I’ve been ‘officially’ dedicated to Linux as a whole for roughly six years now.

Was nine months when I first starting writing this series in 2018…so everything below is from the perspective of 2018.

I came from the far opposite end of the spectrum as a dedicated Windows Insider. It feels as I prepare more Linux and Linux Gaming articles, a short series covering my computing past up to now is in order. This series is presented in three distinct “eras”:

Windows Insider to Linux

• Before The Insider Years
• Committed to Windows
• The Broken Window

I could date and detail my earlier computer years back to being a kid with an old Apple IIC, and junior high student with Windows 95. However, the best real starting point is when I began professionally getting into computers when I started University, circa 2002. In this era, Windows XP was still fresh and new on the market, with its share of compatibility issues, but a long stride ahead of Windows ME. While I had plenty of exposure in our high school environment, Macintosh wasn’t exactly at a high point, and in my experience, I wasn’t even aware of Linux yet. So Windows XP full steam ahead it was!

If it helps date this era of my experience any further, in that two years of university until 2004, all my homework was being shuffled around on a handful of 3-1/4′′ floppy disks. Likewise, if you wanted to really do PC Gaming of any sort, either an older Windows 98 or modern Windows XP install was your only real, reliable choice. As such, at this time I don’t declare I was “dedicated” to Windows, it was just really the only option for both my gaming and school work software needs. It met those needs without too much fuss.

As 2005 drew near, my first exposure to Linux on a personal machine came about. I don’t recall exactly what first led me in the direction, probably a fellow student. The result, I wiped my aging student homework laptop, which was a ‘Hughbee’ branded laptop, an off brand found online when I needed a cheap student system. The first Linux OS installed from a loaned CD? Mandrake Linux! (Renamed the following year to Mandriva Linux after a court case loss).

The install went well enough without any real issues, and I began exploring. I quickly realized that essentially none of my modern games could run on the system, but it was so under powered, it was not a concern. For the most part I played with a few basic Linux native games, put my music and some movies on the system, and used it for browsing, chatting, and writing, either on homework or uh... MySpace...

That laptop carried on as a secondary system for those functions for a good six months, until the hardware finally failed catastrophically. At that point I knew however much it peaked my interest, it’s inability to easily and seamlessly run EverQuest and EVE Online meant my primary Desktop PC was sticking with Windows XP. As such, using Windows XP as the only viable option continued onward without a thought of Linux again until mid-2007 and the arrival of Windows Vista.

As many will attest, the era of Windows Vista was a challenge. With a higher performance system, barring hardware compatibility issues, it ran ok. But hardware was a big challenge, along with a solid eighteen months by estimate of heavy Apple marketing against the PC, for which Microsoft had little retaliation too. The cracks in Microsoft’ dominance were at least viable, even if no one was poised in the gaming sphere to really unseat Windows.

It was in these early years of Windows Vista that I returned in part to Linux. This time it was on my main gaming desktop, but via the comfortable method of dual booting. I kept my Vista install, but also received an Ubuntu 8.04 CD in the mail to install. This time around the Linux OS dug its fingers in a little deeper. As I began the efforts to do some form of Linux Gaming, the non-Gaming elements pulled at me. It was faster, and regardless of if by design or obscurity, appeared more secure. It hooked me so much that Ubuntu One was my first ever cloud storage service and music streaming (ish) service of my own music files to my android phone of the time. Its only drawback was the struggle of gaming. A few games like Total Annihilation and StarCraft with some years under their belt worked excellent with WINE. I distinctly remember having to play with scripts and various config files to get Elder Scrolls: Oblivion to run... only to have the game that ran 50+ FPS on Vista reward me with 4-5 FPS...tops!

Alas, this is the setup I retained for several years, getting some games working on Ubuntu. I used the OS mostly for daily tasks, working games, and then dual booting to Vista for the remaining majority of games. It wasn’t again until early 2010, and the release of the much loved Windows 7, that my shift started to lean back to Microsoft. It wasn’t an immediate or instant shift, but Windows 7 was the start of the next phase in my journey towards a dedicated Windows Insider... that journey to fandom will be in Part Two of this series.

