Why Ubuntu? Why Linux Lite?

[br1anstorm]

Interesting to read the responses so far - from the novices like me to some serious experts who quote code-edits!

After years of Windows-as-default, from 95 to 98 to XP, I decided that when XP's end of support date loomed I ought to look at options.  Why?  I resented the cost of Windows upgrades, I disliked the intrusive tactics and protectionism of Microsoft, and while I can live with Win7 I find Win 8 unappealing and the attempts to force Win10 on users unacceptable.

The open-source diversity of Linux appeals, as does its greater security.  I am still daunted by the idea of having to go into the terminal and use the command line, so I was attracted to the distros that offered a reasonable chance of working out-of-the-box and which had an interface and user-experience that was not too alien or complicated.

I ended up looking at four key criteria:

i) reliability.  The absolute priority.  With so many distros to choose from, it seemed sensible to focus on the most widely used, widely tested, and well-established. The Linux world is full of distros, or variations, which seem to come and go.  There are however a few which have - so far - survived and improved, thus offering a reasonable prospect that flaws will have been spotted, addressed, and ironed out.  An OS is like a car:  you want above all to get from A to B smoothly and safely.  No point in getting an exotic custom-car if it spends more time on the hard shoulder than rolling along the road;

ii) design.  There are some very elaborate all-singing, all-dancing and no doubt endlessly tweakable distros out there.  Some (Arch Linux?) are way too complex for newbies.  For me simplicity and user-friendliness win out over fancy visuals and gimmicky tricks every time;

iii) support.  Sooner or later every user is likely to need help.  Sometimes a good help manual, or clear troubleshooting guides, are enough.  Beyond that, the support forum(s) are key.  Ubuntu in the wider sense is a mixed blessing:  the large community, and multitude of forums, mean there is almost too much information - and a lot of it, when it consists of command texts and code edits,  is incomprehensible except to experts and geeks.  So the forum for any specific distro is important.  It has to have a big enough membership to tap into a decent reservoir of knowledge.  Dialogue has to be predominantly in plain, easy-to understand language.  And the "atmosphere" has to be welcoming, tolerant and sympathetic.  No-one likes to be treated like an idiot or ignoramus, but equally it can't be assumed that every poster has a high level of expertise or understanding.

iv) longevity.  This is a tricky one.  OSs are constantly evolving because the underlying technology - and the ways of using it - are progressing and changing.  I resented having to ditch each generation of Windows OS for the next, newer, brighter, shinier model.  But at the same time, I wanted my OS to be able to cope with the changing and increasing demands being made on it.  This gets us to the thorny question of rolling release distros, versus new-version or new-edition distros. To use the car analogy again, I wanted an OS like a Porsche 911.  Fundamental design and configuration unchanged for decades,so the current model looks and feels very like a 20-year old one.  But up close, constant refinement has made it better, faster and more reliable.  That's a rolling release.  The alternative, a new model every year which may or may not look similar (even if it has the same name-badge) and which may or may not be better but certainly has a different control layout and a different shape and style, is the equivalent of most Linux distros.  The increasing trend to LTS versions supported for 3, 5 or more years seems to be a move in the right direction.

So where did all this lead me?  To a short list, each of which I am still test-driving:

• Linux Lite: ticks almost all the boxes - reliable, user-friendly, clean uncomplicated design, thoughtful support, excellent forum.... but I have already tried three versions in less than two years - 1.0.8, 2.2 and now 2.6.
• Linux Mint XFCE:  very similar and the closest competitor, with most of the same boxes ticked;
• PCLinuxOS:  I went for it mainly because it is a rolling release distro.  It has a superb forum and community with some seriously good and helpful members.  It is non-Ubuntu.... and it has a very rigorous approach to controlling and checking software repositories which is very reassuring , reduces the risks of foul-ups, and helps stability and reliability.  The KDE version is far too elaborate and complex, but I find the MATE version to my liking, even if the visual styling is not as smooth and slick as LL and Mint;
• Zorin:  chosen largely because of its deliberate appeal to XP refugees.  I have been running Zorin 6;  there is now a Zorin 9 release.  I am growing less enthusiastic about it partly because it has a lot of gimmicky visual options (wobbly windows etc).  The forum is good but the community is, I suspect, quite small.
• LXLE:  tried out initially because I had to find something that would run on an older Dell with a non-pae processor.  It's OK, but the design and software is a bit of a hotch-potch. I don't find it as easy or intuitive as my other choices, and I can't ever imagine using it as my main or only OS.

