Wanted: Linux success stories

Chat about Linux in general
Forum rules
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
User avatar
Derek_S
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 1279
Joined: Sat Dec 28, 2013 5:36 pm
Location: Long Island, N.Y.

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by Derek_S »

Welly Wu wrote: . . .I tried to reinstall Windows 7 64 bit using the ASUS system recovery discs, but it failed on disc two of three consistently. . .
I've seen this same story repeated so many times on both the Asus and HP customer support forums. What's the point of creating and marketing recovery discs if they don't work? Makes no sense to me at all. Oh well, more grist for the mill. :wink:
"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself." - Tecumseh
BlueKnight

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by BlueKnight »

Jedinovice wrote: If you have given a guy a laptop with Mint installed I would be shocked if it was not restored to Windows within a month. More likely two weeks.

I would only recommend Linux to a potential user if I was certain they had access to proper support and, by that, I mean, someone they can call on the telephone to come around and "fix it for me."
Without a, "Sure, I'll be right over." No convert will stick. You can ONLY convert neighbors! YOU have to be support for them!

Comfort zone and hand holding. That's where the battle is.

Now, if the convert is a techie, that's different. But the masses need hand holding. If said users are sounded by Windows users… it's game over.
That is very true. That is how I got my family members to run Linux on their computers. I had to provide a bit of support for them.
Last edited by BlueKnight on Sat Apr 11, 2015 8:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
mzsade
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 777
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:36 am

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by mzsade »

Microsoft and Intel hired Asus to take Linux out with their UEFI thingee (#Asus, #x553ma #Notebook) but even a yokel like me managed to install Rebecca alongside their OEM Windows 8.1..with help from the Mint community, of course. :wink:
Linux User #481272 Reg: 15th Sept., 2008
SC23

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by SC23 »

For those with relatively (last 3-4 years or newer) PC's and especially laptops, quite often the manufacturer wont provide rescue disks but will leave a restore partition hidden on the hard drive. For Asus, you press F9 on boot, other mfg will differ. It will wipe the C drive and start you from factory.. unless like me you wiped and killed the hidden partition, installed Mint and happily skipped down the road throwing MS the bird :)
User avatar
z31fanatic
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 890
Joined: Sat Feb 14, 2015 5:25 pm
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by z31fanatic »

Not sure I would call it a success because I didn't turn someone into Linux, but today I sold one of my laptops which had Windows 7 and the buyer said he was going to put Ubuntu in it instead.
Chatted a bit bout Linux, got paid, and went to the depository. :mrgreen:
Nilla Wafer

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by Nilla Wafer »

A classmate shared this one!

Jamie's Story

I came home from school today to find my mom sitting in front of my computer on the phone with someone, asking questions about Linux. She and Dad go on my computer alot so I wasn't worried they would find anything embarrassing (yet, but I just started high school so maybe soon lol), but I'm thinking maybe she thinks she broke something. Really though, I don't think Mom and Dad could break anything on my computer on accident anyway because they don't know the root password. So I sat down and listened.

"Well then why is my computer so much slower than my son's when it has 16 gigs of RAM and a quad-core processor?" she thundered at some poor Indian guy on the other end.

"We gave him that old boat anchor six months ago because it's old and underpowered and won't run Windows anymore. He's done something to make it run circles around my brand new one! I have stuff to get done and I have to borrow my son's - what do you call this Jamie?"

"It's Linux, Mom." I said, trying not to grin too big.

"Linux! I want that on my computer!"

A long pause, then Mom's face starts turning red. "What do you mean you can't do that? You're the professional and I have to have my computer work done by my 13 year old?"

"I'm 14 now Mom..."

"Shhhh!" Back to the phone, "Well?"

Another long pause, a quiet end to a frustrating phone call, and then Mom drops this bomb:

"Your father and I want you to make our computer do what yours does. Please."

Stunned silence

"Jamie?"

