Database Users

HTC Shift under Linux!

At first I had a really hard time accepting pof's claim that the HTC-Shift could be run under Linux and indeed my first attempts at this turned into a blinding nightmare of installs & reinstalls and utter frustration.
Because I tried to install my Laptop's SuSE Linux on the box, which won't even boot below version 11.0.
And even so it does install OK with 11.0 SuSE and I had sound and graphic running, none of the other functions could be enabled no matter what.
Last not least I have to say that other SuSE distros either have a hard time booting right on the Shift (DSL, GParted distro) w/o safety kernel parameters set or get problems with the graphics HW (e.g. Knoppix).
I made those initial mistakes because dear old pof forgot to make clear that the drivers he collected should only run on (K/X)Ubuntu.
Because as I found out through my own research, specially the SD6868 driver was specifically developed by & for the Ubuntu project.
Many of the other distros didn't work right even after installation.
They either stalled during boot time or got the partition table all messed up.
Specially the boot via GRUB install (for dual boot with WinXP) turned out to be a pain in the ass with anything but Ubuntu.
Only Ubuntu booted right away (still had to disable edd, apm and acpi on the installation, but with it all went through fine the first time around).
So please dear pof update your Website to point out that only Ubuntu (or Kubuntu/Xubuntu) should be used on the Shift.
With that, pof's driver collection works out of the box.
But the Touchscreen needs calibration and the Touchpad's sensitivity is originally set way to low.
Once those two settings are corrected it all works fine (albeit the touchscreen is still a bit clunky, its good enough to move windows around, fill out input forms and highlight text).
The WiFi connection also worked right away and was even faster than under Windoze - BUT I can not connect to a standard WEP128 bit encrypted network.
Only unencrypted connections seem to work at this time.
Battery and sensor connections also work, as does the USB port.
I can also switch resolutions - but no longer with the screen button which now only tilts the desktops, I have to use the KDE screen resolution application for that.
The font rendering has way(!!) improved over Vista. I finally can read small texts even at higher resolution.
And overall responsiveness is almost to fast for me
No more coffee breaks between tasks and boot-up time is down to under 3 minutes!
Multimedia also works at blazing speeds now. I can watch large movies at real time and even do MultiMedia editing.
Best of all, that nasty Vista bug with the missing/dropping SD cards is gone.
So all in all it was a steep learning curve (as always /w Linux) but now I finally got a useful machine which is a real asset to my productivity!

pharao said:
So please dear pof update your Website to point out that only Ubuntu (or Kubuntu/Xubuntu) should be used on the Shift.
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In my website it clearly states that the binary driver packages I published is for Ubuntu based distros only, because that's what I use on the shift. I also explain the "long way" to compile stuff etc, in case you want to run them in any other distro, because you can run any linux flavour on the shift as long as you have experience compiling your own kernel, and building some packages from source.

pof said:
In my website it clearly states that the binary driver packages I published is for Ubuntu based distros only, because that's what I use on the shift. I also explain the "long way" to compile stuff etc, in case you want to run them in any other distro, because you can run any linux flavour on the shift as long as you have experience compiling your own kernel, and building some packages from source.
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Click to collapse
But that's exactly it pof ... it just won't compile on most other systems.
On SuSE you'll have double trouble because first the darn install DVD don't boot with anything below 11.0 but then the kernel for 11.0 starts with release x.26.
That's one version number to high for your package and even so I tried to still compile it in there, the modules won't load.
Second, the GUIs of these distros are just to separate amongst the different packages.
DSL boots up all right, but has trouble installing itself on the Hard Drive, much more so with the Desktop setting and any attempt at switching resolution.
Knoppix works sometimes and then again it doesn't - was never able to figure out what that was all about.
And the SuSE 11.0 distro doesn't give any error messages when I call up the embeddec controller program - heck the damn thing even allows me to click all around. But nothing happens, not with any of them.
And don't even try to get me started on trying to install Debian packages under SuSE :-(
I'm not sure how much you are into Linux pof, but messing around with the kernel is the last thing you want to do unless you're sure its gonna work.
And I've found that K/X/Ubuntu is the only distro that works out of the box, even during the install phase.
So I think just stating "well the packages are for Debian/Ubuntu systems but you can compile them on other distros, too" is not quite sufficient - as those other distros did cost me a week of my life (time I'd like to have back ;-)
Fact is that Ubuntu doesn't just work on the Shift right away, but its also the fastest distro amongst the ones I've listed.
So for all these reasons Ubuntu should get a big highlight with the sidenote "all other distros at your own risk as your mileage will(!) vary"
Only encrypted WiFi still isn't working...
PS: The folks at SuSE seem to be contemplating their own SD6868 driver for their next 11.x Alpha release - found a note to that regard on a developer blog.

