Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 01:16:11AM +, boB Stepp wrote:

> I just now checked on IDLE, found it was not installed, and typed in
> the terminal:
> 
> sudo apt-get install idle3
> 
> The interesting part is since IDLE needs tkinter, it installed that
> dependency as well.  As far as I can tell after typing "help(tkinter)"
> in the Python interpreter, it looks like *all* of tkinter got
> installed.  Is this in fact true?

Indeed. And if Tk/Tcl weren't installed, it would have installed them as 
well. (But they probably were already installed.)

apt-get and aptitude will generally warn you that there are dependencies 
that need installing, and ask you for permission. I've never quite 
worked out why it sometimes just installs them, no questions asked, and 
other times asks first. Possibly something to do with the size of the 
dependencies? E.g. if the dependencies are less that X bytes in size, 
just go ahead and install?

The really amazing thing is when there is a conflict between an 
installed package and a dependency you need. Then aptitude will offer 
you various choices, such as:

- leave the existing package, don't install the new one;

- leave the existing package, install the new one, but not the dependencies;

- remove the existing package, install the new one and its dependencies.


-- 
Steve
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[David Rock]

> On Jun 29, 2016, at 20:16, boB Stepp  wrote:
> 
> 
> The interesting part is since IDLE needs tkinter, it installed that
> dependency as well.  As far as I can tell after typing "help(tkinter)"
> in the Python interpreter, it looks like *all* of tkinter got
> installed.  Is this in fact true?

Most likely, yes.  Welcome to package management. This is what we were talking 
about earlier; the package management tools are really good and do wonderful 
things like find all the needed dependencies for a package that you install.  
In some cases, that can be many-many packages depending on the complexity.  All 
you need to worry about is the thing you want, and let the system do the rest. 
:-)


— 
David Rock
da...@graniteweb.com




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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Thu, Jun 30, 2016 at 12:09 AM, Alan Gauld via Tutor  wrote:
> On 29/06/16 23:58, boB Stepp wrote:
>
>> One point I just discovered for those new to this and Linux:  tkinter
>> does *not* come pre-installed with the Python distributions; it will
>> have to be installed separately.
>
> Yes, but it's just another package in the package manager. python-tk
> Select it and hit Install.

I just now checked on IDLE, found it was not installed, and typed in
the terminal:

sudo apt-get install idle3

The interesting part is since IDLE needs tkinter, it installed that
dependency as well.  As far as I can tell after typing "help(tkinter)"
in the Python interpreter, it looks like *all* of tkinter got
installed.  Is this in fact true?

-- 
boB
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 10:37 PM, David Rock  wrote:

>> I typed both "python" and "python3" in the terminal window to see what
>> is here:  Python 2.7.6 and Python 3.4.3 [Does this mean we are *on*
>> topic now?  ~(:>))].  Question:  Is Python 3 used by any of Mint's OS
>> functions?  Or does it only use Python 2?
>
> I don’t know off-hand, but unless you plan on doing work with Mint itself, I 
> doubt it matters much beyond the academia of knowing for knowledge’s sake.  
> Are you concerned about a version conflict with something you plan to do on 
> the system?  We are definitely getting back on topic if you want to talk 
> about different versions of python and whether it’s better to just work with 
> what’s there or install something different.

No, not at this time.  I was just curious.

One point I just discovered for those new to this and Linux:  tkinter
does *not* come pre-installed with the Python distributions; it will
have to be installed separately.  Of course, I'm sure that all of you
long-time Linux users knew that already!

>> Now when the new hard drive arrives tomorrow we'll see if I can get a
>> good dual-boot of Windows 7 and Mint Cinnamon going!
>
> Having the second disk will make this a breeze.  You are avoiding the biggest 
> complication of resizing partitions on the same disk.  The one suggestion I 
> would make about the install:  when it asks if you want to use LVM, say yes.  
> It adds a layer of flexibility with you disk layout that you will be sad you 
> don’t have later.

I was thinking this would be a better way to go.  Thanks for the tip
about LVM.  Logical Volume Management was mentioned in some of
installation guides I read, but not all, so I actually was going to
look into this more deeply.  Thanks for saving me some research!

