migration windows to linux

[alacant]

Hi everyone

I thought this was going to be really painful; the last thing I expected was to get a first night image. The whole installation takes around an hour from a blank Ubuntu and for me included just indilib, kstars, siril and startools. It looks modern and is as intuitive as it gets.

I tested with a zwo120+oag, 700d and a sw250p on eq6: 90s snaps with full moon.

Recommended, especially if you're included in the windows update mess.

Cheers and clear skies.

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by alacant
forgot the stacking stuff

[SteveNickolls]

Thanks for posting. I would (move from Win 10 that is) if I could (no understanding of Linux). I have however followed advice elsewhere on SGL and used, 'Shut Up 10' to at least keep the laptop from reporting each keystroke (my, MS must be tired of recording all my astro-imaging data ha, ha).

Good luck with using your new O/S.

Cheers,
Steve

[JohnSadlerAstro]

Tbh I would definitely do this if it wasn't for certain computer games I enjoy which only work with Windows .

I don't know what we'll have to put up with by 2050, probably a hologram of bill gates calling out tips and sudden notifications about One Drive being full. ? While I'm essentially a millennial, I do not think that this semi-obsessive ideal of absolutely everything being run by intrusive "smart" technology is really all that smart. Looking forward to the next Coronal Mass Ejection are we???  

John

Edited June 27, 2018 by JohnSadlerAstro

[Alfian]

50 minutes ago, SteveNickolls said:

I would (move from Win 10 that is) if I could (no understanding of Linux)

These days there is not a lot to understanding Linux. There are so many flavours (distributions) of Linux available with  differing front ends (GUI) that you can pick one to suit yourself. It is easy to download a version of linux (have a look on the Distrowatch) as an iso file and burn it onto a CD or DVD, depending on size, or even onto a data stick and boot it up independently of your Windows system and just have a play around with it. If you don't like it, try something else. A good well tried start is with Ubuntu or Mint which tend to satisfy a lot of people strait out of the box.  I've played around with Linux for years, when it was deemed a bit geeky, but now its main stream and easy and I wouldn't use anything else. My wife's recently bought laptop runs Windows10 and I have so struggled with it setting it up and getting it running optimally (huh).  It is slow (has a fastish i5 CPU in it), feels "old" in the way it works, and don't get me started on the update malarkey. If it was mine I'd wipe it and bung Linux on it!

[groberts]

Very interesting,thanks for posting.

Assuming you've got another operating system with the PC do you then erase it once Ubuntu is installed?

Although obviously different, does it broadly 'feel' like Windows + intuitive to use?   

Graham

Edited June 27, 2018 by groberts

[Redscouse]

47 minutes ago, JohnSadlerAstro said:

Tbh I would definitely do this if it wasn't for certain computer games I enjoy which only work with Windows .

Dual boot is the answer for you my friend. ?

[Alfian]

51 minutes ago, groberts said:

Very interesting,thanks for posting.

Assuming you've got another operating system with the PC do you then erase it once Ubuntu is installed?

Although obviously different, does it broadly 'feel' like Windows + intuitive to use?   

Graham

The  way I would go with it is, as commented, to play around with a Linux distro or two, either on a "Live CD" or a memory stick and get a feel for it. One good reason for doing this is that you can check whether other bit of gear, printers, Wifi adapters etc will work with the distro. Linux is so much better now than it used to be regarding this but its wise to check. There are so many distros availabe, some very user friendly, some still a little bit geeky and or/specialist, but those like Ubuntu or Mint to name just two of the better known popular ones do use a Graphical User Interface that is a window/menu/icon based front end that though different to MS windows will look and feel familiar and intuitive and may surprise people who have never used Linux in terms of its level of easy sophistication.  I currenetlu use MX Linux and i find it a nice balance between functionality, simplicity, speed and aesthetics. I dont need lots of bells and whistles. When ready you can then either install as a dual boot system, as mentioned by Redscouse, (the live cd/installation disc) will usually give this option, or you can choose to wipe the entire hard drive and do a complete fresh install of the Linux distro. Clearly and this is IMPORTANT you need to back up any data you have on a PC onto a memory stick or CD/DVD in fact before you decide to modify your PC in any way BACKUP your files!  One option is to install a second hard drive (cheap and easy) and via the system BiOS you  can run both MS windows and Linux, totally independently of one another. This is how I used to run mine until I ditched MS altogether a few years ago. At some of the bigger newsagents there are some linux magazines which are effectively starter packs including a DVD that are a good "hold your hand" way of starting with Linux.

