New to Linux? Newbies & Gurus-Not So Newbies - All Distros Tips & Lore

Hi guys and gals! I am starting this topic in the hope that people such as myself can benefit, in a tribal fashion, from the wisdom of The Elders ... but at the same time, even the Teacher can sometimes learn from the Student. All you have to do is think beyond the square in which you live, and you are on your way!

TIP FOR TODAY

Thinking of trying Ubuntu (arguably) the world's favourite Linux distribution (Distro)? The screenshot below details the minimum system requirements to run Ubuntu 14.04 LTS codename Trusty Tahr. Source is https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Riddle - When is Ubuntu not Ubuntu? Answer in next three days.

Question - is MiB a typographical error for MB? Answer tomorrow.

Wizard

 

is MiB a typographical error for MB? Answer tomorrow.

No

 

The mebibyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. The binary prefix mebi means 2²⁰; therefore 1 mebibyte is 1048576bytes. The unit symbol for the mebibyte is MiB.^[1] The unit was established by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1998.^[2] It was designed to replace the megabyte used in some computer science contexts to mean 2²⁰ bytes, which is similar to the SI definition of the prefix mega (10⁶) but conflicts with it.

While Ubuntu says 512 MiB ram is enough for Ubuntu, I think its a joke, Lets see you run 2 or 3 tabs in Firefox, While Listening to music then open dash. Puppy Linux is ok with 512 MiB, I think that number should be raised to 1 GiB.

Yes, 1GiB should be the lowest minimum for today's demanding needs, even for Linux based OS's. And even with that, try having a few browser pages open, have VLC open to listen to music, or better than that, try running XBMC. Sure it'll run, but give it more RAM, it'll run better. Even the low end PC's of today, many ships with 6GiB of DDR3 RAM, running at 1600MHz. This is for a $348 PC, just seen one in the store yesterday. 

I'd say 1GiB for basic use, such as Web browsing, checking email, but the good apps will suffer. On a 32 bit PC, 2GiB, 64 bit, 4GiB. That will get most things done on the Linux based OS. If one intends of running virtual machines, more may be needed to get the most out of the VM, while not risking leaving too little for the main (host) OS. 

 

 

• 700 MHz processor (about Intel Celeron or better)

I have to question this one, as I haven't seen this low of a CPU since the turn of the century 3 & a half months shy of 15 years ago. Maybe on a smartphone or handheld computing device? The smallest that I have & among the smallest that I've had, in a 1.73GHz Intel Pentium M, which is a whopping 1GHz more than Ubuntu's published minimum. 

What we run into here with "minimums" is the same thing that MS has done for years. Remember they said only 64MiB minimum RAM was needed (although 128MiB was recommended) & 1.5GiB was the minimum drive space? Ha! Windows Updates wouldn't fit on that space, nor could I envision XP running on 64MiB of RAM, the minimum I've ever ran & that was upgraded a week later, was 256MiB, which was increased to 1GiB & later to 2GiB (there were no 1GiB sticks at the time, as a result of this, Dell didn't know that 2GiB was the max). 

A quote from the page the OP has linked: 

 

* 1000 ΜHz processor (about Intel Celeron or better)

* 1024 MiB RAM (system memory)

* 3D Acceleration Capable Videocard with at least 256 MB

From experience, we all know that it is recommended to have 2048 MiB RAM to properly run a day to day Ubuntu.

A good start should be with minimum 1024 and recommended 2048 MiB RAM.

 

That seems more realistic, especially on the RAM end, though the CPU may still be the bottleneck of the system. A 256MiB GPU is also reasonable for basic use, though again, this will show if running XBMC & YouTube videos. 

Most systems that were designed to run Windows 7 or later Vista models (beginning in 2008), should be quite capable of running the latest Linux based OS's. Computers that were built to run Windows XP, must have PAE & NX to run the latest releases, the last "full" Linux releases that can run on these are the Linux Mint 13 variants (MATE, Cinnamon & KDE), though Cinnamon will struggle if the graphics card is a small one. Later, a non-PAE Ubuntu 12.04 was released, but it's not a popular one, in part due to many not knowing of it's existence. 

Cat

Hate Smarty Pants from Nimbin - only kidding NickAu1, ROTFL.