Alan Gauld said:

> If you really want to see what's on offer open the
>
> Menu->Administration->Software Manager tool
>
> And browse away... :-)

Wow!  "74, 905 packages are available" !!!  And they all come neatly
organized by topic!

-- 
boB
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[David Rock]

> On Jun 29, 2016, at 17:16, boB Stepp  wrote:
> OK, I'm into a live Mint Linux session off my USB flash drive.  The

Cool.

> I typed both "python" and "python3" in the terminal window to see what
> is here:  Python 2.7.6 and Python 3.4.3 [Does this mean we are *on*
> topic now?  ~(:>))].  Question:  Is Python 3 used by any of Mint's OS
> functions?  Or does it only use Python 2?

I don’t know off-hand, but unless you plan on doing work with Mint itself, I 
doubt it matters much beyond the academia of knowing for knowledge’s sake.  Are 
you concerned about a version conflict with something you plan to do on the 
system?  We are definitely getting back on topic if you want to talk about 
different versions of python and whether it’s better to just work with what’s 
there or install something different.

> No Git is pre-installed, but it immediately tells me the command to
> type to get it!  Cool!!

If I may suggest… GitKraken is pretty nice.  https://www.gitkraken.com 
I’m not a fan of Git, but it makes it tolerable even for a stodgy SysAdmin like 
myself ;-)

> Now when the new hard drive arrives tomorrow we'll see if I can get a
> good dual-boot of Windows 7 and Mint Cinnamon going!

Having the second disk will make this a breeze.  You are avoiding the biggest 
complication of resizing partitions on the same disk.  The one suggestion I 
would make about the install:  when it asks if you want to use LVM, say yes.  
It adds a layer of flexibility with you disk layout that you will be sad you 
don’t have later.

> Thanks for all of the help even though this has been off-topic for this list!
> 
> Meanwhile, more playing around with Mint!!

have fun!


— 
David Rock
da...@graniteweb.com




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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[Alan Gauld via Tutor]

On 29/06/16 23:16, boB Stepp wrote:

> No Git is pre-installed, but it immediately tells me the command to
> type to get it!  Cool!!

If you really want to see what's on offer open the

Menu->Administration->Software Manager tool

And browse away... :-)

-- 
Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/author/alan_gauld
Follow my photo-blog on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alangauldphotos


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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 7:56 PM, boB Stepp  wrote:

> Now I can get into BIOS.  BIOS sees my USB flash drive as "UEFI: Lexar
> USB Flash Drive 1100", but it silently refuses to boot to the iso
> image installed on it.  Something new to puzzle out!

OK, I'm into a live Mint Linux session off my USB flash drive.  The
problem I experienced was in incompatible BIOS settings.  As far as I
can tell, since my W7 installation is *not* UEFI, I needed to likewise
have the flash drive setup.  Once I did that I got into Linux.

The first thing that came up was a warning:

"Running in software rendering mode.

Cinnamon is currently running without video hardware acceleration and,
as a result, you may observe much higher than normal CPU usage.

There could be a problem with your drivers ..."

Mozilla Firefox appears to be the pre-installed browser.  However, I
was not connected to my home's wireless network.  I found the icon for
that and did the needed password and MAC Address stuff and got
connected.

Next I found the Driver Manager application, ran it, and it
recommended applying "nvidia-352, Version 352.63-0ubunto0.14.04.1,
NVIDIA binary driver-version 352.63".  I did so and the initial
warning  I mentioned above went away.

I typed both "python" and "python3" in the terminal window to see what
is here:  Python 2.7.6 and Python 3.4.3 [Does this mean we are *on*
topic now?  ~(:>))].  Question:  Is Python 3 used by any of Mint's OS
functions?  Or does it only use Python 2?

No Git is pre-installed, but it immediately tells me the command to
type to get it!  Cool!!

Typing "vi" in terminal tells me that VIM 7.4.52 is the installed
version.  Kind of behind, but I am sure I can update this if I go with
Mint.  No gVim but it again offers a list of available packages and
the command to type.

My initial impressions are very good!  I have gotten this far with
just some poking around, no Internet searching required.  I like the
clean default appearance of Cinnamon.  Running off the USB stick it
seems quite snappy.  So it will only be significantly better once it
is installed to a hard drive.  Windowing controls are oh so slightly
different from Windows, but so far everything is just *obvious*.