And External mouse doesn't work
pof said:
In my website it clearly states that the binary driver packages I published is for Ubuntu based distros only, because that's what I use on the shift. I also explain the "long way" to compile stuff etc, in case you want to run them in any other distro, because you can run any linux flavour on the shift as long as you have experience compiling your own kernel, and building some packages from source.
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Click to collapse
Dear Pof,
I used your custm drivers for ubuntu,Screen touch working great but external mouse has stopped wiorking.Is there anything wrong I have done ?
Thanks

windows or ubuntu for android modding

Which seams to be easier for everyone? I have Vista and every other day is something different. One day I can use adb push the next day my driver is different and wont switch back.
I have used ubuntu before and I like it, but for doing things to my g1, is it the better choice?

well on ubuntu your ext2 partition comes up in file manager

if you have used ubuntu before then i strongly suggest dual booting. there are some advantages of using vista(not for android but other stuff), and ubuntu has really become a great operating system as of late. for new people that have never touched or (knowingly)seen linux then i would say try ubuntu for a week and decide for yourself. personally i use ubuntu all the time and only use a Vbox when i need windows for the occasional game of Sims

Is installing Ubuntu/Linux on my Vaio w/ Vista a good idea?

I want to do some Android development and I currently have access to a Vaio running Vista Home Premium and a MacBook Pro running Leopard. I was considering installing Linux or Ubuntu on my Vaio, is this a good idea? What are the perks to an open source OS (I can only imagine after seeing what Linux based Android OS is capable of)

jbraucht said:
I want to do some Android development and I currently have access to a Vaio running Vista Home Premium and a MacBook Pro running Leopard. I was considering installing Linux or Ubuntu on my Vaio, is this a good idea? What are the perks to an open source OS (I can only imagine after seeing what Linux based Android OS is capable of)
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I don't think there's any as far as Android development is concerned. ADB and Eclipse run on Windows just as fine as they do on Linux, and if you need any GNU tools there's always Cygwin.
I develop under Linux myself, but that's just because it's my main OS (after you get around all the problems and learn how to use it basic tasks become quicker by a fair amount). If I were using Windows, I doubt I would bother putting Linux on my machine just for Android development.
Either way, it's up to you to try and see whichever is more comfortable for you.

I like the spirit of Linux. Microsoft is a soul sucking evil, not to mention Vista drains ungodly resources just to idle. If I load Ubuntu will it wipe my hd like any other OS? I don't have an external at the moment, is it possible to make a small storage partition that won't get touched?
Sent from your girlfriend's Captivate

jbraucht said:
I like the spirit of Linux. Microsoft is a soul sucking evil, not to mention Vista drains ungodly resources just to idle. If I load Ubuntu will it wipe my hd like any other OS? I don't have an external at the moment, is it possible to make a small storage partition that won't get touched?
Sent from your girlfriend's Captivate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It all depends on how you partition your HDD. If you have enough free space you can just shrink your Vista partition and install Ubuntu alongside it in a separate partition thus leaving your Windows untouched. Hit Google with something like "installing Ubuntu after Vista" and you'll get many useful guides.
Just note that after installing Ubuntu you might need a lot of coffee, many hours, or days, and lots of head bashing against the table before you will get everything to work as you'd like After that you'll be free again... totally free, until you decide to upgrade to a newer release

martino2k6 said:
Just note that after installing Ubuntu you might need a lot of coffee, many hours, or days, and lots of head bashing against the table before you will get everything to work as you'd like After that you'll be free again... totally free, until you decide to upgrade to a newer release
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now you're scaring me. i have my vaio open in front of me and all i can think is "remember how much stumbling through freeing the captivate made you a crazy person? just wait."

