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I have decided to add a copy of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun to the giveaway :)
So many good games I should really play. Hopefully Galaxy will come to Linux :)

I'm in for:

> Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition
> Two Worlds Epic Edition
> Pillars of Eternity: Hero Edition + The White March - Expansion Pass
> Baldur's Gate + Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Editions
> Tomb Raider Pack (Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3, Last Revelation, Chronicles, Angel of Darkness)
Trying Ubuntu and it's hard getting use everything on Linux after years of Windows such as using Synaptic Package Manager. The hardest part was getting my old printer to work as Canon didn't have drivers for my old printer and having to search for a solution. Was really surprised how many game I had that was Linux compatible on Steam and trying those out first before I tackle using WINE later.

Thanks for the giveaway.

In for:

Xenoauts
Wasteland 2 Director's Cut
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Tyranny - Commander Edition
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Transistor
Pillars of Eternity: Hero Edition + The White March - Expansion Pass
Satellite Reign
Jade Empire
Layers of Fear
Prince of Persia Sands of Time Pack
Lords of Xulima
Post edited December 09, 2016 by kchiang7
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kchiang7: Trying Ubuntu and it's hard getting use everything on Linux after years of Windows such as using Synaptic Package Manager. The hardest part was getting my old printer to work as Canon didn't have drivers for my old printer and having to search for a solution.
Mint should be a lot easier - it offers a more familiar/"traditional" UI by default as well as other improvements.

You shouldn't need to worry about printer drivers on Linux as they should be included already (unless the printer is *very* new & the included drivers haven't been updated yet)... just add the printer via the "Printers" option from the system's launcher menu/System Settings.

The printer I use is very old (HP LaserJet 2100TN connected via LAN) and there was no problem installing it & getting it working on Mint :)
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kchiang7: Trying Ubuntu and it's hard getting use everything on Linux after years of Windows such as using Synaptic Package Manager.
Terminal is a lot easier to use in most cases. No, don't freak out! :P Say you want to install Firefox in Ubuntu/Mint. One option would be to download it from the official website. A second option would be to use Synaptic. A better & faster option is to open the Terminal and type: sudo apt-get install firefox. No need to do anything else. ;)

Of course it isn't always *that* easy and sometimes you'll be required to type some more stuff, but once you understand how it works, it'll be easier. Of course, there are instructions everywhere; you can't get lost!
Post edited December 09, 2016 by Vythonaut
Awesome that you raise awareness for Linux, I really appreciate that :)
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kchiang7: Trying Ubuntu and it's hard getting use everything on Linux after years of Windows such as using Synaptic Package Manager. The hardest part was getting my old printer to work as Canon didn't have drivers for my old printer and having to search for a solution.
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adamhm: Mint should be a lot easier - it offers a more familiar/"traditional" UI by default as well as other improvements.

You shouldn't need to worry about printer drivers on Linux as they should be included already (unless the printer is *very* new & the included drivers haven't been updated yet)... just add the printer via the "Printers" option from the system's launcher menu/System Settings.

The printer I use is very old (HP LaserJet 2100TN connected via LAN) and there was no problem installing it & getting it working on Mint :)
Thanks, will try switching to Mint sometimes soon to try it out as I'm starting to dislike the user interface of Ubuntu. Thanks for the tips.
Post edited December 09, 2016 by kchiang7
Any distributions that avoid the terminal at all costs?

I mean I've heard even Mint and Ubuntu (any version) will screw you over for the lack of knowledge for even the most basic terminal commands. I've used Apple and on the rare times I had to use the Terminal it was quite a...clusterfest.
Post edited December 09, 2016 by vidsgame
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vidsgame: Any distributions that avoid the terminal at all costs?

I mean I've heard even Mint and Ubuntu (any version) will screw you over for the lack of knowledge for even the most basic terminal commands. I've used Apple and on the rare times I had to use the Terminal it was quite a...clusterfest.
Take a look at the guide :) It's very rare that you have to use the terminal for something on Mint (and I deliberately avoided the terminal for most of the guide - there are plenty of examples of using the terminal to do things elsewhere but I understand how that can be offputting for a lot of people)
Post edited December 10, 2016 by adamhm
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vidsgame: Any distributions that avoid the terminal at all costs?

I mean I've heard even Mint and Ubuntu (any version) will screw you over for the lack of knowledge for even the most basic terminal commands. I've used Apple and on the rare times I had to use the Terminal it was quite a...clusterfest.
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adamhm: Take a look at the guide :) It's very rare that you have to use the terminal for something on Mint (and I deliberately avoided the terminal for most of the guide - there are plenty of examples of using the terminal to do things elsewhere but I understand how that can be offputting for a lot of people)
Sweet. A new project. I'll have to dual boot it on my laptop first before trying it on the big boy. Thank You.
Well, I was just about to install Mint but it's the most retarded installer I've ever seen :(

For disk setup, the first option is to mess with existing OS install. No way.

The second option is Erase Disk (which disk???) and comes with a red warning that it will delete all your shit in all operating systems. That is terrible! Don't delete everything! Don't delete all my operating systems!

Trusting adam's guide, I assumed the warning was written by some halfwit and went forward with it anyway. Indeed, it lets me pick a disk. Unfortunately the list doesn't include the disk I want to install on to, even though I can fuck with that disk just fine using fdisk and it shows up in dmesg. No go.

