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mint 13 with lxde

Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 10:18 pm
by knott
Dear group, I have a linux mint 13 cinnamon DVD (or is it a cd? - how can i tell the difference?)

I am seeking a little reassurance about installing.

I love the unix/linux "command-line", but the GUI issues in linux
and some of the system adminstration issues have me always confused.
(For example, when I boot, I don't want a splash screen - I want the good old
boot-log entries to scroll by. But I don't know how to get that.
I also want to disable automatic filesystem checking, and do that manually.
and I want to learn how to set-up chron jobs - it doesn't work the way
old unix books say anymore. )

I basically want to use linux to run emacs, tex, and gcc, and to use
ftp and a web-browser, and install and run new software like calibre.
I don't really want to fuss with linux configuration and administration
when I get it set. (I can't remember enough to re-do stuff.)

I want to keep the latest browsers running, so I must keep my
OS and dynamic loadable modules uptodate. I wish I didn't
have to, but I do.

(1) I want to install on a 64-bit machine currently running win7. I don't
know if the dvd holds a 32-bit or 64-bit system. Will it tell me, or give me the option to
choose, if both are there? Can I use either? I think I heard the 32-bit version is more
robust. I do want to run some old 32-bit software (e.g. xv) on the new mint system.
What should i choose, and how should I get it?

(2) I want to dual boot. There are some web-pages that explain this somewhat.
can you point me to a good comprehensive help source. (I like text
better than pictures with "screenshots".) The source I looked at seems to put
grub in a boot partition and not in the MBR. And then one somehow tells win7 about
dual-booting. That's okay if it works. Will there be any problems or not nice
behavior that i might expect?

(3) My main difficulty will, I
think, be connecting to the net during installation.
My win7 machine is on a wired LAN with a fixed
ip number (204.241.zz.yy) and a fixed gateway (router) ip number (204.241.aa.bb)
I cannot have the mint install assume it can use dhcp. It can't. will that be
a problem, and if so, how do I overcome it.

(4) When I install I want to select the LXDE desktop - (that's why I am asking in this sub-group.)
But I want to be a main-line mint install, so that I can just keep getting updates
and never ever have to install again. I can do that can't I?
And I can somehow select or install the LDXE desktop instead of cinnamon, right?

(4) I assume the repositories that linux mint uses are the ubuntu 12.04 or whatever
is hooked to mint 13. Is that right? What happens when canonical pulls the rug out
and disables those repositories? How do I keep current forever as I hope to do?
(Does linux mint have the same nice automatic update notification that ubuntu
does? I liked it until it stopped updating.) The point here is I liked to get updates
but I did not want any that effected my gnome 2 desktop, so I couldn't go with canonical
as they forced changes on me that i couldn't handle.

So any reassurance that I won't get in a big mess, from someone who has done this
would be appreciated along with any links to valuable howtos that i can follow.
I generally like to kind of write-out on paper what to expect, and what i must do,
and then just do it like an automaton i.e. think first, and don't have to struggle
(or think) later.

My guess is that there are lots of people like me who would turn to linux, mint or
otherwise, if they could get answers to questions similar to mine. If I ever
get enough knowledge, I will write a story about this to help other newbies.

Thanks, gary knott

Re: mint 13 with lxde

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 2:14 am
by seppalta
You have many questions. I doubt if trying to answer every question before starting works very well. Better to let the questions and answers come as the problems arise. I will try to get you started. Read http://lxlinux.com/introduction.html, even if just a refresher of things you already know. As I understand you, you want an LXDE desktop, 64-bit, rolling release to dual boot with Windows. This is fairly straight forward provided you install the Linux after Windows, which appears to be your situation. Just follow the Linux installers directions, choosing the option that installs the Linux system on a separate partition beside the partition containing the Windows. If prompted put the linux boot in the mbr. It will automatically find all the installed operating systems and give you a choice whenever you boot up . This is why you install Linux after Windows. The boot manager will not automatically find all systems if Windows is installed after Linux.

Here is a guide for installing LMDE (Linux Mintv Debian) with an LXDE desktop: http://lxlinux.com/debian.html.

Here is a guide for configuring any lxde desktop: http://lxlinux.com/.

When you have a problem, post it in this forum or in the LXDE-forum: http://forum.lxde.org/.

