MEPIS Community Forum

It’s moving day and I am moving out of my old neighborhood, MS Windows. It is comfortable and very familiar to me. I know the by ways and paths from one place to another. I had lived there for along time and I have friends still there.

I am moving into a new neighborhood, Linux. I know none of the by ways and paths that I know I will have to travel down. I have no friends living here.

Many of you are considering this move. I hope this thread; my journal so to speak, will be some help to you. If nothing else I hope it will be enjoyable reading.

I will not speak badly about my old neighborhood, MS Windows or any Linux Distributions I have looked at. I still use MS Windows at work. I have looked at a number of Linux Distributions. These all have been in the form of Live CD's / DVD’s. A Live CD / DVD is one CD or DVD from which the Linux Distribution runs. I may even have to move back to my old neighborhood someday.

Some of you may be here as well. One may ask why move at all. I could stay in my current neighborhood, MS Windows. I have to move into a newer home simply because my old one has been condemned and I am now homeless.

I wanted to look at a few Linux Distributions and the new MS Windows. I had to look at a number of my options and then make a choice. MS Windows and the all of the newer Windows Software have gotten very expensive. Were there any alternative choices I could make? Some may be smiling and saying he not only wants a new home, he wants a free one. Linux does have some distributions that do not cost the user anything. But none are free every distribution costs someone something. The development and maintenance of any software costs real money even if not for the end user.

I decided to buy both the CDs or DVDs for what ever I choose to use. I will download a Live CD / DVD to try. But the one I settle into will be purchased. I know it is a small price but I sleep better having made that decision. Many good products are no longer with us because the developer had to foot the entire bill and at some point could not continue to do so. Which neighborhood did I choose to consider moving into? It was not a difficult I chose SimplyMEPIS. SimplyMepis has everything I want to use on one Live Installable CD or image that could be put onto a USB Flash Drive. The other neighborhoods did not. I may have to buy some Linux software but I like the fact that I can try what I will be using and then install it. I am not on a network so I need a distribution that has what I need on a CD or DVD or can be installed to a USB Flash drive to run as a Live USB. I want to put in a plug for SimplyMepis here at the start. I have tried a number of Distributions. But they all lack a few things. Their Live CD / DVD did boot up. But they left a few things out. Some have you install a partial system. Then you have to download things like Firefox and OpenOffice. This to me is unacceptable. SimplyMepis has them all in the downloadable image. I like some do not like the fact that the images are no longer CD size. But that is how the world is moving. I want to try things out and not have to download them to do so. I also like that the programs included are programs I have used in Windows. They are very professional and work well.

I was able to install all of the versions of SimplyMEPIS I wanted to try to my USB Flash Drive to try and then install them. I used either "unetbootin” or "Universal USB Installer" for this task. I need to tell you that getting to this point did take some time. But using a Live CD or USB was a big aid. I was able to try something out and not install to a Hard Drive. I played around for lack of a better word. I practiced setting up my desktop. I played with software settings. When I made a mistake and I made many, I just shut the PC down. Anyone thinking about moving to Linux should consider doing this.

I need a Dial Up Internet Tool, GPG, a MS Compatible Office Suite and a Web Browser. I also want a Desktop similar to MS Windows. My goal is to leave MS Windows behind. If I need to use a MS Windows application, I will buy a Linux application that allows me to run MS Windows under Linux. To be blunt my new home will be a Linux box that may have to run Windows. It will not be a Windows Box that can run Linux. It will also not be a dual boot box. Simply put it will be a SimplyMEPIS box. Making the decision to look at only SimplyMEPIS was just the beginning. I like everyone have some things I want to use my PC for. I have been using MS Office to write a book for a long time now. The book is more then 1200 pages long in RTF format. I also have some Excel Worksheets and a few PDF files I need. I play a game of Chess that uses an Excel Worksheet and a TTF chess font. I also use GPG an encryption program. Then I do some surfing and send email. I also saved some Web pages for information.

I installed SimplyMEPIS to a test PC. I installed one version at a time. I was amazed at what is installed. I was also amazed at how short a process it was. In about 30 minutes I had installed not only the OS, SimplyMEPIS, but a large amount of software as well. My PC now has Firefox, KGPG and OpenOffice installed. SimplyMEPIS uses a Linux desktop called KDE which looks and feels similar to Windows which makes the possible move easier for me.

