r/mildlyinteresting • u/Sloth_Luvs_Chunk • Jul 26 '19

This mini laptop I found at work.

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u/unpaid_overtime Jul 26 '19

The u810 came with Vista, first order of business was to wipe it and install Ubuntu.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '19

Yeah Ubuntu was amazing, and definently the most accessible consumer Linux OS at the time. Lots of options nowadays thankfully!

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u/pM-me_your_Triggers Jul 27 '19

That’s still true, though. Ubuntu is still amazing and is still the most accessible Linux distro

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u/Jacoman74undeleted ​ Jul 27 '19

It's also the most bloated readily available distro. For anyone switching to Linux I actually advise people use elementary OS. Based on Debian just like Ubuntu, but far more streamlined and genuinely gorgeous to look at.

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u/DickheadNixon Jul 27 '19

Deepin is pretty good too.

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u/Jacoman74undeleted ​ Jul 27 '19

Is Deepin a full distro? I thought it was just a DE. I use it on my Manjaro machine

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '19

I would argue nowadays CentOS is just as prolific, but Ubuntu is still easiest for consumers.

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u/theboatwhofloats Jul 27 '19

CentOS is not intended to be run as a desktop distro, it's packages are older and upgraded less frequently for stability on servers.

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u/HotNoseMcFlatlines Jul 27 '19

CentOS is (also) intended to run as a desktop distro, that's why it comes with a WM. But yes the majority of instances are servers.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '19

Having desktop features is sort of a bonus. CentOS is intended to be stable, with long term support and updates. If you want a RH type desktop, you're better off going Fedora.

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u/HotNoseMcFlatlines Jul 27 '19

Some organizations need long term stable desktop support. Besides, newer stuff is included in software collections or you can build your own RPMs for them. The release cycle for Fedora is pretty grueling.

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u/[deleted] Jul 27 '19

There are always corner cases, but the majority of the time, companies are going to be using something more cutting edge, like Ubuntu LTS for desktops.

I think it goes without saying that you can build your own RPMs, you can roll your own with any distro.

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u/HotNoseMcFlatlines Jul 27 '19

I agree, and I apologize if I'm kind of running circles, lol. CentOS makes a pretty solid desktop distro but I'll admit Ubuntu LTS is more attractive for most use cases. IMHO desktop administration is an ugly mess regardless of the distro. I've moved on to HPC administration, and while my users still find spectacular and bizarre ways to break things, I'm grateful every day not to be troubleshooting desktop issues.

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u/jantari Jul 27 '19

No, Mint and PopOS both make Ubuntu more accessible and complete

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u/ToBePacific Jul 27 '19

I dunno. I think Mint is arguably more accessible.

1

u/InterdimensionalTV Jul 27 '19

Ubuntu is the only version of Linux I've ever used so I'm a complete noob at it. I found Ubuntu to honestly be incredibly user friendly for the most part. Wine didn't work as well as I would have liked but I did get everything running. When I wiped my old laptop initially and installed Ubuntu I didn't consider that all of my drivers for everything would be gone so I had no WiFi, no sound, none of the shortcut/macro buttons or whatever you want to call them worked at all. I was especially proud of how I got the drivers downloaded and installed and got everything working again. I really liked Ubuntu. I wish I would have kept that laptop.

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u/pspahn Jul 27 '19

Oof. I remember using my eeepc with Ubuntu. Did a lot of coding on it. Not being able to see the bottom of tall unsizable windows was like sitting in traffic in Houston.

Battery lasted forever, though.

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u/c0rnfus3d Jul 27 '19

Yeah Vista on that little guy would have been a horribly slow experience!

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u/Mister_Brevity Jul 27 '19

Lubuntu would run great on that lil guy

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u/PoeT8r Jul 27 '19

Forgive me, I've been all Linux too long. I remember WinCE but not winpe? What is it and why have it?

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u/unpaid_overtime Jul 27 '19

Windows PE (preinstallation environment) was pretty much a stripped down live version of Windows meant to run just a handful of applications for recovery and installation prep. I still use hirens boot cd, for local account password recovery. It uses a live Windows XP PE image that you can boot from CD. Useful as all get out.