Now I'm getting tempted to wipe my old XP computer and stick Linux on it. Could be fun to learn.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

You can boot Ubuntu from CD-ROM or USB stick if you want to try it out. Of course it's a lot slower than a full installation but at least it won't touch your harddisc! Check out the Ubuntu site for instructions.
I have two laptops at home and in the meanwhile I'm running Ubuntu on both of them. The first one is dual booting with Windows 7 (in case I want to do some gaming) and on the second one I totally wiped out Windows!!!
I never did any Linux before but so far I didn't run into any problems at all. Ubuntu is working smooth directly after installation. No problem to connect to WLAN (just as easy as on Windows 7) and downloading apps, development tools, and whatever from Ubuntu software store is just as easy as on Android!
For Android app development you don't necessary need any Linux. But if you want to play with the NDK then you might want to know that there's no Google support for Windows, so Linux is recommended here. If you want to compile the Android OS itself then a Linux machine is more suitable as well.
On Windows there's still the possibilty to use some Cygwin emulation or whatever but I never tried it myself, instead I thought for myself: I want to do Linux or I don't want to do Linux?
If you are more comfortable with a Linux PC then you'll also get a better understanding on the way Android is working in case you are interested in the internals, file system, shell, etc.

jbraucht said:
now you're scaring me. i have my vaio open in front of me and all i can think is "remember how much stumbling through freeing the captivate made you a crazy person? just wait."
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Haha, well maybe I was a bit too harsh. Really depends how anal you are about things working properly

I have faith in my ability to fix anything. I can't change the boot options on my vaio tho, I can't get to the right menu
Sent from your girlfriend's Captivate

I recommend ubuntu. Compared to earlier years, almost everything just works out of the box, very basic and easy. You can load up a live cd/usb, install along side your current os with a very small partition size [I use about 8g out of my 120g hdd] because ubuntu is smart enough to read ntfs file systems, so it will be able to read anything that is on the windows partition as well. It will automatically install grub, allowing you to pick between os's when you boot, and everything is swell. Though i would upgrade to windows 7 first, as vista = crap

[POLL] What OS do you use?

Just curious to see exactly how many people actually use Linux or OSX a.k.a the only OSes you can build Android on which IMO all Android devs should be using

I'm running Manjaro, an Arch based distro
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

Jhdoubleoseven said:
Just curious to see exactly how many people actually use Linux or OSX a.k.a the only OSes you can build Android on which IMO all Android devs should be using
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Haha still on win 7...Waiting for win 10

Jhdoubleoseven said:
Just curious to see exactly how many people actually use Linux or OSX a.k.a the only OSes you can build Android on which IMO all Android devs should be using
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There are virtualization options availible for Windows such as cygwin I've used in the past that can help.

PC Gaming Master Race (Windows). Proud. xD

8.1 on one xubuntu 15.04 on another
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

Jhdoubleoseven said:
Just curious to see exactly how many people actually use Linux or OSX a.k.a the only OSes you can build Android on which IMO all Android devs should be using
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Click to collapse
I'm using fedora but why should all android devs use linux? I think you should use whatever you're comfortable with

Niropa said:
I'm using fedora but why should all android devs use linux? I think you should use whatever you're comfortable with
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Click to collapse
Because:
1) Android is a Linux system so if you wanna develop it it's best to know Linux up close and personal
2) Building Android things (like ROMs) on Linux is much more straightforward
3) Linux systems are much more secure and generally more stable (not related to Android, just in general)
4) Microsoft is a corporate evil that restricts the freedom of its users and encourages the use of proprietary software
OSX is also guilty of the same evils as Windows with the exception that OSX is a Unix system and therefore enjoys many of the same benefits as Linux

I've been a linux user since 1998, I'm comfortable building programs from scratch, used to build my own kernel (prior to 3.x) and have modified kernel modules to add support for some devices.
Having said that, I tried to build a kernel and system for an Android device some long time ago, did have the source tree for the device, but it always failed because some blob was missing or some source file had incorrect references to other files. I just tossed the towel, mainly because compilation took forever just to fail at the end. Besides I had to download like 40GB to set up the build environment.
Having previous linux experience did not help me much, as Android was different enough to what I knew. This was at the time gingerbread was the latest version ( Android 3 devices existed, but that's another story).
Hopefully things have changed, if so I might give it a try again.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