So - I still haven't made a definite decision. I like PCLinuxOS but just wish it looked a bit more stylish (eg by having an XFCE desktop).  Linux Lite 2.6 is just a fraction ahead of Mint 17 in my current preferences.  Now if only Linux Lite were a rolling release......
Ah, choices, choices!

[rbdflyboy]

Was looking for a very light distro because of the MS support issue (well,now, XP works better now that they don't support it...lol).  Tried Ubntu Mint,Lubuntu, and some others...just couldn't get comfortable. Then one night stumbled upon Lite2.0, installed it. Tried to go back to Mint...no-go...am using 2.6 now. Don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon! This HP box was given to me, wiped the drive to delete the XP and installed 2.6. This is my stand alone Linux Lite box and will remain this way until death. Thank you all for great work!

[N4RPS]

Hello!

Just a note similar to rokytngi, I have a HP TS14 Touch screen laptop, and it just works, no tweaks or fiddling. I vary rarely use touch.

Using a Dell Insiron 3135 with touchscreen here. The kernel (I guess) detected it right off the bat.

If only it'd do that on my Gateway M285E. It has a Fujitsu touchscreen, which is 'weird', and therefore, not supported in Linux. Have to have Windows 7 to use the touchscreen on that one!

It's interesting how the Tablet PC has been reincarnated as a '2-in-1'...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[firenice03]

Me, I've been supporting Windows since at least Win98 and earlier, A+ back when you needed to know IRQ's LOL... Past few years changed roles at work and admined an old HP UX box. Then changed over to Red Hat. So was looking at Linux with GUI's to test and try, get more familiar.. Had Mandriva on a VM for a while really liked(they went server based - another thread)also Mint and LL.. LL was the best bet for some of my older hardware, especially since they were XP based and Win7 bogged them down.

Side note, my 7 and 9 years use LL about as much Windows - don't think they know the difference

I'm still a Linux noob but I think I'm getting it...

[darrell derrick]

The folks here have been so nice to me, and the discourse, is so courteous,  I have TBI and learning is hard for me but very necessary. for my rehabilitation.  With a bit of work any issue <in linux> can be understood and solved. Not so in the Windoze world. My needs are minimal, and I mostly have retired junk, to play with.

[paul1149]

I refurb laptops, mostly value units and a lot of netbooks. About 18 months ago I was surprised to find that a unit or two that I put ubuntu on for licensing reasons did not take much of a valuation hit in the marketplace. Then recently two things happened. A friend's machine was increasingly struggling to run Win7, and MS came out with an its aggressive policy of controlling users' machines with Win10.

It was time to look for alternatives. I had tried Linux a few times over the years, but thought it was too rough for general use, especially to the newcomer. But now I set up VMWare and ran several distros. Ubuntu I gravitated to because of the broad user base/support system, but ubuntu no longer had any performance advantage over Win7. I almost settled on Mint Mate, but then tried LL and it was a perfect fit. It "just worked", it was frugal with resources, and it had very elegant aesthetics to it. Even the Super key worked! I began converting a couple of units, with great success, and then switched my own machine over. I've done four machines so far.

I heard "Linux is just about ready now" for years, and felt cynical about it, but now it's finally come to pass. Linux IS ready, and just in time as MS sets the trap for a massive bait and switch on end users. I think the IT industry is at an immense inflection point.

[torreydale]

www.linuxscreenshots.org is back.

[Wirezfree]

@wirezfree,
Time to post something else so you can have 667 number of posts.

 

I think this makes me the "Neighbour Of The Beast"

[pelouk]

Tried it, loved it and within a month I had binned Windows for good.

Plus, as a newbie, I doubt that there's any support can match it. Just upgraded to 2.4 and everything went smooth as silk.

Many thanks once again to the tech team.

[torreydale]

@wirezfree,
Time to post something else so you can have 667 number of posts.

[Wirezfree]

I tried many, Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint(various), Mageia, Zorin(Not to bad), CentOS(to techy), Antix(did like that) , Puppy(Found it odd)
But none of them felt right, then I found LL, and as they say "The rest is history",

Just a note similar to rokytngi, I have a HP TS14 Touch screen laptop, and it just works, no tweaks or fiddling. I vary rarely use touch.