BTW, I am typing this from Mozilla Firefox (I haven't gotten around to
thinking about setting up Thunderbird.) running in Mint while
listening to a Pandora music stream from my Pandora One account.
Everything is just working!  Like it very much!  Since my wife is
planning on trying out Mint on multiple PCs in her classroom this
coming school year, I think I will just go with Mint.  I'm sure I will
encounter some warts along the way, but in my experience with enough
searching and thinking and asking ... almost all warts can be dealt
with.

Only gripe so far is that my fancy Corsair gaming keyboard has become
a normal keyboard.  As I said in an earlier email, some clever people
have put together a package to access most of the keyboard's features.
It is still in a very early version of 0.2 or so.  However, I have not
gotten much use out of my fancy keyboard to date.  I mostly like it
because it is a mechanical keyboard and care little for the other
stuff.  Even though David saved the day by reminding me about the
"BIOS" setting on a keyboard switch, I think I will stick with the new
quite functional but not fancy mechanical keyboard coming soon and
give this gaming keyboard to one of my two children who will probably
appreciate it more than me.

Now when the new hard drive arrives tomorrow we'll see if I can get a
good dual-boot of Windows 7 and Mint Cinnamon going!

Thanks for all of the help even though this has been off-topic for this list!

Meanwhile, more playing around with Mint!!

Cheers!
-- 
boB
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 1:12 PM, David Rock  wrote:
>
>> On Jun 29, 2016, at 12:32, boB Stepp  wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 12:02 PM, David Rock  wrote:
>>>
 On Jun 29, 2016, at 11:20, boB Stepp  wrote:

 My Christmas present of a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard was not
 _seen_ during the boot up sequence until *after* Windows started up.
 So I could not get into my BIOS area!  I had not noticed this earlier
>>>
>>> Which keyboard do you have?  Most Corsairs have a “BIOS switch” for exactly 
>>> this issue.
>>
>> K95 RGB.  I will have to look around for setting you mention.
>
> It should be a physical switch on the keyboard itself

I had forgotten about that switch since its default worked fine when I
initially connected the keyboard, and it is in a very inconspicuous
location on the keyboard--out of sight, out of mind.

Now I can get into BIOS.  BIOS sees my USB flash drive as "UEFI: Lexar
USB Flash Drive 1100", but it silently refuses to boot to the iso
image installed on it.  Something new to puzzle out!

-- 
boB
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[Roel Schroeven]

boB Stepp schreef op 2016-06-29 01:16:

On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 10:48 PM, Steven D'Aprano  wrote:

What about running Win7 in a virtual machine?


What type of performance hit will I take when running CPU intensive
processes?


Purely CPU-wise, the performance hit is pretty small (normal 
instructions are executed directly on the CPU at full speed; only 
privileged instructions are trapped for special treatment). But:

- I/O is slower in a virtual machine.
- RAM is divided between your virtual machine(s) and the host, so each 
machine has less available for itself.
- Graphics are slower. Regular desktop use is fine if the proper drivers 
are installed in the virtual machine, but don't expect to run the newest 
games smoothly.


In many use cases, virtual machines are perfectly usable; it all depends 
on your specific use case and your hardware.


--
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge
faster than society gathers wisdom.
  -- Isaac Asimov

Roel Schroeven

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Re: [Tutor] Reading in large .dat file

[Colin Ross]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 4:21 PM, Peter Otten <__pete...@web.de> wrote:

