Linux and Me
An End Users Perspective And lessons learnt along the way
This is not intended to be a comparison or endorsement of any particular Linux Distribution
Linux and Me
● Why ‘Linux’
● Early Days 2005-10 ● Maturing as an End User 2010-15 ● Turning the Tables 2015-.... ● The world is your oyster
Why Linux Early Days Maturing as an End User Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster
● Needed to use desktop + laptop
● Needed office etc. on each pc - worried about licensing infringement
● Outlook 2000 froze due to my e-mail size – the final straw...
● Linux is Free
Why Linux - What I did Early Days - Lessons Learnt Maturing Turning the Tables My Early Days The World is your Oyster
Search / Distrowatch Ubuntu
● Searched for the ‘best ● Worked but each upgrade linux desktops’ would pose problems that I couldn’t solve
Debian PCLinuxOS ● Worked out of the Box ● Installed but didn’t ● Recognized my desktop / laptop recognize all my hardware hardware ● Upgrades didn’t cause any problems ● Monthly Magazine
2005-2010 Why Linux - What I did Early Days - Lessons Learnt Maturing Turning the Tables My Early Days The World is your Oyster
Hon’ble Mentions: SUSE Fedora Puppy
Why Linux - What I did Early Days - Lessons Learnt Maturing Turning the Tables My Early Days The World is your Oyster
Frustrations Lessons Learnt
● Hardware didn’t work ● Select the ‘right’ Distro for your Hardware.... ● Frequent Distro Upgrades that ● Select a Distro that doesn’t have Upgrades ‘destroyed’ the pc ● Disk Partitioning ● Lost my personal files ✔ The web & user forums are a great source of information / guidance
Why Linux - What I did Early Days - Lessons Learnt Maturing Turning the Tables My Early Days The World is your Oyster
Partitioning – The Data Saver
Forums – The Life Saver
My 2 Key Takeaways
Why Linux Early Days Maturing as an End User Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster
● Needed to run desktop + laptop
● Needed office etc. - worried about licensing infringement
● Outlook 2000 froze due to my e-mail size – the final straw...
● Linux is Free
● Drivers included
Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing as Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster an End User
Rolling vs Point Release Antergos ● Constant stream of updates ● An easy way to install Arch ● Everything is ‘shiny and new (latest)’ ● Uses Arch Repositories
● Enamoured by ArchLinux ● Access to AUR Manjaro PCLinuxOS
● Uses a copy of Arch Repositories ● Has most of the software that I after some additional tests needed
● Access to the AUR – Arch User ● PC Inventory increased Repository ● Occasionally updates would ‘bork’ my desktop
2011-2015 Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing as Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster an End User
Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing as Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster an End User
Frustrations Lessons Learnt
● Update Frequency ● Don’t wait too long...
● Updates borked the install ● Get smart people between – time spent resolving the you and the distro ‘issue’ ● Became more confident ● Learnt a lot of Linux – not with Linux and much else... understood how different ● Managing multiple Pcs – components worked desktops / kids laptops... ✔ Improved the way I posted questions in the forums Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing as Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster an End User
Structure of a Distribution – distro hopping saver
FSTAB – your network saver
My 2 Key Takeaways
Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster
● Linux is Free
● Drivers included
● As lightweight as you want it to be
● Runs efficiently on old hardware – less e-waste
● Feeds my packrat habit
Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster Tables
What do I want? Debian
● Became more aware of what I wanted ● In development since the 90’s from my Computing Experience ● Many distros based on it ● Stability vs Shiny and New ● Has a large ‘repository’ of software ● Software for the work I do catering to your sensibilities Open Source Comes of Age Debian Releases ● Significant improvements in Software ● Stable – Rock Solid ● Think of some computing activity – ● Testing - A ‘rolling distro’ there’s an open source solution for that.... ● Development – Cutting Edge
2015-...... Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster Tables
2015-...... Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster Tables Debian Derivative Examples
● Stable – MX Linux, AntiX, Tails
● Testing - Kali, Makulu
● Development – Deepin, Siduction
● Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Sparky
2015-...... Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster Tables Category Objective Examples Office Suite Write documents, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, tabulate, present.... AbiWord.... Communicating Web Browsing, E-mail Firefox, Google Chrome, Thunderbird Audio Listen to Music, Radio or Clementine, Audacity, Edit Audio Files LMMS, gPodder Graphics Create, edit and manage GIMP, Inkscape, Digikam, Images Simple Scan Video Edit and create home Openshot, Kdenlive videos Media Center Share Audio / Video / Kodi, Plex Pictures files across your network Other Expense Tracking, Gnucash, Gramps, Genealogy, Ebooks, Calibre, Syncthing, 2015-...... Backup, Virtualization VirtualBox Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster Tables
Challenges Lessons Learnt
● Software Availability ● Debian Repository / .deb Packages ● Security ● Firewalls, ssh vs nfs vs ● Privacy samba ● System Availability vs Currency ● Truecrypt / Zulucrypt ● Availability key for me – review change log
✔ Improved my ability to
2015-...... manage my pc.... Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Maturing as Turning the Tables The World is your Oyster an End User
Repositories – the solution provider
Like Minded Individuals – the idea provider
My 2 Key Takeaways
Why Linux Early Days - What I did Maturing - Lessons Learnt Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster
● Linux is Free
● Drivers included
● As lightweight as you want it to be
● Runs efficiently on old hardware – less e-waste
● Free as in Freedom Free Beer - Right to run the software the way you like - Right to see how the software actually works - Right to redistribute the software to help others - Right to improve the software and submit them to the public – copyleft...
● GNU - is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not Unix!” – Knowledge Sharing
Why Linux Early Days Maturing Turning the Tables What Next?? The World is your Oyster
What do I want to do? How did Linux Help ● Am not as GUI dependent ● Gathering data ● Command Line doesn’t scare me any ● Analysis more ● Try and understand what a command ● Visualization means Open Source Comes of Age Knowledge Sharing
● ● Python Like minded individuals ● Willingness to Share and ● R Improve together ● ....Tensor Flow, Hadoop.... ● These are tools for all of us to use and learn from...
2015-...... Why Linux Early Days Maturing as an End User Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster Parting thought ● Saw this on Reddit on Friday...
Do you like to tweak?
Why Linux Early Days Maturing as an End User Turning the Tables Why Linux The World is your Oyster Parting thought