adopting Linux, is the hassle and headache of finding drivers for devices, and support. There are many user forums, but us end users with little or no Linux experience, are usually lost in the technical jargon. The o/s is efficient and intuitive, but finding drivers and help can be nuts. Users seem happy to share their initial positive experiences, but then often spend time improving gui appearance, instead of utility.

grumble grumble
Stick with what you know Tom, stick with what you know

1659356103850.png
 
Stick with what you know? I still use the older methods ...

 
Current GIMP/GNOME desktop:

Desktop.png
 
Just call me ol' CeeDee Backslash.
:angel3:
 
I've been running Mint on my old Toshiba laptop for years now and it has given it a second life. When it was about seven years old it started bogging down and taking forever to boot or run programs in windows. I was too cheap to buy another machine so I transferred all my files to my back up HD, wiped the HD in the laptop and installed Linux. It's now twelve years old and runs like a top. I just can't play Civilization or Diablo on it anymore.
 
" I was too cheap to buy another machine ..."

Walter - I think we're related.
 
I've been running Mint on my old Toshiba laptop for years now and it has given it a second life. When it was about seven years old it started bogging down and taking forever to boot or run programs in windows. I was too cheap to buy another machine so I transferred all my files to my back up HD, wiped the HD in the laptop and installed Linux. It's now twelve years old and runs like a top. I just can't play Civilization or Diablo on it anymore.

Over the years I've 'collected' PC's and laptops from clients and friends who "upgraded" machines, most got scrapped but some were scraped low-level and got a Linux install. Always amazing to peeps just how fast the Linux kernel would boot up and run warez.

BIOS corruption or drive crash are about the only things to kill 'em.
 
I have an old HP laptop that came with windows 95 I bought years ago and after replacing two batteries I decided to park it and get a new one. Batteries for it are much cheaper now, so I might get a new battery for it, install Linux and use it in the shop, the shop has no internet. It's slow compared to today's models but with car-related stuff in it, it would be fine for out there. :unsure:

Well just found out how long it's been since I put the old laptop on the shelf, it's not an HP it's a Toshiba C855D! Memory shot! :rolleyes2: Unique about the Toshiba is, that it has a built-in DVD player plus one screw on the back to release a cover exposing the hard drive and memory cards. These new thin computers snap together and need a special plastic tool to open them up and no built-in DVD player.
 
Last edited:
Paul - I think you're the BCF Linux testing king.

I'm thinking of trying the Linux waters again.

Which version of Linux would you recommend? I have an old Lenovo laptop, 4G ram, 500G HD, 2.7 MHz cpu, integrated graphics, DVD, USB3.
Thanks.
Tom M.
 
Tom, for starters try Linux Mint 20. It's about the most user friendly push button program for me, I'm on it now. You can burn it to a disc or load it on a stick.
There is also the latest version of Ubuntu, which is also user friendly, quite colorful and works great but kinda kiddish to me.
Fedora is really nice, but I wouldn't install it on a slower computer.
 
Back
Top