Jhdoubleoseven said:
Because:
1) Android is a Linux system so if you wanna develop it it's best to know Linux up close and personal
2) Building Android things (like ROMs) on Linux is much more straightforward
3) Linux systems are much more secure and generally more stable (not related to Android, just in general)
4) Microsoft is a corporate evil that restricts the freedom of it)sers and encourages the use of proprietary software
OSX is also guilty of the same evils as Windows with exception that OSX is a Unix system and therefore enjoys many of the same benefits as Linux
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) android is very different then any Linux distribution, as glock said having previous experience on Linux does not help much.
2) I agree with that point because Linux comes with a lot of tools needed to compile but if that's the only reason you need Linux for then it's better to just run it as a secondary OS on a virtual machine.
3) now that's a very silly point, Linux is only more secure because its more obscure then other operating systems and saying it is generally more stable is just wrong. With windows I had rarely any problems. With any Linux distribution I get very bad screen tearing, audio stops working after a reboot, many packages (steam for example) don't work without hours of troubleshooting and file transfers to my phone or music player make at least one song on every album sound like it got thrown in a blender and got chopped up before being transfered. There are many more problems which don't help my android development. When iI could be updating my ROMs I can't because I'm busy troubleshooting why my distribution decided not to pass grub.
4) that's also a very silly point stallman. With that logic you should not be using phones either because they contain proprietary blobs. The play store is proprietary. Most websites you visit are proprietary (including github which is needed for android development) your mp3s are proprietary, even your computer that you think is running all free software iis running a proprietary BIOS. I could go on all day about the proprietary software you use but I'm on my phone

Niropa said:
3) now that's a very silly point, Linux is only more secure because its more obscure then other operating systems and saying it is generally more stable is just wrong. With windows I had rarely any problems. With any Linux distribution I get very bad screen tearing, audio stops working after a reboot, many packages (steam for example) don't work without hours of troubleshooting and file transfers to my phone or music player make at least one song on every album sound like it got thrown in a blender and got chopped up before being transfered. There are many more problems which don't help my android development. When iI could be updating my ROMs I can't because I'm busy troubleshooting why my distribution decided not to pass grub.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work for a major IT company. All system administrators- Window, Unix, Mainframe, or DBA have to use Linux as their OS because it is more secure than MS Windows. The base multi-user model of Unix makes it more secure, then add things like SELinux, and becomes very hard to compromise.
Your garbled songs sounds like you are disconnecting your device before all the files have finished transferring. Your screen tearing sounds like you are using a software or frame buffer driver instead of the accelerated driver for your video chipset. Sound can be a pita at times. A newer distro solved my issues (meaning updated kernel drivers) with sound. For Steam, I think I had to enable a repo, then just 'yum install steam'. It is not so much Linux is difficult as it is different from what you are used to.

alose said:
I work for a major IT company. All system administrators- Window, Unix, Mainframe, or DBA have to use Linux as their OS because it is more secure than MS Windows. The base multi-user model of Unix makes it more secure, then add things like SELinux, and becomes very hard to compromise.
Your garbled songs sounds like you are disconnecting your device before all the files have finished transferring. Your screen tearing sounds like you are using a software or frame buffer driver instead of the accelerated driver for your video chipset. Sound can be a pita at times. A newer distro solved my issues (meaning updated kernel drivers) with sound. For Steam, I think I had to enable a repo, then just 'yum install steam'. It is not so much Linux is difficult as it is different from what you are used to.
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Click to collapse
Lol nice assumptions but no. I can assure you I'm not disconnecting it before its finished transferring, my only guess is it has something to do with libmtp and the way it handles file transfers which must be different then other operating systems. I use the open source amd drivers which give me screen tearing. I noticed proprietary drivers fixed it but then when I reboot its just a blank screen that iI cant be bothered to troubleshoot. I have steams repo enabled and it iinstalls fine with dnf but I can't figure out how to get it to actually open. Opening with the command line doesn't give me any errors to work with either sadly. Also as I stated in an earlier post I use fedora and am much more experienced with Linux then any other OS. I'm also on the latest kernel released (4.0.6 I think? I'll have to double check) and I still get issues with pulseaudio.
With all that being said I'm not trying to bash Linux and say windows is better,(like i said i use fedora myself and have been using other various distros for the past several years)my point was that you should use whatever works best for you and won't get in your way.

All runing linux
Jhdoubleoseven said:
Just curious to see exactly how many people actually use Linux or OSX a.k.a the only OSes you can build Android on which IMO all Android devs should be using
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Click to collapse
2 laptop, raspberrypi, game pc, media pc, kib pc, all running flavor of Linux.:good:

Windows ME.
Posted using my phone.

