@Anonymous wrote:As much as everyone likes to hate on Windows, myself included, it really does just work most of the time while Linux requires a lot of fiddling around. Windows 10 has been rock solid stable for me most of the time and I still have nightmares about kernel updates borking my Linux installs before.
I could write that exact same paragraph, but reverse the two OSes! When I *had* to administer some windows boxes [at work], I hated it....dreaded it.... UGH!! The constant crashing, the BSODs, the constant reinstalls, slowing down to a crawl....just awful. Linux? Rock solid. Not "most" of the time, 100% of the time. If I had the problems you've described, yeah, I'd totally agree that it's a hassle, but in 25+ years there's just been nothing so bad that I would even consider switching to windows.
A desktop that I'm about to retire--not because it doesn't work, but just because it's not being used any more, other than accessing its files over my network--has been humming along CONTINUOUSLY for 15 years. 
Okay, I shouldn't say "continuously' because it has gone down a few times--when the power went out--but I'm talking in terms of its stability/reliability. 15 years! 
My most recent computers have come from System76, which only sells Linux-based computers, including Pop. Prior to that, I'd usually buy HP computers (laptops and desktops) and just never had any of the problems you've described. Minus the infamous Broadcom issue, of course. But that was easily fixable. If I had to do that much fiddling with a modern computer...well, I'm not nearly as patient as I once was! I think we're both getting old! 
But nothing, and I do mean nothing, will ever make me touch windows again.
@SoCalGardener wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:As much as everyone likes to hate on Windows, myself included, it really does just work most of the time while Linux requires a lot of fiddling around. Windows 10 has been rock solid stable for me most of the time and I still have nightmares about kernel updates borking my Linux installs before.
I could write that exact same paragraph, but reverse the two OSes! When I *had* to administer some windows boxes [at work], I hated it....dreaded it.... UGH!! The constant crashing, the BSODs, the constant reinstalls, slowing down to a crawl....just awful. Linux? Rock solid. Not "most" of the time, 100% of the time. If I had the problems you've described, yeah, I'd totally agree that it's a hassle, but in 25+ years there's just been nothing so bad that I would even consider switching to windows.
A desktop that I'm about to retire--not because it doesn't work, but just because it's not being used any more, other than accessing its files over my network--has been humming along CONTINUOUSLY for 15 years.
My most recent computers have come from System76, which only sells Linux-based computers, including Pop. Prior to that, I'd usually buy HP computers (laptops and desktops) and just never had any of the problems you've described. Minus the infamous Broadcom issue, of course. But that was easily fixable. If I had to do that much fiddling with a modern computer...well, I'm not nearly as patient as I once was! I think we're both getting old!
I would have agreed with you about Windows if we were talking about Windows XP, Vista, 8, or 8.1 but Windows 10 is miles ahead and 7 wasn't bad either.
I figured out what happened and as I suspected, the kernel was updated and the system didn't like it. It will only boot in recovery mode but it boots completely from recovery mode. Despite that, the Ubuntu Steam installer package put 32-bit binaries on the machine and totally broke Vulkan. Looking around online the only real fix for this problem is a fresh reinstall.
I got suspicious it might be a memory issue seeing how I have had so many problems but I ran memtest86 and passed with no errors so I'm at a loss.
I have to admit that other than gaming and the occasional kernel upgrade disaster, Linux tends to run very well, but it's gotten to the point that Windows 10 does too with out of the box compatibility for basically everything I would ever need which means that Linux stays relegated to its status as a secondary OS for me. It's still fun to tinker around with as a hobby but when I need to get things done, Windows it is.
@coldfusion wrote:
@razzy116 wrote:
@coldfusion wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I also do some shortwave listening as well radio wise. Looks like somebody above mentioned they were a ham.
Most of my radio stuff is done with a SDR (Software Defined Radio) might interest you. For the FM Broadcast DX(Long Distance) stuff i am using a SDRplay RSPdx and a 4 element Yagi antenna. HF(Shortwave) i use something called a active magnetic loop antenna. Some stuff for you to look up. @coldfusion probably knows what this all is being a ham
Also various tech things like you mentioned so similar stuff here.
I am going to not research that stuff because I don't need another tech hobby to sink money into. 😂 It's bad enough that I'm ready to spend $1400 on a video card that's only like 20% faster than the $700 one because GPUs are never in stock. It does sound interesting though.
SWL can get to be a fairly expensive hobby but all you really need to get started is a PC with an available USB port and one of the RTL2832U-based RTL-SDR dongles (Amazon, eBay) with free software like HDSDR or SDR#. The dongles themselves sell for < $50.
The UI is very similar to what you see with the Flex serie sof amateur radios and some amateur operators use RTL-SDR dongles to help with search-and-pounce type operating. Helps to keep from having to randomly turn the tuning knob to see if a particular band is open or find a frequency where someone is transmitting.
Sounds like a interesting hobby to get into, what do i need to get set up and is it easy to hook up?
2 great places to start:
Do a search on eBay for RTL2832u and sort based on low-to-high price. The weakest link is probably the antenna but it should be good enough to at least pick up strong local stations and there are various jumper/adapter cables available to allow different antenna types to be connected directly to the dongle.
Do i need a radio and is there a special antenna that i should get? Thank you for your help.