#Windows #Linux #Microsoft #Gaming #WindowsToLinux

—Scott

Working in enterprise IT, I personally know a selection of working IT folks who at my encouragement have tried Linux, and if they couldn't reach me, gone to a forum for questions, and then texted me quitting Linux because of how agressivly they were berated.

My core approach with Linux and encouraging adoption has been to talk about my own system and what works (and what does not) and show it off a little. If anyone reaches out and shows some interest, I will gadly answer what questions I can, understand their needs, and attempt to help and steer them in the right direction. However, the core philosphy is:

Use what works for you. Period.

If your Windows 10 system is getting the job (or game) done for you, and anything the community has shown in Linux (or BSD) has not grabbed your attention, that's fine, live and let live. If your interested in the systems the positive users in the community talk about and demonstrate, reach out with questions. If you've tried before and hit a “Wall of Toxicity”, then here are a few great places to join and ask questions where we'll be friendly and helpful, regardless of your experience level:

Fosstodon (Mastodon Instance)

Telegram: Linux For Everyone

#Linux #Community

—Scott

That little VPS runs a few different services: – Minecraft server for a group of friends, which is the heavy memory user – Write Freely instances for a few subjects – Subsonic Music streaming server – Resilio Sync encrypted storage target – MiniFlux RSS Server/Reader In general, it ticks along without much need for attention. Usually it's biggest time demands are after each major Minecraft version update (11.x, 12.x, etc.) to adjust settings as it gets more and more resource hungry.

FYI: The best solution on 14.x now has been PaperMC

Given I work in tech and personally work with Arch Linux plenty, I make sure to run updates on the server weekly, and they almost always are pretty basic updates without much significance. Generally update with my AUR Helper, check the applications, and off I go.

This time around this past weekend, but only discovered last night, the updates included an update of PostgreSQL from 11.6 to 12.x. On this server, MiniFlux RSS uses PostgreSQL for it's backend, and it works well. However, in my past experience I have never had anything use PostgreSQL to have had much awareness about it's sensitivity in upgrading versions. As such, the update itself did not fail, but when I went to check my Android app which pulls from MiniFlux (via Fever API), it showed it had not pulled for several days.

A quick investigation showed that MiniFlux itself did not have an update, but PostgreSQL had indeed updated and the service would not start, according to systemd. A quick check in journalctl -xe, and the source was found as incompatible database versions for PostgreSQL.

From that point, it was thankfully not a hard fix, likely because the database for the RSS system is not that large or complex. Referring to the faithful Arch Wiki sent me through a few commands to migrate the data to a backup folder, initialize a new database set under version 12, and then use the pg_upgrade function to upgrade the database to that version. PG_Upgrade did it's job without fail on the first run, and I was able to then start the PostgreSQL service, followed by a restart of the MiniFlux service.

All in all, not a hard process or experience, just a good reminder to keep an eye on packages updating. It's ideal to be aware of what you are updating, but sometimes an innocent looking update breaks things. When it's a hobby server, keep good backups and be willing to research the fix, and you'll learn a bit along the way.

I'm not sure what my next project will be to add to my #Self-Hosted systems, but I've started catching up on the Self-Hosted Podcast from Jupiter Broadcasting, so I'm sure I'll discover something new!

If you don't yet #Self-Host and are looking for a project, I run my projects currently on Vultr, and sticking with plain direct referral link, you can help me out by giving Vultr a try with $50 worth of hosting, and it helps me out as well.

I have a About / Privacy page linked at the top where I talk about my privacy rules: Text only referral links, no cookies/trackers, no ugly banners or graphics interrupting the writing.