The people who came up with all of this did a real good job. They came up with a product that is in my mind much more then a basic off the shelf Workstation from the very start. I may want some other things in the future but I may be able to move into this new home and have everything I need when I move into it. Before I can move in it all must work for me. I need to be able to import my files from MS Windows and do my work in SimplyMEPIS.

I came up with a zip file I call "Linux Trail Files". I did this on my MS Windows Workstation. I then copied this file to a USB Flash Drive and plugged it into my possibly new home SimplyMEPIS. This Linux Trial File has a number of files I wanted to check. It has my completed Book One in RTF format. It also has what I have started in Book Two also in RTF format. I have about twenty supporting files in RTF in it as well. Then I have a few PDF files and WEB Pages I have saved. The character list for my second book is in an Excel Worksheet. I also have my 3D Chess game an Excel Spreadsheet and the required Chess font in it. I do use GPG so I also included a file of all of my keys as well.

The versions I tried did allow me to copy my Linux Trail File to the PC. This made me feel real good. I had always been told Linux had a evil command line with unusual commands to learn. But in SimplyMepis using KDE this so far was not the case. My work is now on my Simply Linux Box in a subdirectory named of course Trial. But are the files usable or did I loose all of my work. Will I have to rewrite 1200 pages of my book? Are my Excel spreadsheets and PDF files still useable? Will I have to give up my 3D Chess games? Did I just compromise all of my Public keys?

I have to now tell you that I had similar experiences in all of the versions of SimplyMEPIS I tried. But I had to make a choice of what to use in my production PC. I chose SimplyMepis version “8.0.15”. I did for the following reasons. None of my reasons are technical in nature. First everything I needed to get started with worked right from install. I am not an upgrade fanatic nor do I need the very latest, if it works for me. I may never upgrade.

Now I have to set it all up and work on my Linux Trail Files and other things to make a final decision. That’s the rest of the story so to speak. Please fell free to join in. The rules are very simple. First do not bash anyone or anything. Second remember I and others are newbie’s. We ask and ask and then sometimes ask the same thing but word it differently. I also ask every one to be painfully specific. I at times forget a step or two when I talk to people. I do the proper steps but join them together in my head at times. If a thing has ten steps I may leave out steps three and six as an example even though I did them. I also will try and use the proper terms in my journal. I will not say Wigits. I know what I meant by saying Wigits but you most likely will not.

My next entry will be my trails and tribulations of Moving into a new Home SimplyMepis.

Frank D. Hubeny

Nicely down-to-earth if I may say so.

Hell Zevon;

Thank you for the reply. I wanted to document trials and errors. It is a very difficult decission onsidering the move from one OS to another. I have been using Windows for a long time. I thought that others may have similar issues. My next installment will be my issues.

Frank D. Hubeny

Welcome and we are glad to have you.
Your journey will be very interesting to me, as I am sure it will be to others. Having been a Linux user for 7 years, one tends to forget the journey and the discomfort along the way as we are learning. As you also have an entertaining way of writing, it will also be pleasurable to follow.
Needless to say we are here to give you a hand with any stumbling blocks. Some advice will be good, some confusing and contradictory, but in the end will help you with solutions.
Be sure to avail yourself of the wiki and the MEPIS documentation. There is a wealth of good information in both.

Hello richb,

I hate to say it, but I have missed more then one answer in them. I found I can not speed read the information. Not that anyone else would ever do that. I now read them more then once.

Frank D. Hubeny

Moving Day # 2, My Trip From MS Windows To SimplyMepis Linux

Since my last entry I received an old Dell 2400 PC. I will be purchasing a new SimplyMEPIS Box. But for now I can use something to continue my book and 3D Chess games. It had another OS installed and very little memory. I upgraded the memory to its fullest, 2 GB. Then I installed SimplyMEPIS version “8.0.15”.

I did have issues:

When booting up I got an error message saying video mode not supported. The funny thing was that only grub looked odd. After boot everything else looked good. I had to change the boot to a video mode supported.

My solution:

I ran SimplyMepis from my Live USB. I copied down the best resolution supported. I then edited the Grub Menu with this video mode. I want to try What I think is a text only low resolution video Mode.
I just got an old PCI Video card to try and will see if this will make a difference or not.
Boot up issue solved I then copied my Linux Trial file to my SimplyMEPIS Box. The file is now on my Simply Linux Box in a subdirectory named of course Trial. But are the files usable or did I loose all of my work. Will I have to rewrite 1200 pages of my book? Are my Excel spreadsheets and PDF files still useable? Will I have to give up my 3D Chess games? Did I just compromise all of my Public keys?

