[PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
I live in SW Missouri (or as one wag in the group has put it) "He lives out past Estacada, even." My friend lives in Upstate NY. Yes I realize that long distance support will create problems. Not doing it is not an option. What I suggest will be either Debian or Debian based because that is what I will be using. It will NOT be Ubuntu as Canonical is aiming at the same market as Microsoft and comes up with similar solutions on the operator interface. That is where His primary problem apparently is. [Based on having known him and is wife for ~50 years.] For the same reason Gnome3 is out. I'm leaning towards Mate as DE. I'll take a two pronged approach. I have an old laptop on which I'll install what I think is a reasonable approximation of what he needs and he would find comfortable using. The second prong requires more homework on my part and is what motivates this post. I'm looking for suggestions for tools to look at an unknown system and report on the installed hardware -especially CPU, clock speed, RAM, and networking hardware. Windows software [suitable for WinXP or later] would be nice. I would put it on a flash drive with an appropriate bat file. He would run it on each of his machines and return the drive to me via snail mail. [Did you note the lack of user input required ;] The second option is for me to create a LiveCD [don't know if all his machines can boot from a flash drive]. There would be a script which would write the information to a flash drive I supplied. That drive would have an appropriate UUID. Comments, other than I'm ... ? TIA ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
On Sun, 27 Mar 2016, Richard Owlett wrote: > [Based on having known him and is wife for ~50 years.] For the same reason > Gnome3 is out. I'm leaning towards Mate as DE. Richard, Take a look at Xfce4 for a GUI. It's not KDE or Gnome and is lightweight. > The second option is for me to create a LiveCD [don't know if all his > machines can boot from a flash drive]. There would be a script which would > write the information to a flash drive I supplied. That drive would have > an appropriate UUID. This has two advantages over your first option. 1) You can have it run uname and your friend can transmit the results to you (see man uname). 2) He can play with the live CD, become familiar (or lost, his choice) and give you feedback on the experience(s). Rich ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
I'm going to be frank... I'm worried we have a "Blind leading the blind" situation here. IF you have to ask the questions you are asking, you are probably not ready to be doing this kind of remote administration... THAT SAID, the following is a pretty strong poke in the right direction... The Linux equivalent to BAT files are BASH files. Programming in BASH is philosophically, but not syntactically, similar... You will probably have to start learning from scratch. Still, once you have a functional BASH file, running it SHOULD be as easy as clicking on it in the file browser (Although, I've never done this... And I would do some more sanity checking in the script to make sure I KNOW where the file is gonna be saved) this will require MUCH more sanity checking than my example below), or even in a worst case scenario, opening a command line, running the script (/mnt/script.bash), and it will do it's thing (Again, that would require more sanity checks than my example below provides; If, on the other hand, they switch to the folder first... ie, cd /mnt/, then ./script.bash, the example below would then work fine). You COULD put it on a liveCD, and set it to run the script on boot (Either through a cron job, or some other auto-starter)... In effect, this will make the script as easy as "Plug it in and reboot..." But I actually recommend against using a LiveCD for automated diagnostics. Sure, it would work just fine for hardware oriented issues, but it would be completely worthless in diagnosing OS configuration issues, because it will run in the LiveCD environment, NOT the native, on disk system. At any rate, you are gonna have to learn a few basic concepts: 1) Basic BASH scripting. There are lots of good guides out there (Google "Bash scripting"), I recommend walking through a couple of them and try out all of their examples. 2) You really need to understand pipes and output redirection (Google "Linux i/o redirection"). You will have to know | (Pipe), > (Write over), and >> (Write into). Again, various guides are on the internet, I recommend you use several of them so you understand some of the eccentricities. 3) The tools that will check the values you need... This will just be a matter of knowing the commands you need, and how to pipe the output to a file. This will make more sense once you understand the above. FOR EXAMPLE, in the example you gave (Checking CPU) you will want to check out uname... 