2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC

[mikodo]

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Finally, I think that people should choose Ubuntu as their primary and sole desktop operating system unless you have a specific usage case scenario or preference for a competing GNU/Linux distribution. Ubuntu gets the job done for the vast majority of people in a user friendly way that primarily focuses on delivering a good desktop user experience. The large community here and user base make it an attractive GNU/Linux distribution to use on your PC and the ease with which to administer it on a daily basis makes it a fairly low maintenance choice. Ubuntu is free of charge too.

Hi Welly Wu.

I read the whole post, as usual. I'm excited about Ubuntu Snappy updates. When that is up and running smoothy, Ubuntu should be an even better user experience with less troublesome updates. Not that it has been much of a problem for the end user these days. If Canonical/Ubuntu/ Developers/Vendors see a problem, they should see the most of these issues before releasing and just continue with a a working version until it proves to be a worthy upgrade and then release it. Even then, if an unforeseen problem arises, they can just role it back to a working version, until the problem is fixed and release it then again and end-users shouldn't notice many regressions that are "show stoppers", "along the line", with Snappy.

That made me think of a comment you made a while ago, along the lines of Ubuntu shaking things up in 18.04. Do you remember as to what context you were referring to? That kind of stuck in my mind and I am curious what that might be.

I am happy your ZaReason Desktop, is working out as well as it is, for you.

[Welly Wu]

Based on what I am reading on the mailing list, it seems that Ubuntu 16.04 will not include any ground breaking new software technologies like Snappy, Mir, etc. It will still be based off of Debian. It might not include the Ubuntu Software Center either. Right now, the focus is on Wily as it should be.

I can not say for certain what Ubuntu 18.04 is going to look like at this time. It was just mere speculation on my part with that earlier post.

Desktop PCs rule. I think that the next desktop PC that I will purchase several years from today will be another high end ZaReason PC. I like what this company is doing.

[mikodo]

Thank you, Welly Wu.

It is exciting times for Ubuntu development. I am thinking of installing Ubuntu at 16.04 to watch the development progression and to use as my main install going forward. With that I want to use VirtualBox to house instances of my favorite desktop, Xfce. (Xubuntu and probably Debian Stable Xfce, to stay in touch with that too).

I am really enjoying being an Ubuntu user and appreciate the security and progressiveness of it. And, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Community around Ubuntu especially, the Ubuntu Forum people and ones that frequent/participate in other support venues, from Ubuntu Community wikis, askubuntu and the individual entities that contribute sites, providing knowledge for Ubuntu topics.

All in all, I believe, Ubuntu is on "top of the food-chain", when it comes to providing for the Linux end-user's experience.

I apologize, for getting off topic.

[Welly Wu]

It's been a couple of weeks since I bought my EVGA Superclocked nVidia Geforce GTX Titan X GPU and I can say that it has met and exceeded my wildest expectations thus far. This is the fastest and the most powerful single card GPU currently on the market and I have played dozens of SteamOS + GNU/Linux along with Microsoft Windows PC games using it and it has performed flawlessly. Using my ASUS VS228 1920 X 1080P full HD color monitor, I can set all PC games at ultra or ultimate graphics settings with MFAA x16 and other advanced graphics settings to the maximum levels and I get well over 60.00 frames per second. Most of the time, I usually get well over 100.00 frames per second. PC game play is smooth as butter and I have used Wolfram Mathematica to perform advanced mathematical calculations, simulations, tests, etc. and it performs well for being just a single precision FP32 GPU. In terms of brute, raw, horsepower, it is unmatched and I think it is well worth the insanely high price that I paid for it and then some. My Intel Core i7-4790 CPU is also no slouch in its own regard and I am able to chew through all of my computing tasks and software applications like nobody's business. This is a fairly modern and powerful high end mainstream CPU that performs well and it is energy efficient while staying cool with the stock Intel CPU air cooler. My dual Crucial SATA-III 6 GB/s solid state disks are ultra reliable and super fast as well. Complex tasks like rendering large photographic and video files is a breeze while doing heavy multi-tasking on my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. Though I wish that I could have up to 32.00 GB of DDR3 1,600 MHz SRAM, I feel that 16.00 GB is sufficient for my own usage case scenarios and work flows. Having a modern and powerful desktop PC is a dream come true for me. There is almost nothing that I can do with it and it is a pure joy for me to use daily. Combined with Verizon FiOS Quantum 100/100 MB/s symmetrical fiber optic Internet access, using Ubuntu 14.04.3 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux is a blast. I can purchase, download, install, and play with a lot of premium content quickly. My desktop PC has an EVGA Hadron Air case with a 500.00 watt 80+ Gold Plus certified power supply unit and it is very energy efficient while staying relatively quiet with just air cooling. This is the best desktop PC system that I have ever used yet and I am glad that ZaReason built it for me perfectly. It is amazing!