I did have issues:

My Linux Trail file was a zip file. It had a number of folders and files I wanted to import. The file did copy into SimplyMEPIS. I was able to unzip it and have the files and folders in place.

I did have issues:

When I opened up a Book File. It was in Read Only Mode in OpenOffice. I found the property menu and changed it to everyone has permission to read and modify. Still it was in Read Only Mode.

My solution:

I had to go to every sub-directory up to the last root do the same thing. This was different for me since I never had to do this before. Different but it worked. I had to do the same with every other file I wanted to open.

I did have issues:

All of my trial files did import to SimplyMEPIS. But I had a few issues with some of them.

I did have issues:

I play 3D Chess. It is played using an Excel Spread Sheet. OpenOffice did open it. But I knew that one cell acted up when using OpenOffice. I use OpenOffice at times on a USB Flash Drive loaded with PortableApps for Windows at work. In SimplyMEPIS it also acted up.

My solution:

Be careful and see if I can edit the formula for the cells that act oddly. This is something I never have done so it will be a learning experience for me.

I did have issues:

My book has been written in MS Office. From past problems of using them on other Word Processors I know to save everything in RTF Format. OpenOffice did open these files but as with other Word Processors I have tried. The heading lost its format. This however is only when saving the Document in RTF Format. It does not happen when I saved the Document in ODT Format. I also did not loose any of the text.

My solution:

I will save everything in ODT Format. If I have to I will convert the ODT Document to RTF for use in windows and then repair the Heading.

I did have issues:

I did save many Web pages using IE 6. Nothing in SimplyMEPIS would open them. I got an error saying they were all malformed files.

My solution:

I deleted them all after finding some PDF replacements that OpenOffice would open up. I will also from now on use Firefox to save any Web pages I want even if I use Windows. Remember my PortableApps USB has both Firefox and OpenOffice on it. I must admit I use another Wordprocessor on My USB. It is only a Word Processor. But from now on I will use OpenOffice in both SimplyMEPIS and Windows.

SIDE NOTE:

What I did was not a very good solution. I should have asked first. I found after the fact from a SimplyMEPIS Community member that Firefox has an add on that may have solved my problem. If I run into any more issues I will ask first before I do something like I did above.
Looks good I may be able to move. My last concern was my Archived Files. I have an Archive Directory it is 1.64 GB and has 168 Files in 129 Folders.
I do not want to loose this. I did not know if I could copy them back and forth between SimplyMEPIS and Windows. This time I asked. A SimplyMEPIS Community member told me I could do this. I had to know for sure. So I copied them back and forth from my PortableApps USB Flash Drive and my SimplyMepis Box to see for myself.

I have issues:

Copying was not an issue. I could and I did not loose a thing. My problem was when I deleted this directory from SimplyMepis some files would not delete. I got an error message saying some thing about being used. I know it is not a good description of the error I got. Next time I will write it down.

My solution:

I remember that ROOT has permissions for everything. At least that is what I think I was told. I rebooted into ROOT and then deleted them all with no issue. I am going to try something different to see if I have the same issue. I read long ago that Zip was a great file transported. You should not loose anything using it. I took the time to zip every one of my files in my Archived Directory. I will copy this into SimplyMEPIS. When I copy this Archive Directory to SimplyMEPIS. I will unzip the file I want to use after putting the Zip file in its proper place. This may be overkill. But I have no idea why some files have different permissions on them then others do. Either way a zipped file is a safely transported file.

My next installment will be my final decision and some thoughts about my future home.

Frank D. Hubeny

This is great stuff, well worth following! I'm looking forward to the next instalment.

Thank You bowlkook,

Thank you to all who have looked at this thread. I plan on continuing it for a while. I do have a third installment.

I think I will also add the solutions to my remaining issues. As I get an answer to them one way or another I will post it here.

I wanted to do this for some time. Many people know of Linux. But the idea of moving into it is real scary. Those who have moved have to be honest and say it was. Especailly long ago with no GUI. It is alot easier today. There are all sort of GUI's for Linux. I just happen to like KDE. But I may try a differrent or simpler one.

I hope it helps those interested in trying SimplyMEPIS. It was scary for me and I have to tell you I am no expert. I also have to say I like others have things I need to do in any OS I look at. But I am not in a hurry. If I can say one thinf it is do not rush into it.

Frank D. Hubeny

Moving Day # 3, My Trip From MS Windows To SimplyMepis Linux

Since my last entry I have come to the conclusion that I can move into my new home called SimplyMepis.
My issues have not been anything that will stop the move. I still have a few issues.