Starting Score: 663
@Anonymous wrote:I would have agreed with you about Windows if we were talking about Windows XP, Vista, 8, or 8.1 but Windows 10 is miles ahead and 7 wasn't bad either.
I figured out what happened and as I suspected, the kernel was updated and the system didn't like it. It will only boot in recovery mode but it boots completely from recovery mode. Despite that, the Ubuntu Steam installer package put 32-bit binaries on the machine and totally broke Vulkan. Looking around online the only real fix for this problem is a fresh reinstall.
I got suspicious it might be a memory issue seeing how I have had so many problems but I ran memtest86 and passed with no errors so I'm at a loss.
I have to admit that other than gaming and the occasional kernel upgrade disaster, Linux tends to run very well, but it's gotten to the point that Windows 10 does too with out of the box compatibility for basically everything I would ever need which means that Linux stays relegated to its status as a secondary OS for me. It's still fun to tinker around with as a hobby but when I need to get things done, Windows it is.
That's fine! Use whatever works best for you.
Personally, I couldn't live without the power and versatility of Linux. Of course, windows is now including Linux in its distributions, right? I don't know much about it, but I've read bits and pieces about Microsoft adopting/adding some Linux features/functionality to windows.
For me, everything has worked out of the box for many years now with Linux. I honestly can't recall the last piece of hardware I had a problem with, other than the infamous Broadcom cards--but that was a LONG time ago. In more recent decades, everything from wireless Logitech Trackman trackballs to networked HP printers have worked flawlessly, with the OS itself setting up the appropriate drivers. No manually installing any software/drivers, no searching for obscure things online any more, no fiddling around with cryptic commands at a command line, etc.
But it really comes down to whatever works best for the individual.
@Anonymous wrote:Have you been using Nvidia graphics cards? They're notoriously problematic since Nvidia doesn't provide open source drivers. There was a time in the not-so-distant past that the open source Nvidia driver that came with many distributions, nouveau, would cause my system to just hang and I would have to bypass it via GRUB flags. It never really liked my 780 Ti.
Microsoft does have the Windows Subsystem for Linux now which is apparently a virtualized Linux kernel. I haven't played with it because it's complex to get up and running and isn't meant for GUI support. Microsoft has also implemented Linux support in their Hyper-V virtualization solution which should be basically as fast as native since it's a type 1 bare-metal hypervisor as opposed to VMware Workstation and VirtualBox which are type 2 hypervisors.
I am bored so I am going to try Mint and see if it works there lol.
ETA: Everything works the way it should on Mint. Guess I always had the right idea sticking with Mint. It's always been the least problematic distro for me. Still can only run in native resolution or 1024x768 though which would be fine if I had a newer GPU but 3440x1440 is a bit much for a 780 Ti and nobody games at 768p lol. Hopefully I'll get a RTX 3000 card soon and it will be a moot point.
Yes, I've used NVIDIA cards for eons--including in the loaner I'm typing this on. (My newest laptop is getting some warranty repair work done right now, and System76 was nice enough to send me an identical loaner, although it's running Pop!_OS and mine runs Kubuntu.) But, yes, NVIDIA works fine for me and has for as long as I can remember.
I'm happy to hear that Mint appears to be working correctly. I hope you're able to get Steam working on it--and at a viable resolution!
Thanks for info on Microsoft and Linux. My *nix buddies and I used to contemplate whether Bill Gates actually uses Linux in private.
@razzy116 wrote:
@coldfusion wrote:
@razzy116 wrote:
@coldfusion wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
I also do some shortwave listening as well radio wise. Looks like somebody above mentioned they were a ham.
Most of my radio stuff is done with a SDR (Software Defined Radio) might interest you. For the FM Broadcast DX(Long Distance) stuff i am using a SDRplay RSPdx and a 4 element Yagi antenna. HF(Shortwave) i use something called a active magnetic loop antenna. Some stuff for you to look up. @coldfusion probably knows what this all is being a ham
Also various tech things like you mentioned so similar stuff here.
I am going to not research that stuff because I don't need another tech hobby to sink money into. 😂 It's bad enough that I'm ready to spend $1400 on a video card that's only like 20% faster than the $700 one because GPUs are never in stock. It does sound interesting though.
SWL can get to be a fairly expensive hobby but all you really need to get started is a PC with an available USB port and one of the RTL2832U-based RTL-SDR dongles (Amazon, eBay) with free software like HDSDR or SDR#. The dongles themselves sell for < $50.
The UI is very similar to what you see with the Flex serie sof amateur radios and some amateur operators use RTL-SDR dongles to help with search-and-pounce type operating. Helps to keep from having to randomly turn the tuning knob to see if a particular band is open or find a frequency where someone is transmitting.
Sounds like a interesting hobby to get into, what do i need to get set up and is it easy to hook up?
2 great places to start:
Do a search on eBay for RTL2832u and sort based on low-to-high price. The weakest link is probably the antenna but it should be good enough to at least pick up strong local stations and there are various jumper/adapter cables available to allow different antenna types to be connected directly to the dongle.
Do i need a radio and is there a special antenna that i should get? Thank you for your help.
I"ve searched on ebay, is higher price better than lower price dongle? Thank you