Best Linux build for noobs?

[SvZurich]

Ubuntu, especially since Vale is making sure Steam and Steam games are being made compatible with it.

[_Xenu_]

Making the drives Linux friendly is more about getting them partitioned to a Linux native format (yes, I know about ext4. and it's large file friendliness, me likey) and not an M$ proprietary format. Yes, Linux can read and write to NTFS, but the risk of data corruption is too high for me to be comfortable with. But, after further review, I currently have less than 2TB (barely) total data on the large drives (system runs on a 32gig SSD and application/working files on a 500gig drive). Moving stuff about so that I can completely strip down and re-partition the large drives (one at a time, of course) is do-able. Now I just have to consider the time investment of moving, essentially, 3.5-4 TB of data around on top of a clean install.

Win7 won't ask about saving my old data but that wouldn't be a concern since it would be going on the SSD anyway.

Sounds like you have a good plan. If you want, you can even combine your drives into a single logical one, but I have another suggestion since you seem a bit paranoid about your data. Since you have two disks of the same size, and you're only using about half of your storage capacity, you could try out RAID 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#RAID_1

here are a couple of other issues of switching to Linux that give me pause, but most of them can be handled by my old clunker if I can't find reliable Linux methods.

Can you be more specific? The built in functionality of Linux will blow your mind if you're used to Windows. And you can easily add more features from the repositories at no charge.

Anyone know how big a pain in the ass getting dual screens running in Ubuntu is and are more than two possible? I've heard it can be "challenging." That is the one thing I will absolutely not give up. No-way, no-how! Multiple monitors are my greatest (computer geek related) weakness and if I had the desk space I'd have three, four or even more. :-D

I have heard it can be difficult, but it doesn't matter unless you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously. Almost every version of Linux has something called "workspaces."  You can shift between them by pressing control + alt, then the left or right arrow key. This emulates having multiple monitors.

[Plu]

I have heard it can be difficult, but it doesn't matter unless you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously. Almost every version of Linux has something called "workspaces." You can shift between them by pressing control + alt, then the left or right arrow key. This emulates having multiple monitors.

Of course you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously, that's the main advantage of having two monitors :P

[Johan]

Anyone know how big a pain in the ass getting dual screens running in Ubuntu is and are more than two possible? I've heard it can be "challenging." That is the one thing I will absolutely not give up. No-way, no-how! Multiple monitors are my greatest (computer geek related) weakness and if I had the desk space I'd have three, four or even more. :-D

I have heard it can be difficult, but it doesn't matter unless you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously. Almost every version of Linux has something called "workspaces."  You can shift between them by pressing control + alt, then the left or right arrow key. This emulates having multiple monitors.

Workspaces is a great feature and I use it all the time on my shop computer which runs ubuntu. But it ain't the same as multiple monitors and I would not install linux on any multiple monitor setup I had unless I knew beforehand that I would retain support for multiple monitors afterward.

[GalacticBusDriver]

Sounds like you have a good plan. If you want, you can even combine your drives into a single logical one, but I have another suggestion since you seem a bit paranoid about your data. Since you have two disks of the same size, and you're only using about half of your storage capacity, you could try out RAID 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID#RAID_1

Thanks for the link, but I'm already quite familiar with raid arrays. It's not that I'm paranoid about my data. I just don't want to put that data at an unnecessary risk and running NTFS in a Linux environment does that. Believe me, that drive pace will get used!

Can you be more specific? The built in functionality of Linux will blow your mind if you're used to Windows. And you can easily add more features from the repositories at no charge.

I phrased that poorly. It's not built in Linux functionality that I'm concerned with, but applications that I currently use that don't have a Linux counterpart. Adobe "Digital Editions" is a good example. I love borrowing eBooks from the local (and not so local) libraries but most of them require Digital Editions if I want to transfer them to my Nook and there is no Linux version. Again, this really is a non-issue as I have an older PC that is more than up to these tasks.

I have heard it can be difficult, but it doesn't matter unless you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously. Almost every version of Linux has something called "workspaces."  You can shift between them by pressing control + alt, then the left or right arrow key. This emulates having multiple monitors.