#Vultr #Linux #Arch #WriteFreely

—Scott

When I first really transitioned into the Linux world from Windows, I started with Ubuntu. That is a very common introductory point for many, or was, and from there I was an aggressive distro-hopper. I shifted through the Kubuntu's and Xubuntu's of the day, into ArchLabs on one laptop. At some point about two years ago took a stop at elementary OS in it's 0.4 version (just one version before 5, they dropped the decimals).

When I first ran elementary OS 0.4, I liked the style and cohesive design. Compared to some of the distros I had tried it took some of that raw linux feel away, as far as what a normal end user might experience. Overall, I liked it and was going to install it on my main system. The full stop point I hit was the distro was based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. The kicker with that was the system I was using was UEFI only, and the linux kernel for 16.04 LTS did not yet natively support UEFI, nor had I discovered tools like ReFind. As such, I continued on hopping until falling into my current Arch Linux and i3wm realm, which I'll talk on seperatly.

Forward to this past week, and I was sorting our a personal laptop for a co-worker that was collecting dust with a very disliked Windows 10 install. As a very non-tech user, I convinved him I could make the system run way better, and for his mostly browser based usage, be easier to use as well. My target was the clean looking elementary OS.

The install on the roughly two year old HP laptop went quick and smooth. The only mandatory post-install task that was a bit convuluted was getting to an option to enable restricted/proprietary drivers to get the broadcom wireless to work. I found Juno was still new enough that searching online was giving a fair volume of 0.3 and 0.4 version answers which did not directly apply to version 5.

With the operating system looking even cleaner and buttoned together, and now based on 18.04 LTS Ubuntu, I decided it was time to give it a try on my little travel laptop, my Cube i7 Book.

(Artwork By: Scott Johnson of FrogPants Network

As in the past, the install was quick and easy. The installer continues to be cleaned up and simplified that it's honestly more confusing to fresh install Windows 10 than elementary OS. (Mostly because Windows is less informative, if at all, on the disk partition/selection screen). Additionally, the options which I took advantage of to have full drive encryption were readily available and easy to setup during the install process.

Once the install was completed a few minutes later, the core system was up and running, and as in the previous version, makes a great first impression. Even for an oddball system like this Cube i7 Book, all the hardware was detected and setup, inlcuding WiFi and BlueTooth.

For a large majority of users, at this point the system is ready for day to day usage, with a browser installed, ability to view photos and videos, setup your e-mail provider and listen to some music. Beyond that, the AppCenter is easy to navigate with both curated and non-curated sections to cover most users needs. I also like seeing the Pay What You Want model to the AppCentre, that allows you to support the developers if you can, but also try out the software before you commit.

In my searching the AppCentre, I also found a few applications that are technically exlusive to Elementary OS that I really liked. I'm hesitant to use the word exclusive given the nature of open source, but in it's spirit, these apps can still be installed from source/Git with the associated dependencies on other distros.

For my usage I came across Ephemeral, a good privacy web browser option with isolated windows, no history tracking, and ads/trackers blocked by it's nature (no over-ride options).

My second finding that is a nice draw to elementary was WebPin. A simple application for creating attractive shortcuts to websites as apps, running in a simple minimal window. While this function could mostly be obtained with a quickly crafted .Desktop file, using WebPin is a nice end user friendly option. In my case I was able to use it for easy dock shortcuts to ProtonMail, my Subsonic music streaming and my MiniFlux RSS reader.

Once those were installed, for my usage at least, then it becomes necessary to expand beyond the confines of the AppCentre and take advantage of the normal Ubuntu core system at the base of elementary. For better media compatibility I did a few terminal apt-get commands to install components like Ubuntu-Restricted-Extras. I also was easily able to use the terminal to add PPAs (no pre-work like is 0.4 to be allowed to add PPAs), and get apps like Sublime Text, and Discord, as well as install Snaps like that for Bitwarden.

