The latest from Ubuntu is an LTS version, 20.04. I had to wait until nearly the end of the day, yesterday, the 23rd of April, before I could download a version for my inspection. Apparently the day of release is a popular time for downloads. The download was uneventful and I decided to replace the 18.04 LTS version of Ubuntu on my MSI laptop. You know, the one with Windows 10 and Mageia 7 installed along with that nVidia card that is Optimus enabled.
Making a bootable .iso USB stick was easy enough using something called Rufus in Windows. I did that a million times before and didn't expect any problem. The USB booted first time as expected. During the boot process the splash screen was superimposed on top of the OEM welcome screen. This was something I've not seen before as was the testing of the software that was shown with a progress bar. It only took a minute or so for Ubuntu to declare it was good to go, at which point I started the installation.
All went swell up the the running of the installer program, Ubiquity. I deleted the partition with the old Ubuntu using Gparted prior to starting this install. The partition routine in the new Ubuntu was familiar looking as were the choices for what to do. I always do "something else" and do not use the automatic partition suggestions. Since I have LOTS of experience doing that, it was no problem. Got the partitions set and formatted, and away we go. Installation of the software began it's familiar scenario.
Toward the end of the installation Grub is installed. Or rather, it should be installed. I got an error saying it cannot install Grub and tough titties for me. This is the exact error I've seen in previous versions of Ubuntu which means they didn't fix anything. If you recall, I had problems with Ubuntu overwriting my Windows bootloader because, well, because it can. I guess a lot of Windows enthusiasts bitched enough so that Ubuntu no longer overwrites the Window booting software. It simply doesn't install Grub and lets you figure out how to boot Ubuntu on your own. This did not sit well with me. Instead of actually fixing the well documented bug, all they did is avoid installing the Grub at all. You might think this is very dumb for a professional group such as Ubuntu is, but it actually makes sense when you know their intention. Ubuntu, and many of it's clones, are not designed for multi-boot systems. It's not impossible to do, of course, but the Ubiquity Ubuntu installer assumes it is a stand alone system and that only Grub will be present. There are choices during installation that allow for multi-boot, but they don't work.
Because I have a vast amount of past experience with this defective installer, I know how to install Ubuntu without a bootloader. That is what I did next so that I could at least have a clean copy of the OS to work with. Thank the god's for reFINd, the Grub replacement. I have that installed on all my computers now just for occasions like this. reFINd boots the kernel directly out of the /boot directory and bypasses all that Grub nonsense. That's fine for people who want to do it, but in my case it's just a troubleshooting tool on the laptop. I did make it the default on the desktop, but that's a different story. Once I booted into Ubuntu a few checks here and there showed me the OS was working well, even if I could not boot into it via traditional methods.
The strategy in this scenario is to install Grub as a separate operation after the OS has been installed. This has to be done from the target OS for the installation of Grub to work. It took a long time for me to figure out how to do it from within the target OS when that target OS does not have Grub to go with it. I spent most of last year learning about it and took notes as you suggested I do at the time. Basically you simply mount the EFI partition on the hard drive and chmod to install Grub to that partition. You need to know all the commands, of course, and I had to dig up my notes on how to do it. As it happened my notes were for my MBR desktop that no longer exists (it's UEFI now). Thus when I tried to install Grub manually, it puked. I was trying to put an MBR version of Grub into an EFI partition. Who knew there were two different versions of Grub? It took a little bit of research but I found out how to do it both ways, MBR and UEFI. All I wanted was UEFI and that worked out when I got all the code and all the scripts in their proper order. So ... now I can boot Ubuntu using Grub. Windows still boots. So does Mageia. That's pretty amazing when I recall that last year at this time I didn't know what UEFI was. Somebody should tell Linux developers what it is too.
Booting into Ubuntu's login screen never was a problem, if you had Grub to begin with. So I logged in and waited for the desktop to appear. And waited. And waited. And waited. No desktop was in sight. This too is a revisit of an old familiar problem inherent in all Linux distributions. They typically refuse to recognize nVidia hardware and insist on using the kernel resident drivers instead. This is the Free and Open Source Software method so that I can appreciate what they are doing. They are ignoring thousands, if not millions, of computer users who have nVidia hardware installed. The irony here is that for a few versions now Ubuntu has included the nVidia drivers withe the OS. If you can figure out how to get to the desktop, installing the proper drivers is simple. Getting to that desktop is about as easy as booting without Grub present. Fortunately, I know how to do that too. Grub has to be boogered up to include some kernel commands that disable it's native video drivers. Depending on which desktop environment we are dealing with, this approach may or may not work. The default Unity desktop in Ubuntu is easy enough to defeat, but it's impossible to get past any desktop front end in Debian, for example. Anyway, I was able to install the nVidia drivers from within Ubuntu and am now a happy camper.
The OS really works well. I just began to evaluate it and don't know all it can do, but the printer function has been improved. I tried to print a document without setting up the printer manually. It worked. Ubuntu found it and called up the correct drivers without any intervention on my part. I can't wait to see if there are any other surprised buried inside this very buggy software.
Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Wow Yogi, You should get a Medal.
Perhaps make a copy of all your notes and documentation on getting it to run on multi-boot systems using either MBR or UEFI and submit it to the Ubuntu team. Who knows, they might find a way to implement it as optional install selections.
I ran a distribution upgrade on the UEFI computer and after about five minutes it said the upgrade is not compatible with the architecture. It offered no other explanation. I looked on line and others who got that error said you have to do a clean install, if the version you are upgrading from was installed from the original installer program as an upgrade from a previous install. OK, no time to mess with it right now, I'll download a new copy and try a clean install if'n I ever have time.
OH, BF is humming along great the past few days. Guess you got if all fixed up again!
Perhaps make a copy of all your notes and documentation on getting it to run on multi-boot systems using either MBR or UEFI and submit it to the Ubuntu team. Who knows, they might find a way to implement it as optional install selections.
I ran a distribution upgrade on the UEFI computer and after about five minutes it said the upgrade is not compatible with the architecture. It offered no other explanation. I looked on line and others who got that error said you have to do a clean install, if the version you are upgrading from was installed from the original installer program as an upgrade from a previous install. OK, no time to mess with it right now, I'll download a new copy and try a clean install if'n I ever have time.
OH, BF is humming along great the past few days. Guess you got if all fixed up again!
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
You might find this hard to believe, but none of what I was able to do would be possible if it were not for you personally interrogating some anonymous teenager at your local library one day and then passing on to me the innocuous link he shared with you. That link was to a Linux Mint support forum wherein the author of the tutorial explained how to make Linux on a Stick several different ways. I was into that at the time and found the information exciting and useful. As it happened I posted something to that forum and got a response from the guy who wrote that tutorial. He is one incredible dude, as is his partner who moderates that forum. They both held my hand as we marched through my multitude of dilemmas trying to put Linux Mint on a stick. I learned a lot from them thanks to your reaching out to help me. Much of what I learned about removable operating systems can be applied to fixed systems as well. This bit about installing an OS without installing it's bootloader is a necessary step in creating a USB memory stick OS that will boot both MBR and EFI. It is also these guys who encouraged me to go with reFINd instead of Grub. Well, I didn't exactly do that, but I do use reFINd as a troubleshooting tool.
For all my successes and all the new knowledge I have gained working with Linux, I'm a bit disappointed that I was forced to do all this research. My computer setups are not the average kind, i.e., a single OS on a single hard drive. I like choices and multiboot is essential for my comfort. Heck, I can even put multiple OS's on a USB memory stick if necessary. It's not really a good idea, but there is nothing in theory preventing it. And that is why I'm disappointed with Linux. There is nothing in the rule books that says you should not multiboot Linux, or not install it alongside of Windows, or not put it on a removable media. Yet the developers I have personally talked to seem to think their distro is the only OS in existence and too bad if you want to do something out of the ordinary. The bias against Windows is obvious in many cases, and it's unfortunate that some developers have that viewpoint. If they bothered to learn how Windows works, then the installation of Linux could be much simplified. But that would be a concession to Microsoft and they simply won't do it.
I have thought about documenting what I know and putting it on a web page. I did this at one time for basic HTML when web sites allowed users to embed markup in their responses. I know quite a bit more than I did a year ago, but I don't feel comfortable enough to be instructing other people on how to accomplish what I did. In think I know why Ubuntu can't install Grub, but I'd not want to explain protected MBR's to people who are panicking because they can't boot anymore. It's freaking hard even if you are in love with Linux and Windows. Plus, as I have often ranted here, Linux is not worth the trouble. I would not do things any differently than I did, but if some novice asked me for help in running both Linux and Windows, my advice would be to buy two computers: Linux on one and Windows on the other. If you aren't insanely technical, it's not going to be easy putting them in the same box.
__________
Upgrades of existing installs have rarely, if ever, been successful in my Linux systems. They claim it's all modular and a lot more simple than Windows, but that's not proven true in my experience. I upgrade my Windows every week without incident. I have only one distribution of Linux that seems to upgrade without trouble, so that I am wondering if that process too is suffering from insufficient development. I save all my home directories and then do a fresh install when I want to upgrade to a different version. They made so many changes between Ubuntu 18.x and Ubuntu 19.x that I can't see how anyone could upgrade those two. I have clean installs down to a science so that is easiest for me to do upgrades that way.
__________
I'm glad to read that the site is operating well for you. That is due to no thanks from our help desk. I fixed it more or less by accident and was only sidetracked into irrelevant areas by the pros. The issue affecting us was too many people visiting the site. I don't know why the support people didn't see that last July when I reported problems the first time. They tweaked the PHP here and there but never really had a clue what the real problem was. I sent them the fix after the site was running well and they told me they would verify it. They obviously didn't read my trouble ticket comments because I told them exactly what happened and why. They came back and told me to add the script to shut down the bots. Apparently the first line help desk nerds had to go ask somebody else what the heck the script was doing. He obviously didn't know. To be fair I don't know either. I'm not experienced at editing .htaccess files. But I did send them the link where I found it and the explanation that goes with it. It was just a lucky chance that I discovered the problem on my own. I would think the help desk would be better than me.
For all my successes and all the new knowledge I have gained working with Linux, I'm a bit disappointed that I was forced to do all this research. My computer setups are not the average kind, i.e., a single OS on a single hard drive. I like choices and multiboot is essential for my comfort. Heck, I can even put multiple OS's on a USB memory stick if necessary. It's not really a good idea, but there is nothing in theory preventing it. And that is why I'm disappointed with Linux. There is nothing in the rule books that says you should not multiboot Linux, or not install it alongside of Windows, or not put it on a removable media. Yet the developers I have personally talked to seem to think their distro is the only OS in existence and too bad if you want to do something out of the ordinary. The bias against Windows is obvious in many cases, and it's unfortunate that some developers have that viewpoint. If they bothered to learn how Windows works, then the installation of Linux could be much simplified. But that would be a concession to Microsoft and they simply won't do it.
I have thought about documenting what I know and putting it on a web page. I did this at one time for basic HTML when web sites allowed users to embed markup in their responses. I know quite a bit more than I did a year ago, but I don't feel comfortable enough to be instructing other people on how to accomplish what I did. In think I know why Ubuntu can't install Grub, but I'd not want to explain protected MBR's to people who are panicking because they can't boot anymore. It's freaking hard even if you are in love with Linux and Windows. Plus, as I have often ranted here, Linux is not worth the trouble. I would not do things any differently than I did, but if some novice asked me for help in running both Linux and Windows, my advice would be to buy two computers: Linux on one and Windows on the other. If you aren't insanely technical, it's not going to be easy putting them in the same box.
