Problems installing 7.10

[siafulinux]

It's clear that no matter what distribution I end up with, I'm gonna have to learn more about linux. That said, I think I have to be a bit more humble. The configurability of kubuntu -- and the color; I hate ubtuntu's red/orange/brown theme -- appealed to me, but realistically I may need something that's a little closer to a system that "just works." So maybe I should give ubuntu a second chance. Just curious, though, have you had any experience with xubuntu? I like the idea of a quick, streamlined system.

It wasn't me, it was my friend. It started with him helping the school his daughter attended. It didn't hurt that once the district expressed interest he could actually go ahead and design and install a system for them. I don't know all the details. I'm very interested in what kind of software they're using, both for instruction and administration.

About all I know about what they've done is that in each school all the terminals operate off one server. So in addition to not having to pay for the operating system and applications, they have also minimized hardware costs.

Curious about who does the writing on your website, i.e., the stuff that's been created locally, not the stuff you provide links to. I thought the thing that went through what ubuntu has to offer the ordinary user -- I forget the actual title -- was very well done.

As I say, curious about your experience with or impressions of xubuntu.

Regards,

Well, Ubuntu's theme can be changed. The brown doesn't bother me, I kinda like it, but a sleek black and silver theme would be fantastic. Xubuntu is much like Gnome, but "lesser" than. If that's the correct word for it. It's supposed to run smoother on older hardware and originally I felt it did, but at last try, it seemed to be about as slow as Gnome on Ubuntu loading certain apps. I think it's just the apps themselves and not XFCE on Xubuntu. Give Xubuntu a try though, you may be pleasantly surprised with it.

One thing I like about using the Gnome like desktops is that Ubuntu, Edubuntu and Xubuntu are all similar in style, design and feel (Ubuntu and Edubuntu both use Gnome)... so if you're used to KDE as a user and you want Edubuntu, you have to adjust. Though you can install kubuntu-desktop. Still the integration with Gnome and even XFCE is much better in my opinion!

~
The server machine hosting multiple desktops can either be a thin-client setup (no hard drives) or perhaps a thick-client (hard drives that mount a remote /home partition); similar to what you are trying to do. Since you speak of reduced hardware, I believe it would be a thin-client. They are fantastic, but usually require a fairly decent machine to boot the remote terminals and I found there to be some problems with sound. Hence I actually prefer the "thick-client" setup, but perhaps using a CD instead of a HDD.

Since we spoke of people who are not interested in switching to Linux earlier and thin-clients, at work I have an issue with the "IT guy" as he refuses to put Open Source on the network; but cannot tell me why.

They have these Roaming Profiles on Windows that sometimes loads your desktop and sometimes does not until reboot. It sucks and is stupid. Switching to a thin-client or thick-client type setup would help; but no interest at all! Ugh!

~
As for the website, I believe the section on the site you are speaking of is "Linux @ Home"? I think I wrote that page myself, but some pages I did adapt from other sources. Need to do some re-writing though! Thanks for the compliment.

[Eric Weir]

Well, Ubuntu's theme can be changed.

I'm aware of that. Even tried it. It's not so simple, though, at least not for me. E.g., changing themes doesn't change the way applications look. E.g. I created a blue theme, but when I started OOo I still got the organge-ish OOo splash screen.

Xubuntu is much like Gnome, but "lesser" than. If that's the correct word for it. It's supposed to run smoother on older hardware and originally I felt it did, but at last try, it seemed to be about as slow as Gnome on Ubuntu loading certain apps.

I'm in the process of installing xubuntu right now. I will definitely give ubuntu another try, though.

What mail client do you use? I've been using thunderbird for a long time, and I like it. But it's never worked very well on k/ubuntu for me. Very slow. E.g., right clicking to bring up the context menu, there's a distinct pause before the menu shows up. It's that way with everything. Every action is noticeably delayed. Scrolling in mail boxes is very jerky. It can't keep up with either the scroll wheel or the slider. After you stop scrolling on the wheel, it continues to scroll jerkily through the message list. Makes it very difficult to go to a specific place in a list. Not at all my experience with tb on windows.

I thought putting my installation on a 40 gb drive -- it was on -a 10 gb previously, and had gotten VERY slow there -- --, would improve tb's performance, but it hasn't. Again, the rest of the system is a piv 1.6 ghz and 512 mb of ram.

The server machine hosting multiple desktops can either be a thin-client setup (no hard drives) or perhaps a thick-client (hard drives that mount a remote /home partition); similar to what you are trying to do. Since you speak of reduced hardware, I believe it would be a thin-client.

Yes, that's what it was.

As for the website, I believe the section on the site you are speaking of is "Linux @ Home"? I think I wrote that page myself . . . .

That was it. You did a good job.

A question about the xubuntu installation that's underway now -- 83 % done -- I opted for manual partitioning, just to make sure, as near as that can be done, that the existing partitions would be preserved. I did have to assign mount points. For the main partition on the second drive I wanted to use /dev/sdb1, but that was not an option. I chose one of the options that was offered -- either /tmp or /usr/local -- -assuming I could change it later.

Did I do the right thing? I want to use the second drive just as a place to back things up, mainly my /home folder. Would /dev/sdb be an appropriate mount point for that purpose. Also, why wasn't that an option?

Regards,

[siafulinux]

I'm aware of that. Even tried it. It's not so simple, though, at least not for me. E.g., changing themes doesn't change the way applications look. E.g. I created a blue theme, but when I started OOo I still got the organge-ish OOo splash screen.

Going to "System" -> "Preferences" -> "Appearance" changes the windows, icons and popups to the colour theme specified. Not sure why it doesn't work for you. I still get the brown OpenOffice splash screen, but I think that doesn't have anything to do with the system theme itself.

What mail client do you use?

I currently use Evolution. Don't know why Thunderbird would be slow though? It may just be a Thunderbird issue rather than Ubuntu.

A question about the xubuntu installation that's underway now -- 83 % done -- I opted for manual partitioning, just to make sure, as near as that can be done, that the existing partitions would be preserved. I did have to assign mount points. For the main partition on the second drive I wanted to use /dev/sdb1, but that was not an option. I chose one of the options that was offered -- either /tmp or /usr/local -- -assuming I could change it later.

Did I do the right thing? I want to use the second drive just as a place to back things up, mainly my /home folder. Would /dev/sdb be an appropriate mount point for that purpose. Also, why wasn't that an option?

I'm not sure about this. About to walk out the door, but will see what I can find when I get back from work, though by know I'm sure you already know what happened...

JC