Of course you need to look at multiple screens simultaneously, that's the main advantage of having two monitors :P

This!

Workspaces is a great feature and I use it all the time on my shop computer which runs ubuntu. But it ain't the same as multiple monitors and I would not install linux on any multiple monitor setup I had unless I knew beforehand that I would retain support for multiple monitors afterward.

And really this!

Learning a new OS doesn't bother me. I do that every second or third M$ release anyway. Finding Linux versions of my current software or new software packages that do what I want doesn't bother me. I do a lot of that as well. Not having a multi-monitor set-up is an absolute deal breaker. From my understanding, it can be done, it's just a pain in the ass.

[wolf39us]

I have a dual monitor setup and running linux with "extended" desktop is pretty easy.  Only need to adjust a few settings in your video options.

[Johan]

I have a dual monitor setup and running linux with "extended" desktop is pretty easy.  Only need to adjust a few settings in your video options.

What flavor of linux are you running and what video hardware are you using? That can make a big difference in how easy or hard or impossible it is to get dual monitors to work.

[GalacticBusDriver]

About to take the plunge. Ubuntu 12.10, here I come!

Wish me luck, guys.

[_Xenu_]

About to take the plunge. Ubuntu 12.10, here I come!

Wish me luck, guys.

You would be well advised to stick to the latest LTR, in this case 12.04.

[GalacticBusDriver]

About to take the plunge. Ubuntu 12.10, here I come!

Wish me luck, guys.

You would be well advised to stick to the latest LTR, in this case 12.04.

Now you tell me. :-D

Oh well, not gonna bother at this point. If I have issues, I have an install disc for 12.04 as well.

I've got some learning to do but I've already got the dual monitor thing figured out. I love the interface. Stuff that I had to lean in to read is now crystal clear at the same monitor resolution.

So far, Ubuntu freakin' rocks!

[Johan]

About to take the plunge. Ubuntu 12.10, here I come!

Wish me luck, guys.

You would be well advised to stick to the latest LTR, in this case 12.04.

Now you tell me. :-D

Oh well, not gonna bother at this point. If I have issues, I have an install disc for 12.04 as well.

I've got some learning to do but I've already got the dual monitor thing figured out. I love the interface. Stuff that I had to lean in to read is now crystal clear at the same monitor resolution.

So far, Ubuntu freakin' rocks!

Excellent. Makes me think its finally time to upgrade my shop computer that runs ubuntu. I built the machine a few years ago. Not sure what version its running but its whatever was current back then, 10.something maybe?

I've been putting off upgrading because I use a couple of desktop enhancement apps that I really like and I've been afraid of losing them if they weren't supported on the newer versions. I'll have to look up the names of the stuff I use and see if they're still supported or if there is something equivalent.


EDIT: Nevermind. Just did a youtube search. Compiz appears to still be supported in 12.10. I will be upgrading in the next week or two.

[GalacticBusDriver]

Ok, the file structure of Linux is going to take some serious getting used to. the DOS/Windows C: is certainly simpler. That and the lack of support for dual screen wallpapers (the image is centered on each monitor instead of centered between them) are the only two drawbacks I've found so far. Neither is a deal breaker so far, but I have a small system drive and haven't yet figured out how to mount the larger ext4 drives or if it possible to get software installed somewhere other than the system drive.

On the other hand, Calibre (e-book library program) seems to run faster on Ubuntu than it did on Windows, but that could also be the result of a fresh install.

[wolf39us]

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/XineramaHowTo

This should help

[NitzWalsh]

I would like to toss linux on a machine sooner or later, I'm not going to do that with this machine right now because I need it for school and if something goes wrong with a linux install I'd be pretty much screwed up the poop shooter.

[_Xenu_]

Ok, the file structure of Linux is going to take some serious getting used to. the DOS/Windows C: is certainly simpler.

Actually, the Windows way of dealing with that is horribly obsolete. It worked fine when you had a floppy drive, a hard drive, and maybe a cd-rom, but these days it barely works at all because the drive letters constantly change when you insert new media. Linux will automount USB sticks or whatever to your desktop, so you don't really need to worry about that sort of thing.