__________
Upgrades of existing installs have rarely, if ever, been successful in my Linux systems. They claim it's all modular and a lot more simple than Windows, but that's not proven true in my experience. I upgrade my Windows every week without incident. I have only one distribution of Linux that seems to upgrade without trouble, so that I am wondering if that process too is suffering from insufficient development. I save all my home directories and then do a fresh install when I want to upgrade to a different version. They made so many changes between Ubuntu 18.x and Ubuntu 19.x that I can't see how anyone could upgrade those two. I have clean installs down to a science so that is easiest for me to do upgrades that way.
__________
I'm glad to read that the site is operating well for you. That is due to no thanks from our help desk. I fixed it more or less by accident and was only sidetracked into irrelevant areas by the pros. The issue affecting us was too many people visiting the site. I don't know why the support people didn't see that last July when I reported problems the first time. They tweaked the PHP here and there but never really had a clue what the real problem was. I sent them the fix after the site was running well and they told me they would verify it. They obviously didn't read my trouble ticket comments because I told them exactly what happened and why. They came back and told me to add the script to shut down the bots. Apparently the first line help desk nerds had to go ask somebody else what the heck the script was doing. He obviously didn't know. To be fair I don't know either. I'm not experienced at editing .htaccess files. But I did send them the link where I found it and the explanation that goes with it. It was just a lucky chance that I discovered the problem on my own. I would think the help desk would be better than me.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Although it takes a really BIG computer to do this, probably commercial server class or gaming class.
I stumbled across a guy named Matt a few weeks ago. His dad worked for The Linux Foundation until he retired a few years back. He still does a lot of things on his computer, testing nearly every Linux Distro out there, and he does it all on a single computer. I asked one simple question, remember the problem you had with Ubuntu and Mint using Ubuntu in Grub.
He said he doesn't think his dad ever ran into that problem because he installs each Distro in its own sandbox. So I asked how he gets them to boot up. Oh, each sandbox in in a Virtual Machine. But you can only do that if you have a good enough computer, mine isn't and everything runs slow if I use the Virtual Machine way. I then commented, I don't suppose you use Windows since your dad is a Linux guy. Oh he said again, dad does most of his stuff on Windows 10, and he has every Windows release on his older computer, everything from DOS and early Windows all the way up to each version of the newest ones. His older machine is what he has the early versions on, and all the rest on his only other machine.
He didn't know much more, but said he runs Windows 7 on his computer along with BSD Linux, and only uses BSD for two games he plays when he has time that don't work on Windows. He doesn't like Windows 10 either, said it runs way to slow on his computer.
I've never had problems with upgrades of the same release, but when I do a distribution upgrade from one version to another I've had problems a few times. But honestly, not as many problems as I had with Windows upgrades from one version to another. Always had to start over with a new install, either that or the install deleted the old install first.
I had a similar problem most of the years I was on Comcast with my personal website. Some things I wanted to do I could not because it WAS a personal website, not a business website. But since I wrote my own html pages, I did find ways to do what I wanted in html without having server side access. Been so long ago now, I don't remember what it was anymore.
After I moved up to XHTML/CSS I was able to do even more things without needed access to the server side. But it was usually done using a link to another website which sent the data to my page. Sorta like the way a counter works from a 3rd party site. They display the count on your page, but apparently it is stored in a cookie on my page and they just update the cookie, I think.
Although I no longer do it this way. On my TWP recharge page, to get the formula, you have to click on the agreement line to get to that page. At one time, if you clicked on this link, it took you to a box where you had to enter your name. That box was generated by a 3rd party website like the counter box is. It didn't matter what they typed in the box, when they hit enter it took them back to the page on my website, which at that time showed what they typed in the box on the top of the page in phrase that said, Hello Thomas Styles, you may now copy or print this formula page. For a short time I had the 3rd party site mail me the list the names, but then after a year or so they wanted me to pay for them to do that. If I paid it would get rid of the advertisement link at the same time, but I stuck with the free service until they must have shut down. It was also faulty sometimes too! I think about 1 out of 25 people who tried to get a copy ended up e-mailing me for it saying the name box wasn't working right. A few who got to my page said there was an error displayed in the box where their name should be. So I removed that feature.
I stumbled across a guy named Matt a few weeks ago. His dad worked for The Linux Foundation until he retired a few years back. He still does a lot of things on his computer, testing nearly every Linux Distro out there, and he does it all on a single computer. I asked one simple question, remember the problem you had with Ubuntu and Mint using Ubuntu in Grub.
He said he doesn't think his dad ever ran into that problem because he installs each Distro in its own sandbox. So I asked how he gets them to boot up. Oh, each sandbox in in a Virtual Machine. But you can only do that if you have a good enough computer, mine isn't and everything runs slow if I use the Virtual Machine way. I then commented, I don't suppose you use Windows since your dad is a Linux guy. Oh he said again, dad does most of his stuff on Windows 10, and he has every Windows release on his older computer, everything from DOS and early Windows all the way up to each version of the newest ones. His older machine is what he has the early versions on, and all the rest on his only other machine.
He didn't know much more, but said he runs Windows 7 on his computer along with BSD Linux, and only uses BSD for two games he plays when he has time that don't work on Windows. He doesn't like Windows 10 either, said it runs way to slow on his computer.
I've never had problems with upgrades of the same release, but when I do a distribution upgrade from one version to another I've had problems a few times. But honestly, not as many problems as I had with Windows upgrades from one version to another. Always had to start over with a new install, either that or the install deleted the old install first.
I had a similar problem most of the years I was on Comcast with my personal website. Some things I wanted to do I could not because it WAS a personal website, not a business website. But since I wrote my own html pages, I did find ways to do what I wanted in html without having server side access. Been so long ago now, I don't remember what it was anymore.
After I moved up to XHTML/CSS I was able to do even more things without needed access to the server side. But it was usually done using a link to another website which sent the data to my page. Sorta like the way a counter works from a 3rd party site. They display the count on your page, but apparently it is stored in a cookie on my page and they just update the cookie, I think.
Although I no longer do it this way. On my TWP recharge page, to get the formula, you have to click on the agreement line to get to that page. At one time, if you clicked on this link, it took you to a box where you had to enter your name. That box was generated by a 3rd party website like the counter box is. It didn't matter what they typed in the box, when they hit enter it took them back to the page on my website, which at that time showed what they typed in the box on the top of the page in phrase that said, Hello Thomas Styles, you may now copy or print this formula page. For a short time I had the 3rd party site mail me the list the names, but then after a year or so they wanted me to pay for them to do that. If I paid it would get rid of the advertisement link at the same time, but I stuck with the free service until they must have shut down. It was also faulty sometimes too! I think about 1 out of 25 people who tried to get a copy ended up e-mailing me for it saying the name box wasn't working right. A few who got to my page said there was an error displayed in the box where their name should be. So I removed that feature.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
For all the moaning and groaning I do about my Linux experiences, I must confess that I like it. I like the challenge of making it work, to be more precise. I have nothing that requires Linux to run, but I have a few things that are Windows only. You don't need a really big computer to do the virtual machine thing. You would be best off if you used SSD and probably nothing less than 500GB; 1TB would be better. All the VM's that I've made take up no more than 10GB, which is kind of a risky deal. Most of the Linux distros with a decent desktop require a minimum of 25GB to run. I solve that problem, particularly in Ubuntu, by using their minimum install option. All it gives you is a browser and a text editor and a few utilities. Heck, that's all I do with Linux anyway. In my case I never run more than one VM at a time and my processor hardly knows the difference. I suppose if I had several VM's running simultaneously I might have issues. Maybe some day I'll fire up a few to see if I can melt down the CPU. LOL
Oddly enough I use Virtual Box for sandboxing my financial transactions on the web. It's only slightly better than bare bones Windows because any bad actor would have to get past two firewalls instead of just the one in Windows. I also use virtual box to make all my Linux on a Stick now. There too I don't have any performance problems but the big big advantage is that the VM isolates any misbehaved Linux from my Windows environment. I can make EFI or MBR sticks inside the virtual machines as easy as it is to do a clean install elsewhere. Doing it with a VM really simplified the whole process of making an OS on a stick. I've read several times how people have trouble with VM's being so slow. They recommend against it. I don't know what I'm doing different, but I don't see the VM's being slow unless there is a problem with the Linux distro.
I find it interesting that the Linux guy runs Windows 7. I think that is the best OS Microsoft ever invented. Windows 10 doesn't seem to be any slower than my Windows 7 box. Truth there is that they are pretty close to the same machine; one in a tower and the other in a laptop. The Windows 10 laptop processor runs about 60% the speed of which the tower is capable and I don't see any significant degradation. To be fair I must say that I don't do anything processor intensive on either machine which might explain the exceptional response I see.
If Windows fell off the edge of the earth tomorrow, I'd be switching to Linux Magia 7. This is a Fedora derivative that gave me a lot of trouble in the beginning. The OS worked fine, but the number of settings that are possible is astonishing. Those panels at the bottom you can configure any which way you want remind me of Debian. The difference is that Magia works and Debian ... needs help. Magia does things differently than any other Linux distro and in some ways I like it better than Windows. I'm thinking updates here. If Windows 10 has a slowness problem, it certainly is with it's update process. I also like the Magia equivalent of Synaptic package manager. You get a list of all the installed programs, all the packages in their repository in fact, with a check box in front of the name. To uninstall an old kernel you simply uncheck the box and it's done. It's just as simple to install something. Find it in the list and check the box. Bingo! It's done.
Oddly enough I use Virtual Box for sandboxing my financial transactions on the web. It's only slightly better than bare bones Windows because any bad actor would have to get past two firewalls instead of just the one in Windows. I also use virtual box to make all my Linux on a Stick now. There too I don't have any performance problems but the big big advantage is that the VM isolates any misbehaved Linux from my Windows environment. I can make EFI or MBR sticks inside the virtual machines as easy as it is to do a clean install elsewhere. Doing it with a VM really simplified the whole process of making an OS on a stick. I've read several times how people have trouble with VM's being so slow. They recommend against it. I don't know what I'm doing different, but I don't see the VM's being slow unless there is a problem with the Linux distro.
I find it interesting that the Linux guy runs Windows 7. I think that is the best OS Microsoft ever invented. Windows 10 doesn't seem to be any slower than my Windows 7 box. Truth there is that they are pretty close to the same machine; one in a tower and the other in a laptop. The Windows 10 laptop processor runs about 60% the speed of which the tower is capable and I don't see any significant degradation. To be fair I must say that I don't do anything processor intensive on either machine which might explain the exceptional response I see.
If Windows fell off the edge of the earth tomorrow, I'd be switching to Linux Magia 7. This is a Fedora derivative that gave me a lot of trouble in the beginning. The OS worked fine, but the number of settings that are possible is astonishing. Those panels at the bottom you can configure any which way you want remind me of Debian. The difference is that Magia works and Debian ... needs help. Magia does things differently than any other Linux distro and in some ways I like it better than Windows. I'm thinking updates here. If Windows 10 has a slowness problem, it certainly is with it's update process. I also like the Magia equivalent of Synaptic package manager. You get a list of all the installed programs, all the packages in their repository in fact, with a check box in front of the name. To uninstall an old kernel you simply uncheck the box and it's done. It's just as simple to install something. Find it in the list and check the box. Bingo! It's done.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I'm familiar with Magia.
Mandrake was a fork off Red Hat way back in the late 1990's.
And Mandriva was a fork off Mandrake.
It became stand-alone when Mandrake got out of the game.
And then Magia was built on Mandriva.
So Magia relies on the Red Hat as it's base now.
Red Hat is more in tune with the server and enterprise systems,
So it only makes sense for Magia to follow in suit with that platform.
I could have gone with the Red Hat based systems just as easily as going with the GNU/Debian based Systems.
I just like the GNU base better at the time I made my decision to go strictly Linux.