Returning to the operation and feel of the system once the remaining applications I use were setup, and it was great to see that despite the attractive interface, the memory usage was still healthy, coming in only a bit higher than my lighter weight Arch + i3wm build, seeing 640 MB of memory used at idle:

As far as the overall interface, I was happy to see the simple x to close apps, vs. the previous versions strong copy of MacOS for closing and minimizing windows, with the coloured dots. The main dock on the bottom is pleaseant and easy to use and behaves properly for it's auto-hide functionality, especially great for full-screen writing. Pressing the Super (Windows) key gives a nice quick reference of keyboard shortcuts, making it easy to switch applications, move between workspaces, and take screenshots baked direct into the OS. (All the screens in this article are captured with that built in utility, no editing). Reviewing this shortcuts panel also reveals the very elementary unique Picture in Picture function, the ability to grab part of a window, great for video's, and layer it on another workspace:

The Picture in Picture option is a very neat and useful feature I have not seen in any other operating system as a baked in option, and yet is a simple keyboard shortcut to operate. It's evidence of elementary in my opinion doing an excellent job bringing a very end user friendly approach and consistent look and feel to Linux.

Do you sacrifice the extreme customizability that Linux is capable of?

Yeah, at least to some extent, but if your in that camp like my current main system is, your an advanced user and can make your own educated decision.

Is elementary just for 'regular end users' and new users?

Absolutly not, any advaned user can at minimum appreciate the volume of effort put in place to present a very cohesive and professional looking operating system. It's a system that is very easy to show both to basic end users and technical users that doubt linux or hold on to old statements or myths about linux, and show what it can be and is today.

Finally, how will I be using elementary OS after this review and setup?

Without a doubt I'm really liking what I'm seeing with a mature elementary OS, the install I'm writing on right now on my Cube i7 Book is staying with elementary, and I'll be circling back to several of the apps I downloaded free and using the Pay What You Want to pitch in to a few developers. Regarding my main Republic of Gamers laptop...I'm still undecided. I'll detail my setup in another post, but that system is doing all my heavy work and all my gaming with an Arch Linux build and i3 window manager, meaning it's very customized. I really enjoy i3 and the rolling release model of Arch, but it's also hard to turn down the out of the box polish of elementary OS.

Needless to say, elementary is a very easy pick to install or show off if you’re trying to bring over any windows users to a smoother, more secure and stable system. I'm at a loss to suggest anything other than elementary for converting skeptics to linux, even avid PC gamers like myself.

#Linux #ElementaryOS

—Scott

Up until a few days ago, my previous experience with VIM was limited. I've been using Linux heavily for years now, and it was just an annoyance. In the past my only exposure to VIM was AUR install scripts or source builds that forced me to check build files via VIM. What that really meant was it was that annoying text program, that I had no clue how to quit when it suddenly was on my screen! :w to save, and :q to quit, but not if your in insert mode...what? Well, now that's changing, progressively.

I believe the seed for it started at some point in my last work rotation, where for some reason my brain said I should go read a how-to article on VIM. I read the first blurb about moving around a document, and going into insert mode, and it mostly seemed unnecessary on its own. When I started to read combining commands together, like 5w to move five words down, ( and ) for moving sentences and more...it started to click.

As VIM' own site says, they don't hold hands. It appears to be a very powerful text editor, but you have to learn the commands and try them out in your own workflow. So I studied a few more pages on VIM tutorials and understanding it's powers. Then, I became curious if it could support MarkDown for writing, and sure enough, VIM-MarkDown plugin...easy! How could I paste from the web into VIM? In my case at least, Shift + Left/Right Mouse Together, given a lack of middle mouse on the laptop.

The end result of all this?

Well, this post was written in VIM with MarkDown syntax highlighting.

It was a very distraction free writing environment. Finally, even at my novice level, it was easy to move around the document and get familiar with the commands. It's not hard to see that it has a steep learning curve, but especially on longer articles and research notes, how easy it can make working with text.

I am not a committed VIM user yet, but this is definitely an extended expedition into foreign lands, and other than the confusing signs, is quite intriguing and worth further exploration.

#VIM #Linux #Text #Markdown

—Scott