linuxgeek: Re: [LINUX_Newbies] Downloading Problem

Monday, March 17, 2014

Re: [LINUX_Newbies] Downloading Problem

On 3/16/2014 8:35 PM, Gene C. Falck wrote:

The unit I'm trying to convert is a Gateway netbook
(that came as part of a Verizon deal) that I thought
would help my wife deal with living in a nursing
home--no go because of her eyesight--the small
screen was a problem as increasing the size made
for way too much scrolling. I left it on XP because
I wasn't getting any approving reports about Vista
and, back when, on Windows 7. 8 came along also
with some negative thoughts and now 8.1 is said
to be better than 8 (wow!). My netbook fails the
test for suitability for 8 due to a feature buried
in the bios. Sure enough, it's not there and there
is no provision to enable it.

Have you considered asking a friend to do it for you? Also, netbooks should have no problem booting to a USB port. I just looked on ebay; there are plenty of sellers who will provide a pre-burned Linux Mint Cinammon CD or USB Flash drive at very fair prices, like $5-6 including shipping on optical, or on $10-20 including shipping on a USB flash drive (which includes the price of the drive).

Bart

... and how you connect to the Internet using LAN or wi-fi. ...

I have a Verizon MIFI device but only 4GB monthly.
It's good enough for many things but 1/2 GB fails
eat it up quickly. I also have a convenient alternate
that fits my daily wanderings--when I stop at the
shopping mall for coffee and a sandwich, a wifi at
the Apple store is right there.

... Also what printer you have, since some Distros have better support than others.

I don't have a printer but if I get one I have other
ways to print as long as I can put as long as I use
a USB stick.

If you were in Reno, NV, I'd offer to burn some for you, or invite you to an old fashion install-a-thon, like Linux User Groups use to put on.

I appreciate the kind thoughts but part of this is
that I'd like to work through the minefield--the
old netbook may be best suited as something to
learn on (or for use for target practice LOL). Your
mention of used to be install-a-thons sounds
like difficulty is par for the course.

Have you searched for info regarding your computer and Linux?

I've spent some time looking for info and this
just keeps getting stranger.

Have you researched Distrowatch.com ...

I'm not sure what to expect from that source. I'm
fairly certain Mint with the Mate interface would
be useful. The person on another list I mentioned
is an astrophysicist (with a PhD) who definitely
has a good paying job to enable him to go on
photo safaris; he was generally happy with most
things about XP except for not getting useful
results under primitive conditions and chose
Mint with Mate for it's mild learning curve.

--

Regards,

Gene Falck
gfalck@merr.com