As you know, I went with Ubuntu first, and then with my older computers had to lighten the load.
Rather than looking at lighter Distro's, I decided to step back from Ubuntu to what it was built on, Debian.
Debian has worked very well for me and all that I use my computers for.
And like Windows, once you learn a system well, it's a pain to learn a different system.
Most of the folks who LOVED Windows XP have not been happy with any release since then.
They want their old XP way of doing things back again, hi hi.
But with all the advances found in the later editions, which we know is impossible.
Honestly though, you are about the only person I know who actually likes Windows 10.
Mandrake was a fork off Red Hat way back in the late 1990's.
And Mandriva was a fork off Mandrake.
It became stand-alone when Mandrake got out of the game.
And then Magia was built on Mandriva.
So Magia relies on the Red Hat as it's base now.
Red Hat is more in tune with the server and enterprise systems,
So it only makes sense for Magia to follow in suit with that platform.
I could have gone with the Red Hat based systems just as easily as going with the GNU/Debian based Systems.
I just like the GNU base better at the time I made my decision to go strictly Linux.
As you know, I went with Ubuntu first, and then with my older computers had to lighten the load.
Rather than looking at lighter Distro's, I decided to step back from Ubuntu to what it was built on, Debian.
Debian has worked very well for me and all that I use my computers for.
And like Windows, once you learn a system well, it's a pain to learn a different system.
Most of the folks who LOVED Windows XP have not been happy with any release since then.
They want their old XP way of doing things back again, hi hi.
But with all the advances found in the later editions, which we know is impossible.
Honestly though, you are about the only person I know who actually likes Windows 10.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Your comment about Magia <-- Red Hat <-- Enterprise Server rings true. I think the reason I like Magia as well as I do is that it reminds me a lot of the Unix systems I used to administer at Motorola. I have some mixed feelings about two separate accounts being needed, i.e. one for root and one for the regular user. They are indeed two separate environments with a different set of tools. One quirk is that there is no audio in the root account. I tried six ways to heaven to turn it on with no success. I then went to the Magia forums and asked about it. The response I got was startling, "Why are you logging in as root?" They couldn't believe I would dare do such a thing and, of course, had no idea how to turn on the audio. One joker suggested I turn in a bug report.
I'm not sure why you don't know anybody but me who favors Windows 10. I think it's just a matter of who your friends are. Since you do not like Windows you don't bother to find out what they are up to. I've discovered that is a typical Linux developer attitude. I took the opposite approach. I didn't like Linux, but I wanted to know more about why I didn't like it. As you recall I was at one time seriously considering a switch from my high priced Windows machines to bargain basement Linux. I couldn't find a compelling reason to switch. However, I did learn A LOT about Linux in general and how it tries to implement UEFI. I do recognize your valid reasons for switching to Linux, however. It works for you better than Windows ever did, so why not use it?
I'm not sure why you don't know anybody but me who favors Windows 10. I think it's just a matter of who your friends are. Since you do not like Windows you don't bother to find out what they are up to. I've discovered that is a typical Linux developer attitude. I took the opposite approach. I didn't like Linux, but I wanted to know more about why I didn't like it. As you recall I was at one time seriously considering a switch from my high priced Windows machines to bargain basement Linux. I couldn't find a compelling reason to switch. However, I did learn A LOT about Linux in general and how it tries to implement UEFI. I do recognize your valid reasons for switching to Linux, however. It works for you better than Windows ever did, so why not use it?
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Nearly every writer I speak with, and many of them on a daily or weekly basis, use Windows computers.
All of them do have a Windows 10 computer, but do most of their writing on older XP Pro or Win 7 machines.
A lot of this has to do with the programs they bought over the years do not work on Win 10.
And many, simply because they are writers, and msWORD defaulting to DOCX which was not accepted by any publisher due to the problems with it. If they forgot to change it to DOC before doing their work, things like track changes and formatting went to hell when they rolled back to DOC from DOCX.
Although most of the publishing companies figured out which XML characters MS changed from standard to create their proprietary DOCX, so can now accept DOCX, they are not responsible for errors caused from using DOCX.
Now onto the Win 10 part of their story. They do use the Win 10 machines for everything except writing, and a good majority of them claim it is a much slower running than their Win XP or Win 7 machines. And harder to do things on too.
Only a small handful of writers I know use Linux exclusively, but a lot of those who do their work on Windows may have a Linux machine to use for creating EPUB and MOBI formats of their work, and PDF for the POD publishers. They can do it on a Windows machine using Linux software ported over to Windows, but it takes much longer for it to convert a 3 or 4 hundred page book.
Even those who use Windows exclusively, a few use Libre Office Writer because they prefer it over msWord.
I think I mentioned my doctors office who uses a provided program from their parent company, had moved up from XP to Win 7, then Win 8 and Win 10, then moved back to Win 7 for a while, and now all have new super tiny computers on the backs of the monitors that only run the provided program, but they can back out of it to some form of Win 10, but it doesn't look like the Win 10 that was on the frau's computer. Maybe there is a special one for the medical industry?
_________________
Found an annoying glitch in Linux Mint 19.3. At first I thought it might be the computer itself.
What happened was, it would forget it had a keyboard and mouse hardwired to it using USB ports.
At first I would get up and go around and unplug and plug the two wires back in, and it would start working again.
So I though it must be dirty connectors and cleaned them real good, including the sockets.
It still kept doing it!
I also noticed when the screen saver ran, and then shut off until I used the computer again, about every third time it lost the keyboard, but not always the mouse.
Since the mouse was working, I simply rebooted the computer, and voila the keyboard worked again, but only for about two or three hours is all. I was still blaming it on the screensaver so turned it off completely.
Now I know it loses the keyboard after about three hours give or take, and it always comes back after a reboot, so it is probably not the keyboard, mouse, or the sockets and plugs.
Decided to boot into Debian instead and see if I still have the problem.
Nope, no problems at all, been running since Saturday without any loss of keyboard or mouse.
This morning I booted back into Mint at about 7:30am and by 10:45 am I saw the green light go out on the keyboard.
The mouse was still working so I attempted an update that was waiting by clicking on install the update. When the password box came up, sure enough, the keyboard was dead. So I just hit the reboot button. After the computer booted back up, I could log in and do the download, the keyboard worked fine.
I won't know for another couple of hours if it clonks out again, but I'm sure it will.
Looked on-line and it appears many are having this problem. Some are even saying it is a Debian problem, hi hi. Others are saying it is a machine specific problem, since it seems to affect laptop users the most. I figure if it was the machine, this problem would have appeared while it was running Win 10 or Debian, not just with Linux Mint 19.3.
______________
On a side note: I learned from the frau's niece that MS is still providing security patches for Windows XP Pro to hospitals and major medical providers, and in some cases to various government entities. I have to assume it is true since she works for a hospital group that still has XP machines in several departments, but she herself is not all that computer literate. She just knows she had to wait for a security patch to upload before she could start her work on Monday.
All of them do have a Windows 10 computer, but do most of their writing on older XP Pro or Win 7 machines.
A lot of this has to do with the programs they bought over the years do not work on Win 10.
And many, simply because they are writers, and msWORD defaulting to DOCX which was not accepted by any publisher due to the problems with it. If they forgot to change it to DOC before doing their work, things like track changes and formatting went to hell when they rolled back to DOC from DOCX.
Although most of the publishing companies figured out which XML characters MS changed from standard to create their proprietary DOCX, so can now accept DOCX, they are not responsible for errors caused from using DOCX.
Now onto the Win 10 part of their story. They do use the Win 10 machines for everything except writing, and a good majority of them claim it is a much slower running than their Win XP or Win 7 machines. And harder to do things on too.
Only a small handful of writers I know use Linux exclusively, but a lot of those who do their work on Windows may have a Linux machine to use for creating EPUB and MOBI formats of their work, and PDF for the POD publishers. They can do it on a Windows machine using Linux software ported over to Windows, but it takes much longer for it to convert a 3 or 4 hundred page book.
Even those who use Windows exclusively, a few use Libre Office Writer because they prefer it over msWord.
I think I mentioned my doctors office who uses a provided program from their parent company, had moved up from XP to Win 7, then Win 8 and Win 10, then moved back to Win 7 for a while, and now all have new super tiny computers on the backs of the monitors that only run the provided program, but they can back out of it to some form of Win 10, but it doesn't look like the Win 10 that was on the frau's computer. Maybe there is a special one for the medical industry?
_________________
Found an annoying glitch in Linux Mint 19.3. At first I thought it might be the computer itself.
What happened was, it would forget it had a keyboard and mouse hardwired to it using USB ports.
At first I would get up and go around and unplug and plug the two wires back in, and it would start working again.
So I though it must be dirty connectors and cleaned them real good, including the sockets.
It still kept doing it!
I also noticed when the screen saver ran, and then shut off until I used the computer again, about every third time it lost the keyboard, but not always the mouse.
Since the mouse was working, I simply rebooted the computer, and voila the keyboard worked again, but only for about two or three hours is all. I was still blaming it on the screensaver so turned it off completely.
Now I know it loses the keyboard after about three hours give or take, and it always comes back after a reboot, so it is probably not the keyboard, mouse, or the sockets and plugs.
Decided to boot into Debian instead and see if I still have the problem.
Nope, no problems at all, been running since Saturday without any loss of keyboard or mouse.
This morning I booted back into Mint at about 7:30am and by 10:45 am I saw the green light go out on the keyboard.
The mouse was still working so I attempted an update that was waiting by clicking on install the update. When the password box came up, sure enough, the keyboard was dead. So I just hit the reboot button. After the computer booted back up, I could log in and do the download, the keyboard worked fine.
I won't know for another couple of hours if it clonks out again, but I'm sure it will.
Looked on-line and it appears many are having this problem. Some are even saying it is a Debian problem, hi hi. Others are saying it is a machine specific problem, since it seems to affect laptop users the most. I figure if it was the machine, this problem would have appeared while it was running Win 10 or Debian, not just with Linux Mint 19.3.
______________
On a side note: I learned from the frau's niece that MS is still providing security patches for Windows XP Pro to hospitals and major medical providers, and in some cases to various government entities. I have to assume it is true since she works for a hospital group that still has XP machines in several departments, but she herself is not all that computer literate. She just knows she had to wait for a security patch to upload before she could start her work on Monday.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
A long time ago you explained to me your perception of an operating system. The point you were making is that the Linux kernel is common to all their operating systems, as is the Windows kernel common to all it's variations. The kernel, you said, is not the operating system. It is just one element. Everything added onto the kernel, be it hardware or software, becomes the operating system. There are some standard functions each operating system must perform in it's own unique fashion, such as input/output devices, memory, and processing of data. Technically speaking the operating system is all software, but in practice the hardware must be considered integral. For example what good is a standard output if you don't have a monitor or printer to retrieve it?
Given that both Linux and Windows are known for what is commonly called an operating system, I can see no difference between them. They all have the same components and all are capable of performing the same functions. Thus, in that very elementary state there really is no difference between Windows and Linux. If that is so, then why do people take sides? The answer has to do with things which go beyond the requirements of an operating system. One example you have given me several times is how Microsoft has modified it's word processing software so that it's not compatible with certain industry standards. I won't argue the merits of such modification, but I can assure you that DOCX not being what you expect is not due to the fact that it's running a Windows kernel/OS. Your author colleagues point out how an early edition of Windows based software cannot be run on the current state of the art editions. Again, it's not the operating system that prevents it. The vendors of the software simply have not written their applications to be capable of running on modern hardware. It's easy to understand how a regular "computer user" simply sees a problem with Windows. Their software has not changed, but Windows has. Thus it must be an operating system problem. That perception is so incorrect that it needs no further explanation.