I want to find out if zipping files gets rid of my permission issue.

I want to get back online using Dial Up. My Dell 2400 has a Modem Card installed. I have been on Dial UP for a long time.

I want to try adding to, or upgrading my SimplyMepis Box. I fear this will be painful at first. But

I did buy both the Live CD and the Big DVD for version “8.0.15”. So I may as well find out what to do now.

For my final thoughts I wish to leave you these thoughts.

Do not be in a hurry to move. I had reasons that made me consider a move. The first was my old PC died and money is tight. The other neighborhood has gotten very expensive. I do not use borrowed software. I either buy or use Open Source. The new OS and the Office Suite would cost me around six or seven hundred dollars. I had to look at alternatives.

Do not be in a hurry to move. Try some of the programs you may have to use first. Many are ported over to other OS’S. Firefox and OpenOffice are popular programs available in many OS’S. I am sure that there are others.

Do not be in a hurry to move. Download the CD or DVD and try it out. What do you have to have in your Box? I have three basics that are have to haves. They are Firefox, OpenOffice and KGPG what are yours. Try the Distribution out first. Try a few out first and come back to the one or two you like. Then narrow it down to your new home as I have done.

Do not be in a hurry to move. Many Linux distributions are removing some large programs like Firefox and OpenOffice and others. They add a manager that will download and install them. To me this is a terrible idea. Install a stripped down version then install something that may not work for you. I like many wish the Distributions were still CD size but they are not. DVD and USB seem to be the way of the future.

If you move support the distribution. I chose to purchase the CD and DVD. I know I can download them and then say thanks. I will download newer versions to try. But I will buy them if I use them.

Finally, what am I now using, what will I look at in the future. I am now using SimplyMEPIS and PortableApps for Windows. I use the PortableApps at work on a USB Flash Drive. I am toying with the idea of using Debian Live with a persistent option on a USB Flash drive. If I go this way I will only use PortableApps on Windows PC’s that I can not boot a USB Up to. My home PC is a SimplyMEPIS Box. It for now is old but it works. I am looking for a newer SimplyMEPIS Box. But even in that I am not in a hurry and have asked for help from this Community.

I want to restate some reasons I went with SimplyMepis. First it is fast. Second it is not a stripped down Distribution. It has everything a person needs to go to work. I am amazed that in a half hour or so I not only installed an OS. But I also installed a large number of high quality programs. I could not do that in my old neighborhood. In my opinion SimplyMepis gives a person a very complete workstation to use. It’s not an economy model.

I will keep an eye on two other Linux Distributions. They are Debian Live and Kubuntu. I will also try future versions of SimplyMepis. I have found that some times a new version does not work for me. KGPG is the problem in some versions it does not work. What I will not do is download many other Linux Distribution’s Live CD / DVD. I will also not upgrade my SimplyMEPIS box if the newer version does not work for me.

Many in the world of Linux seem to have to upgrade all of the time. At home and work however they may use a work station that has some very old programs on them. But move to Linux and they want it all to be the very latest. Makes no sense does it, if it works why upgrade.

My final word is about two features missing in SimplyMepis. I do hope that SimplyMepis will in a future version add a persistent USB feature. It is available in a few other Distributions. With this feature you can save your work to a persistent partion. You can set up and actually use it running from a USB Flash Drive. The other neighborhoods make this to do when installing to a USB Flash Drive.

My solution now is to either use Debian Live or two USB Flash Drives and SimplyMEPIS. I boot to one and save my work to the other which is formatted as a FAT 32 USB Drive.

The second is something called a LVM encrypted volume. With this you can encrypt your system and Home directory at installation. I only tried this once in Kubuntu. There may be issues with it but I thought it was an easy to use encryption scheme missing from SimplyMEPIS.

I hope you have enjoyed my move, I have. My new home has many new corridors and rooms for me to wander around in. There may be a few skinned elbows and knees along the way. There may even be a few what did I do to myself. But I am very happy with my new home, SimplyMEPIS.

My next installments will concern my issues mentioned above. When I get an answer I will post it here. Until then thanks for taking the time out of your day to visit me in my day.

Frank D. Hubeny

AntiX full iso, Mepis's Brother, has this feature. If wanting KDE in AntiX. Meta Installer will install KDE, or XFCE, or LXDE. You pick.

Always do a apt-get update as root (command is sux or su) in terminal before running Meta Package installer to get latest packages.