Re: [gentoo-user] [OT] Simple to upgrade Linux distro

[R0b0t1]

On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 7:26 PM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
> R0b0t1 wrote:
>> On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 1:46 AM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>>> Howdy,
>>>
>>> This isn't a Gentoo question but most everyone here used something
>>> before Gentoo.  I need a simple to upgrade distro for someone else.
>>>
>>> A friend of mine had windoze XP, which is dead to M$.  She needed
>>> something and buying a computer or new OS is not a option, even tho she
>>> needs to upgrade that 10 or 12 year old thing she has.  So, I put Mageia
>>> on it a couple years ago, used to be Mandrake way back which is what I
>>> started with.  She has been doing updates every week or so since it is
>>> GUI based and pretty easy.  Tell it to update or just click the pop-up
>>> when it tells you one is available and when it is done, reboot.  Yea,
>>> windowish I know.  lol  Anyway, she did a update and now she can't login
>>> to KDE.  I drove up, hour away, and tried to figure it out.  It has
>>> changed so much, I'm pretty clueless.  It is NOT Gentoo by any means.  I
>>> renamed the user directory in case it was a config that the new update
>>> was hanging on but nothing.  It just won't let you login.  Also reset
>>> the password as well.  Thing is, I installed ICEwm during the install
>>> and it works.  It logs in but the screen doesn't refresh like it
>>> should.  You close a app, it's closed but it doesn't refresh the screen
>>> so it looks like it is still there.  The whole thing is weird.  Since I
>>> couldn't figure out what the problem was, I tried upgrading to Mageia
>>> 6.  Figured if it was a software bug, maybe that would fix it.  Nope.
>>> So, she's using ICEwm for the moment but it is weird.
>>>
>>> What I'm looking for.  Something that I can install fairly quickly from
>>> a DVD.  Rig is to old to boot from USB stick.  Something with a GUI
>>> update process that is fairly easy.  Uses either KDE by default or is
>>> easily installable, hopefully during install by default.  The big one,
>>> needs to be able to run on older hardware.  Her rig is something like a
>>> 2GHz single core CPU and around 2GBs of ram.  The drives are SATA but
>>> that's about the most advanced hardware it has.  The video is a built in
>>> Intel of some sort.  Nothing fast or even fancy for that matter.  Yes,
>>> I'm keeping a eye out for a newer rig but it is what it is right now.
>>>
>>> I've used Gentoo for so long, I don't know what other distros offer
>>> nowadays.  I figure that there are several distros that are graphical
>>> nowadays but also need good support for older hardware and easy update
>>> process.  Googling around isn't helping me much.  If I find something I
>>> like, no KDE.  If I find KDE based and a GUI updater, something else
>>> won't work.  I figure asking those who have personal experience would be
>>> best.  :-)
>>>
>>> Thoughts?  Suggestions??
>>>
>> I second the suggestion to try Xubuntu, though you should also look at
>> Lubuntu (which uses LXDE). Sticking to Ubuntu based distributions
>> might be a good idea because there is a large userbase that has easy
>> to search for answers to common problems.
>>
>> Plasma 5 might load her hardware too much. Is MATE unsuitable? You can
>> also look for even lighter weight window managers and install them on
>> top of the default desktop environment, but most of them target power
>> users.
>>
>> https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/window_manager#List_of_window_managers
>>
>> R0b0t1.
>>
>>
>
>
> I have a question or two on this.  The reason I went with KDE, I use it
> and it is closest to being windozeish.  On occasion I read where some of
> those other "lighter" desktops are 'feature rich' like KDE is.  Example,
> plug in a USB device and it pops up with a menu to select from a lot
> like KDE does.  Is LXDE or Mate like that?
>

MATE is probably the closest to a stereotypical Windows setup and
looks better; LXDE should be technically sufficient but it's possible
to say it doesn't look very nice. I would actually expect more culture
shock going from Windows to KDE than Windows to MATE. MATE and Gnome 2
are fairly close to Windows XP in design, granted some things are
moved around. Gnome 3 is closer to Windows 8 and 8.1. Plasma 5
implements more of the things that one finds in Windows 10.

(Notably those desktop environments came out *before* the respective
Windows versions that share UI/UX design elements with them.)

When you get to the low end of desktop environments or window mangers,
they tend to clash with default window stylings and don't offer any
window chrome.  They were made by programmers with little or no
background in graphic design.

> The thing about her, she doesn't know a lot about puters but she doesn't
> mind clicking around to find a way to get things to work.  Example, she
> plugged her phone in and figured out how to download pics and stuff.
> Heck, I don't know how to do that myself.  Then again, my phone is so
> old, it may not can do that.  It's a old Motorola Razr flip phone which
> I maxed out on contacts in my address book a while back.  I want it to
> be easy for her but at the same time, she can figure things out.  She
> also knows that as long as she is a user, she can't hurt much.  She
> stays away from root except when doing updates.
>

Generally if the person can get over the fact the OS isn't Windows and
they will have to poke around things will be fine.

> The biggest thing, her rig is old.  It's older than my older rig and
> ancient compared to what I'm typing on now which is several years old
> itself but has upgrade room.  lol
>
> Thinking about installing some of these on my rig and just seeing what
> it looks like.  < thinking >
>

Testing out desktop environments and window managers is good fun, but
it dries up fast. Time permitting you might want to give your friend a
live demo of a few different window managers (probably from one of
your computers). Unfortunately my experience with old hardware
suggests she will have problems running anything but MATE or LXDE.


On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 7:46 PM, Rich Freeman <rich0@g.o> wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 19, 2017 at 5:26 PM, Dale <rdalek1967@×××××.com> wrote:
>> [...]
>
> To some degree I'd think Mate would offer this kind of experience.
> Lightweight options like lxde or xfce are probably going to fall
> short.  Full Gnome or KDE are are probably as close as you're going to
> get to a Windows-like environment.
>

I have seen complaints that LXDE or XFCE (and less commonly Mate or
Gnome 2) is insufficient. It is my guess that the person actually
thinks their window styling is ugly and noticeably different from
Windows. Granted that's a perfectly valid reason not to use them, but
even LXDE offers things like automatically mounted external storage.

> Nobody seems to be mentioning full Ubuntu - assuming it performs well
> it should of course be considered as an option as well.  I'm all for
> Xubuntu but it might not be the best fit depending.
>

Modern Linux development has left legacy machines behind. I had issues
running stock Ubuntu, and even Xubuntu, on a computer less than 12
years old.

R0b0t1.