You have to be sick of me telling you that Windows just works. LOL I don't blame you. There is a bit of sarcasm underlying that comment. However, I am not being frivolous when I tell you that. Think about it. Microsoft has been in business creating operating systems generations before Linux was even born. They arguably are one of the top five largest corporations on earth. They have the resources and the talent to make things work, and as such they have the power and authority to set the standards. When it comes to keeping pace with the latest technology, I'm thinking UEFI here, Microsoft has it mastered. They invented and/or influence much of it's creation. They should be good at making it work. Linux is playing catch up in this regard. I could say the Linux crowd was a bit arrogant to think their operating system was invulnerable to attack by bad actors and that it was only a Windows problem, because, they lied to you every time they said it. Only in recent years has it become imminently necessary to consider security and secure booting in the UEFI mode. When you are playing catch up, some things just don't work as well as the system's inventors. I am not being critical or judgmental here. Micorsoft lost it's dominance because of the same misguided thinking. They didn't see how dominant mobile computers was going to be and ignored it for too many years. They are playing catch up in that regard.
As I get deeper and deeper into the goings on with Linux, I uncover a gem of knowledge from time to time. There is more than just a feeling of competition going on between Linux and Windows. Both operating systems are good and appeal to certain users. It's rare to find a guy like me who can see the good points of both. Perhaps the most appealing attraction to Linux is it's FOSS approach, but it also happens to be it's greatest shortcoming. FOSS encourages developers to create whatever "distributions" their minds can imagine. The framework of Linux allows for such things by design. However, that approach lends itself to add-on and patches of some previously developed operating system. Think Debian here which is the basis for half the Linux distro's out there, if not more. The guy writing software for Linux Mint is focused on what he is added to the Debian/Ubuntu fetus. If there are flaws in either Debian or Ubuntu, well, the general attitude is that it's not the fault of the Linux Mint developer. He is just propagating somebody else's mistakes. Why isn't this Linux jock writing code from scratch then? It's to damned expensive to reinvent something. It's a lot easier to use what exists be it good, bad, or ugly. Then there is the licensing and encryption keys that cost money they don't want to pay. So, Linux Mint in particular, uses a preexisting version of Grub (Ubuntu's) instead of paying Microsoft for new encryption keys and spending the time to write a Mint specific Grub. What can go wrong there? The entire process of developing Linux distributions is what can go wrong.
Then there are software and app developers who know Linux or Windows but not both. Many just say screw it and move on over to Android or Mac where they can actually make some money selling to mobile device users. My considered opinion is that any blame for what appears to be a defect in the operating system most likely goes back to the app developer, not the OS developer. Believe it or not I have a lot of empathy for you and the multitude of other people having problems with Windows 10. It's a very demanding operating system that requires hardware on the same level as it's software. You got to have a high end set of hardware in order to get the maximum performance out of Windows 10. It will work on less. That was a marketing decision out of Redmond. But the best performance, the one I am overwhelmingly happy about, comes only when you have the hardware to support the software. I am blessed and fortunate to be able to go to that expense. Not everyone can or wants to. But, it is because of my good fortune that I know and can say that ... Windows just works.
WILD GUESS AND SPECULATION DEPARTMENT
What do I, a huge Windows fan, know about Linux Mint 19.03? Well, I just installed it to a USB memory stick the other day which gives me some credibility, eh? No, it was not easy or well behaved, but that's not what I want to talk about here.
Regarding your mouse/keyboard problem I would say after reading your narrative that it's probably not a problem with your computer hardware. That would be especially true if you went through the trouble of cleaning things up to ensure a good mechanical connection. The problem only occurs in Linux Mint, and nowhere else. Mint 19.03, Tricia, is the latest and greatest from that group of developers. While I have had it installed in various places for a good long time, I really don't have that much experience using it.
I've not seen your particular problem, but I have some very special equipment I use to run Tricia. That Linux on a Stick can run on both my laptop and my tower without noticeable degradation. The lappie has an SteeeSeries keyboard built in. I use a Logitech wireless mouse because the touchpad is demonically possessed. I'm not sure how the keyboard is connected to the motherboard, but the mouse there is strictly USB. It should be said that while this is a gaming laptop, I do not have any special features enabled to take advantage of it. Mint, Tricia, works just fine there.
The tower also has a high end SteeleSeries keyboard that is hardwired via USB. The mouse, likewise, is high end and USB. There are a lot of LED's and other funny things only gamers would be interested in available on the keyboard and the mouse. A special program is installed in Windows 7 to program both the keyboard and the mouse. Each is processor controlled, which means while USB is the conveyance method there is a whole lot of hardware between the keyboard and the motherboard with the USB controller. I point this out because it's mostly Windows dependent due to the software that drives the cute LED displays. Thus, I've been warned, some of the features of the keyboard and the mouse might not work in Linux. However, the keyboard has memory in which to store these special effects so that you can carry it from one machine to another and not lose the special effects. That's the part they say may not work. Well, I'm here to tell you, it does work in Linux Mint, or did in Mint 19.2, Tina. I decided not to install Mint in the tower after I converted it to GPT. Yes, I also have Ubuntu in there and am not totally crazy to put both side by side.
Anyway, the thing we all have in common is USB. Initially the fact that your hardware dies after a certain amount of time indicated a hardware failure. But, you more or less proved the hardware works and changing the operating system makes a difference. I'm guessing it's a USB controller/driver problem. USB3 is the assumed hardware in Tricia, and even if you have USB2 hardware, it is supposed to be backward compatible. My suggestion is to match the hardware with the driver software and see what happens. Make your system all USB3, mouse, keyboard, and driver, or make your system all USB2, mouse, keyboard, and driver. What "should" work may not be working as expected. I find it very interesting that there is no problem with Debian, but Mint fails. That to my mind REALLY points to an issue in Linux Mint. It's a very odd issue to be sure, but it's all pointing to one thing. You can further refine this conclusion by changing the mouse and keyboard hardware and repeating the experiment. If the new hardware fails the same way, Bingo. Give Magia some thought.
Given that both Linux and Windows are known for what is commonly called an operating system, I can see no difference between them. They all have the same components and all are capable of performing the same functions. Thus, in that very elementary state there really is no difference between Windows and Linux. If that is so, then why do people take sides? The answer has to do with things which go beyond the requirements of an operating system. One example you have given me several times is how Microsoft has modified it's word processing software so that it's not compatible with certain industry standards. I won't argue the merits of such modification, but I can assure you that DOCX not being what you expect is not due to the fact that it's running a Windows kernel/OS. Your author colleagues point out how an early edition of Windows based software cannot be run on the current state of the art editions. Again, it's not the operating system that prevents it. The vendors of the software simply have not written their applications to be capable of running on modern hardware. It's easy to understand how a regular "computer user" simply sees a problem with Windows. Their software has not changed, but Windows has. Thus it must be an operating system problem. That perception is so incorrect that it needs no further explanation.
You have to be sick of me telling you that Windows just works. LOL I don't blame you. There is a bit of sarcasm underlying that comment. However, I am not being frivolous when I tell you that. Think about it. Microsoft has been in business creating operating systems generations before Linux was even born. They arguably are one of the top five largest corporations on earth. They have the resources and the talent to make things work, and as such they have the power and authority to set the standards. When it comes to keeping pace with the latest technology, I'm thinking UEFI here, Microsoft has it mastered. They invented and/or influence much of it's creation. They should be good at making it work. Linux is playing catch up in this regard. I could say the Linux crowd was a bit arrogant to think their operating system was invulnerable to attack by bad actors and that it was only a Windows problem, because, they lied to you every time they said it. Only in recent years has it become imminently necessary to consider security and secure booting in the UEFI mode. When you are playing catch up, some things just don't work as well as the system's inventors. I am not being critical or judgmental here. Micorsoft lost it's dominance because of the same misguided thinking. They didn't see how dominant mobile computers was going to be and ignored it for too many years. They are playing catch up in that regard.
As I get deeper and deeper into the goings on with Linux, I uncover a gem of knowledge from time to time. There is more than just a feeling of competition going on between Linux and Windows. Both operating systems are good and appeal to certain users. It's rare to find a guy like me who can see the good points of both. Perhaps the most appealing attraction to Linux is it's FOSS approach, but it also happens to be it's greatest shortcoming. FOSS encourages developers to create whatever "distributions" their minds can imagine. The framework of Linux allows for such things by design. However, that approach lends itself to add-on and patches of some previously developed operating system. Think Debian here which is the basis for half the Linux distro's out there, if not more. The guy writing software for Linux Mint is focused on what he is added to the Debian/Ubuntu fetus. If there are flaws in either Debian or Ubuntu, well, the general attitude is that it's not the fault of the Linux Mint developer. He is just propagating somebody else's mistakes. Why isn't this Linux jock writing code from scratch then? It's to damned expensive to reinvent something. It's a lot easier to use what exists be it good, bad, or ugly. Then there is the licensing and encryption keys that cost money they don't want to pay. So, Linux Mint in particular, uses a preexisting version of Grub (Ubuntu's) instead of paying Microsoft for new encryption keys and spending the time to write a Mint specific Grub. What can go wrong there? The entire process of developing Linux distributions is what can go wrong.
Then there are software and app developers who know Linux or Windows but not both. Many just say screw it and move on over to Android or Mac where they can actually make some money selling to mobile device users. My considered opinion is that any blame for what appears to be a defect in the operating system most likely goes back to the app developer, not the OS developer. Believe it or not I have a lot of empathy for you and the multitude of other people having problems with Windows 10. It's a very demanding operating system that requires hardware on the same level as it's software. You got to have a high end set of hardware in order to get the maximum performance out of Windows 10. It will work on less. That was a marketing decision out of Redmond. But the best performance, the one I am overwhelmingly happy about, comes only when you have the hardware to support the software. I am blessed and fortunate to be able to go to that expense. Not everyone can or wants to. But, it is because of my good fortune that I know and can say that ... Windows just works.
WILD GUESS AND SPECULATION DEPARTMENT
What do I, a huge Windows fan, know about Linux Mint 19.03? Well, I just installed it to a USB memory stick the other day which gives me some credibility, eh? No, it was not easy or well behaved, but that's not what I want to talk about here.
Regarding your mouse/keyboard problem I would say after reading your narrative that it's probably not a problem with your computer hardware. That would be especially true if you went through the trouble of cleaning things up to ensure a good mechanical connection. The problem only occurs in Linux Mint, and nowhere else. Mint 19.03, Tricia, is the latest and greatest from that group of developers. While I have had it installed in various places for a good long time, I really don't have that much experience using it.
I've not seen your particular problem, but I have some very special equipment I use to run Tricia. That Linux on a Stick can run on both my laptop and my tower without noticeable degradation. The lappie has an SteeeSeries keyboard built in. I use a Logitech wireless mouse because the touchpad is demonically possessed. I'm not sure how the keyboard is connected to the motherboard, but the mouse there is strictly USB. It should be said that while this is a gaming laptop, I do not have any special features enabled to take advantage of it. Mint, Tricia, works just fine there.
The tower also has a high end SteeleSeries keyboard that is hardwired via USB. The mouse, likewise, is high end and USB. There are a lot of LED's and other funny things only gamers would be interested in available on the keyboard and the mouse. A special program is installed in Windows 7 to program both the keyboard and the mouse. Each is processor controlled, which means while USB is the conveyance method there is a whole lot of hardware between the keyboard and the motherboard with the USB controller. I point this out because it's mostly Windows dependent due to the software that drives the cute LED displays. Thus, I've been warned, some of the features of the keyboard and the mouse might not work in Linux. However, the keyboard has memory in which to store these special effects so that you can carry it from one machine to another and not lose the special effects. That's the part they say may not work. Well, I'm here to tell you, it does work in Linux Mint, or did in Mint 19.2, Tina. I decided not to install Mint in the tower after I converted it to GPT. Yes, I also have Ubuntu in there and am not totally crazy to put both side by side.
