Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr - The thing that thousands thought to try

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr - The thing that thousands thought to try

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

So is it still a bitch to dualboot a Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu machine because of EFI? I have Windows 8.1 and I've been itching to try the latest Ubuntu, but I don't think I can do it.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2014 16:45

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 19:10

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

Wow, this is awesome. Might try this tonight.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2014 21:33

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

What's the state of Netflix on wine? I know it works, but is it playably fast?

# ¿ Aug 18, 2014 18:12

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

I bought a Chromebook that will be arriving at my place later today. I intend to install crouton on it and run Ubuntu. Anything I should know about Ubuntu via Chroot? Like limitations and whatnot.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 21:21

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

SurgicalOntologist posted:

Are you already experienced in Linux? I'd recommend avoiding launching a full Linux desktop environment as much as possible. Instead, use enter-chroot to access the command line. If you want to launch a graphical application, use xiwi to launch it in a Chrome window (xiwi -T to launch it in a tab). I've found that doing this has forced me to learn a lot of Linux stuff and I really enjoy a workflow involving ChromeOS, a Linux terminal, and only occasionally an X application via xiwi. As awesome as crouton is, don't let it prevent you from using ChromeOS to its fullest.

This is a surprising answer. What, in your view, are the advantages conferred by a workflow involving ChromeOS?

# ¿ May 27, 2015 21:22

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

SurgicalOntologist posted:

Trying to minimize my reliance on a chroot desktop has pushed me toward decentralized tools with minimal dependencies. I can work on someone else's computer or a public computer if need be. If I'm working in a computer lab at school, I don't have to awkwardly squeeze my laptop onto the table between the desktops, I can just use the provided computers. If my Chromebook dies I'll have my full environment within ten minutes of turning on a new one. Also, crouton can be finicky, ChromeOS updates require crouton updates and sometimes new workarounds need to be developed by the devs. Sometimes major changes in ChromeOS change what's possible in crouton. For example Google recently replaced X with Freon (at least that's my understanding of what Freon replaced). Not having to rely on graphical stuff gives me some peace of mind.

Also, ChromeOS is really nice. Both web browsing and its window manager will be smoother than anything in a chroot desktop. The window manager has some nice features too. So I'd rather use xiwi and let ChromeOS handle the window management.

Of course, YMMV. For me, the benefits may have come at some up-front cost, like becoming more fluent at the command line, learning new tools, etc. It's not just that I like the workflow but I like what it's forced me to learn. Maybe I'm just handicapping myself, though . It also helps that I have a computer in my office that I can install server-client software on, and run stuff remotely. These changes in my workflow have meant that I no longer feel hamstrung when I'm not on my main PC, my workflow is the same wherever I am.

Edit: my other advice is to use chroots to experiment. As the README says, chroots are cheap. Rather than trying to perfect one that you use for everything, make a bunch, especially as you're trying to figure out what works for you.

Also, be wary of running off an SD card. It can be extremely slow even with a fast SD card, and there's a longstanding ChromeOS bug where it doesn't properly remount the SD card after sleep, causing all sorts of problems.

Edit2: Oh, one more reason I like to stick with ChromeOS is I have the Lenovo Yoga 11e, which folds back into tablet mode, and I actually use the touchscreen a fair amount. It's just not the same in a chroot. This was one of the first things that pushed me away from an "all crouton, all the time" workflow.

Thank you for that write up! I'm playing around with Crouton but I'll try out some of your suggestions, especially re: installing different chroots.

# ¿ May 28, 2015 20:27

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

Geany and Sublime Text seem pretty popular.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 14:51

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

Oromo posted:

The JetBrains IDEs - in addition to being incredible IDEs (that actually work equally well across all OSes) they have a popular and well supported Vim plugin you can switch on and off at will.

I've tried their PyCharm IDE and it was pretty neat, but it lagged substantially on my crouton ubuntu install. I think you need a fairly powerful machine to run it smoothly.

EDIT: Well at least more powerful than a 200$ chromebook

Radio Talmudist fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Jul 13, 2015

# ¿ Jul 13, 2015 16:16

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 19:10

Radio Talmudist: Sep 29, 2008

fourwood posted:

Booting off a USB stick has the added advantages of being much more responsive (don't have to spin up the disk every time you want to launch a new program) and, if your USB stick has more storage than required for the ISO, you can use the rest of the space for persistent storage so that your settings, etc. are kept through reboots.

So yeah, a pretty decent way to try it out.

Hmm. I wonder if I could do this as an alternative to dual booting ubuntu on my pc. How's the latency via a usb 3.0 port?

# ¿ Aug 19, 2015 21:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > Ubuntu 14.04 LTS Trusty Tahr - The thing that thousands thought to try