Posted: 8/17/2016 9:41:03 PM EDT
| I have never been interested in Linux until the recent HR360 Podcast featuring Linux in the Ham Shack. I would like to try it out, but currently don't have a good host machine to run it on. My Asus XT205A that I use for JT65, FLDIGI etc. isn't 100% compatible with Debian, Ubuntu, etc (audio issues), so I'm looking for another platform to run it on. It would be great if it was a tablet/netbook style computer so it's easy to travel with and power efficient. The goal of this project is to have a dedicated go-to computer for digital modes without the bulk and slowness that is Windows. Oh, and <$300 (new or used) would be great. |
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the little ASUS netbook I mentioned was AWESOME! Post like this remind me I need to replace it. I paid $60 shipped from an EE ad here!
Try the local pawnshop? We have an older Toshiba 15" Win7 laptop that was hers. It's PAINFULLY slow and there isn't anything running on it. I'm thinking of making it a Linux machine soon (I'm pretty sure someone here sent me a drive with MINT on it). and Thanks for Listening! |
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TL;DR version: try Virtual Box before buying another system just to "try out linux".
If you currently have a PC with > 4GB ram (I do mean greater, not greater than or equal to) and a multi core processor that supports virtual extensions then I suggest you start with Virtual Box It is a $0 cost way to get your feet wet with linux in many formats. I absolutely do not recommend trying linux for the first time on a ram limited chrome book. Ham radio analogy: It is like trying out VHF & HF ham radio as a new person on an FT-817 with the whip antenna. Sure its a wonderful radio, with practice and the right expectations you can make it do wonderful things. But when you're first trying to understand the protocol for checking into a net should you also be worrying about your low power output, the effectiveness of your antenna, etc? If your personal computer is running Win 8.1/10 and has 8GB ram & a Intel i5 mobile or better processor you can run 2 different linux systems in virtual box successfully at the same time. I've run more, but they were configured as ram limited servers whose purpose was to test run configuration scripts and prep for cert exams. Now I've upgraded my laptop to 16GB ram and there's a 960GB SSD waiting on top of my i3 tower to install so that I can fire up 3 Oracle Enterprise Linux systems and a couple of Solaris x86 systems to run at the same time with pretend DB & web services so that I can test Puppet configurations & deployments. I haven't had the need to get a virtualbox hosted system to talk to a usb dongle like for running CHIRP but now that I think about it maybe I will in the near future. Virtual Box is real and real cool. Quoted:
I have never been interested in Linux until the recent HR360 Podcast featuring Linux in the Ham Shack. I would like to try it out, but currently don't have a good host machine to run it on. My Asus XT205A that I use for JT65, FLDIGI etc. isn't 100% compatible with Debian, Ubuntu, etc (audio issues), so I'm looking for another platform to run it on. It would be great if it was a tablet/netbook style computer so it's easy to travel with and power efficient. The goal of this project is to have a dedicated go-to computer for digital modes without the bulk and slowness that is Windows. Oh, and <$300 (new or used) would be great. |
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Quoted:
don't need virtual box to try linux, just boot from the CD/DVD. This works buy imho the live distro isn't the same. Performance isn't that great which skews the results. At a minimum I'd boot from a USB for performance. Sure, there's still overhead running a VM but it's minimal in my experience. |
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Based on the OP I didn't get the feeling he was going to be running performance tests.
CD/DVD I/O performance is pretty bad compared to hard disk I/O. Like JaxShooter, I feel that a USB boot would be the minimum for performance reasons and that the overhead on most recent computers ( less than 5 years old) for virtual box is negligible. Especially compared to the overhead of trying to run from CD or USB. And an important side note: when trying out linux from a live boot then you'll have to get comfortable with the browser supplied real quick to search for help. With virtual box you still have your familiar windows environment available to search for info. Quoted:
This works buy imho the live distro isn't the same. Performance isn't that great which skews the results. At a minimum I'd boot from a USB for performance. Sure, there's still overhead running a VM but it's minimal in my experience. Quoted:
Quoted:
don't need virtual box to try linux, just boot from the CD/DVD. This works buy imho the live distro isn't the same. Performance isn't that great which skews the results. At a minimum I'd boot from a USB for performance. Sure, there's still overhead running a VM but it's minimal in my experience. |