Anyway, the thing we all have in common is USB. Initially the fact that your hardware dies after a certain amount of time indicated a hardware failure. But, you more or less proved the hardware works and changing the operating system makes a difference. I'm guessing it's a USB controller/driver problem. USB3 is the assumed hardware in Tricia, and even if you have USB2 hardware, it is supposed to be backward compatible. My suggestion is to match the hardware with the driver software and see what happens. Make your system all USB3, mouse, keyboard, and driver, or make your system all USB2, mouse, keyboard, and driver. What "should" work may not be working as expected. I find it very interesting that there is no problem with Debian, but Mint fails. That to my mind REALLY points to an issue in Linux Mint. It's a very odd issue to be sure, but it's all pointing to one thing. You can further refine this conclusion by changing the mouse and keyboard hardware and repeating the experiment. If the new hardware fails the same way, Bingo. Give Magia some thought.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Lot here to chew on, so I'll start at the top.
DOCX:
Windows already had DOC which became the industry standard. Nearly every company that had anything at all to do with printing, whether it be offset, letterpress, or book publishing, could accept documents in the DOC format. Their systems were designed to read it, and in most cases make the printing mats or plates if the person sending the DOC format set their margins to the specified optional settings.
All of these places also could accept PDF, XML, ODT, and several other formats.
The big problem with DOCX was it is actually XML, but with some characters changed from the standard.
I'm sure you noticed that when folks did a cut n paste to social media, there would be a black diamond with a white ? mark inside. This is because most systems recognized XML and parsed it that way, but it was DOCX and had changes.
It took years for the systems to include programming to check to see if it was DOCX and adjust the changes back to XML.
Also, Editors went crazy with keeping track changes. DOCX was not fully backwards compatible with DOC when it comes to track changes, margin notes, and the like.
It was sorta like the problem you had trying to load Ubuntu and Mint on the same bootloader, since both used the name Ubuntu as an identifier. That is similar to DOCX using the XML identifier, when it was butchered XML.
_________
Hey, I loved Windows once I had to move over to using it back in the DOS days.
I've used every version, and grew right along with it, from 3.0 to 3.11 to 95, to 98, to XP, and still have an XP machine here I use.
I've already talked about the problems I had when they came out with XP Pro MCE, which required all new drivers, and companies like HP refused to write new drivers for the small amount of MCE users. MCE was Media Center Edition.
I had tried Linux a couple of times, but it was well beyond my capabilities, and it was in its infancy too.
Window may have dominated the market for computer users, both personal and in business. And they still do for desktops and laptops, but fell way behind on the primary business end, which allowed Linux to dominate the back room, and also keep the Internet running and growing.
I was pleased with my Windows computers up until they came out with Vista, the ultimate spyware OS that drove many of us to check out Linux.
My wife who has never used Linux, and still has her Windows computers, hated Windows 10, which is why she's using Windows 7 right now. But for everything other than her games, she is using Linux software that was ported over to Windows, which means she can come up to my office to do something and the programs she does use are familiar to her now. If I can get her games working properly on Linux, I know she'll be glad to get away from Windows too!
____________
Well, let's talk about the Kernel, the heart of every computer.
Even Microsoft is considering moving over to the Linux Kernel rather than rewriting their NT Kernel.
The Kernel has only one basic job, and it is obvious the LInux Kernel, which is well maintained by the way, outshines the NT Kernel.
Above the Kernel, there are many ways to do things. Windows used DOS for years, even the early Windows programs ran on DOS, until they wrote a new way of handling things and eliminated DOS since it was now a part of the new Windows packages.
Also, above the Kernel, there are really only a few primary operating systems. Windows, MAC, Red Hat, BSD, Suse, and Debian. Each of these are also well maintained.
Now, just like you can write any program you want to run on Windows, or any of the Linux primary Distributions, LInux takes you one step further and allows you to write your own OS. Since that is such a complicated task, most who chose to write and OS do so ON TOP OF an existing primary OS, something Windows does not allow at all for any reason.
For this reason, there are numerous Linux Distro's out there to chose from.
But every Distro is nothing more than a Program running on an existing platform.
And I have seen some that do run on Windows computers, but they are basically self-contained, since they cannot see the Windows programming.
One example is Virtual Machine, it is an OS in one sense that runs on either the Windows or the Linux platforms.
But unlike Windows, you are free to pick and choose any Distro you want to use, but they all still rely on the primary platform, whether it be BSD, Red Hat, or Debian, or any other.
There is no huge multi-billion dollar company behind any of the Distro's available, most of them were written by a hobbyist and took hold. And most are nothing but bells and whistles added to the primary OS.
What hobbyists do with their Distro's should be no reflection on the Core OS they are building on top of.
Just as no Program designed to be run on Windows should blame Windows for their problems.
____________
You hit the nail on the head with the system has to be robust enough to run Windows 10.
For this reason, a company should have never sold a computer not capable of running Windows 10 properly as a Windows 10 computer.
On the other hand, one should not have to shell out the money it costs for a high end gaming computer just to run an OS.
And that is where Windows has failed miserably. It is an OS designed only for the wealthy!
Whereas Linux has super light Distro's that will run even on some the bare bones minimum computers. Thus leaving Windows out in the cold as far as having an affordable cheap computer to write letters home to grandma.
___________
I do know the keyboard never cut out when it had Win 10 on it, and I reformatted the drive and installed Debian, still never had any problems. I don't use that computer much, but it always sprung to life when I moved the mouse or touched a key on the keyboard.
The problems didn't start until I installed the newest Linux Mint 19.3 to give it a whirl before upgrading another computer with an older version of Mint. Because of this issue, I've not upgraded the other computer.
I do have the computer running today in Debian instead of Mint, and the green light has stayed on solid. I bumped the mouse and it sprung to life until the monitor went back to sleep again, but the green light is still on, this is the numlock key. If it goes out, I know the keyboard is dead.
I will look into the drivers to see if there are others available.
As you know, I have several computers up here all on and running. The old XP machine never stops unless we have a power outage, and so does the other two Debian machines I only need to use when writing a book. They all spring to life with no problems.
The computer with the problems is of course our newest computer, the one I bought for Debi with Win10 on it originally.
It's not the best computer I could have purchased, and probably should have just had one made for her like I usually do.
But her computer broke and she needed one right way, thus the reason for buying an off the shelf computer.
At least I have it and can use it with Linux Debian without problems. Not as fast as the Silver Yogi, but not slow like it was with Windows 10 on it. I also have not had much time to play with it either.
DOCX:
Windows already had DOC which became the industry standard. Nearly every company that had anything at all to do with printing, whether it be offset, letterpress, or book publishing, could accept documents in the DOC format. Their systems were designed to read it, and in most cases make the printing mats or plates if the person sending the DOC format set their margins to the specified optional settings.
All of these places also could accept PDF, XML, ODT, and several other formats.
The big problem with DOCX was it is actually XML, but with some characters changed from the standard.
I'm sure you noticed that when folks did a cut n paste to social media, there would be a black diamond with a white ? mark inside. This is because most systems recognized XML and parsed it that way, but it was DOCX and had changes.
It took years for the systems to include programming to check to see if it was DOCX and adjust the changes back to XML.
Also, Editors went crazy with keeping track changes. DOCX was not fully backwards compatible with DOC when it comes to track changes, margin notes, and the like.
It was sorta like the problem you had trying to load Ubuntu and Mint on the same bootloader, since both used the name Ubuntu as an identifier. That is similar to DOCX using the XML identifier, when it was butchered XML.
_________
Hey, I loved Windows once I had to move over to using it back in the DOS days.
I've used every version, and grew right along with it, from 3.0 to 3.11 to 95, to 98, to XP, and still have an XP machine here I use.
I've already talked about the problems I had when they came out with XP Pro MCE, which required all new drivers, and companies like HP refused to write new drivers for the small amount of MCE users. MCE was Media Center Edition.
I had tried Linux a couple of times, but it was well beyond my capabilities, and it was in its infancy too.
Window may have dominated the market for computer users, both personal and in business. And they still do for desktops and laptops, but fell way behind on the primary business end, which allowed Linux to dominate the back room, and also keep the Internet running and growing.
I was pleased with my Windows computers up until they came out with Vista, the ultimate spyware OS that drove many of us to check out Linux.
My wife who has never used Linux, and still has her Windows computers, hated Windows 10, which is why she's using Windows 7 right now. But for everything other than her games, she is using Linux software that was ported over to Windows, which means she can come up to my office to do something and the programs she does use are familiar to her now. If I can get her games working properly on Linux, I know she'll be glad to get away from Windows too!
____________
Well, let's talk about the Kernel, the heart of every computer.
Even Microsoft is considering moving over to the Linux Kernel rather than rewriting their NT Kernel.
The Kernel has only one basic job, and it is obvious the LInux Kernel, which is well maintained by the way, outshines the NT Kernel.
Above the Kernel, there are many ways to do things. Windows used DOS for years, even the early Windows programs ran on DOS, until they wrote a new way of handling things and eliminated DOS since it was now a part of the new Windows packages.
Also, above the Kernel, there are really only a few primary operating systems. Windows, MAC, Red Hat, BSD, Suse, and Debian. Each of these are also well maintained.
Now, just like you can write any program you want to run on Windows, or any of the Linux primary Distributions, LInux takes you one step further and allows you to write your own OS. Since that is such a complicated task, most who chose to write and OS do so ON TOP OF an existing primary OS, something Windows does not allow at all for any reason.
For this reason, there are numerous Linux Distro's out there to chose from.
But every Distro is nothing more than a Program running on an existing platform.
And I have seen some that do run on Windows computers, but they are basically self-contained, since they cannot see the Windows programming.
One example is Virtual Machine, it is an OS in one sense that runs on either the Windows or the Linux platforms.
But unlike Windows, you are free to pick and choose any Distro you want to use, but they all still rely on the primary platform, whether it be BSD, Red Hat, or Debian, or any other.
There is no huge multi-billion dollar company behind any of the Distro's available, most of them were written by a hobbyist and took hold. And most are nothing but bells and whistles added to the primary OS.
What hobbyists do with their Distro's should be no reflection on the Core OS they are building on top of.
Just as no Program designed to be run on Windows should blame Windows for their problems.
____________
You hit the nail on the head with the system has to be robust enough to run Windows 10.
For this reason, a company should have never sold a computer not capable of running Windows 10 properly as a Windows 10 computer.
On the other hand, one should not have to shell out the money it costs for a high end gaming computer just to run an OS.
And that is where Windows has failed miserably. It is an OS designed only for the wealthy!
Whereas Linux has super light Distro's that will run even on some the bare bones minimum computers. Thus leaving Windows out in the cold as far as having an affordable cheap computer to write letters home to grandma.
___________
I do know the keyboard never cut out when it had Win 10 on it, and I reformatted the drive and installed Debian, still never had any problems. I don't use that computer much, but it always sprung to life when I moved the mouse or touched a key on the keyboard.
The problems didn't start until I installed the newest Linux Mint 19.3 to give it a whirl before upgrading another computer with an older version of Mint. Because of this issue, I've not upgraded the other computer.
I do have the computer running today in Debian instead of Mint, and the green light has stayed on solid. I bumped the mouse and it sprung to life until the monitor went back to sleep again, but the green light is still on, this is the numlock key. If it goes out, I know the keyboard is dead.
I will look into the drivers to see if there are others available.
As you know, I have several computers up here all on and running. The old XP machine never stops unless we have a power outage, and so does the other two Debian machines I only need to use when writing a book. They all spring to life with no problems.
The computer with the problems is of course our newest computer, the one I bought for Debi with Win10 on it originally.