Niropa said:
Lol nice assumptions but no. I can assure you I'm not disconnecting it before its finished transferring, my only guess is it has something to do with libmtp and the way it handles file transfers which must be different then other operating systems. I use the open source amd drivers which give me screen tearing. I noticed proprietary drivers fixed it but then when I reboot its just a blank screen that iI cant be bothered to troubleshoot. I have steams repo enabled and it iinstalls fine with dnf but I can't figure out how to get it to actually open. Opening with the command line doesn't give me any errors to work with either sadly. Also as I stated in an earlier post I use fedora and am much more experienced with Linux then any other OS. I'm also on the latest kernel released (4.0.6 I think? I'll have to double check) and I still get issues with pulseaudio.
With all that being said I'm not trying to bash Linux and say windows is better,(like i said i use fedora myself and have been using other various distros for the past several years)my point was that you should use whatever works best for you and won't get in your way.
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Click to collapse
I definitely see your point. I guess it really depends on what you hardware you use Linux on; I run Arch on my old HP G71 from 2011 with an Intel Core 2 Duo and everything runs amazingly. The only issues I've ever had is pulseaudio (which magically fixed itself after some time) and a few crashes due to me using a custom kernel (linux-ck). In fact, the only problems I've ever had are completely due to a mistake on my part.
With the Microsoft it was mild sarcasm with a big point: pretty much everything in Windows is closed source. Pretty much everything in Linux is open source (depending on what distro you use, of course). I'm not afraid of proprietary; I run Plex Media Server and Google Chrome. But I made that choice to run those programs. Just like I made the choice of what window manager to run; how to log in to my system (I go through startx now); how to play music (mpd); how to interface with my network. All of these were choices I made in building my system from the ground up -- even with distros like Ubunutu you can still replace basically whatever you want. That's what I meant when I said that Windows takes away your freedom.

Mint 17 on C720 i3 Chromebook here!

Jhdoubleoseven said:
Because:
1) Android is a Linux system so if you wanna develop it it's best to know Linux up close and personal
2) Building Android things (like ROMs) on Linux is much more straightforward
3) Linux systems are much more secure and generally more stable (not related to Android, just in general)
4) Microsoft is a corporate evil that restricts the freedom of its users and encourages the use of proprietary software
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Tools to build apps for Android are cross-platformed. Using Eclipse IDE under Windows i compile every my app and don't see any restrictions making me want to migrate to Linux.
2) VirtualBox + Ubuntu solve this problem completely.
3) Not more secure and definitely not more stable. You can setup Linux to be less secure and setup Windows to be more secure. And if you compare how many side (i mean apps not included in distro) apps you use in Windows and in Linux, you will find the answer about security. Even light usage of Linux (mostly for kernel compilation and some AOSP code) produces different services/apps crash. So, if i would use Linux as i'm using Windows, there will be even more crashes.
What i really hate in Linux is how much time it requires to be prepared for some non-generic environment. If somehow happen distro doesn't provide required package (even from dedicated support server), or more worse if package version is different from required, then be prepared for "sex" with Linux. You can spend a lot of time to compile and most likely to fix incompatibilities in source code. Sometimes such preparation takes several days. And then when you are prepared, you can compile that code in 5 minutes. Nope.. Such productivity isn't for me. In most cases i even don't expect compilation because i simply want to use some utility. And then i find that pre-compiled version doesn't work. Because there is very low compatibility between different versions of Linux. Even binary compiled for Linux release couple years ago may not work in more modern Linux (unless it statically linked, but even in this case there is no warranty). And if it doesn't work, see my description about preparation to compile it
Btw, both VirtualBox and VMWare require special drivers for guest Linux to properly support folder sharing and VM window handling. And these drivers have to be recompiled with every minor kernel version update. This is IMHO very lame for Linux. Even after some kernel update (through standard distro package manager, so it's very minor update) VMWare stop to compile its drivers. So i have to find why and then patch the source code. And i often ask myself "Why i have to do this crap again and again?"
In Windows, i can take binary compiled for Windows XP, and use it in Windows 10. Interoperability of binaries between versions of Linux is a big red sign for me.
I was trying to migrate to Linux several times already in the past 10 years. And every time i find my self spending most of time for side tasks than my main projects.
Another thing i don't like in Linux is GUI. Not the design. It's OK for me to adapt to new interface. KDE or XFCE are fine. What i don't like in Linux GUI is how it works. Sometimes it lives its own life. Some windows appear when i don't expect, or i forgot about it already. It looks like GUI threads are running not in sync (or in very weak sync) with main code. I prefer MS Windows behavior when app tries to open the window, i cannot do anything. So, i know, something will happen soon. On Linux it's always a guess game "will some new window appear or app simply ignores my input."
4) From other side, you can see standardization of APIs and stable for many years SDK in Windows. As a software developer i care about it very much. There is no restriction for Open Source projects.
Absence (or nearly absence) binary compatibility between Linux versions, very flexible and often changing APIs can be considered as an additional security mechanism, but I'm against such methods.
---------- Post added at 06:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:36 AM ----------
P.S: About "Android is a Linux": it's completely wrong.
Android is an OS with high level of abstraction when it comes to devices.
To make this abstraction, Linux kernel is used. Nothing to do with Desktop Linux here.
Generally speaking, any kernel could be used to make this abstraction. It could be OpenBSD and even Windows kernel. Android wouldn't be different. Google choose Linux kernel to be free from other software developers - that's the only reason.

