How I brought my laptop back to life (with Linux, of course!)

So I had this Laptop - an Asus Vivobook 202E which originally had Windows 8 installed. After 2 years of usage, it got infected by a virus so I decided to make it my "Linux Lab". I was able to Distro-hop for several months before the hard drive totally gave in (Windows was already detecting problems with the HDD before I switched to Linux). And now, its journey back to the land of the living begins...

THE SUBJECT

CPU:  3rd Generation Intel i3 ULV

RAM:  4Gb

GRAPHICS:  Intel HD4000

HDD:  500 Gb (broken)

SCREEN:  11.6" Touchscreen

RESOLVE HARDWARE ISSUES

Obviously, the first step to revive a dead PC is to fix any problem with its hardware. Be it bad memory, power supply or in my case, a bad hard drive. And so, I bought a 120 Gb SSD from a nearby tech store. I'm all good with just 120 Gb as I store my multimedia and important files in my desktop. Having a Solid State Hard Drive installed in the laptop would also mean a boost in performance.

MANAGE DISK PARTITIONS

Now I format and manage the newly installed disk with GPARTED (GNU Partition Editor), a powerful open source tool for managing disk partitions. I'll cover GPARTED basics in the future ;)

CHOOSE AND INSTALL A LINUX DISTRIBUTION

You can check out my previous post if you need an overview of what a Linux Distribution is. With my laptop's hardware configuration, choosing a distribution with the Gnome desktop environment seems to be a good option (if not the best). I can make use of the laptop's touchscreen with Gnome's touch gestures and its application launcher. I then install a distribution with one of the best Gnome implementation - Fedora.

AESTHETICS

I was planning on getting a custom laptop skin but it was a bit expensive so I had a printing stall print a couple custom stickers for me. Now I'll be promoting linux every time I bring my laptop with me.

 Now my laptop is happier than when it had Windows installed :p
 Snappier, Virus free and most of all - fun to use. Here's a short video of how the desktop looks like.

Choosing your first Linux Distribution

What is a Linux Distribution?

A Linux Distribution (usually called distro for short), is a complete operating system consisting of the Linux kernel, GNU libraries/utilities, a package manager and the said distro’s choice of default software packages, window system and desktop environment.

Ubuntu, for most people not that familiar with the OS has become synonymous to Linux. In truth, Ubuntu is just one of the hundreds of Linux Distributions out there.

You can check out the major and most popular Linux distributions in Distrowatch  

Fedora, one of my favorite Linux Distros and my main OS (this is my actual desktop)

What is a Linux Desktop Environment?

Like the name suggests, Desktop Environments (DE) in Linux affect how the GUI side of the OS is actually shown.  Each Linux Distribution has its choice of default DE. Each DE in turn has a Window Manager giving it its own style when it comes to menus, windows, toolbars, icons, widgets and more.

Unlike Windows and Mac OS, Linux users have the choice of changing a Linux Distribution’s default Desktop Environment.

Below are the main (there are more) Desktop environments and their brief description

KDE

Has a modern desktop interface. Though resource heavy compared to the other DE’s, it is considered to be the most customizable desktop.

GNOME  

A bit minimalist compared to KDE. It now features a launcher similar to Mac’s launchpad. A good choice for touch enabled laptops / AIO’s.

XFCE  

A desktop environment that is light on resources with looks similar to Windows 7

LXDE 

Has low system and resource requirements which makes it a very good choice for older systems

Suggested Linux Distros for newbies:

So here are a few of my recommended Distributions if you are just starting out in Linux. I was able to test each of them (except most of the 'Buntus) during my first year in Linux (that my friends is called distro-hopping). They are easy to install, learn and don't require you to use the terminal often. Click on the Distribution's name and it will redirect you to their respective homepage.

Zorin OS - Features a Look Changer program to easily switch the desktop interface and make it look like Windows or Mac. The Core version uses KDE while their Lite version (for old computers) uses LXDE

Elementary OS - Their home-brewed desktop (Pantheon) closely resembles OS/X, making Elementary a very good choice for users that are coming from Mac OS/X

Linux Mint - Their flagship desktop environments - Cinnamon and Mate, are really easy to use (I can say easier than Ubuntu). Linux Mint is a very good replacement for Windows 7. Just make sure you download either the Mate or the Cinnamon version of their installer. 

LXLE and Peppermint OS - Both use the LXDE desktop environment which has low system requirements. A very good choice for old PC’s and netbooks or if you just want a blazing fast system. Perfect replacement for Windows XP.

The Ubuntu Family - Ubuntu's flagship edition uses the Unity desktop environment but they have the other main DE’s covered as well. They have Ubuntu GNOME, Kubuntu (KDE), Xubuntu (XFCE) and Lubuntu (LXDE). Though I am not a big fan of Ubuntu (I prefer Mint), The OS should pretty much work out of the box and it makes installing proprietary video drivers (Nvidia/ATI-AMD) a breeze.