[alacant]

2 hours ago, JohnSadlerAstro said:

games I enjoy which only work with Windows

You only need about 10Gb to try Linux. You can free space either from within windows control panel or from the installation media e.g. a bootable usb memory. HTH.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Put the Linux on a bootable USB stick, you can at least try it out & then when finished pull it out & reboot back into windows.....

[alacant]

3 hours ago, groberts said:

does it broadly 'feel' like Windows + intuitive to use?   

Hi. Intuitive, yes. Feel like Windows, no. Everything is different, from the way you install programs to the support you get online. HTH.

[fozzybear]

Which ubuntu os did you use?

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I use Mint (https://linuxmint.com/) a nice easy distro to get you into Linux, but will do almost everything that we use Windows for 

[alacant]

1 hour ago, fozzybear said:

Which ubuntu

Hi. This one.

3 hours ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Linux on a bootable USB stick,

Are we sure that kstars and siril are feasible from a usb?

3 hours ago, alacant said:

10Gb to try Linux

Not quite. To correct myself, Ubuntu quote 25Gb. Still a small chunk of say a 500Gb disk.

Cheers and clear skies.

[Dr_Ju_ju]

I did say for a try out, not for a full blown running system.....

[Redscouse]

+1 for Mint. 

Very much Windows-ish, without the Windows bit that causes so many headaches!  

[The Admiral]

As much as I'd like to 'get into' Linux, I've fallen at the first hurdle! I've downloaded the Mint Cinnamon iso, and now just need to go through the verification process. Simple innit? No! It should be, but I'm rather confused, especially as the user guide doesn't exactly tally with the on-line description. And it does seem rather convoluted to my non-computer-geek brain! What I fear, and which is off-putting, is that this may just be the start of something a lot worse.

Ian

[alacant]

51 minutes ago, The Admiral said:

the start of something a lot worse.

Unfortunately, Linux documentation is written by coders for experts and is quite often out of date and inaccurate. But hey, perfect for cloudy nights:)

[The Admiral]

35 minutes ago, alacant said:

Unfortunately, Linux documentation is written by coders for experts and is quite often out of date and inaccurate. But hey, perfect for cloudy nights:)

Unfortunately, then, that is why Linux will never gain traction! And I for one don't want to be spending my evenings trying to sort out computing problems. Perhaps Linux has some way to go then before it will appeal to the likes of me, sadly.

Ian

[JamesF]

Verification process?  The only thing I can think of is the check at the start to make sure the downloaded image is the same as it is supposed to be.  You can probably skip that.

James

[The Admiral]

39 minutes ago, JamesF said:

You can probably skip that.

I wondered that, but it doesn't bode well for further down the line ?.

Ian

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Yeah, its the CRC checksum....  You 'should' do it for all large file downloads, and its not just a Linux thing. I have to do it when downloading some Windows server patches\updates etc....

Now, do you have the tools to burn the ISO file to a bootable cd\dvd ?? from which you can then do the install  ?

[The Admiral]

16 minutes ago, Dr_Ju_ju said:

Now, do you have the tools to burn the ISO file to a bootable cd\dvd ?? from which you can then do the install  ?

Nope! Except I would copy to a memory stick, but I think it still means downloading an application for Windows.

I also have a feeling that changing the boot order on a Lenovo and switching off something or other (UEFI boot) in order to do it, plus Windows locking out other OSs and general messing about, just to run from mem stick, is probably more than I care to embark on. This is why I say, for the uninitiated it ain't easy! Perhaps a Dell laptop is more accommodating. Whenever I delve deeper I find the quagmire just gets deeper! Simpler in the olden days when you just had BIOS to deal with. Everything was simpler with valves, too :<)

Ian

Edited June 29, 2018 by The Admiral

[Dr_Ju_ju]

Nope, its still the same. The BIOS is always the initial starting point. There are newer types of Bios, but until the hardware has a basic config that can 'read' a boot device, no computer will do anything. 

As for a simple tool to write the ISO file to a usb, download & install Etcher from resin.io. It's a 3 step process, select image, select drive, flash drive....

[wornish]

Just installed ubuntu 18.04 (the latest release) as dual boot on my HP laptop running Windows 10.  It was relatively easy have to say. I downloaded the ISO from ubuntu and saved to  to a USB  stick using Etcher.

I did do a full back up my C drive first just to be safe.  Installing KStar next.

[Redscouse]

21 hours ago, The Admiral said:

I've downloaded the Mint Cinnamon

I probably wouldn't choose Cinnamon for my first attempt.

Try Linux Mint Mate. The GUI is much more user friendly.