sorg said:
1) Tools to build apps for Android are cross-platformed. Using Eclipse IDE under Windows i compile every my app and don't see any restrictions making me want to migrate to Linux.
2) VirtualBox + Ubuntu solve this problem completely.
3) Not more secure and definitely not more stable. You can setup Linux to be less secure and setup Windows to be more secure. And if you compare how many side (i mean apps not included in distro) apps you use in Windows and in Linux, you will find the answer about security. Even light usage of Linux (mostly for kernel compilation and some AOSP code) produces different services/apps crash. So, if i would use Linux as i'm using Windows, there will be even more crashes.
What i really hate in Linux is how much time it requires to be prepared for some non-generic environment. If somehow happen distro doesn't provide required package (even from dedicated support server), or more worse if package version is different from required, then be prepared for "sex" with Linux. You can spend a lot of time to compile and most likely to fix incompatibilities in source code. Sometimes such preparation takes several days. And then when you are prepared, you can compile that code in 5 minutes. Nope.. Such productivity isn't for me. In most cases i even don't expect compilation because i simply want to use some utility. And then i find that pre-compiled version doesn't work. Because there is very low compatibility between different versions of Linux. Even binary compiled for Linux release couple years ago may not work in more modern Linux (unless it statically linked, but even in this case there is no warranty). And if it doesn't work, see my description about preparation to compile it
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, every distro is binary compatible -- binaries are based on the processor, so every Linux x86-64 computer can run any binaries on my Arch Linux system. You're either referring to package compatibility, as different distros use different package managers, or just that you don't have all the dependencies (such as the libraries required to run).
Secondly, I'm surprised to hear how many crashes and issues you have with Linux... I easily get an uptime of 30 days+ without a single issue and then choose -- not get forced -- to reboot because my kernel is out of date. I've heard Ubuntu has given people issues but I use Arch which required me to know my hardware to install exactly what I need -- nothing more. Arch, being rolling release and up-to-date, is amazingly stable and also ensures you are in the driver's seat.
Thirdly, while you're right that you can have a secure Windows, the problem is how freely Windows gives out root permissions -- it's just asking for malware. Especially if you make youeself an admin, have fun running as root 24/7. Any *nix OS has an incredibly strong user system -- my system itself has over 20 users on it even though I am the only human who uses it. The other 19 users run programs and keep privileges separate. That and Linux is open source, so instead of like 1000 people looking through the source code you have over 10,000 eyes that may see any vulnerabilities. Windows "security through obscurity" is absolute crap; I will gladly use Windows once they go open source and I can get rid of that bloated UI and use something I have full control of.
Like you said, it really depends on a lot of things... however, as a power user I could never go back to Windows. I need freedom and transparency; Windows offers neither. Definitely don't think less of people who use Windows; some people want things to just work and don't care about anything else. I like things to work exactly like I want them to work and to be in control of what goes on with my computer. It's really just preference; my system is constantly changing and I configured everything myself. It's hard to describe, but when your OS becomes a project -- your project -- that you put time and effort in to get working like you want it's a really gratifying feeling

Jhdoubleoseven said:
or just that you don't have all the dependencies (such as the libraries required to run).
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Click to collapse
Exactly. Sorry for wrong wording.