Re: mint 13 with lxde

Posted: Sun Dec 02, 2012 5:04 pm
by cwwgateway
knott wrote:Dear group, I have a linux mint 13 cinnamon DVD (or is it a cd? - how can i tell the difference?)
(1) I want to install on a 64-bit machine currently running win7. I don't
know if the dvd holds a 32-bit or 64-bit system. Will it tell me, or give me the option to
choose, if both are there? Can I use either? I think I heard the 32-bit version is more
robust. I do want to run some old 32-bit software (e.g. xv) on the new mint system.
What should i choose, and how should I get it?

When you download Mint you can select either the 32-bit or 64-bit ISO. I think that at this point 64-bit works just as well as 32-bit, and you can install 32-bit apps on 64-bit systems. You can download whichever ISO from the linux mint website

(2) I want to dual boot. There are some web-pages that explain this somewhat.
can you point me to a good comprehensive help source. (I like text
better than pictures with "screenshots".) The source I looked at seems to put
grub in a boot partition and not in the MBR. And then one somehow tells win7 about
dual-booting. That's okay if it works. Will there be any problems or not nice
behavior that i might expect?

The installer has an option to automatically set up a dual boot. If you want to be more in depth, linuxbsdos has a lot of good tutorials.

(3) My main difficulty will, I
think, be connecting to the net during installation.
My win7 machine is on a wired LAN with a fixed
ip number (204.241.zz.yy) and a fixed gateway (router) ip number (204.241.aa.bb)
I cannot have the mint install assume it can use dhcp. It can't. will that be
a problem, and if so, how do I overcome it.

Unfortunately I can't help with this - I have a very standard network.

(4) When I install I want to select the LXDE desktop - (that's why I am asking in this sub-group.)
But I want to be a main-line mint install, so that I can just keep getting updates
and never ever have to install again. I can do that can't I?
And I can somehow select or install the LDXE desktop instead of cinnamon, right?

Up until Mint 12, Mint did offer an LXDE Mint release. However, for Mint 13, Mint 14, and Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), there is no LXDE version. After installing, you can install LXDE, but you will also have the desktop from the original ISO you installed. Installing LXDE won't stop updates. If you installed the Xfce ISO, you would have both Xfce and LXDE.

As for never installing again, the main Ubuntu-based Mint release is on a fixed 6 month release cycle. Every release except for the LTS releases are supported for 18 months, and then they will no longer get updates. LTS releases (Mint 13) are now supported for 5 years. Linux Mint Debian Edition is a semi-rolling release, meaning you won't have to reinstall.


(4) I assume the repositories that linux mint uses are the ubuntu 12.04 or whatever
is hooked to mint 13. Is that right? What happens when canonical pulls the rug out
and disables those repositories? How do I keep current forever as I hope to do?
(Does linux mint have the same nice automatic update notification that ubuntu
does? I liked it until it stopped updating.) The point here is I liked to get updates
but I did not want any that effected my gnome 2 desktop, so I couldn't go with canonical
as they forced changes on me that i couldn't handle.

Mint 13 (and 14) are based on the Ubuntu repos - Mint 13 on 12.04 and Mint 14 on Ubuntu 12.10. When they cease to be supported, that release also stops being supported. If you use LMDE, you can theoretically never install again. However, rolling or semi-rolling releases like LMDE can sometimes break or have more bugs than fixed releases like Ubuntu.

So any reassurance that I won't get in a big mess, from someone who has done this
would be appreciated along with any links to valuable howtos that i can follow.
I generally like to kind of write-out on paper what to expect, and what i must do,
and then just do it like an automaton i.e. think first, and don't have to struggle
(or think) later.

Here's a dual boot guide for LMDE: http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2011/04/23/ho ... windows-7/. Here's one for the Ubuntu-based Mint - http://www.linuxbsdos.com/2012/05/17/ho ... windows-7/. Both of these tutorials work for me, although if you go with LMDE you should install grub to sda, rather than the /boot partition. An update wouldn't allow grub to stay on the /boot partition. Here's an explanation of LMDE: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1979. Here's the download link for LMDE: http://www.linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php

My guess is that there are lots of people like me who would turn to linux, mint or
otherwise, if they could get answers to questions similar to mine. If I ever
get enough knowledge, I will write a story about this to help other newbies.

Thanks, gary knott