I read about these KiB, MiB, GiB &c, terms, only yesterday, although I had noticed that Ubuntu Linux use the terms frequently. My source was http://www.charlestonsw.com/the-difference-between-mib-and-mb/ initially, followed by reading from the NIST website, at http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html . NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology, HQ Boulder, Colorado USA, they are an agency of the US Dept of Commerce.

Between the two, I worked out something that has been bugging me for 10 - 12 years, but more on that another time.

I agree, tentatively, with NickAU1 about the Ubuntu RAM problem, tried something with my wife's laptop last night, more later.

Wiz

This post is a good idea Wiz - nice one.

Whilst I was enjoying the open discussion we were having on the "Which distro is right for me" thread we were heading way off topic which would have resulted in us mongrolising the topic and showing a lack of respect to the person who started it.

Those minimum system requirements for Ubuntu......700MHz....wow.....sounds like they would be more suitable for a calculator.

 I have something for you - it is not new so experienced Linux users may have already taken steps to sort this potential issue out.

If you are like me and using Firefox you might want to take a look at Chrome.

The reason I say this is because Adobe will no longer be providing new releases of Adobe Flash Player for Linux beyond version 11.2 : http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/02/adobe-adandons-flash-on-linux
 

They  point out that they will continue to provide security updates for the latest release (11.2) for the following 5 years.

For me, that is a pain the the butt - I much prefer Firefox to Chrome but it appears that I no longer have a choice.
 

Edited by Agent_Orange, 18 September 2014 - 01:42 AM.

 

The reason I say this is because Adobe will no longer be providing new releases of Adobe Flash Player for Linux beyond version 11.2 :

 

Fresh Player Plugin, a new wrapper that's currently in alpha, which allows Linux users to use Pepper Flash (which is bundled with Google Chrome) in Firefox and other NPAPI-compatible web browsers.

Install Fresh Player Plugin In Ubuntu Via PPA (Pepper Flash Wrapper For Firefox)

.

Edited by NickAu1, 18 September 2014 - 01:36 AM.

Thanks NickAu1,
 

Have you tested or are you using the Fresh Player Plugin?

As it is currently in Apha I might wait a while before pulling the trigger on that one  - but definetly will keep an eye on how its development is going.

In the meantime - I might give Chrome a go, just to see what difference , if any, I experience using that browser in comparison with Firefox (my long time favourite).

 

Edited by Agent_Orange, 18 September 2014 - 01:48 AM.

Well, now I know why Gparted reported more space during the pre-format prior to the install & have a understanding of the difference. 

What I don't like about GParted is it wants to make all partitions Primaries by default, if a Logical one is made, looks out of the ordinary & there's no choice given to format to. Creates partition only.  

Am still using GParted for SSD's on Linux installs, as I don't know how the installer will align these. At the time, can check this through the System Information panel on Windows, which provides the exact Partition Starting Offset for each partition, be it Linux or Windows. Divide this number by 4096 & if the result is a whole number, it's aligned. There needs to be a Linux utility to report this same information, maybe it is there, but I haven't found, nor have heard of it. Until I do, am going to stick with what's proven. This is critical, because an unaligned SSD will not only not give top performance, lifespan will go down the drain also & warranty may not cover this type of wear. Especially if the they can recover the partitions & see they weren't aligned, or the customer sends the SSD in with the OS installed (not smart to do). 

This is something that all Linux newbies needs to know, is how to align partitions, especially with SSD's being the best bang for the buck for performance these days. It used to be RAM, but pricing surged in mid 2012 & has shown no signs of letting off. SSD's meanwhile, continues to dip lower by the month. 

Also, Advanced Format drives are supposed to have aligned partitions, though not all follows this rule. 4K is what this is known as. The old school rule of having small gaps of unallocated space between partitions shouldn't be the case with newer drives, partitions should always be aligned by MiB, not cylinders & there should be no small gaps in between.  

Same with Flash drives, if these ever need formatting, it's important to align, otherwise there will be unallocated space at the beginning of the device. 

Regardless of what the drive is used for, it's best to align partitions & GParted is the tool to do it with. Unlike the installer, you see the real size being used. 

Cat

Crikey, a lot of activity here, thanks for patronising the topic! Agent_Orange tks for the kind words-,I know from our other topics you are (rightly so) security-minded, have some input for that over the weekend. Gotta fly.