4) The tools for filtering outputs. For example, you will almost certainly need grep, and maybe cat and awk as well. The following VERY BASIC script will report all of the hardware information available through uname, and how much RAM is installed, and write it to a file called results.txt located in same folder where the program was run from (Presumably the flash drive itself). KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS SCRIPT MAKES NO EFFORT TO VERIFY WHERE THE FILE IS BEING WRITTEN! If there is any chance that this script is CALLED from somewhere other than the folder it's stored in (IE, if you are on the command line, and you are working from your home folder, ie /home/user, and you call the script from somewhere else, ie /mnt/script.bash, then the output file will end up in /home/user. Sanity checks become somewhat environment specific, as default mount points vary slightly from distro to distro), then you will want to add a bunch of sanity checks, to verify it's writing the file to where you expect it to. #! /bin/bash uname -all > results.txt cat /proc/meminfo | grep MemTotal >> results.txt On Sun, Mar 27, 2016 at 7:05 AM, Richard Owlett wrote: > I live in SW Missouri (or as one wag in the group has put it) "He > lives out past Estacada, even." My friend lives in Upstate NY. > Yes I realize that long distance support will create problems. > Not doing it is not an option. > > What I suggest will be either Debian or Debian based because that > is what I will be using. It will NOT be Ubuntu as Canonical is > aiming at the same market as Microsoft and comes up with similar > solutions on the operator interface. That is where His primary > problem apparently is. [Based on having known him and is wife for > ~50 years.] For the same reason Gnome3 is out. I'm leaning > towards Mate as DE. > > I'll take a two pronged approach. I have an old laptop on which > I'll install what I think is a reasonable approximation of what > he needs and he would find comfortable using. > > The second prong requires more homework on my part and is what > motivates this post. > > I'm looking for suggestions for tools to look at an unknown > system and report on the installed hardware -especially CPU, > clock speed, RAM, and networking hardware. > > Windows software [suitable for WinXP or later] would be nice. I > would put it on a flash drive with an appropriate bat file. He > would run it on each of his machines and return the drive to me > via snail mail. [Did you note the lack of user input required ;] > > The second option is for
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
I would ask the question why do you need to know what hardware here has? It is very likely Linux will just boot and run without you having to know what hardware he has. He could send you the disk from his machine, you can put it in your computer, install Linux on it, send it back to him, he puts it back in his machine and your good to go. Bill ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
Check Xubuntu for usability. Most of Ubuntu's Microsoft like qualities are in the desktop, and Xubuntu puts Xfce on top of Ubuntu. Lubuntu is a possibility, too. (I use Xubuntu, for much the reasons you quote). Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone Original message From: Richard Owlett Date: 03/27/2016 7:05 AM (GMT-08:00) To: plug@lists.pdxlinux.org Subject: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux I live in SW Missouri (or as one wag in the group has put it) "He lives out past Estacada, even." My friend lives in Upstate NY. Yes I realize that long distance support will create problems. Not doing it is not an option. What I suggest will be either Debian or Debian based because that is what I will be using. It will NOT be Ubuntu as Canonical is aiming at the same market as Microsoft and comes up with similar solutions on the operator interface. That is where His primary problem apparently is. [Based on having known him and is wife for ~50 years.] For the same reason Gnome3 is out. I'm leaning towards Mate as DE. I'll take a two pronged approach. I have an old laptop on which I'll install what I think is a reasonable approximation of what he needs and he would find comfortable using. The second prong requires more homework on my part and is what motivates this post. I'm looking for suggestions for tools to look at an unknown system and report on the installed hardware -especially CPU, clock speed, RAM, and networking hardware. Windows software [suitable for WinXP or later] would be nice. I would put it on a flash drive with an appropriate bat file. He would run it on each of his machines and return the drive to me via snail mail. [Did you note the lack of user input required ;] The second option is for me to create a LiveCD [don't know if all his machines can boot from a flash drive]. There would be a script which would write the information to a flash drive I supplied. That drive would have an appropriate UUID. Comments, other than I'm ... ? TIA ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
[PLUG] making heads and tails of it
Some handy tips here, for those not already familiar with heads/tails commands: http://www.linuxnix.com/14-tail-head-commands-linuxunix/ ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
> Check Xubuntu for usability. Most of Ubuntu's Microsoft like qualities are > in the desktop, and Xubuntu puts Xfce on top of Ubuntu. Lubuntu is a > possibility, too. (I use Xubuntu, for much the reasons you quote). > The argument that "Canonical is aiming at the same market as Microsoft and comes up with similar solutions on the operator interface..." is vague at best. The argument COULD be applied exclusively towards the Unity desktop environment, which would be fair... In which case, Lubuntu and Xubuntu MAY be acceptable replacements. On the other hand, he singled out the parent company and their product line as the offenders... So I'm tempted to respect his wishes. The argument could be equally applied towards Canonical's willingness to bundle proprietary drivers, codecs, and software... Also to the App Store that features both proprietary and for-cost applications... Also to Canonical's willingness to work with 3rd parties that don't share the FOSS philosophies... Etc. Ad nauseum. So again, I'm tempted to simply respect his wishes. On the other hand, while the argument