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  • I'm looking for a linux distro to replace OSX Snow Leopard on my 08 macbook (core2duo). My requirements are mainly an office suite (libre office), a visio-like software, web browsing/video viewing and pdf work (something with most of the functionality of acrobat would be awesome, but not necessary). Any specialised programs for work I can run through a dual booted/virtualised windows 7 or using a wine skin if available.

    What would be the best distro for the requirements set out above? So far I've narrowed it down to ElementaryOS - primarily as it seems to be marketed as a bit of a out of the box distro similar to OSX, or alternatively ubuntu with some sort of DE..

  • starting a new job which will have a bit of Linux admin to it - possibly Red Hat Enterprise (I think)

    anyone point an absolute beginner to some good resources?

  • At British Airways by any chance? ;-)

  • ha! no....

  • The distro you choose will have minimal influence on what you can actually run. Libre office will run on pretty much any linux distro.

    I haven't used ElementaryOS, but as far as I can tell it's just Ubuntu with a different desktop environment (Pantheon - which is based on Gnome)

    I'd definitely recommend Ubuntu - it has by far the largest user base and the best community support. In my experience it requires the least tinkering to get working, and when things go wrong, it's the easiest to find a solution for.

  • I've got a Ubuntu headless server running Plex.

    For various reasons I want to start using this as a media PC as well so need something more than a text interface. Is it possible (and wise) to change the current server to a Ubuntu desktop install whilst keeping the settings (the only things I'm really fussed by are the fstab drive mounts and the plex install).

    A quick google suggests it is possible but there appear to be multiple ways and a lot of the answers are pretty old.

    Also, does Ubuntu play nicely with HDMI and AV receivers nowadays? I remember all sorts of pain amending the xorg.conf and cloning EDID to try and get it to work in the past.

  • https://askubuntu.com/questions/322122/switching-from-server-to-desktop seems to cover it, including adding package sources. Can't see the point of tasksel here though as it's a single command line to install the desktop meta-package anyway. Presume afterwards you won't be accessing it headless. Can't help on the HDMI/AV question.

  • Cheers, I saw that one but wasn't sure whether it still applied as it was an older version of Ubuntu.

  • Cheers - I did end up installing eOS with a lot of ubuntu-based mods, but the end result was that it didn't perform as well on the aging apple hardware as I thought it would (slower, processor overheating even with tlp and a fan daemon installed). To be fair, I didn't meet the minimum requirements specified on the website (i3 minimum vs my core2duo) so that was probably it. Back to the insecure snow leopard for me.

  • Any suggestions on how to make a particular program (plex server) bypass the VPN? VPN can be set up via the PIA program, OpenVPN or the built-in VPN in ubuntu (and possibly other ways) but I can't find any option to have a particular program bypass it.

  • Network namespaces may help, but I've never attempted it so you're on your own.

    Otherwise, virtual machines may be your solution?

  • Another option, but just a guess, I haven't really worked with VPNs. If the tunnel appears as a separate virtual network interface, for outgoing traffic you should be able to set up routing to a non-vpn interface based on destination IPs, like for your local network. In case of a server program, there's a chance you'd be able to configure the daemon to bind to a non-vpn interface.

  • I've been using ubuntu from a flash on an old windows laptop* and have decided I need to bit the bullet and get rid of windows.

    It's got pretty low specs but runs Lubuntu [ ?? ] fine.

    Is there anything "better" than Lubuntu that I should consider installing instead?

    And when it says "Choose 32-bit for older computers and 64-bit for newer ones", how old is old? Or I guess is there any downside to 32-bit?

    Cheers.

    *Samsung X420
    Specs:
    Intel CPU U7300 @ 1.30GHz
    3GB RAM
    Windows 7 32-bit OS

  • All the Core2Duo processors are 64bit so you should be good to use the 64 bit version.

    Using the 64bit version should give you a marginal performance boost and allows you to use more than 4gb or ram (if you were to upgrade it)

    Speaking of upgrades, now would be an excellent time to invest in an SSD. You could install Linux on that and keep windows on the old hard drive, should you ever need to switch back.

  • Cheers. I wasn't sure because it's running a 32-bit version of Windows 7.

    invest in an SSD

    Have they come down drastically in price? Last time I looked they were >£100. Which on a 7yo free laptop seems a bit much.

    I think I could stomach £30 max.

  • Yeah I don't know why they would put 32 bit windows on a 64 bit machine. Perhaps some of the hardware didn't have 64 bit drivers at the time.

    You can check supported architectures form the Linux console using lscpu.

    SSDs have fallen a lot in price, but 250gb from a reputable manufacturer is still going to set you back ~£70-80

  • Does anyone know how to recover files saved on a live version of Lubuntu ?

    I was previously running Lubuntu as a live version from a flashdrive (no. 1). For the full install I used a different flashdrive (no. 2).

    I'd like the files I'd saved on flashdrive no.1. I've tried searching no.1 in windows and in the newly installed Lubuntu, but nothing obvious comes up.

    It seems like something someone must have dealt with, but Google results are all centred around recovering files using linux so it's hard to find anything.

    Any ideas?

    Cheers.

  • Boot up the live version again (no.1) and copy them to a flashdrive seems the easiest way.

    Are you sure the files are actually saved, the live versions aren't always persistent between sessions.

  • Cheers. Good idea. I'll give that a try.

    I'm not 100% now. But previously they had been there every time I'd run from the live vers. - hence why I'd run the live version for so long.

  • It worked! Cheers.

    Feel a bit silly for not thinking of it.

  • help!

    I’d like to add an entry to an (working) samba smb.conf file in REHL 4, but back it up first and have the ability to copy the original back in if I eff things up

    So background is that SMB1 has been disabled in light of the wannacry etc. attacks in May, however that has killed Windows 7 client connections to a Linux VM with some samba shares, so I need to enable SMB2

    So far I’ve copied the working smb.conf via command cp /etc/samba/smb.conf ~ and I see that copy file in root home, so I know I have a backup of the known good config

    Google suggests cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.backup makes a copy and cp /etc/samba/smb.conf.backup /etc/samba/smb.conf would copy my backup back in

    What I’m not entirely sure of is whether I need to edit the ‘running’ config when in the ‘backup’ context (cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf) and then if I save that, does whatever change I make become the working file?

    I’m confused

  • I am confused now too. You're trying to copy a file onto itself?

    Usually you edit a config, then restart the service somehow.

  • So I want to backup the existing config
    Make a change to the config
    Copy it back in so it becomes the new working config
    But also be able to revert back to my saved config if I eff it up

  • cp /etc/samba/smb.conf ~/smb.conf.old
    cp ~/smb.conf.old ~/smb.conf.new

    edit/vi ~/smb.conf.new

    then cp ~/smb.conf.new /etc/samba/smb.conf
    restart samba and test.

    if it doesnt work then cp ~/smb.conf.old /etc/samba/smb.conf and restart samba to take you back to your original config.

  • perfect thanks!

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Linux

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