It's not the best computer I could have purchased, and probably should have just had one made for her like I usually do.
But her computer broke and she needed one right way, thus the reason for buying an off the shelf computer.
At least I have it and can use it with Linux Debian without problems. Not as fast as the Silver Yogi, but not slow like it was with Windows 10 on it. I also have not had much time to play with it either.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I'm getting a different reading today from this last response regarding your USB mouse/kbd. It's beginning to look like a BIOS problem now, and that could be OS specific. Devices attached to your computer may or may not have the ability to wake the machine from a S1/S3 system power state. Some of those devices, such as mouse and keyboard, can be programmed to do this waking in their drivers and settings. Others need to have BIOS configured properly. Regardless, the device settings must match the BIOS settings or it ain't gonna work.
I don't know what Linux Mint is doing, but I do know Windows 10 is playing games with these wake states. It never really shuts down and goes into an S3 power state. This is done to make it boot faster. It's kind of like super-hibernation. The last state of Windows is preserved when it shuts down but does not have to read that state from disk as is necessary in true hibernation. Thus you can return to your previous state quickly. Since BIOS is ... well ... the Basic Input Output System ... there are setting in that firmware which allow all this to happen.
Here is some interesting reading about Windows S1/S3 wake state, but it might help you understand the function in general terms. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... tandby-whe
(you may have to cut and paste that because the .html designation has been truncated)
That's Windows, but you are dealing with Linux Mint. The idea is the same in Linux. If you have hardware that is capable, and you do, it should work in both Linux and Windows. I find it quite interesting that you have a situation where Windows-just-works, and Linux (Mint) needs help. Given what I've seen in Linux Mint lately, I'd not be too surprised if something got modified in their kernel to change how this wake state works.
I don't know what Linux Mint is doing, but I do know Windows 10 is playing games with these wake states. It never really shuts down and goes into an S3 power state. This is done to make it boot faster. It's kind of like super-hibernation. The last state of Windows is preserved when it shuts down but does not have to read that state from disk as is necessary in true hibernation. Thus you can return to your previous state quickly. Since BIOS is ... well ... the Basic Input Output System ... there are setting in that firmware which allow all this to happen.
Here is some interesting reading about Windows S1/S3 wake state, but it might help you understand the function in general terms. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... tandby-whe
(you may have to cut and paste that because the .html designation has been truncated)
That's Windows, but you are dealing with Linux Mint. The idea is the same in Linux. If you have hardware that is capable, and you do, it should work in both Linux and Windows. I find it quite interesting that you have a situation where Windows-just-works, and Linux (Mint) needs help. Given what I've seen in Linux Mint lately, I'd not be too surprised if something got modified in their kernel to change how this wake state works.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I don't have any of my computers set to hibernate or sleep, and don't have the drives set to spin down.
I only have the monitor go to sleep after X number of minutes.
One thing I did do was turn off the screen saver, because I learned that it is continuous running, even if the monitor itself goes to sleep, the screensaver is still running in the background.
Now normally if you move your mouse, the screen saver will stop and the normal screen will appear.
However, on most computers, if you can get the mouse to only move one or two pixels, such as by tapping on the desk, the monitor will turn back on showing you the screen saver is still running.
I can prove this with a screen saver that is running a series of steps so you can identify where in the cycle it is.
If you move the mouse to open the normal window, when it goes into screensaver mode, the screensaver always starts at the beginning of the cycle.
But if I get the monitor to turn back on by just knocking once on the desk to jar the mouse a tad, the screensaver would appear wherever in the cycle it was.
So only the monitor was asleep.
I didn't know this, which is why I've now turned off all the screensavers on all the computers, especially with hot weather coming. No sense letting the computers keep running, although they probably are anyhow.
At one time I used to use the Sleep Mode on my computers, which allowed the drives to spin down too.
But nearly every time I've tried using the Hibernate Mode, something didn't work right when in came out of Hibernation.
__________
I have checked the drivers and I have the current drivers for both the keyboard and mouse. In both Linux Mint and Debian, which appear to be the same driver for either.
I have left the computer running Debian since yesterday, and the green light is still on on the keyboard. So it didn't lock the keyboard out on me.
Before I go to lunch I will boot back into Linux Mint, and set the monitor not to go to sleep either. Just to see if that makes a difference. By the way, I did have one screen saver that caused problems, don't know why, but it would lock out the computer completely requiring a cold boot to get it going again.
Taking a look at HTOP, it appears Linux Mint has many more programs on stand-by than Debian has. Although most say they are not in use aka 0% of CPU, they do have other MEM % triggers that are active, not all are reading 0.0% all the time, like as if they are checked every so often.
I don't understand what exactly I'm looking at, but on Debian the PID goes up to 5639 and Mint goes up to 7393 before kicking in to all the google chrome PIDs that go on for pages starting around 12000 PID, if I have google chrome open. I should note this is ignoring the first page of PIDs which are any number, and scrolling down to PID 1 where they are then lined up sequentially. I assume the ones before that have to do with the programs I currently have running and active.
It's all muddy water to me, and may not mean anything, hi hi.
I just know HTOP let's me get to programs to KILL them, when Force Quit doesn't work, hi hi.
I only have the monitor go to sleep after X number of minutes.
One thing I did do was turn off the screen saver, because I learned that it is continuous running, even if the monitor itself goes to sleep, the screensaver is still running in the background.
Now normally if you move your mouse, the screen saver will stop and the normal screen will appear.
However, on most computers, if you can get the mouse to only move one or two pixels, such as by tapping on the desk, the monitor will turn back on showing you the screen saver is still running.
I can prove this with a screen saver that is running a series of steps so you can identify where in the cycle it is.
If you move the mouse to open the normal window, when it goes into screensaver mode, the screensaver always starts at the beginning of the cycle.
But if I get the monitor to turn back on by just knocking once on the desk to jar the mouse a tad, the screensaver would appear wherever in the cycle it was.
So only the monitor was asleep.
I didn't know this, which is why I've now turned off all the screensavers on all the computers, especially with hot weather coming. No sense letting the computers keep running, although they probably are anyhow.
At one time I used to use the Sleep Mode on my computers, which allowed the drives to spin down too.
But nearly every time I've tried using the Hibernate Mode, something didn't work right when in came out of Hibernation.
__________
I have checked the drivers and I have the current drivers for both the keyboard and mouse. In both Linux Mint and Debian, which appear to be the same driver for either.
I have left the computer running Debian since yesterday, and the green light is still on on the keyboard. So it didn't lock the keyboard out on me.
Before I go to lunch I will boot back into Linux Mint, and set the monitor not to go to sleep either. Just to see if that makes a difference. By the way, I did have one screen saver that caused problems, don't know why, but it would lock out the computer completely requiring a cold boot to get it going again.
Taking a look at HTOP, it appears Linux Mint has many more programs on stand-by than Debian has. Although most say they are not in use aka 0% of CPU, they do have other MEM % triggers that are active, not all are reading 0.0% all the time, like as if they are checked every so often.
I don't understand what exactly I'm looking at, but on Debian the PID goes up to 5639 and Mint goes up to 7393 before kicking in to all the google chrome PIDs that go on for pages starting around 12000 PID, if I have google chrome open. I should note this is ignoring the first page of PIDs which are any number, and scrolling down to PID 1 where they are then lined up sequentially. I assume the ones before that have to do with the programs I currently have running and active.
It's all muddy water to me, and may not mean anything, hi hi.
I just know HTOP let's me get to programs to KILL them, when Force Quit doesn't work, hi hi.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I certainly don't know what is going on with your keyboard and only have your comments to go by. My suggestions are clearly speculation and wild guesses.
A few Linux distributions have the screen saver ON by default. I never use it. Never saw a good technical reason to do it. Shutting power down, be it sleep, hibernate, or something else, does make sense. It turns off power to the computer and thus all the background processes go with it. None of that is necessary on anything but a laptop or mobile device where battery life must be taken into consideration.
Hibernation and sleep always were a problem for Windows. Some processes don't take kindly to being interrupted and saved to HDD/SDD while they are in the middle of things. Windows, and I suspect Linux too, doesn't care. It has one job and consequences be damned. Sleep is better only in the sense it recovers quicker. The same sync and start up problems occur in the sleep mode. All that might be worth it if your computer depends on battery life. Otherwise, I'd say just skip it. It's ok to turn off the display and nothing else. That's what takes up most of the power consumption anyway.
Linux Mint has some favorable reviews and download numbers. Glenn and I used to debate it all the time. Back then I didn't have a lot of experience with Mint so I couldn't argue with him very much. Ubuntu clearly had the edge in my opinion because it was at that time trying to be a clone of Windows, and thereby very friendly. But, as it seems to be, Linux Mint is the Linux of choice for a lot of people. I found so many problems with it that I now only use it in isolation on a USB memory stick. I don't want it destroying my perfectly good Windows computers.
You're headed in the right direction by looking at the processes to troubleshoot your keyboard problem. In Windows there are utilities that can be run to track the processes involved with shutting down the peripherals, or anything else for that matter. The output of these utilities can be triggered by an event, such as a keyboard shutting down. You can then look at the sequence and determine exactly what driver, or process, is likely to be causing the problem. There are also a few system log files in Linux that probably, but I can't say with certainty, record the fact that the keyboard shut down and why. I don't want to sound too sarcastic, but, even if you knew exactly what process was causing the misbehavior, do you think you would know how to fix it? I know I would not even be able to tract an event like that in Linux and much less fix it. However, it is very likely to be recorded someplace.
I've not figured out the logic to the PID number sequence. My guess is it's random. LOL There probably are blocks of numbers for certain functions but the PID is useless unless you are going to shut down a process manually. I typically use bash to shut down a misbehaved app, but that's not always possible. In some distros the familiar ctrl+alt+del works. I wonder from where they got that idea. I don't have it handy now, and it might take some serious searching to find it, but I did come across a sure fire method to stop any process. It involved a script that was copied from a web page and a shortcut to run that script. Once installed I believe it was simply a matter of clicking on the script shortcut and the dead app. All I recall is that it worked really well when I needed it.
A few Linux distributions have the screen saver ON by default. I never use it. Never saw a good technical reason to do it. Shutting power down, be it sleep, hibernate, or something else, does make sense. It turns off power to the computer and thus all the background processes go with it. None of that is necessary on anything but a laptop or mobile device where battery life must be taken into consideration.
Hibernation and sleep always were a problem for Windows. Some processes don't take kindly to being interrupted and saved to HDD/SDD while they are in the middle of things. Windows, and I suspect Linux too, doesn't care. It has one job and consequences be damned. Sleep is better only in the sense it recovers quicker. The same sync and start up problems occur in the sleep mode. All that might be worth it if your computer depends on battery life. Otherwise, I'd say just skip it. It's ok to turn off the display and nothing else. That's what takes up most of the power consumption anyway.
Linux Mint has some favorable reviews and download numbers. Glenn and I used to debate it all the time. Back then I didn't have a lot of experience with Mint so I couldn't argue with him very much. Ubuntu clearly had the edge in my opinion because it was at that time trying to be a clone of Windows, and thereby very friendly. But, as it seems to be, Linux Mint is the Linux of choice for a lot of people. I found so many problems with it that I now only use it in isolation on a USB memory stick. I don't want it destroying my perfectly good Windows computers.
You're headed in the right direction by looking at the processes to troubleshoot your keyboard problem. In Windows there are utilities that can be run to track the processes involved with shutting down the peripherals, or anything else for that matter. The output of these utilities can be triggered by an event, such as a keyboard shutting down. You can then look at the sequence and determine exactly what driver, or process, is likely to be causing the problem. There are also a few system log files in Linux that probably, but I can't say with certainty, record the fact that the keyboard shut down and why. I don't want to sound too sarcastic, but, even if you knew exactly what process was causing the misbehavior, do you think you would know how to fix it? I know I would not even be able to tract an event like that in Linux and much less fix it. However, it is very likely to be recorded someplace.