that "Anything that LOOKS like Windows is the Enemy" certainly does exclude KDE, Gnome3, and Unity to varying degrees of offense, it holds little value in a philosophical software-design arena, where attention to detail in the User eXperience is as important as usability to the end product, and doesn't really make one "Microsoft-like," as much as it makes them "Pro-user..." I'm suddenly sounding more "Microsoft is pro-user" than I usually sound... OK, so I acknowledge I have played Devil's Advocate here... So let me get to the point... The OP never stated WHY he felt Microsoft-like behavior was evil, or even WHAT makes something Microsoft-like... So any arguments in that arena are poorly articulated at best, and are best saved for the burning bridge where the troll lives. He said he didn't want Ubuntu because Canonical is targeting the mass market... Respect that, and move on with the helpful input. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
On 3/27/2016 10:01 AM, Tyrell Jentink wrote: > I'm going to be frank... I'm worried we have a "Blind leading the blind" > situation here. <*ROFL*> ;/ The University was proud of the computer that ran my first FORTRAN programs -- it had TRANSISTORS. I don't act my age. My second PC, a KAYPRO-10, is around here somewhere. I succumbed to the M$ bug with Win 3.1 and relatively recently broke free. By the way, I agree with most of your logic, if not your conclusions. [snip] > #! /bin/bash > uname -all > results.txt That got me pointed in useful directions. From the man pages what I was looking for is likely lshw [although not currently installed on my working Debian Squeeze box - I'd done a really minimal install. I never had a need for it as I already know what's in my boxes. I just don't know what's in his. Thank you for your time. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
On 3/27/2016 10:05 AM, Bill Barry wrote: > I would ask the question why do you need to know what hardware here has? It > is very likely Linux will just boot and run without you having to know what > hardware he has. He could send you the disk from his machine, you can put > it in your computer, install Linux on it, send it back to him, he puts it > back in his machine and your good to go. > Well-l-l-l. First of all he has several machines. Second at least one of them is not particularly happy with anything later than Win XP (not sure if it is Home or Pro) ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
On 3/27/2016 11:05 AM, Tim Wescott wrote: > > > Check Xubuntu for usability. Most of Ubuntu's Microsoft like qualities are in > the desktop, and Xubuntu puts Xfce on top of Ubuntu. Lubuntu is a > possibility, too. (I use Xubuntu, for much the reasons you quote). Remember you introduced me to the Debian family in the first place. Besides their default UI I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable having having him on something using a rolling release philosophy. I only sporadically follow Ubuntu related groups, does that create any problems in the real world? As to which UI, I'd have look at each of them. The choice would depend more heavily on "human factors" than technical specs. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
On 3/27/2016 2:33 PM, Tyrell Jentink wrote: [snip] > > The OP never stated WHY he felt Microsoft-like behavior was evil, or even > WHAT makes something Microsoft-like... [snip] Tim operating on information you didn't have. He's known for several years. I also assume he agrees with the logic behind your reply to my post. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
That's a good point - I've had Ubuntu updates screw things up. I've just adopted a strategy of putting in a new hard drive whenever X.04 comes out and doing a clean install. It sounds like that's not for him. Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone Original message From: Richard Owlett Date: 03/27/2016 1:38 PM (GMT-07:00) To: plug@lists.pdxlinux.org Subject: Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux On 3/27/2016 11:05 AM, Tim Wescott wrote: > > > Check Xubuntu for usability. Most of Ubuntu's Microsoft like qualities are in > the desktop, and Xubuntu puts Xfce on top of Ubuntu. Lubuntu is a > possibility, too. (I use Xubuntu, for much the reasons you quote). Remember you introduced me to the Debian family in the first place. Besides their default UI I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable having having him on something using a rolling release philosophy. I only sporadically follow Ubuntu related groups, does that create any problems in the real world? As to which UI, I'd have look at each of them. The choice would depend more heavily on "human factors" than technical specs. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux
Yup. Most importantly I know that if my suggestion is of base for his friend, Richard will go another direction with no slight assumed or taken. Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone Original message From: Richard Owlett Date: 03/27/2016 1:44 PM (GMT-08:00) To: plug@lists.pdxlinux.org Subject: Re: [PLUG] Guiding a geographically remote friend from Windows to Linux On 3/27/2016 2:33 PM, Tyrell Jentink wrote: [snip] > > The OP never stated WHY he felt Microsoft-like behavior was evil, or even > WHAT makes something Microsoft-like... [snip] Tim operating on information you didn't have. He's known for several years. I also assume he agrees with the logic behind your reply to my post. ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug ___ PLUG mailing list PLUG@lists.pdxlinux.org http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug