Is It True?! About Ubuntu MATE? Plus, My Final Zorin Thoughts

nclinuxus

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Well, Friends, I couldn't keep going any longer: I showed Zorin the door out of my computer and threw the luggage outside (kinda' sorta'). The frustration was worse than the scorching sun out in the deserts of Australia! My apologies to the Zorin folks, I'm just talking about my experiences with your very stable system here. So, if it's OK with them, please allow me to offer my final observations. I have to say that Zorin is definitely one attractive OS, but it lost a couple of starting points after I had discovered there were no settings for seconds on the clock (Free Version). On my 32-bit Dual Core laptop, Zorin Core felt just a bit like mosquitoes getting ready to bite, but thankfully, one at a time! This week I felt the mosquito bites, and when I reinstalled an app that I had accidentally deleted (it's bound to happen, yes?), I could no longer save files from that program. In addition, the "PRTSC" Print Screen feature stopped functioning, so I had no screenshots to post with my final observations. I made an early decision to say goodbye to Zorin, even with its beautiful layout. The issues surrounding the system on my machine meant that I now had a computer less than efficient for both home and work. I do not recommend Zorin for anyone with a 32-bit computer. Two packages in the Zorin software repository (a Zorin "Boutique," so to speak) failed to install on my machine, and two other packages were slightly compromised and failed to save files or features (example: save and display album covers in Clementine). On a scale of zero to 10, I give Zorin a 4. Boot-up times on my laptop ranged anywhere from 3 minutes to 7 minutes, and that's a long time in the computer universe. Maybe it's in my machine, but I had noticed faster booting times when I was running Windows. Even Ubuntu did not take as long.

Which brings me to Ubuntu: Is it true?! For the remainder of this week and most of the next, I plan to run my newly-installed OS, Ubuntu MATE 18.04 LTS, 32-bit! Good until April 2021! While I'm using Ubuntu again, I plan to revisit the reviews on the available 32-bit-friendly Linux distros and flavors. Zorin has slowed me down on a few things, but I plan to recover from that as I gain some speed with my current OS. By the end of next week, I should be back where I was before I tested Zorin. It was fun and frustrating. Thanks for sharing this, everyone.
 
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You make me chuckle, Jonathan ... and I mean that in the nicest possible way, friend. :)

WIZARD'S GLOSSARY

Clem - Clement Lefebvre, Project Manager and CEO of Linux Mint
Mark - Mark Shuttleworth, Founder of Canonical, producers of Ubuntu
Devs - Linux Developers (of all the different Linux Distributions [Distros])
LTS - Long Term Support
DE - Desktop Environment, examples include MATE, GNOME, Cinnamon, KDE, LXDE and others

LTS

LTS in the case of Debian-based Distros, which include Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin, Peach, LXLE, Linux Lite and many others, is often for a period of five (5) years. So in fact your Ubuntu 18.04 'Bionic Beaver', MATE DE has support until April 2023. That is likely 5 years of software support, and 2.5 years of hardware support.

SCREENSHOTS

Every Debian-based Distro, and most if not all of the RPM-based (Fedora, centOS &c), Arch-based eg Manjaro ... include under Accessories a utility called Screenshot. GNOME Screenshot is the defacto industry standard. Any of my screenshots here that you see will have been taken with it. Its default is to save to .png, which is internet-friendliest, and more secure than .jpg/.jpeg.

With it, you can choose to capture the current active window, the entire desktop or select and grab an area. You can set a timer (default is usually zero), include the mouse/pointer &c.

Cheers and enjoy your Linux

Chris
BTW I have the Beaver MATE in my stables, so sing out if you need help - mine are 64-bit, but I can always throw on a 32 if you need a comparison. :D
 
You make me chuckle, Jonathan ... and I mean that in the nicest possible way, friend. :)

Kind words, indeed...thank you! At least I have a better picture of Zorin, and I don't intend to install it again. And while I'm on the subject, the Zorin website has instructions on how to install Zorin using Etcher and a link to download the installer. Etcher really does simplify the install process for Linux; it's easy as 1-2-3. Load the image and Etcher to your flash device and the rest is painless. Etcher will open and verify the image during installation. No sweat, no onion tears, and no disappointments. Perfectly baked every time!