> Colin Ross wrote:
>
> > On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Peter Otten <__pete...@web.de> wrote:
> >
> >> Colin Ross wrote:
> >>
> >> > Good afternoon,
> >> >
> >> > I have a .dat file that is 214 rows by 65 columns that I would like to
> >> > read into python and plot the 1st column versus all other columns.
> >> >
> >> > My code:
> >> >
> >> >
> #
> >> >
> >> > import numpy as np
> >> > import scipy
> >> > import pylab as pl
> >> > import matplotlib
> >> > from matplotlib.ticker import ScalarFormatter, FormatStrFormatter
> >> > import sys
> >> >
> >> > # Load in text from .dat file
> >> >
> >> > sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack = True)
> >>
> >> for flux in sed:
> >> pl.plot(wavelength, flux)
> >>
> >> > pl.xscale('log')
> >> >
> >> > pl.show()
> >> >
> >> >
> #
> >> >
> >> > This is fine if I want to write out a separate line for each of the 65
> >> > columns, but I would like to simplify the code by looping over the
> >> > data. Can someone please help me formatting the loop correctly?
> >>
> >
> > Thank you for the fast response! I have tried this and it outputs the
> > attached image.
>
> This is a text-only mailing list, so the image didn't make it through.
>
> > It seems to only plot 1 curve, when I would have expected
> > 64?
>
> You probably got a traceback (error information on the commandline). It is
> always a good idea to include that. Example:
>
> $ python3 flux2.py
> Traceback (most recent call last):
>   File "flux2.py", line 15, in 
> pl.plot(wavelength,flux)
> NameError: name 'wavelength' is not defined
>
> The error indicates that there is no variable called wavelength. That's
> because I didn't note that you use the first column to define that, sorry.
> Here's a modified script that should work:
>
> import numpy as np
> import pylab as pl
>
> sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack=True)
>
> wavelength = sed[0]
> for flux in sed[1:]:
> pl.plot(wavelength, flux)
>
> pl.xscale('log')
> pl.show()
>
> The for loop now skips the first column.
>

Ah yes, this works perfect now. I had added the wavelength = sed[0], but
forgot to skip it in the loop!

Thank you!


>
>
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Re: [Tutor] Reading in large .dat file

[Peter Otten]

Colin Ross wrote:

> On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Peter Otten <__pete...@web.de> wrote:
> 
>> Colin Ross wrote:
>>
>> > Good afternoon,
>> >
>> > I have a .dat file that is 214 rows by 65 columns that I would like to
>> > read into python and plot the 1st column versus all other columns.
>> >
>> > My code:
>> >
>> > 
#
>> >
>> > import numpy as np
>> > import scipy
>> > import pylab as pl
>> > import matplotlib
>> > from matplotlib.ticker import ScalarFormatter, FormatStrFormatter
>> > import sys
>> >
>> > # Load in text from .dat file
>> >
>> > sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack = True)
>>
>> for flux in sed:
>> pl.plot(wavelength, flux)
>>
>> > pl.xscale('log')
>> >
>> > pl.show()
>> >
>> > 
#
>> >
>> > This is fine if I want to write out a separate line for each of the 65
>> > columns, but I would like to simplify the code by looping over the
>> > data. Can someone please help me formatting the loop correctly?
>>
> 
> Thank you for the fast response! I have tried this and it outputs the
> attached image. 

This is a text-only mailing list, so the image didn't make it through.

> It seems to only plot 1 curve, when I would have expected
> 64?

You probably got a traceback (error information on the commandline). It is 
always a good idea to include that. Example:

$ python3 flux2.py 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "flux2.py", line 15, in 
pl.plot(wavelength,flux)
NameError: name 'wavelength' is not defined

The error indicates that there is no variable called wavelength. That's 
because I didn't note that you use the first column to define that, sorry.
Here's a modified script that should work:

import numpy as np
import pylab as pl

sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack=True)

wavelength = sed[0]
for flux in sed[1:]:
pl.plot(wavelength, flux)   

   


   
pl.xscale('log')

   
pl.show()   

   

The for loop now skips the first column.


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Re: [Tutor] Reading in large .dat file

[Colin Ross]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM, Peter Otten <__pete...@web.de> wrote:

> Colin Ross wrote:
>
> > Good afternoon,
> >
> > I have a .dat file that is 214 rows by 65 columns that I would like to
> > read into python and plot the 1st column versus all other columns.
> >
> > My code:
> >
> > #
> >
> > import numpy as np
> > import scipy
> > import pylab as pl
> > import matplotlib
> > from matplotlib.ticker import ScalarFormatter, FormatStrFormatter
> > import sys
> >
> > # Load in text from .dat file
> >
> > sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack = True)
>
> for flux in sed:
> pl.plot(wavelength, flux)
>
> > pl.xscale('log')
> >
> > pl.show()
> >
> > #
> >
> > This is fine if I want to write out a separate line for each of the 65
> > columns, but I would like to simplify the code by looping over the data.
> > Can someone please help me formatting the loop correctly?
>

Thank you for the fast response! I have tried this and it outputs the
attached image. It seems to only plot 1 curve, when I would have expected
64?