I've not figured out the logic to the PID number sequence. My guess is it's random. LOL There probably are blocks of numbers for certain functions but the PID is useless unless you are going to shut down a process manually. I typically use bash to shut down a misbehaved app, but that's not always possible. In some distros the familiar ctrl+alt+del works. I wonder from where they got that idea. I don't have it handy now, and it might take some serious searching to find it, but I did come across a sure fire method to stop any process. It involved a script that was copied from a web page and a shortcut to run that script. Once installed I believe it was simply a matter of clicking on the script shortcut and the dead app. All I recall is that it worked really well when I needed it.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I did a little more looking into my keyboard problem before I went to dinner yesterday.
How it works is quite complex, way over my head, and involves several layers from the kernel up to the program you are running.
Although both of the keyboard drivers were the same and I did reinstall them, I still had the problem with Mint.
Someone else having a similar problem with Mint said he tracked his problem down to the USB packet driver. But that was all he said. Which was of little help to me, hi hi.
After a search about USB drivers, I found something, not exactly a driver per se since it is part of the OS and not the Kernel.
Turns out the fix was much easier than I thought it would be.
In Linux Mint I just went to set-up and checked the box for it to find available drivers.
It showed my drivers were up to date, but I selected the two USB drivers anyhow, then Apply changes.
I had to reboot the computer after it was done.
I left it running in Linux Mint since yesterday before dinner, and even now at a few minutes until noon, both the mouse and keyboard are still working, the keyboard did not clonk out overnight like it usually does.
So, knock on simulated wood grain, perhaps that was it.
Ironic, it said all of my drivers were up to date, but the download and install now has a different module number.
Apparently, normal updates and upgrades don't change things like this unless they know of a problem.
One thing about Linux Mint 19.3 is I get a LOT of Kernel upgrades compared to my other OSs. Maybe because it is the newest OS?
I have several logs, but I really don't know how to read them.
I can set the reader to show only errors, and still get a page full, but most of those errors are not a problem.
Usually has to do with our electric going off, or my opening too many tabs and causing something to lock up, etc.
I do not know why google chrome has over 100 entries near the end of the HTOP file.
Maybe they just don't get deleted. I did not check it after I closed google chrome for the day, or before I started up this morning. I do close it before I leave for the night. I'll try to remember to check HTOP before I open google chrome tomorrow morning, just for my own curiosity.
Remember me talking about the image being burned into the screens at the hospital check-in computers?
Apparently such a burn is not permanent. They have changed the log-in screens there to a new logo, and now it is the new logo you still see a little after log-in, the old one has completely vanished. So apparently it is not permanent! Although it does have persistence it seems.
Many moons ago, for my brothers business, I changed the Windows log-in screen background to show his company logo, but then also added another multiple-image of his logo as a screen saver too, that floated around on the screen. This was simple to do because at that time, you could select a photo for your screen saver and have it float around in miniature. Maybe it still has it. Debi has her Win7 machine scrolling through her photo's during screen saver mode.
Now I may add my company logo to the log-in screens, hi hi. If'n I ever have time for fiddling around.
How it works is quite complex, way over my head, and involves several layers from the kernel up to the program you are running.
Although both of the keyboard drivers were the same and I did reinstall them, I still had the problem with Mint.
Someone else having a similar problem with Mint said he tracked his problem down to the USB packet driver. But that was all he said. Which was of little help to me, hi hi.
After a search about USB drivers, I found something, not exactly a driver per se since it is part of the OS and not the Kernel.
Turns out the fix was much easier than I thought it would be.
In Linux Mint I just went to set-up and checked the box for it to find available drivers.
It showed my drivers were up to date, but I selected the two USB drivers anyhow, then Apply changes.
I had to reboot the computer after it was done.
I left it running in Linux Mint since yesterday before dinner, and even now at a few minutes until noon, both the mouse and keyboard are still working, the keyboard did not clonk out overnight like it usually does.
So, knock on simulated wood grain, perhaps that was it.
Ironic, it said all of my drivers were up to date, but the download and install now has a different module number.
Apparently, normal updates and upgrades don't change things like this unless they know of a problem.
One thing about Linux Mint 19.3 is I get a LOT of Kernel upgrades compared to my other OSs. Maybe because it is the newest OS?
I have several logs, but I really don't know how to read them.
I can set the reader to show only errors, and still get a page full, but most of those errors are not a problem.
Usually has to do with our electric going off, or my opening too many tabs and causing something to lock up, etc.
I do not know why google chrome has over 100 entries near the end of the HTOP file.
Maybe they just don't get deleted. I did not check it after I closed google chrome for the day, or before I started up this morning. I do close it before I leave for the night. I'll try to remember to check HTOP before I open google chrome tomorrow morning, just for my own curiosity.
Remember me talking about the image being burned into the screens at the hospital check-in computers?
Apparently such a burn is not permanent. They have changed the log-in screens there to a new logo, and now it is the new logo you still see a little after log-in, the old one has completely vanished. So apparently it is not permanent! Although it does have persistence it seems.
Many moons ago, for my brothers business, I changed the Windows log-in screen background to show his company logo, but then also added another multiple-image of his logo as a screen saver too, that floated around on the screen. This was simple to do because at that time, you could select a photo for your screen saver and have it float around in miniature. Maybe it still has it. Debi has her Win7 machine scrolling through her photo's during screen saver mode.
Now I may add my company logo to the log-in screens, hi hi. If'n I ever have time for fiddling around.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
USB driver problem but only in Linux Mint, eh? I'm glad you got it fixed and I'm not surprised at the way you did it. I've seen those messages before where the system says the drivers and/or software are up to date, but there are later versions available. I don't know what they mean when they claim the system is up to date. There typically is a version log for all software and the differences between versions is listed. Getting a hold of those version logs might not be easy and I''d guess fairly useless as well. The kernel updates can be viewed a lit easier. The distro maintainer generally makes that available on a web page somewhere. The kernel updates do not actually update the core kernel from what I can tell. They add on modules for their specific distribution, recompile, and up the suffix at the end of the kernel version number. Those modules can change daily. Hourly perhaps. It would not surprise me if one of those kernel modules is what made your USB go berserk.
One of the negative points against using Google Chrome is that it is resource intensive. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see 100 processes associated with it. Check our your CPU usage and RAM usage too. I'd bet Google uses up most of it.
Your comments about burned in images to LCD/LED displays was news to me. I don't see what the process is that would cause it. The old CRT's had a phosphorus coating that actually got eaten away by the steady pattern of electrons that may strike it. There is no such thing in the LED world. Each pixel is a memory location and I find it hard to understand how those things could have persistence. But, if you see that they do, then who am I to question it? LOL
One of the negative points against using Google Chrome is that it is resource intensive. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see 100 processes associated with it. Check our your CPU usage and RAM usage too. I'd bet Google uses up most of it.
Your comments about burned in images to LCD/LED displays was news to me. I don't see what the process is that would cause it. The old CRT's had a phosphorus coating that actually got eaten away by the steady pattern of electrons that may strike it. There is no such thing in the LED world. Each pixel is a memory location and I find it hard to understand how those things could have persistence. But, if you see that they do, then who am I to question it? LOL
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
Although it was very easy to understand how the old Nixie numerical displays worked. One pin for each number.
Then the early segmented neon displays, still had a wire for each segment.
But it took me forever to understand how the old neon dot pinball score displays worked.
However, once I understood it, it was actually a pretty simple Digital Way of doing things.
Like a TV raster sweep, it required persistence in our eyes. Each dot is only on for a split second, but to us it looks like the whole TV screen or pinball display, or calculator display was lit up. All the numbers, actually segments, or dots, were only on one at a time.
Now although that was new technology to me, now it is old technology, and LCD screens work much in the same way, except they are almost like a computer grid. Still unfathomable to me how they get millions of colors though.
I too understood that LCDs could not burn in like the old raster scan TVs or monitors did.
That was until I was over at the hospital and had to sign in using their row of patient log-in computers.
The screen was dark gray, except for their white logo. Until you logged in and it brought up a white page.
You really didn't notice any gray, however, on the white page where the logo used to be, it was whiter.
At first I thought it was a watermark on the paper, gotta keep that logo in front of the customers, hi hi.
But then on pages where you had to scroll up and down, I noticed the image didn't move.
The next time I was there, they had changed their logo screen to the new parent hospitals logo.
Now the screen was green and yellow, their logo was green.
Same thing, that green logo was slightly visible on white pages and remained stationery as you scrolled. But it was not as pronounced as the white was previously.
Seeing this is why I went back to using screensavers again.
I also learned something else since then too. The touch screens on the hospital computers are an add-on component that sits in front of the monitor. You can't tell it, but this way they can replace touch screens that go bad without replacing the whole monitor. Never saw anything like that before either.
Well, that's not so, I know AirBar makes a touch screen overlay for small laptop screens, one size only.
Just called Pam to ask her, since she works at the hospital. She took a look and said the name on the add on screen is Telikin and it plugs into a USB port. Easily lifted off for cleaning.
So I'm wondering if perhaps it is the touch screen film between the glass picking up the image?
I've never seen this happen on my doctors office computers, or on my computers for that matter.
My Keyboard is still working today!
It also seems more responsive than before too. Hmmm.
Then the early segmented neon displays, still had a wire for each segment.
But it took me forever to understand how the old neon dot pinball score displays worked.
However, once I understood it, it was actually a pretty simple Digital Way of doing things.
Like a TV raster sweep, it required persistence in our eyes. Each dot is only on for a split second, but to us it looks like the whole TV screen or pinball display, or calculator display was lit up. All the numbers, actually segments, or dots, were only on one at a time.
Now although that was new technology to me, now it is old technology, and LCD screens work much in the same way, except they are almost like a computer grid. Still unfathomable to me how they get millions of colors though.
I too understood that LCDs could not burn in like the old raster scan TVs or monitors did.
That was until I was over at the hospital and had to sign in using their row of patient log-in computers.
The screen was dark gray, except for their white logo. Until you logged in and it brought up a white page.
You really didn't notice any gray, however, on the white page where the logo used to be, it was whiter.
At first I thought it was a watermark on the paper, gotta keep that logo in front of the customers, hi hi.
But then on pages where you had to scroll up and down, I noticed the image didn't move.
The next time I was there, they had changed their logo screen to the new parent hospitals logo.
Now the screen was green and yellow, their logo was green.
Same thing, that green logo was slightly visible on white pages and remained stationery as you scrolled. But it was not as pronounced as the white was previously.
Seeing this is why I went back to using screensavers again.
I also learned something else since then too. The touch screens on the hospital computers are an add-on component that sits in front of the monitor. You can't tell it, but this way they can replace touch screens that go bad without replacing the whole monitor. Never saw anything like that before either.
Well, that's not so, I know AirBar makes a touch screen overlay for small laptop screens, one size only.
Just called Pam to ask her, since she works at the hospital. She took a look and said the name on the add on screen is Telikin and it plugs into a USB port. Easily lifted off for cleaning.
So I'm wondering if perhaps it is the touch screen film between the glass picking up the image?
I've never seen this happen on my doctors office computers, or on my computers for that matter.
My Keyboard is still working today!
