Evening, gang.
I thought it was high time I took a look at Mint again. I haven't used it since 17 "Quiana", so that gives y'all some idea of just how long ago that was.....9 years or so? Summat like that, anyway.
Accordingly, I've installed Mint 21.1 "Vera" Cinnamon edition to an 'external' SSD. Technically, this was the internal SSD for the anciente Dell Inspiron 1100 lappie that finally gave up the ghost last year.....an IDE/PATA variant of a CF-format 64 GB KingSpec SSD. It still runs faster than even a USB 3.0 Gen 2 flash drive though, so I hung onto it.....and cobbled together my own case for it out of a really old Compaq floppy-disk box I'd had kicking around for something like a quarter of a century!
I obtained a PATA-to-SATA convertor off Amazon for around GBP £4.00, then made use of a SATA to USB 3.0 adapter cable I've had sitting in a drawer for 3 or 4 years.....so when I want to boot Mint, all I need do is to plug the 'external' SSD into a USB 3.0 port, then select the drive via the 'Advanced' section of Puppy's Grub4DOS. I'll probably add a chain-loader to Grub4DOS at some point, since the 'normal' GRUB2 is also installed to the external SSD. Keeps it all nicely self-contained, like.
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I gotta confess, I'm quite impressed. 17 "Quiana" was pretty easy-going, but the recent advancements now make that elderly release look pedestrian by comparison. I believe I've finally found a "stable-mate" for the install of Zorin OS I keep regularly updated on a USB 3.0 Gen 2 SanDisk Ultra 'Fit' nano thumb drive; I think I'm going to hang onto this one for a bit. Nice to know I haven't totally lost my touch with installing mainstream distros, but of one thing I am certain.....I am already getting heartily sick of constantly entering my password every few minutes..! Puppy spoils us in this respect; a designed-for-single-user 'hobbyist' distro really endows you with a sense of freedom you just can't find anywhere else.
It also teaches you caution, by default, since there's no 'sudo' mechanism to protect you from your own daft mistakes. Regular backups become an ingrained habit with 'our Pup'.
(I also have a recent release of Knoppix on a 64 GB SanDisk old-style USB 3.0 Ultra Fit, but Klaus Knopper's masterpiece is very much like Puppy in one main respect; there's no updater mechanism on it, so every release is essentially a 'static' snap-shot of the OS. You want to update? Ya gotta wait for the next major release.....and they're few & far between. It's enormous fun, though, and the sheer amount of software Klaus has crammed into the disk image is mind-boggling.....and best of all, it's blessed with Compiz Fusion and the spinning desktop 'cube'. This alone makes it worth the messing-around to get it installed.)
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I can see why Mint is usually one of the recommended first 'ports of call' for disgruntled Windows refugees. They must like that big, clear, easy-to-read Menu, for starters.....
Mike.
I thought it was high time I took a look at Mint again. I haven't used it since 17 "Quiana", so that gives y'all some idea of just how long ago that was.....9 years or so? Summat like that, anyway.
Accordingly, I've installed Mint 21.1 "Vera" Cinnamon edition to an 'external' SSD. Technically, this was the internal SSD for the anciente Dell Inspiron 1100 lappie that finally gave up the ghost last year.....an IDE/PATA variant of a CF-format 64 GB KingSpec SSD. It still runs faster than even a USB 3.0 Gen 2 flash drive though, so I hung onto it.....and cobbled together my own case for it out of a really old Compaq floppy-disk box I'd had kicking around for something like a quarter of a century!
I obtained a PATA-to-SATA convertor off Amazon for around GBP £4.00, then made use of a SATA to USB 3.0 adapter cable I've had sitting in a drawer for 3 or 4 years.....so when I want to boot Mint, all I need do is to plug the 'external' SSD into a USB 3.0 port, then select the drive via the 'Advanced' section of Puppy's Grub4DOS. I'll probably add a chain-loader to Grub4DOS at some point, since the 'normal' GRUB2 is also installed to the external SSD. Keeps it all nicely self-contained, like.
---------------------------------
I gotta confess, I'm quite impressed. 17 "Quiana" was pretty easy-going, but the recent advancements now make that elderly release look pedestrian by comparison. I believe I've finally found a "stable-mate" for the install of Zorin OS I keep regularly updated on a USB 3.0 Gen 2 SanDisk Ultra 'Fit' nano thumb drive; I think I'm going to hang onto this one for a bit. Nice to know I haven't totally lost my touch with installing mainstream distros, but of one thing I am certain.....I am already getting heartily sick of constantly entering my password every few minutes..! Puppy spoils us in this respect; a designed-for-single-user 'hobbyist' distro really endows you with a sense of freedom you just can't find anywhere else.
It also teaches you caution, by default, since there's no 'sudo' mechanism to protect you from your own daft mistakes. Regular backups become an ingrained habit with 'our Pup'.
(I also have a recent release of Knoppix on a 64 GB SanDisk old-style USB 3.0 Ultra Fit, but Klaus Knopper's masterpiece is very much like Puppy in one main respect; there's no updater mechanism on it, so every release is essentially a 'static' snap-shot of the OS. You want to update? Ya gotta wait for the next major release.....and they're few & far between. It's enormous fun, though, and the sheer amount of software Klaus has crammed into the disk image is mind-boggling.....and best of all, it's blessed with Compiz Fusion and the spinning desktop 'cube'. This alone makes it worth the messing-around to get it installed.)
----------------------------------------
I can see why Mint is usually one of the recommended first 'ports of call' for disgruntled Windows refugees. They must like that big, clear, easy-to-read Menu, for starters.....
Mike.
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