>
> To understand why the above works (assuming it does) consider that for many
> data types
>
> for item in data:
> ... # use item
>
> is equivalent to
>
> for index in range(len(data)):
> item = data[index]
> ... # use item
>
> Unrolling the above for len(data) == 3 gives:
>
> item = data[0]
> ... # use first item
> item = data[1]
> ... # use second item
> item = data[2]
> ... # use third item
>
>
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[David Rock]

> On Jun 29, 2016, at 12:32, boB Stepp  wrote:
> 
> On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 12:02 PM, David Rock  wrote:
>> 
>>> On Jun 29, 2016, at 11:20, boB Stepp  wrote:
>>> 
>>> My Christmas present of a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard was not
>>> _seen_ during the boot up sequence until *after* Windows started up.
>>> So I could not get into my BIOS area!  I had not noticed this earlier
>> 
>> Which keyboard do you have?  Most Corsairs have a “BIOS switch” for exactly 
>> this issue.
> 
> K95 RGB.  I will have to look around for setting you mention.

It should be a physical switch on the keyboard itself


— 
David Rock
da...@graniteweb.com




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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Wed, Jun 29, 2016 at 12:02 PM, David Rock  wrote:
>
>> On Jun 29, 2016, at 11:20, boB Stepp  wrote:
>>
>> My Christmas present of a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard was not
>> _seen_ during the boot up sequence until *after* Windows started up.
>> So I could not get into my BIOS area!  I had not noticed this earlier
>
> Which keyboard do you have?  Most Corsairs have a “BIOS switch” for exactly 
> this issue.

K95 RGB.  I will have to look around for setting you mention.


-- 
boB
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Re: [Tutor] Reading in large .dat file

[Peter Otten]

Colin Ross wrote:

> Good afternoon,
> 
> I have a .dat file that is 214 rows by 65 columns that I would like to
> read into python and plot the 1st column versus all other columns.
> 
> My code:
> 
> #
> 
> import numpy as np
> import scipy
> import pylab as pl
> import matplotlib
> from matplotlib.ticker import ScalarFormatter, FormatStrFormatter
> import sys
> 
> # Load in text from .dat file
> 
> sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack = True)

for flux in sed:
pl.plot(wavelength, flux)

> pl.xscale('log')
> 
> pl.show()
> 
> #
> 
> This is fine if I want to write out a separate line for each of the 65
> columns, but I would like to simplify the code by looping over the data.
> Can someone please help me formatting the loop correctly?
 
To understand why the above works (assuming it does) consider that for many 
data types

for item in data:
... # use item

is equivalent to

for index in range(len(data)):
item = data[index]
... # use item

Unrolling the above for len(data) == 3 gives:

item = data[0]
... # use first item
item = data[1]
... # use second item
item = data[2]
... # use third item


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[Tutor] Reading in large .dat file

[Colin Ross]

Good afternoon,

I have a .dat file that is 214 rows by 65 columns that I would like to read
into python and plot the 1st column versus all other columns.

My code:

#

import numpy as np
import scipy
import pylab as pl
import matplotlib
from matplotlib.ticker import ScalarFormatter, FormatStrFormatter
import sys

# Load in text from .dat file

sed = np.loadtxt('spectra.dat', unpack = True)

# Access column data

col1 = sed[0]
col2 = sed[1]
col3 = sed[2]
col4 = sed[3]
col5 = sed[4]

wavelength = col1
flux_1 = col2
flux_2 = col3
flux_3 = col4
flux_4 = col5

pl.plot(wavelength,flux_1)
pl.plot(wavelength,flux_2)
pl.plot(wavelength,flux_3)
pl.plot(wavelength,flux_4)

pl.xscale('log')

pl.show()

#

This is fine if I want to write out a separate line for each of the 65
columns, but I would like to simplify the code by looping over the data.
Can someone please help me formatting the loop correctly?

