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Monday, June 21, 2010

Mandriva Linux Chronicles: No One Takes Linux Seriously Until...

sábado 19 de junio de 2010

No One Takes Linux Seriously Until...


Find the computer that works in the picture above.

Yes, nobody takes Linux seriously until you are face to face with the Blue Screen of Death, your system refuses to start, or maybe it does, but then it goes into a never ending loop of booting. I have never experienced anything like this in Linux. All those critical moments become particularly nerve-racking when you depend on your computer for turning in a vital assignment, when you are waiting for an important document file, or the day in which you must retrieve information that happens to be stored only inside your HD.

WHAT TO DO: LIVE CDs
You want to give Linux a chance but you are afraid of "not understanding it"? Well, remember that you can RUN the Linux OS from a CD or DVD without installing anything to your computer! All you have to do is put it on the CD/DVD tray and run it. It's as simple as that. Of course, you must remember that the performance is going to be a bit slower, but this way you can learn about Linux without committing to a full migration until you are ready for it.

If you practice with a Live CD of your favorite distro, next time your Windows computer crashes, you will be ready to operate it temporarily using Linux. A colleague of mine (who happens to break his computer from time to time with the aid of the most destructive viruses I've ever seen) started his computer, checked his email, and browsed the Web this way for almost a month before we could restore his Windows XP. I personally don't recommend surviving on a Live CD for so long, but it was his choice and Linux was up to the job.

If you practice, you will use your knowledge about Linux for your personal advantage in a crisis.

OK, I started the system with a Live CD...
Now, how do I get my file?

Read more...
http://mandrivachronicles.blogspot.com/2010/06/no-one-takes-linux-seriously-until.html

Personally, I prefer using a Fedora Linux Live CD - DVD for this. Fedora will automatically any healthy drive automatically during boot up. I prefer the Gnome Desktop to KDE. I've been using Linux for 5 years now and have tried over 25 Distros and Fedora and Debian (not the Ubuntu version) are my favorites. The only difference in the layout of Gnome and Windows, is that the Programs, via the Applications menu is at the top left instead of the bottom. And your open Apps are at the bottom, making for a much less crowded working area at the top and bottom of your screen. You can add quick launch buttons to the top for your most used Apps. But wait, that's really only useful if you install Linux to your HD. I'm sure you will want to thought, if you give Linus a try;) KDE if fine and the Apps menu is at the bottom left just like WindBlows. One thing to learn it that KDE Apps all have funny names. Everything begins with a K, ie KDesktop (the KDE Desktop App), Konqueror (a nice File and Web Browser combined) etc. But that makes it very hard to remember the App names for me. That's the main reason I don't like KDE. But I do love many of their Apps. My favorite is a Twin Panel File Manager called Krusader. It work just like Total Commander for Windows and can do most any file managing thing you need. It doesn't come on many Live CD's. But you can install most Apps in Memory while running a Live CD - DVD. Just remember you are using up memory (RAM) when you install while running a Live CD. I also use FileZilla allot to backup files to another Computer on my Network via SSH connections. Just type in the IP of the machine you want to backup to, the user (windows user on remote machine) or root (Linux) and the password for the remote machine. Use port 22 for SSH - SFTP connections. You can do this with Krusader too, but it can be a bit more complicated to get your SSH connection working, so I use FileZilla for SSH - SFTP. Krusader works good for Samba (windows network) connections that don't require a password too. Also there is another twin panel file manager that works easily and automatically finds Samba - SMB Shares on Windows Machines, it's called Gnome Commander. That's all I use this one for though, cause it has a few display issues that I don't like. Nothing wrong with the App, I just can't get it to show my files in actual Alphabetical order. It shows the files starting in Caps in one section and the ones starting in lower case in another. This causes me many headaches when trying to find the files I'm looking for, cause I can't remember this and I never remember what case a file name starts with. I'm lucky to remember the file name or at least part of it!;) So, at any rate. There many Linux Distros that can be used to Rescue your Files, Your Windows File system and get you back to Computing in a Hurry. When, not if... your Windows System Crashes. Elive 2.0 and Linux Mint are a couple of good ones for running Live too. Both of them come ready to play Online Audio and Video. That pesky Flash and Java stuff the you have to install manually on allot of other Linux Distros. One important thing to know... Always make sure your Computer's Bios is set to Boot to CD - DVD first before your HD's or it will never get to the point of reading and Booting your Linux Live CD - DVD and it will just keep on trying to boot to your messed up WindBlows installation on your HD. I have found allot of info on Linux and Windows OS's. So, use the Google Search at the top of each page on my Blog to see what I have already found... It may speed up your research.

Don

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