Your glossary is quite informative; there is so much behind the software that's probably hard for most of us to contain within our minds. Five years of support means five years of using a dependable OS (less frustration and less technical calls). And I have learned something new about Screenshot!

BTW I have the Beaver MATE in my stables, so sing out if you need help - mine are 64-bit, but I can always throw on a 32 if you need a comparison. :D

I will keep that in mind. Enjoy your Thursday all day!

Cheers,

Jonathan
 
Etcher really does simplify the install process for Linux

Yes, Stan (@atanere ) and I "discovered" Etcher, I think late last year wasn't it Stan? ...and for a one-off burn it is excellent, and has quite a novel approach, also good for being cross-platform.

My understanding is that they are working on a version which will incorporate Persistence, which is a handy feature of Linux (only on USB) if you wish to use an install stick more than once and save settings and data.

Cheers :D

Wiz
 
Etcher will open and verify the image during installation.
I think there may be a misunderstanding about what their "verify" process is. If I'm not mistaken (which is quite possible) Etcher is only "verifying" that the iso image you are burning to USB or SD card was successfully burned. It is not verifying the integrity of the iso file that you downloaded... and that should be done separately before using Etcher.

The Etcher help/forum said:
There is still a chance where the image the user downloaded is not complete (e.g: the download stopped halfway through). (https://github.com/resin-io/etcher/issues/1113)

Etcher is definitely a nice app for putting a Linux iso on to a USB flash drive, and persistence will be a very welcome upgrade.

Cheers
 
I think there may be a misunderstanding about what their "verify" process is. If I'm not mistaken (which is quite possible) Etcher is only "verifying" that the iso image you are burning to USB or SD card was successfully burned. It is not verifying the integrity of the iso file that you downloaded... and that should be done separately before using Etcher.

That is so, Stan. The verification process Etcher employs is similar to the verification used in burning data DVDs or music DVDs - it is simply confirming that target burned material matches source material.

GitHub have this screenshot. It is related to an attempted burn of Kali, and using Etcher 1.3.1 (we are at 1.4.4 currently), hope it is clear

x2fWoRl.png


IMO given the use of another stick succeeded, the 1st stick itself may have problems. That is of some use.

@nclinuxus - Jonathan, this, from Ubuntu MATE itself may be of assistance to you.

https://ubuntu-mate.org/how-to-verify-downloads/

and in it they refer to the Canonical CD Images Server (which is same for USB), and a fast-track to that is here, or work through the links

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/18.04/release/

Totally up to you whether you employ these protocols, but Murphy suggests when you don't, something will go pear-shaped :D:D

If it comes to a time when you dualboot Linux alongside Linux, where one is your fave and the other is for evaluating/swapping, then you could do well with a tool as in my Tute here

https://www.linux.org/threads/gtkhash-%E2%80%93-hashing-out-the-basics.4430/

Cheers, it's beer o'clock :cool:;)

Wiz
 
G'day, Y'all...

I'm back. Thanks for your tips; I will revisit your posts for a closer read this weekend. And I plan to have a machine with bigger space in the not-too-distant future, by the end of the year, I hope. When that happens, I can really sample the variety of flavors and distros in the GNU / Linux universe. There really are many things to consider with Linux! Linux is cool, and I like it. Thank you for helping me understand the process behind Etcher:

That is so, Stan. The verification process Etcher employs is similar to the verification used in burning data DVDs or music DVDs - it is simply confirming that target burned material matches source material.

Etcher is definitely a nice app for putting a Linux iso on to a USB flash drive, and persistence will be a very welcome upgrade.

And speaking of burning data on a DVD, I can relate to that as well. Fortunately, I did not have any problems with that operation.

Cheers, it's beer o'clock :cool:;)

Enjoy the rest of your week!
 
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