Big huge grin that won't go away. I don't even think a root canal could take this smile off my face right now! So I have to do some reading and make sure I know how to do this dual-boot thing. But in the meantime Mom is running LXLE on her computer from a live USB drive and singing a little song that goes like ZOOM ZOOM ZOOOOOOOM!

Update on Jamie's Story:

Even though his mom and dad's computer is very modern and powerful, they liked the LXDE desktop so much that they asked Jamie to install it. It's a dual-boot setup, but Jamie says they haven't booted into Windows since he put LXLE on it.

~nilla
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by jimallyn »

That's a great one, Nilla Wafer. Thanks!
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
User avatar
MartyMint
Level 7
Level 7
Posts: 1732
Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:50 pm

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by MartyMint »

What an incredible story.

:|
Welly Wu
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 170
Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2010 2:02 pm
Location: Nutley, New Jersey

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by Welly Wu »

My friend Veronica C. had a very old Hewlett Packard desktop PC that died a few months ago. It was running Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64 bit. She was doing some online shopping on the Amazon website and it just froze. She cut the power to her PC and it failed to boot up again.

Robert W. gave me his red ASUS A53E-AS31 notebook PC and I installed Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux on it. I gave it to Veronica C. She now has a notebook PC and she can do Facebook, Amazon, AOL e-mail, and all she needs is her Verizon FiOS Internet and Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. That's it. It just works for her.

I took a very old notebook PC from 2011 that was collecting dust and I repurposed it with Ubuntu GNU/Linux and it works like brand new for another friend of mine. She could not afford to buy a new PC period. I taught her how to use Ubuntu in less than five minutes and she never called me with any problems. She knows how to use it better than Microsoft Windows 7.

This ASUS notebook PC was literally collecting dust at Robert W.'s apartment for the past several years. It was too old for him to sell it to a friend and I could not get the ASUS system recovery discs to restore Microsoft Windows 7 ever again.

Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installed perfectly and it's ten times faster and more secure than Microsoft Windows 7.

Robert W. feels good. Veronica C. gets a notebook PC that she knows how to use. Everybody is happy.

Great success!
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by jimallyn »

Thanks, Welly Wu!
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
DeMus

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by DeMus »

Here at home we now have 3 computers. Yes, I know it is ridiculous but it's the way it is.
I have started using Linux in 2008 and loved it from the start. My wife was still using XP till 2011 when her computer died. We then bought a Dell with Vista on it. Vista?? Yes, sorry, but it was the current Windows at the time.

I upgraded it pretty soon after buying that computer with Windows 7, not entirely legal but hey they are given 10 away so why not 7? Even Balmer said one day: using illegal software is not good, but when you do it then at least use our software.
From the moment I installed 7 I was forbidden to even touch her computer, she was so afraid I would ruin it and she would lose her precious mails and photos.

Not long ago I heard her curse over another update of the virus-scanner, what do I need to do, update or not? Every time the stupid program asks me. Don't you have that? No sweetie, I use Linux, I don't have a virus-scanner, or a malware-scanner, or an adware-scanner.
Also when I want to shutdown I may not because Windows updates the system. Next day the computer is worthless for the first hour because it is still updating. Do you also have that? No sweetie, I use Linux and I decide if and when I want to update, not Microsoft who wants to be boss over your computer.

Then I also want Linux! What was that sweetie, did I hear you correctly? Yes, you heard me, I want Linux. Do it. Now!!