Code: [Select]


dave@hp-lappy1:~$ inxi -M
Machine:   System: Hewlett-Packard (portable) product: HP Pavilion TS 14 Notebook PC version: 0881100000305E00000620100
                Mobo: Hewlett-Packard model: 2161 version: 29.42 Bios: Insyde version: F.62 date: 03/06/2014
and

Code: [Select]


dave@hp-lappy1:~$ dmesg | grep usb
<snip>
[    2.176777] usb 2-8: Product: eGalaxTouch EXC7910-1018-13.00.01
[    2.176779] usb 2-8: Manufacturer: eGalax Inc.
[    2.183043] usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
[    2.183043] usbhid: USB HID core driver
[    5.072487] input: eGalax Inc. eGalaxTouch EXC7910-1018-13.00.01 as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-8/2-8:1.0/input/input16
[    5.073242] hid-multitouch 0003:0EEF:A107.0001: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v2.10 Device [eGalax Inc. eGalaxTouch EXC7910-1018-13.00.01] on usb-0000:00:14.0-8/input0
[    5.195063] input: HP Truevision HD as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.0/usb2/2-3/2-3:1.0/input/input18
<snip>


[OldGuy]

I've used a number of distros and a Buntu seems best for lazy folks.  It's easy to find software and having PPA's available is a great feature.  I used Zorin Lite for a long time but preferred something available in 64 bit.  Tried LL and it just worked for me...

[rokytnji]

@rokytnji,

You have Linux Lite working with touchscreen?

Yep, sure do. I also have  AntiX 15 working on a touchscreen. I run the latest kernel on that laptop and touchscreen works.
On my AntiX install. I am running the 3.16 kernel and my touchscreen works on my Atom Netbook . Below is a readout in code showing my touchscreen in the Atom netbook . Which is a M&A Companion touch.

Code: [Select]

dmesg | grep usb
<snip>
[    2.472782] usb 5-1: Manufacturer: eTurboTouch
[    2.484093] input: eTurboTouch eTurboTouch as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.3/usb5/5-1/5-1:1.0/0003:22B9:0006.0001/input/input3
[    2.484416] input: eTurboTouch eTurboTouch as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.3/usb5/5-1/5-1:1.0/0003:22B9:0006.0001/input/input4
[    2.484793] hid-generic 0003:22B9:0006.0001: input,hiddev0,hidraw0: USB HID v1.01 Mouse [eTurboTouch eTurboTouch] on usb-0000:00:1d.3-1/input0
<snip>

Below is my intro deciding to run Linux lite because it detects and makes my touchscreen work on my Dell XT2 with a touch screen.

https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/introductions/howdy-from-a-scooter-tramp-with-a-linux-computer/msg3875/#msg3875

Did you know? I require no /etc/X11/xorg.conf for my touchscreens to work. It was a surprise to  me also.

Here is the Dell touchscreen XT2 when I was doing beta testing on AntiX 15. I'd show the same in Linux-Lite 2.4 but I am posting right now from my

Code: [Select]

$ inxi -M
'Machine:   System: Dell product: Latitude E5500
           Mobo: Dell model: 0DW635 Bios: Dell v: A17 date: 09/27/2011

So a old report is what I have to show since the other Dell is put away for now.

Code: [Select]

demo@antiX1:~
$ dmesg | grep usb
<snip>
[    5.703607] Modules linked in: i915 button video drm_kms_helper drm i2c_algo_bit intel_gtt nls_utf8 nls_cp437 ehci_pci uhci_hcd battery fusbh200_hcd ehci_hcd
[   10.613442] input: N-Trig Pen as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.0/0003:1B96:0001.0001/input/input10
[   10.613643] input: N-Trig Touchscreen as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.0/0003:1B96:0001.0001/input/input11
[   10.613793] ntrig 0003:1B96:0001.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Device [HID 1b96:0001] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-2/input0
[   11.032330] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[   15.617470] input: N-Trig Pen as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.1/0003:1B96:0001.0002/input/input14
[   15.617838] input: N-Trig Touchscreen as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.1/usb5/5-2/5-2:1.1/0003:1B96:0001.0002/input/input15
[   15.618118] ntrig 0003:1B96:0001.0002: input,hidraw1: USB HID v1.10 Device [HID 1b96:0001] on usb-0000:00:1d.1-2/input1


[torreydale]

@rokytnji,

You have Linux Lite working with touchscreen?

[pauloz]

I just got sick to death of Windows consistently hanging, slow with questionable security - in other words the usual suspects! What sold me on Ubuntu 5 years ago was firstly, the security, stability and secondly, the speed. It just worked. I was checking the reviews of LL and was impressed with all the favourable reviews and knowing it was based on the Ubuntu 14.04 LTS platform, it was a no-brainer. Also, there were many things I don't use in Ubuntu so LL was the perfect fit. I haven't looked back!

Spread the word!!