So there you have it! There are many more beginner-friendly Distros out there but I haven’t tried them personally (Deepin looks so cool!). This is where our dear friend Mr. G comes in, if ever you want to know more about Linux Distributions :p

Just remember that in the Linux world, there is no single Distribution that pleases everybody. It’s all about choice!

openSUSE Leap Post Installation Tasks

openSUSE will always be my favorite KDE distro (KDE is my first love when it comes to Linux desktop environments, btw).  Compared to Ubuntu, Linux Mint and other beginner-friendly Linux distributions, openSUSE will require a bit of tweaking for it to become a "working" desktop (meaning multimedia players, browsers, and some proprietary software such as Skype and video drivers are all working).
Here's my To Do list after doing a fresh install of the long awaited openSUSE Leap 42.1...

Update the system

Easy! Just click on the KDE menu, Search for YAST, enter your Administrator password, then click on Online Update.

Add additional Repositories

In the YAST Control Center, navigate to Software Repositories > Add > select "Community Repositories" > click Next
You may now add additional repositories on the next screen. Here are some of the important community repositories that you may want to add.

Packman  Repository - This might be the most important community repository that you need to add. It contains 3rd party packages (codecs and other proprietary software) not included to openSUSE by default. 

Libdvdcss Repository - contains packages needed for dvd playback

openSUSE buildservice Mozilla - contains latest packages/updates for the Mozilla Firefox browser

Adobe Flash Plugin - contains the flash-plugin package to enable flash on your browser

AMD / ATI Graphics Drivers - provides proprietary packages for AMD/ATI graphics cards

nVidia Graphics Drivers - provides proprietary nVidia graphics drivers

Install Multimedia codecs

 

Launch the terminal then copy and paste the command below to install needed codecs to play music and videos (Packman and Libdvdcss repositories are needed)

sudo zypper install k3b-codecs ffmpeg lame gstreamer-0_10-plugins-ffmpeg gstreamer-0_10-plugins-fluendo_mp3 gstreamer-plugins-bad gstreamer-plugins-ugly gstreamer-plugins-ugly-orig-addon gstreamer-plugins-libav libdvdcss2

Install Plugins

 

Using the terminal, execute the command below to install Adobe Flash, Java, Microsoft common fonts (usually needed in order to correctly render MS fonts), and additional browser plugins (Adobe Flash Plugin and Packman repositories are needed).

sudo zypper install flash-plugin java-1_8_0-openjdk-plugin fetchmsttfonts xine-browser-plugin

Install Chromium

Launch the terminal and use the command below to install Chromium and its peppermint flash plugin.

sudo zypper install chromium chromium-pepper-flash

Install Clementine and VLC

Clementine is one of the best audio player in the Linux world, while VLC is a favorite movie player not only in Windows but in Linux as well. To install them, use this command in the terminal:

sudo zypper install vlc vlc-codecs clementine

Install NVIDIA graphics driver

To install proprietary NVIDIA drivers, add the nVidia Graphics Drivers repository and run the following command in the terminal:

sudo zypper install-new-recommends

Install AMD/ATI graphics driver

To install AMD/ATI graphics drivers, add the AMD / ATI Graphics Drivers repository and run the following command in the terminal:

sudo zypper install fglrx64_xpic_SUSE421

Install WINE

You may want to install WINE in order to run MS programs in Linux. Using the command below in the terminal will install WINE with its graphical user interface

sudo zypper install q4wine 

Install additional 3rd Party Software

https://software.opensuse.org/ is a great place to get additional software. It also has the 1-click install feature. Just click on the proper link and voila! All done.

Here are some software you may want to add

Skype - chat and video call client from Microsoft

https://software.opensuse.org/package/skype

Steam - cross platform digital game store

https://software.opensuse.org/package/steam?search_term=steam

PlayOnLinux - runs on WINE, will let you install MS native apps and games

https://software.opensuse.org/package/PlayOnLinux?search_term=playonlinux

So there you have it! After completing the steps above, your shiny new openSUSE desktop should work like a charm. Your next step is to play with KDE's heavily customizable desktop so you can really make it your own. Goodluck and have fun!

Why did I switch to Linux?

So, Why Linux?

It has almost been a year since I replaced my main operating system (Windows, like most guys) with Linux. And I have to tell you, the only regret I have is why didn't I give Linux a chance right away. A few years ago, a friend invited me to check out and install Ubuntu but I let it pass. For some reason it didn't “wow” me enough. What caught my eye last year were distros using KDE as desktop environments (Mageia 4 that time). It looked so modern, it had features you won't see in other operating systems and customizability seemed without boundaries. And so my research on Linux distributions began, reading articles and watching videos and demos online. After a couple of weeks I bought a new laptop, chucked the preinstalled Windows OS and installed Linux. So what's with Linux? What did I see in it that I didn't see in Windows?