I made a last back-up of her data and wiped the disk clean after which I installed Mint 17.1 KDE. Why KDE? Because I also have it and now we have the same system.
I setup Grsync and it makes back-ups every week on the NAS, just as it does on my computer.
This happened 2 months ago and since then she is one happy computer user, and when she is happy, I am happy. :oops:

On computer 3, a laptop, I recently installed Windows 7 again because I use the computer for working at home one day per week. The company I work for uses programs not available on Linux so I need it. It is double boot of course. Yesterday I wanted to so some work on it but was pestered by the same thing my wife hated so much: updates. For almost one hour I couldn't do anything on the laptop. When finally all updates were installed I switched off the automatic update system. The Windows system doesn't use an Internet connection at all ( I blocked it) so I don't get viruses (also have no virus-scanner) so I also don't need the latest safety updates.
Now I should be able to get some work done.
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by jimallyn »

Thanks, DeMus, for another great Linux success story.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
InkKnife
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 741
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:24 pm

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by InkKnife »

I switched myself to Linux 3.5 years ago after having used the MacOS mostly and Windows when I had to. Mint made it easy. I like to joke that Linux Mint is so easy even a Mac user can figure it out! :D I have been using Mint/Cinnamon since Mint12.
About the time Mint16 came out my wife's crufty old PC died and I bought used PC with no OS and put Mint16 on it and set it up on my wife's desk. I spent a few minutes setting it up the way she liked things, then ten minuts of me walking her through her new setup and she was good to go. Cinnamon was similar enough to Windows so she felt comfortable right away.
In the year since I switched my wife she has been very happy. She was always having trouble with Windows but Mint has been smooth sailing. She gets a kick out of telling people she runs Linux, now she has nerd cred.
So now my house has been Windows free for over a year now and it's going to stay that way.
i7 3770, 12GB of ram, 256GB SSD, 64GB SSD, 750GB HDD, 1TB HDD, Cinnamon.
rumpus
Level 4
Level 4
Posts: 290
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2015 5:51 am

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by rumpus »

After 78 years of living, I broke an ankle. Stuck in bed with nothing to do, by accident I found Puppy Linux. I always wondered what Linux was so I made a disc. I booted it up and started to play with it and liked it. So much I got an old thinkpad from the closet and charged the battery. After a lot of reading, I downloaded Linux Mint 17.1 and ran in on the thinkpad. I am a home user of computers and know no more than the usual stuff. Email, pay my bills, and a little surfing, but I thought I would try to install a complete system on a computer. I followed the instructions and installed mint and wiped out windows xp at the same time. And it worked. I read a lot posted on the mint forum, and followed some of the advice,(what I could understand) and the machine is running better than my new one running windows 8.1.
As soon as I can get downstairs I'm going to install Linux on my new computer and perhaps it will run as well as this 10 year old machine.
If a retired boat tech that has no idea as to what they are doing can install a working Linux system and make it work...anybody can.

rumpus
Edward M. Grant

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by Edward M. Grant »

Back in the 90s, I used SunOS at work, and had no PC at home. Then I bought a laptop to take on a round-world trip, and installed Linux on it from about a dozen floppies. That allowed me to develop and update my website from wherever I was in the world, running X, a web browser and a web server in 8MB of RAM!

Came back to England and got a job working on Linux, using it to develop software for embedded systems that ran on an internally-developed minimal OS (literally just a few thousand lines of C).

That division of the company shut down, so I ended up working on Windows for years, and bought a Windows PC that I used for games and Avid video editing. The company then switched to Linux, developing ARM-based embedded systems.

Moved to Canada in 2007, started working for a company that uses Linux for development and installed servers. Now I have five Linux PCs at home--desktop, laptop and servers--and just keep one Windows 7 PC for games and Avid, and an XP machine my girlfriend uses for iTunes. I can see at least ten devices running Linux from my sofa, I use a Linux machine at work, and I develop software that runs on Linux servers around the world. When I bought my new laptop, I didn't even bother booting the Windows 8 hard drive, I just swapped it for an SSD and ran Mint.
Chiefahol

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by Chiefahol »

I used Linux Mint to complete a business course recently.

While my machine ran fast and handled everything without drama, all around me i could see windows machines using all of their 2GB of RAM, making it impossible for their users to get work done. Meanwhile i was getting along fine using about ~600MB or RAM!

