Ubuntu which one?

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AllynW

Ubuntu which one?
« on: 19 Oct 2019, 09:29 pm »
I have been a Mac user for all this century.  My late 2012 mac Mini is a dedicated to music and a little video.  I’d like to try Ubuntu again, tried a few years ago on a very old machine and it worked fine and was easy to install.  Looking thru the available versions of Ubuntu and the “budgie-desktop” seems to be a good choice but I’m unsure.  Please take into account I’m 66 years old, I have not used the a command line this century.  My Mac Mini has a 1tb SSD and 12gb of Ram. Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Vincent Kars

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #1 on: 22 Oct 2019, 07:50 pm »
Maybe this is of help but I must admit my knowledge of Linux is pretty dated.
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/Linux/Linux.htm

derspankster

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #2 on: 22 Oct 2019, 08:19 pm »
That info is OK but it's a bit dated. The current log term support version of Ubuntu is version 18.04.  You might browse to this page for more up to date information.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Of course, if your hardware is not up to snuff to handle 18.04 you can always install an older version. For instance 10.4.

shadowlight

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #3 on: 22 Oct 2019, 08:45 pm »
First I would decide on which interface is your preference - https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours

I have not used Budgie so cannot comment on that.  I have used Lubuntu, Kubuntu and Xubuntu and my preference is L/X version since resource requirements are pretty low.  If you plan to do any mutlimedia you can also use Studio.

The last time that I had checked all of the different flavors had live-cd option that you could install on a USB flash drive and check it out with out doing any installation on the local hard disk.  Try couple of them out to see which meets your requirement and once you have made the final decision use the live-cd/usb disk to initiate local disk install.

I have moved away from the desktop interfaces in flavor of command line (Ubuntu Bionic LTS and Debian Stretch) for HQPlayer Embedded, which runs headless.

JohnR

Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #4 on: 23 Oct 2019, 12:27 pm »
Perhaps give Linux Mint (with Cinnamon) a try. I found it the user-friendliest of the ones I tried.

As above, the installer boots the full OS so you can try it out before installing. Haven't tried it on Mac hardware.

Elizabeth

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #5 on: 23 Oct 2019, 01:03 pm »
My one effort was hampered by failure to have proper drivers for things like the screen.
If I were trying again, the NUMBER ONE priority, since it is the main problem, is to be CERTAIN I had the required drivers matching the equipment for the particular software i was trying to install. If there are NO proper drivers for the  specific (type, brand, model) physical parts to connect to the program, then you are gonna be SOL. So I would make certain the drivers exist and have them on a source you can plug in and run them when needed.

Doublej

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #6 on: 23 Oct 2019, 04:47 pm »
If you are in a rush to get moving I would go for Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop or Linux Mint as John R recommends. If you want to play with them then I would install Virtualbox (Free virtualization software) on your mac and run multiple distros under it to see which one you like best.

What this won't necessary tell you though is if you will run into the driver problems that Elizabeth highlights.

What hardware are you intending to run this on?




randytsuch

Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #7 on: 23 Oct 2019, 05:04 pm »
He has an older mac mini.

Its pretty easy to install ubuntu desktop on a USB stick, and then you can try booting off the stick.  You will find out pretty quickly if there are any driver problems, but since your mac is fairly old I would expect ubuntu to boot up and run fine.

The only think you need to do is install etcher, per tutorial below, and make the usb stick.  Etcher is handy to have to make bootable media.

Link to make a bootable stick
https://tutorials.ubuntu.com/tutorial/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-macos#0

Desktop link
https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

ricmon

Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #8 on: 24 Oct 2019, 01:42 pm »
I'm a long time Linux user and have tried many distros.  They are all pretty easy to install and use these days.  Check out this link.

https://www.fossmint.com/best-linux-distros-for-laptops-in-2019/

Take a good look at Deepin  it's been getting a lot of press recently.

Good luck.
Ric 

randytsuch

Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #9 on: 24 Oct 2019, 07:49 pm »
So I started thinking about running linux on my older macbook, as there would be times when it would be good to run linux there.
I can run linux on my audio PC, but I have to swap SSD's and its kind of a hassle.

So I found this
https://www.linuxuprising.com/2019/08/rufus-creating-persistent-storage-live.html 

You need to run rufus on windows, so obviously need access to a windows machine.

This will let you run linux from a usb stick and make changes.  The last part is the key. 
With a "normal" usb stick running linux, if you try to make a change or install a new program, it's forgotten next time you boot up. 
With persistence, its is supposed to remember changes made and programs you install.
So its a little more work, but will make it easier to work with, and try out on a stick without wiping out your macos.

This is really a new feature for rufus, so it appears to only work with the latest ubuntu desktop version 19.10. 
There are other ways to add persistence, but rufus looks to be the easiest way to get there.

Randy



slash71

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Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #10 on: 25 Oct 2019, 03:16 pm »

AllynW

Re: Ubuntu which one?
« Reply #11 on: 25 Oct 2019, 03:42 pm »
Thanks Folks,

I'm going to take the transition to Linux slowly.  I did try Ubuntu on an older Dell laptop a few years ago.  I found it confusing, Mac really dumbs the user down.   Mint looks like it may work for me. My machine will be used for music playback only and will have limited access to the internet.