So the last option is to manually partition everything. Of course, the installer provides no aid and nothing like "just do a sane automatic allocation of space on this disk". So I have to come up with something. Decided I'd keep it simple, I create a small efi partition, and allocate the rest of the disk for a big root partition. Well, the partitioning tool decides to moan about alignment and tells me to delete the root partition and recreate it again at the same position so it will be automatically aligned. I do that, and it moans again, ad infinitum.

Sigh.

I've installed three other OSes today and none were so terrible. (Well, actually, one was, due to lack of hardware support)
Post edited December 10, 2016 by clarry
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clarry: For disk setup, the first option is to mess with existing OS install. No way.
Well, it'll show that option when it detects an existing OS install. Many new users will want to dual boot on a single drive alongside an existing Windows install, so it makes sense to have a "quick and easy" option like that.
The second option is Erase Disk (which disk???) and comes with a red warning that it will delete all your shit in all operating systems. That is terrible! Don't delete everything! Don't delete all my operating systems!

Trusting adam's guide, I assumed the warning was written by some halfwit and went forward with it anyway. Indeed, it lets me pick a disk. Unfortunately the list doesn't include the disk I want to install on to, even though I can fuck with that disk just fine using fdisk and it shows up in dmesg. No go.
Yeah, I agree that it could do with being a little clearer. Just needs a small change, something like:

"Erase a disk and install Linux Mint
Warning: This will delete all your programs, documents, photos, music and any other files in all operating systems on the disk you select."

Strange for it not to show the drive you wanted to use though, I've not encountered any issues like that on any of the systems I've installed Mint on. It's quite likely that it's due to how your hardware is configured, something causing the installer to get confused (and/or maybe an EFI issue).
So the last option is to manually partition everything. Of course, the installer provides no aid and nothing like "just do a sane automatic allocation of space on this disk". So I have to come up with something. Decided I'd keep it simple, I create a small efi partition, and allocate the rest of the disk for a big root partition. Well, the partitioning tool decides to moan about alignment and tells me to delete the root partition and recreate it again at the same position so it will be automatically aligned. I do that, and it moans again, ad infinitum.
I'd guess the reason it doesn't have an auto-allocate option is because the automatic install possibilities are already covered by the other options (either "resize existing + install" or "wipe existing + install").

As for the alignment issue... did you try creating a new partition table on the drive first?
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adamhm: Yeah, I agree that it could do with being a little clearer. Just needs a small change, something like:

"Erase a disk and install Linux Mint
Warning: This will delete all your programs, documents, photos, music and any other files in all operating systems on the disk you select."
Yes exactly.

Strange for it not to show the drive you wanted to use though, I've not encountered any issues like that on any of the systems I've installed Mint on. It's quite likely that it's due to how your hardware is configured, something causing the installer to get confused (and/or maybe an EFI issue).
I think I figured that one out. I actually had two copies of the install image. One was on the disk I would want to install on (habit, I use other systems that can install themselves over the install media). The other is on a USB key. I booted the USB key. I believe what happened is, the way the system is built, it does not really seem to know or "remember" the selected boot device past the bootloader and will instead try to identify it among all the present storage devices. So it found the copy on my target disk, loaded the kernel on that, and then helpfully hid it from the list so I couldn't possibly overwrite what it considered to be the install media. That's both too smart and too stupid at the same time. But it works now, after dd'ing a good bunch of nuls onto the disk.

I'd guess the reason it doesn't have an auto-allocate option is because the automatic install possibilities are already covered by the other options (either "resize existing + install" or "wipe existing + install").

As for the alignment issue... did you try creating a new partition table on the drive first?
Yep, I started by creating a new partition table. That partitioning tool seems rather confused.
.
Post edited December 16, 2016 by innerring
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adamhm: Yeah, I agree that it could do with being a little clearer. Just needs a small change, something like:

"Erase a disk and install Linux Mint
Warning: This will delete all your programs, documents, photos, music and any other files in all operating systems on the disk you select."
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clarry: Yes exactly.

Strange for it not to show the drive you wanted to use though, I've not encountered any issues like that on any of the systems I've installed Mint on. It's quite likely that it's due to how your hardware is configured, something causing the installer to get confused (and/or maybe an EFI issue).
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clarry: I think I figured that one out. I actually had two copies of the install image. One was on the disk I would want to install on (habit, I use other systems that can install themselves over the install media). The other is on a USB key. I booted the USB key. I believe what happened is, the way the system is built, it does not really seem to know or "remember" the selected boot device past the bootloader and will instead try to identify it among all the present storage devices. So it found the copy on my target disk, loaded the kernel on that, and then helpfully hid it from the list so I couldn't possibly overwrite what it considered to be the install media. That's both too smart and too stupid at the same time. But it works now, after dd'ing a good bunch of nuls onto the disk.

I'd guess the reason it doesn't have an auto-allocate option is because the automatic install possibilities are already covered by the other options (either "resize existing + install" or "wipe existing + install").

As for the alignment issue... did you try creating a new partition table on the drive first?
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clarry: Yep, I started by creating a new partition table. That partitioning tool seems rather confused.
What's your current progress on that installation? Do you still have just a few kinks to work out or is it still the same problems?