[Welly Wu]

I joined a large number of online communities catered toward PC enthusiasts which center around Microsoft Windows. I keep reading threads, replies, and posts by other members about the various horror stories regarding different versions of Microsoft Windows and other software products. The latest are the Windows 10 users that have problems with nVidia Geforce GTX 980Ti GPUs and the proprietary nVidia graphics drivers in SLi configuration not working for some reason with certain Microsoft Windows 10 PC games utilizing DirectX 11 or 12 APIs. The other comments that I read are from other members that complain that their Windows PCs are broken because it didn't shut down cleanly or it won't boot up properly or the graphics are messed up and they wind up logging into an incomplete desktop with missing elements that are critical to Windows 10. Then, there are other members that complain that Windows 10 feels bloated and sluggish after each Patch Tuesdays updates. Some are downright infuriated and frustrated with Windows 10 because some of their favorite software products are no longer compatible and they must repurchase it again to support it.

With almost all commercial off the shelf technologies especially desktop operating systems and software products, there are software flaws and there are a million different things that can go wrong with any Microsoft hardware or software product or service if it is installed bare metal on a desktop or notebook PC. This complicates itself further if there is a dual-boot configuration especially if it includes some version of Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux and there is an unexpected technical issue that causes the operating system drive to die or fail to boot up GRUB or any other commercial boot manager software product.

This is why I chose to purchase my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC and I stick with Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux as my primary and sole desktop operating system. I knew that these problems would emerge soon after Microsoft Corporation released Windows 10 on July 29th, 2015 and that there is no end in sight toward fixing existing and future technical issues with their panapoly of products and services. I did not want to roll the dice and save a few hundreds of dollars by purchasing a Microsoft Windows 10 desktop or notebook PC and installing Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux alongside it just in case something goes horribly wrong with either one.

A new friend of mine experienced a total loss recently. His Crucial M500 512 GB SSD failed and it needs to be RMAed. This will cost him two days and shipping fees. His RAID server failed and he has to rebuild his RAID array from scratch. His Windows 10 partition failed to shut down cleanly and it destroyed his primary operating system drive and GRUB. He had to ditch Windows 10 and he now uses Ubuntu full-time which means he wasted his time and money largely through no fault of his own. He custom built his desktop PC to ensure as much compatibility for both Windows 10 and GNU/Linux as possible. Yet, he is spending his time fixing his desktop PC and RAID array on his server at this moment. It can be argued that these are unrelated problems, but I attribute it to Windows 10's failure to shut down cleanly. He cut the power off of his desktop PC and it never worked since then.

I know that I have written positive things about Windows 10 and other Microsoft software products in past threads and replies here, but I am also glad that I purchased VMWare Workstation 12 Pro and installed my Microsoft Windows 10 Pro in a guest virtual machine for added safety and security. My way is much more expensive, but it saves me precious time and the agony of frustrations in the end. I understand that my way is not affordable to some other people, but this is what I have chosen to do.

The more that I lurk and read threads, replies, and posts along with comments in Microsoft forums and Facebook groups I am convinced that I made the right series of choices for myself regarding my desktop PC system. I am entitled to my own opinions and there may be others that disagree especially on Microsoft centric communities, but I am stating this here for the record. Ubuntu is the best desktop operating system that meets my exact needs for free of charge and it just works most of the time. My greatest threat is myself since I have root Administrator privileges. Keep it simple. Maintain the status quo. Don't get too curious about new software products, packages, libraries, or dependencies from various PPAs. Let this cat live out its nine lives. Nothing is broken so don't fix anything.

[mystics]

Personally, I would say that if anyone wants to minimize failures, they should just get a Mac. That's one of the selling points of Macs after all: You have a limited selection of hardware and a relatively locked-down OS, but you also have a level of stability that Windows and Linux can only dream of achieving. Yes, it isn't perfect, but I hear far fewer rants from my friends using a Mac than I do from Windows or Linux. Even I, personally, could go on and on about the problems I've had with Linux and the problems I've had with Windows. But after four years of using a Mac, the worst problem I ever had was that my disk needed to be repaired, and I wouldn't have even realized there was a problem if it weren't for me trying to partition it to put Linux on it!

That isn't to say that I don't think Windows or Linux have their places. I just wouldn't say that they have much to say in terms of stability. Even when I try to get my friends to try Linux, I'm never going to tell them that they're guaranteed a smooth experience. I've seen way too many WiFi, keyboard, graphical, and hard disk problems arise to be so deceptive. So if someone is looking for a stable alternative to Windows, I would always tell them to go with Mac. I can at least feel confident that they won't yell at me when they get it because they can no longer boot into their operating system. Sure, I know plenty of people that only have to spend a few minutes configuring things properly and downloading the right drivers, but I'm not going to act like I've never seen some truly horrible failures, even if some of them (i.e. one of them) are (is) caused by someone not listening to what I said.