Thank you.

Colin
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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[Alan Gauld via Tutor]

On 29/06/16 17:20, boB Stepp wrote:

> that Logitech does not support Linux for this product, but others who
> have done a dual-boot setup with Windows installed before Linux seem
> to have found that once the mouse is connected with Windows, it will
> be seen by Linux.  This remains to be seen!  

FWIW I use an old PS/2 Logitech trackball on Linux with no problems
(apart from two of the 5 buttons not doing anything, but I never
used them anyway even on Windows.

For hardware compatibility issues its less important whether the
vendors officially support Linux as whether Linux supports it. The best
bet for that is to search the support forums for your distro (and
related ones, so for Mint I look at Mint, Ubuntu and Debian in that order)

Sometimes there are additional driver packages you can install. For
things like keyboard and mice I always keep a cheapo USB pair around
so I can always get up and running then I can usually persuade the
distro to accept whatever fancier gear I want to use later.

-- 
Alan G
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/
http://www.amazon.com/author/alan_gauld
Follow my photo-blog on Flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/alangauldphotos


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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[David Rock]

> On Jun 29, 2016, at 11:20, boB Stepp  wrote:
> 
> My Christmas present of a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard was not
> _seen_ during the boot up sequence until *after* Windows started up.
> So I could not get into my BIOS area!  I had not noticed this earlier

Which keyboard do you have?  Most Corsairs have a “BIOS switch” for exactly 
this issue.


— 
David Rock
da...@graniteweb.com




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Re: [Tutor] OT: Recommendations for a Linux distribution to dual-boot with Win7-64 bit

[boB Stepp]

On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 6:34 PM, David Rock  wrote:
>
>> On Jun 28, 2016, at 18:16, boB Stepp  wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 27, 2016 at 10:48 PM, Steven D'Aprano  
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> What about running Win7 in a virtual machine?
>>
>> What type of performance hit will I take when running CPU intensive
>> processes?  I don't yet have any real experiences with running virtual
>> machines.
>
> Ultimately, not likely to be all that much.  The bigger constraint with 
> running VMs is often available ram.

Based on everyone's input (Which all was quite helpful!) I'm going to
stick with the original idea of creating a dual-boot environment.
Windows 7 is already installed and up-to-date along with my other
Windows-based software that isn't directly Linux-compatible.  Plus, I
don't play games often, but it will be nice to have W7 available for
that.  And I will not get *any* unnecessary performance hits on any of
the existing software.


> If you value Alan’s opinion (and arguably, your wife’s is more important), 
> try out Mint. You may or may not like it, but you won’t know until you try.  
> I still say a dry run in a VM to get a feel for it would do wonders for you 
> regardless.

Mint will receive my initial attention.  I prepared a USB flash drive
last night with the Cinnamon Mint 17.3 iso with the intent of trying
out Mint running from the USB thumb drive, but when I got to the
rebooting stage to change my boot priority I got my first surprise:
My Christmas present of a Corsair mechanical gaming keyboard was not
_seen_ during the boot up sequence until *after* Windows started up.
So I could not get into my BIOS area!  I had not noticed this earlier
as I have had no need to tweak my BIOS settings since acquiring this
keyboard.  This inspired some online research where I also found that
this keyboard is not Linux compatible, though some clever people have
created some work-arounds.  So I have ordered today a new mechanical
keyboard that *is* Linux (or anything else) compatible out of the box
with no software installation required plus a new hard drive
(Apparently Hitachi may be making the most reliable hard drives these
days.).  My intent is to keep Windows 7 where it is and install Mint
(If I still like it after playing around with it off the USB drive.)
to the new hard drive.  I now wonder if my Logitech M570 wireless
trackball mouse will work with Linux?  Again, some online work says
that Logitech does not support Linux for this product, but others who
have done a dual-boot setup with Windows installed before Linux seem
to have found that once the mouse is connected with Windows, it will
be seen by Linux.  This remains to be seen!  If it doesn't, I guess I
will have to get a new mouse, too!!

Hopefully I will be playing around with Mint tomorrow some time.

-- 
boB
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