Question Linux OS for a new user

Hello users,
This question may be offtopic here, but i need your kind suggestions. I am now going to reinstall an operating system in my computer.
I had Windows 10 earlier. Now I am thinking to use Linux. I have not used it before so I have a few doubts.
Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?
Will Linux be faster than Winodows 10?
Thanks

Xubuntu is pretty fast, faster than windows on idle. About the same on heavy load

bkdroid13 said:
Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?
Will Linux be faster than Windows 10?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It will be different to use, difficulty depends on how easily you pick up new user interface paradigms. There is no standardized UI among distributions, so you should pick one the you think you'll enjoy. Since you'd be new to Linux, I would suggest Xubuntu, or Ubuntu-Mate, as both have familiar-enough interfaces for Windows users who have never run a Linux system before. Beware, you WILL need to relearn ideas if you're looking to use the CLI for any reason, DOS commands ARE NOT in the Linux shells, and there are several other conventions that are different. That said, you can easily get away with not using the CLI at all if you're looking for just using GUI applications.
2) This is subjective and depends on your workload. For instance, I installed Borderlands2 from Steam on both Windows and Ubuntu and noticed the game ran significantly better on Ubuntu than Windows, however other programs may not and YMMV. Honestly, it depends on what UI you pick, what you do with the system, and your system specs.

Linux OS for a new use
ShadowEO said:
1) It will be different to use, difficulty depends on how easily you pick up new user interface paradigms. There is no standardized UI among distributions, so you should pick one the you think you'll enjoy. Since you'd be new to Linux, I would suggest Xubuntu, or Ubuntu-Mate, as both have familiar-enough interfaces for Windows users who have never run a Linux system before. Beware, you WILL need to relearn ideas if you're looking to use the CLI for any reason, DOS commands ARE NOT in the Linux shells, and there are several other conventions that are different. That said, you can easily get away with not using the CLI at all if you're looking for just using GUI applications.
2) This is subjective and depends on your workload. For instance, I installed Borderlands2 from Steam on both Windows and Ubuntu and noticed the game ran significantly better on Ubuntu than Windows, however other programs may not and YMMV. Honestly, it depends on what UI you pick, what you do with the system, and your system specs.
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Thank you so much for your reply. I understand my point. Great

MINT and UBUNTU are good for new users. But If you have never had contact at the beginning will be a small haos but after a while it becomes great. The only drawback is the drivers sometimes with this problem. I use BackTrack and somehow it will stay longer. Has very useful tools )

I had forgotten to mention that if software packaging feels complex, you may wish to look into both Flatpak and AppImage, as both are alternative software packages that operate similarly to Windows executables (I guess a better parallel would be Apple's .app folder format).

Yes, Linux is faster
I will recommend you install Linux Mint or Ubuntu. Both are beginner friendly

In the world we're living in today, more and more alternatives to mainstream services should be used. Self-preservation should be a motto. Go with Ubuntu.

Good morning,
I am looking for a cheap laptop to start testing Linux, have any recommendations

bkdroid13 said:
Will it be difficult to use and understand Linux?
Will Linux be faster than Winodows 10?
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linux is faster than windows, uses more CPU and less RAM. Linux mint is the easiest to start with. You can even run windows programs with wine software if you don't find any linux alternative. but not all hardware manufactures support linux so you might either miss some features or the connected device might not work at all.

I recomed using Linux Mint or Ubuntu if you never used linux before

Kali Linux in Kali undercover mode. It looks exactly like Windows 10 and it's Debian based so Ubuntu commands and resources will work

I was in a similar situation about a year ago. I had played around with all sorts of Linux distros in virtual machines just to get a taste of each one. Some looked more like Windows but didn't act the same. Some looked completely foreign to me but behaved well. I kept coming back to Linux Mint. It's Ubuntu-based, contains more applications you need than Windows comes with, the apt package management system is my choice because it seems to make the most sense, it has great hardware support, and it is actively maintained. I have older hardware so I chose the Mate desktop environment. It runs great on my old hardware, and doesn't get the fan kicking up the way Windows does.
It's different than Windows, so you'll be Googling how to do this and that until you get the hang of it, but it's not that hard and it gets easier all the time. You won't regret learning how a new OS works!