And one last thing: I'm not trying to question your experience, Well Wu, nor am I trying to turn this into an OS war (we've had plenty of those in other threads lately). I'm just saying that I don't personally see Linux as a stable alternative to Windows. It's just a nice alternative but for other reasons.

[mikodo]

^^ What do I know of Security, Stability, Co-operativity (with other components). Nothing!

You will have to take me for my word, (or not) when I say that I've read where, there have been time(s), where security patches were a little late with a Mac. I would link to what I have read if, I could remember to what it was. I cannot though. That being said, it might be true with any OS.

I do depend on Linux to be safe in regards to Security and, it is one of my reasons I like Ubuntu. They tend to attend to what needs to be done in regards to it. When there is something pointed out to them by the greater Linux community, they act on it. Also, they "pride" themselves on Security and offer ways of Security, for the end-users that, I "think' might be a little more advanced. I do know at least this. There is lots of Security subjects online in Linux & BSD. I don't know if the same is true elsewhere for Mac's cause, I haven't looked.

Let the bashing begin but, remember my first sentence. I make no claim to knowing what I am talking about.

Addendum: I shaved and showered and had a cigarette, (ya, I started again) and while doing that, I was thinking about what I wrote.

My concern is this. Too many people, I believe, blindly follow accepted "Norms". Such as, I don't have to worry about Malware, Security, End-user online habits, the security model of an OS I use, because it is "accepted" to be safe. I know of personally too many people who lay claim to being safer because, they use Macs and those same people don't practice "safe-sex", kidding, but you know what I am getting at here. The same could be said of Linux users except, I don't know of anyone personally that uses it. I have even read of the security model and practices of a very popular Linux distro, that is lacking in its approach to Security. I fear for my friends, acquaintances who, blindly do what they want with their Macs because of using a Mac alone.

I remember when, I first came to Ubuntu. I was using a computer, (this and only one I have), six months after starting with Microsoft Vista. I contracted "the conficker worm, and couldn't back out of it. The only person, that I have met personally I know that used Linux, casually suggested I learn that. I haven't seen that shop keeper in years. So, I did what he said, and got a disk upon request in the mail, and was using it in WUBI, for a couple of months when, the conficker worm disabled my machine and the Kasperski's internet suite, I was using. I installed Ubuntu over it. The next thing I set out do was, "harden Ubuntu", I think is the term I used in, I believe my first thread post here. I heard then, and a lot of the same accepted Norm later, that Linux was safe, over and over again. I don't hear that as much now, and I am relieved. I'm relieved because, I don't think someone should "blindly" follow the Norms, without seeing what they can learn about it first. There are definite things that must be considered about security with any OS, and I fear for the masses that don't at least try to be safe. Linux I know, has many tutorials available online for people to learn how to make their OS, computer and their usage safer. From what I have heard from the acquaintances and friends that use Macs is, generally a statement like, it's Mac, I don't need to worry, (and are blindly doing what they want, thinking they are safe). I know these people and they tell me what they do. I hope I am wrong for their sakes but, I still worry for them.

End of Rant.

[mystics]

My comment was meant more for stability, mostly related to not having a driver or hard drive mess up on you. I'm not sure about security. I've generally seen both Mac and Linux as secure enough that it really comes down to my own brilliance or stupidity in regards to security.

Edit: Just to clarify, I am aware of some security issues on both Mac and Linux (though I'm hardly an expert). I know both aren't prone to viruses, share a lot of the same security vulnerabilities, and can also create problems for the NSA's attempts to inject surveillance software onto the computer. I'm just not that knowledgeable about which one is more or less secure.

[Welly Wu]

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I will say that those days are behind me and I enjoy using Ubuntu. Yes, I have screwed up my desktop operating system numerous times because I did something stupid, but Ubuntu is not at fault. I am the greatest security threat to my own safety and privacy because I have root Administrator privileges.

So long as I keep it simple stupid and I ain't fixing what isn't broken, Ubuntu serves me well. It is by far the most reliable, stable, and secure general purpose desktop operating system available to the free world next to OpenBSD. GNU/Linux enjoys slightly more hardware and software support and it seems clear to me that more of the worldwide IT industry and markets are targeting GNU/Linux as a supported platform and Ubuntu is the leading choice.

<snip>

ZaReason makes excellent PCs and they are so utterly reliable and dependable. Ubuntu is rock solid and it is the leader in the GNU/Linux ecosystem. I see more independent software vendors porting their Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh OS X software products to Ubuntu with each passing week. I think that there is enough interest and momentum to keep up the ports of high quality software products for the foreseeable future. Ubuntu is in excellent shape.

[bapoumba]

We're getting borderline again, please hike back into mainstream, non political, non high budget talks again, thanks.