THE UPSIDE  :)

HIGHLY CUSTOMIZABLE

I said it once and I will say it again. There are even Linux distributions so highly customizable that no two installations can be exactly the same.

I was a big fan of BASIC and DOS in the 90's. And I have to tell you, I wasn't that happy when Windows was introduced in my mid-high school days. It didn't let you tinker with its components that much and that's what I was missing somehow. I can say that I became a kid again when I started to use Linux.

Linux has over a hundred distributions, four main desktop environments to choose from (and I am talking about the main ones, there are more!), with so many ways to tweak each one!

SECURE

This year's PWN2OWN contest (a hacking contest) revealed 5 security bugs for Windows. None for Linux and Mac (though Mac had a couple for their local browser Safari).

There was also an instance in recent years that competing hackers were able to put down Mac and Windows but not Linux.

One of the main reasons why I ended up watching Linux videos is because of an article I read saying viruses won't be a big problem in the OS.

One of my laptops during that time was beginning to significantly slow down due to malware and viruses. It's not even two years old and it had an antivirus installed. Well you guessed it. I chucked Windows 8 and installed Linux. Currently, it is configured to dual boot Fedora 22 (Gnome) and openSUSE 13.2 (KDE with fullscreen menu) so I can make use of its touchscreen. I can say that I am very happy with it compared when it had Windows 8 installed.

Viruses aren't completely absent in the Linux world but it is very unlikely that you get one as well.

LIGHT ON RESOURCES

I have read a number of articles with Linux beating OSX in its own hardware platform in benchmarks. This is also true in Windows systems. Linux is like Windows in steroids. I have revived a couple netbooks that had Windows 7 Starter preinstalled and are now virtually unusable due to extreme slowness. I just installed light Linux distros in them and now they're VERY usable again!

Linux is light on resources – CPU, memory and hard disk space. It also uses a very efficient filesystem so your computer can easily retrieve files and information from the hard drive.

HARDWARE SUPPORT

Modern Linux distributions support computer hardware out of the box and there is no need to install additional drivers. You might come across some video (ATI/Nvidia) and wireless LAN driver issues, but this usually happen if you are using a newly released hardware. Installing a Linux distro with a newer Linux Kernel usually works. Almost everything (at least in my experience) is just plug and play. Linux can also read most filesystems, making dual boot a good option if you do not want to completely uninstall your current OS.

PRODUCTIVITY

Ever wondered why Linux is the preferred OS for bigtime servers? Why film studios choose to install their proprietary programs on top of a Linux based system? Why scientists study outer space with the help of a Linux based super computer? Combine all the items above and you get your answer. Linux usually comes complete with an Office Suite (yes a free, non-trial one) upon installation. It has numerous programs for image, audio and video editing as well. You can also easily install say, MS Office or Adobe Photoshop if you are having a hard time getting familiar with these software.

THE DOWNSIDE  :(

Modern gaming. Developers usually create PC games exclusively for Windows. You may need to wait for some time until someone in the community figures out how to properly run it in Linux.

Newly released hardware (Intel Broadwell processors for example) might have compatibility issues with the OS (which usually means poor system performance) during the first few months of its release. But like I said, It's all good once a newer Linux Kernel with support for that hardware gets released.

Though video cards work natively with Linux generic drivers, having proprietary video drivers for them will boost their performance. AMD/ATI and Nvidia have extended their support for Linux but these drivers are not readily available for latest models.

THE BOTTOMLINE  :)))

In my case, I have a desktop configured to triple boot to Windows 7 and two different Linux distributions. I exclusively use Windows for gaming, nothing more. All other programs, I run in Linux.

I no longer see the point of making Windows my “main” operating system. Heck, I might even uninstall it someday as I already own a handheld and a home console for gaming purposes. The 2 non-gaming laptops in our place no longer have Windows installed and they're happy.

Contrary to popular belief, Linux does not have a steep learning curve. There are a bunch of Linux distributions out there designed for beginners and believe me, they're easier to use than Windows!

Also, it has come to the point that people can no longer make proprietary applications (eg MS Office) as excuse for having Windows installed in their PC's.

I'll continue supporting Free and Open Source Software as long as I have a working computer.

I have no regrets switching to Linux and in my opinion, every computer not used for extreme gaming should have Linux installed in it. It is that GOOD!

(hmm, I think I'm starting to miss malware, viruses and the dreaded BSOD's…. NOT!)