Constantly those windows users would flock to me with their issues.. The all mighty linux guy who could make computers work with only the slightest touch.. :wink:
joseph8

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by joseph8 »

I do Android Development. I used windows for the first two years for said development. I switched (back, since I have used Linux before) to Linux and EVERYTHING is easier, faster and more robust. Particularly running the Android Virtual Devices.

Now I have to plug my nose and wear a rubber suit in order to work on a windows machine.
User avatar
jimallyn
Level 19
Level 19
Posts: 9075
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2014 7:34 pm
Location: Wenatchee, WA USA

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by jimallyn »

Now I have my own success story to report. A month or two ago my brother asked if I could put Linux on his computer. Of course, I was quite happy to do so. Not only is he happy with Linux, his wife is happy that she doesn't have to hear him yelling at the computer anymore.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
User avatar
ghost123uk
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 141
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 6:47 am

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by ghost123uk »

I have done lots of "conversions" to Mint 17 in my area. I usually use Mate as it's most like what their used to with XP / Vista / 7.

I offer the following service = "If you are not happy with it after a few days, I can put your original full Windows version back on from the [full image] backup I made before putting Linux on". I have never yet had anyone say "well thanks, but no thanks, please put my original Windows build back on" :D
(though a couple have lamented the lack of ability to use iTunes).

In the last fortnight I have done two very similar jobs, both involved folks buying new "all in one" PC's, one had Windows 8.2 on, the other had 10 on it. Both customers were so frustrated with the experience they asked me to tutor them on these new OS's, (as they both had upgraded from old XP machines). I did not offer to tutor them in using their new Windows, I did the usual, made a full (CloneZilla) image, "just in case" and installed LM17.2 (64 bit). Both customers were absolutely delighted :D

I often get asked after performing this type of service "Why on earth do folks put up with Windows, why doesn't everyone use this?"
Please note, I am not a Linux expert by any means, I am still learning, but if I can pass on something that has worked for me, I will, but use at your own risk. Plus I am always ready to be corrected by those many helpful folk who ARE experts
ZakGordon
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 925
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 11:07 am

Re: Wanted: Linux success stories

Post by ZakGordon »

From the 'What made you switch to Mint' thread:
ZakGordon wrote:[RE: What made you switch to Mint?]

Windows!

Specifically Windows 8 (I found the GUI non functional and aesthetically unappealing) but i also had to add various tweaks to Windows 7 to make it behave more like the XP and Vista i was used to, so it's been a slowly growing aspect as i found Microsofts more modern OS designs and desires moving away from my own preferences.

Windows 10 just confirmed what i had been feeling about the changes at MS for many years, and thankfully i was already a Linux Mint user for a good few months when the draconian beast that is 10 arrived. The fact i have to harden my perfectly fine Windows 7 install to NOT become a version like Windows 10 (or Windows 10 itself!) says it all.

For those that have older versions of Windows (7&8 in particular) and don't want Windows 10, OR Windows 10 spyware then this thread is worth a read through:

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-disc ... 7-8-a.html

Anyway, i would just like to thank Microsoft for providing all the encouragement i needed to try Mint out, it's been a pain free and super platform for all my online activities, and if it were not for my huge and rather important (to me) games collection i would drop MS completely. So yeah, thanks MS for being what you are and giving my computer freedom back :)
and also my initial pretty painless request for help to setup Linux Mint on my laptop, and i've been using it everyday since with way less issues (nearly all malware related) compared to my 99% windows usage previous to the switch. I'm a very happy, and grateful new Mint user :)

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=191970

I suspect Windows 10 will increase the flow towards linux for home use, so Mint is ideal as it feels very familiar for all us died-in-the-wool windows users, and that is a good thing imho.
Laptop overheating? Check link here:itsfoss guide . Also a move from Cinnamon to XFCE can give a -5 to -10 degrees C change on overheating hardware.

Build a modern dual-boot Ryzen Win7/Linux Mint PC:Tutorial
Locked

Return to “Chat about Linux”