Keep the faith, Guys

Wiz

Hi Wiz, hi guys.

 

I know from our other topics you are (rightly so) security-minded, have some input for that over the weekend.

Sounds good mate - will look forward to that. I am security minded becuse I have spent the last 10 years or more using a Windows OS.

I have been experimenting........

I have not used Google Chrome for a long time so thought I would give it a run to see how it performs on a Linux machine -  removed it within 30 minutes.....lol..... much happier with Firefox.

Also, I am going to try and use a Nvidia display driver (http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/77525/en-us)

I am not happy with the quality of the display that the current Nvidia driver, 331.38,  is providing. I am experiencing choppy playback (similar to the broken/choppy playback you may experience when you have  auto scrolling enabled in Firefox -  that type of rippling/chop).

So, I thought I woul download and install version 340.32 and see how I go.....if you do not see me here for a while you will know that things did not go well...lol.

Edited by Agent_Orange, 18 September 2014 - 05:46 AM.

 

I know from our other topics you are (rightly so) security-minded,

Yes there is a few things one can do to lock down Linux,

Apparmor is 1.

AppArmor - Ubuntu Wiki

Introduction to AppArmor

And if you guys are good I may show you a few things you can do to just plain mess with wanna be haxors, And maybe return the favour if you know what I mean.

Lesson 1 " Port Spoof" this will mess with them just a bit.

Portspoof - About

Edited by NickAu1, 18 September 2014 - 06:06 AM.

Hi NickAu1,

 

 

Yes there is a few things one can do to lock down Linux,

Apparmor is 1.

I took a look at AppArmor but just cannot get my head around it  - it is probably going to take me a while before I have a grasp of how it works and how to use it.

To give you some idea of my level of knowledge when it comes to pc's..... the only areas that I would consider myself to be say, above novice level, and not much above novice level, are security, maintenance & hardware. And that was really only brought about by neccessity (i.e 10+ years of using a Windows OS). I really do not have a firm undersatnding of the technology that drives them and no real knowledge on the computer science side of things (I cannot even write you a simple script).
 

Linux is challenging (for me at least) and is requiring a hell of a lot of research. Just attempting to perform one task may require researching a number of different things.

Even now , I am having trouble with installing the Nvidia driver following what appear to be quite simple instructions, but I will try and figure it out.

 

For now I give you these 2 words " Port Spoof" this will mess with them just a bit.

Lol...."Reverse exploitation with Portspoof"....I like that section...."So, you want to poke the bear do you huh?...okay....(((BOOM)))....cop that!"

Edited by Agent_Orange, 18 September 2014 - 06:33 AM.

 

"So, you want to poke the bear do you huh?...okay....(((BOOM)))....cop that!"

Port Spoof is not a boom its more of a slap on the wrist.

Due to site rules I can't talk about the BOOM. But BOOM there is.

Edited by NickAu1, 18 September 2014 - 04:56 PM.

I need to look more into AppArmor myself & what it does. 

By default, it's installed on Linux Mint, but for whatever reason, doesn't play well with ESET NOD 32 for Linux. Maybe for the same reasons that two similar security apps clashes on Windows. 

Does AppArmor actively protect the user & does it constantly scan the file system while Linux is running? I need both. 

Cat

Riddle - When is Ubuntu not Ubuntu? Answer in next three days.

Answer - When it is Ubuntu Gnome.

And yes, I know that Unity is a graphical shell for the GNOME desktop environment. For newcomers to this topic, you can find details on Unity at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unity_%28user_interface%29 .

Gnome was the standard for the Ubuntu Linux up until v10.10 (netbook release) of Maverick Meerkat, and v11.04 Natty Narwhal. From then on, Unity has shipped as the default in isos we download.

HOWEVER, due to popular demand, it would seem, Gnome is back as an alternative. The latest release is an LTS (Long Term Support) version of v14.04 Trusty Tahr. Its minimum system requirements are as listed below, and you will note some differences/increases in regard to the screenshot for standard Trusty I included at the start of this topic. Source is https://wiki.ubuntu.com/TrustyTahr/ReleaseNotes/UbuntuGNOME .

Note however, if you visit that website URL I included as the source, it says that the Gnome LTS is three (3) years, rather than five (5) years, which is Canonical's standard commitment.

I may try this feller out shortly, I'll post impressions if I do.

Wiz