It also seems more responsive than before too. Hmmm.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
The only reason televisions and computer monitors work as well as they do is because our vision is so poor. Those LED screens are just a bunch of dots with space between each individual cell. The brain fills in any spaces we might actually be detecting. Color is amazing and I often wondered how they did it myself. It's basic physics. Each pixel is really a combination of three colored RGB LED's. Apparently yellow is or was difficult to make on silicon which forced them to use green instead. Instead of adding colors as you would with the primary color scheme, they subtract in order to get the yellow tones. Being all digital actually limits the number of color tints that can be produced, but if you put enough bits into your pixel color data some very precise shading can be accomplished. The truth is that the human eye can't discern all the colors that a high definition color monitor can produce. It fills in those blanks too.
We used those so called touch screens at Motorola. The ones I recall were on HP test equipment but it's possible we had some on the Apple Lisa's as well. The goal was to computerize the manufacturing process, but we didn't think it was a good idea to have a keyboard out in the factory environment. Thus the touch screen scheme was developed. Today's technology is way different and the touch sensors are built right into the display. Nothing needs be added.
We used those so called touch screens at Motorola. The ones I recall were on HP test equipment but it's possible we had some on the Apple Lisa's as well. The goal was to computerize the manufacturing process, but we didn't think it was a good idea to have a keyboard out in the factory environment. Thus the touch screen scheme was developed. Today's technology is way different and the touch sensors are built right into the display. Nothing needs be added.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
I still have and use my Palm One PDA. Sit's here on my desk and is used often during the week. I'm actually surprised the battery in it is still good. It has got to be close to 15 or more years old now. When it was new I carried it everywhere, even exchanged data using their data exchange by light system a few times. Now I use it to keep my passwords in, plus I keep a list of them in the computers too, just in case the PDA does go belly up. It is a touch screen!
I also had a calculator that looked like a sheet of glass. It too used touch screen technology. You could just barely see the traces used by the unit. The only area that was black was where the display, computer chip, and battery was located. If it had a battery that is, it worked on solar power like all the rest of my calculators. Although it looked neat, it wasn't very practical for running rows of number on. Can't rest your fingers on it like on an adder or button style calculator.
I think this is before touch screens, but similar. It was a black plastic frame that had a row of black dots around the top and left, and clear or frosty dots around the right and bottom. No glass. It fit over an existing monitor, did not have a scroll feature, and only worked for you to touch one place at a time. They didn't go over very big. About the only thing it worked for was POS menu selections or hitting number or letters that appeared on the screen.
I only saw them used in two places, the computer store that sold them, and I think it was the doughnut shop, could have been the bakery. Apparently they didn't work as well as expected, and also real touch screens were already coming out.
Getting back to computers here for a minute:
Although it has been a while back when I messed with a server, I had installed LAMP. Windows users would install WAMP.
My question is about SQL.
I know when I had a database, MySQL was the program that did the accessing of the database.
That being said, I have a couple of databases but don't have LAMP on this computer, so surely don't have SQL.
Then too, maybe I'm confusing a real database over what is called a database for my word processing activities.
Hmm, maybe they do it using a spreadsheet.
In any case, here is my question.
Is there a difference between SQL, MySQL, and msSQL?
I got this online: "SQL is used in the accessing, updating, and manipulation of data in a database while MySQL is an RDBMS that allows keeping the data that exists in a database organized. SQL is a Structured Query Language and MySQL is a RDBMS to store, retrieve, modify and administrate a database."
I never had to use any programming to learn to make a database and access it using any number of search criteria. Most of those were in drop down boxes too. Seems like a few years ago I used a program called Workbench for MySQL.
Then I got a better graphical program, but don't remember the name of it, since I only used it for a short time. No wait, I used Open Office Database and later Libre Office Base. Perhaps that is a different type of database than one you access using MySQL.
I also had a calculator that looked like a sheet of glass. It too used touch screen technology. You could just barely see the traces used by the unit. The only area that was black was where the display, computer chip, and battery was located. If it had a battery that is, it worked on solar power like all the rest of my calculators. Although it looked neat, it wasn't very practical for running rows of number on. Can't rest your fingers on it like on an adder or button style calculator.
I think this is before touch screens, but similar. It was a black plastic frame that had a row of black dots around the top and left, and clear or frosty dots around the right and bottom. No glass. It fit over an existing monitor, did not have a scroll feature, and only worked for you to touch one place at a time. They didn't go over very big. About the only thing it worked for was POS menu selections or hitting number or letters that appeared on the screen.
I only saw them used in two places, the computer store that sold them, and I think it was the doughnut shop, could have been the bakery. Apparently they didn't work as well as expected, and also real touch screens were already coming out.
Getting back to computers here for a minute:
Although it has been a while back when I messed with a server, I had installed LAMP. Windows users would install WAMP.
My question is about SQL.
I know when I had a database, MySQL was the program that did the accessing of the database.
That being said, I have a couple of databases but don't have LAMP on this computer, so surely don't have SQL.
Then too, maybe I'm confusing a real database over what is called a database for my word processing activities.
Hmm, maybe they do it using a spreadsheet.
In any case, here is my question.
Is there a difference between SQL, MySQL, and msSQL?
I got this online: "SQL is used in the accessing, updating, and manipulation of data in a database while MySQL is an RDBMS that allows keeping the data that exists in a database organized. SQL is a Structured Query Language and MySQL is a RDBMS to store, retrieve, modify and administrate a database."
I never had to use any programming to learn to make a database and access it using any number of search criteria. Most of those were in drop down boxes too. Seems like a few years ago I used a program called Workbench for MySQL.
Then I got a better graphical program, but don't remember the name of it, since I only used it for a short time. No wait, I used Open Office Database and later Libre Office Base. Perhaps that is a different type of database than one you access using MySQL.
L
My exposure to databases is very limited. I have experience creating ODBC databases in Windows, which is fundamentally an Excel spreadsheet. This website stores all it's data in a product called mySQL. There is a GUI I can use to extract data from it, and I have done so a few times. Then there are the office suit databases in MS Office, Open Office, and Libre Office. I've looked at all those briefly merely to see how they work. Back in the the days when I was paid to have fun with computers, I became very familiar with Oracle's database. All that knowledge is 20 years old and mostly forgotten.
Databases are simply memory blocks arranged in a particular fashion. Imagine making ten spreadsheets, for example, to keep track of your family tree. One would have names, one would have addresses, one would have phone numbers, and so on until you filled up all ten with with information that is useful to you. Putting all that information into ten spreadsheets, or tables as they are known in database language, seems counter-intuitive. Why not just put it all on one sheet with as many columns as necessary? Well, you could do that. The table structure, however, allows for manipulation of data that is not easily done on a single spread sheet. For example, you might want a list of all the male relatives that live in three adjacent postal zipcode areas. You could visually search that humongous spreadsheet to get that same information and hope you didn't miss anything. Or, you could use a program to do it for you: Structured Query Language - SQL. Or, as is the case with this website's database, you may have a GUI available to automatically compose the SQL for you.
MySQL and msSQL and any number of other packages that have SQL in their name are structured (with tables) databases. In that sense the are all the same. There may be differences in what data each product can store and in capacity, but they all use tables of some sort to keep the data. That Open Office or Libre Office database package is primitive and barely qualifies as a database. MySQL is the hacker database of choice in that it will fit on the average computer. Something like Oracle would be too expensive for an individual user, but ideal for enterprises. SQL is the language used to extract the relevant data from those databases. About the closest analogy to SQL would be those bash commands where you enter a few keywords and add on all the optional operators necessary. Depending on what options you add, the output report will be different. That's how databases work too.
Databases are simply memory blocks arranged in a particular fashion. Imagine making ten spreadsheets, for example, to keep track of your family tree. One would have names, one would have addresses, one would have phone numbers, and so on until you filled up all ten with with information that is useful to you. Putting all that information into ten spreadsheets, or tables as they are known in database language, seems counter-intuitive. Why not just put it all on one sheet with as many columns as necessary? Well, you could do that. The table structure, however, allows for manipulation of data that is not easily done on a single spread sheet. For example, you might want a list of all the male relatives that live in three adjacent postal zipcode areas. You could visually search that humongous spreadsheet to get that same information and hope you didn't miss anything. Or, you could use a program to do it for you: Structured Query Language - SQL. Or, as is the case with this website's database, you may have a GUI available to automatically compose the SQL for you.
MySQL and msSQL and any number of other packages that have SQL in their name are structured (with tables) databases. In that sense the are all the same. There may be differences in what data each product can store and in capacity, but they all use tables of some sort to keep the data. That Open Office or Libre Office database package is primitive and barely qualifies as a database. MySQL is the hacker database of choice in that it will fit on the average computer. Something like Oracle would be too expensive for an individual user, but ideal for enterprises. SQL is the language used to extract the relevant data from those databases. About the closest analogy to SQL would be those bash commands where you enter a few keywords and add on all the optional operators necessary. Depending on what options you add, the output report will be different. That's how databases work too.
Re: Ubuntu 20.04 Release
What sorta piqued my curiosity is based on something said by our local utilities board.
All of their data, regardless of what it is, is stored in a massive database.
We can look up when and where a repair to the transmission service was made, when the failure was called in, who was assigned to investigate, and who made the repairs, when they started, when they finished, and when the power was restored. We can look up your electric, water, or gas usage since you became a customer, how many calls you've made to us, and how many services we performed and when. We know every employee and how many hours they worked, it which departments, which truck and team they were assigned to.
Keeping everything in a database makes it quick and easy to look up anything you need to look up without wasting hours searching through departments and folders to find it as in the early days of files and folders.
I've used files and folders ever since I started using computers.
Have developed a fairly decent directory tree with folders and sub-folders, and mirror that as a backup.
Sometimes it does take me a long time to find something, especially if I don't know the year or reason I have a copy of something. In some cases, it may be something from a closed business that I have in one of the many archives. So it can take me forever and a day to find something, especially if you don't know what name it might have been filed under.
If I know it is a text file, I can search for a line of text in all the text files, but this does not seem to work if it happens to be a document that is not readable except by the program that created it.
All I can say is it must be one complicated database they use if they no longer use files and folders, hi hi.
Now I can see using a database to keep like an address book. So you can sort by name, zip code, or phone number. But you can do that with a simple spreadsheet too.
And as you said, the OFFICE Databases are really mainly only so you can merge names onto a letter, or look up a phone number, etc. Not much different than and address book there either.
OK, you know me and my convoluted way of doing things. I call one of my primary external drives my File Server, hi hi.
I do that because that is where ALL of my files are stored.
All of their data, regardless of what it is, is stored in a massive database.
We can look up when and where a repair to the transmission service was made, when the failure was called in, who was assigned to investigate, and who made the repairs, when they started, when they finished, and when the power was restored. We can look up your electric, water, or gas usage since you became a customer, how many calls you've made to us, and how many services we performed and when. We know every employee and how many hours they worked, it which departments, which truck and team they were assigned to.
Keeping everything in a database makes it quick and easy to look up anything you need to look up without wasting hours searching through departments and folders to find it as in the early days of files and folders.
I've used files and folders ever since I started using computers.
Have developed a fairly decent directory tree with folders and sub-folders, and mirror that as a backup.
Sometimes it does take me a long time to find something, especially if I don't know the year or reason I have a copy of something. In some cases, it may be something from a closed business that I have in one of the many archives. So it can take me forever and a day to find something, especially if you don't know what name it might have been filed under.
If I know it is a text file, I can search for a line of text in all the text files, but this does not seem to work if it happens to be a document that is not readable except by the program that created it.
All I can say is it must be one complicated database they use if they no longer use files and folders, hi hi.
Now I can see using a database to keep like an address book. So you can sort by name, zip code, or phone number. But you can do that with a simple spreadsheet too.
And as you said, the OFFICE Databases are really mainly only so you can merge names onto a letter, or look up a phone number, etc. Not much different than and address book there either.
OK, you know me and my convoluted way of doing things. I call one of my primary external drives my File Server, hi hi.
I do that because that is where ALL of my files are stored.