Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[stillusingthepup]

In order to post here, I've had to create a new ID. A problem with trying to change email addresses left me no choice.

Truth is, I've been a Puppy Promoter since 2005 and posting as "puponmanyoldlaptops" since then.
When you try enough Linux distros, you find a favorite. I tried lots of them. And I like some with differing, sometimes frustrating outcomes.

But returning to Puppy reminds me of how much detail and care are just purposely built in to it.

Drivers that work. Easy first-time set up that's a breeze. Firefox upgrading that happens automatically. Sub-200MB size in most offshoots.

So much more.

Is it perfect? No. Is it good? No.

It is freakin' awesome! Truly. Get it. Use it in Live Mode. Love it. Install it. Even THAT is easy as hell.

Anyone NOT having used Puppy 5.2.8 "Lucid" is missing THE Linux to go to for first-time and long-term users.

Gotta take my word for it. I have problems learning things. THIS Linux was not hard to wrap my brain around. It is THE Linux that eliminated my fear of using something other than Windows and the Mac OS.

More glowing praise you cannot heap on a work that's so obviously superior where it counts.

[session]

2008 was the year that I seriously considered ditching Windows 98 on the home PC and start using Linux full-time, because I finally had my winmodem working with Ubuntu 8.10. The problem was, Ubuntu seemed so... foreign. And it was slow, especially the web browser. I began distro-hopping, but even the light distros seemed bottlenecked by the sluggish browsing experience.

The first puppy I tried was the 4.2 series, and immediately I could see it was different. The size was unusually small, desktop was cozy and engaging rather than clinical, winmodem was detected right away, and the speed...

They say distro-hopping is silly and one should just settle down with a beginner-friendly distro, get comfortable using Linux, and move on from there. But really, if the beginner-friendly distro is unusable, are you ever going to stick around? Puppy got me comfortable using Linux because it was usable on so many fronts-- the ease of installation, the speed, the compatibility... it is the distro that CONVINCED me to stick around, and that's true power...

[Ray MK]

Almost exactly my sentiments and experiences exactly.
If it were not for Puppy, linux would not be on all my machines.

Puppy IMHO is easily the best OS on the planet, for all the reasons mentioned and so many more.

[slenkar]

I have a full install of precise and use it everyday
The best feature is being able to boot without a CD, so I can always install newer versions.

It doesnt have those slowdowns like windows where you have to investigate and clear out temp files,spyware and all that stuff

I tried ArchLinux and didnt like it as its easy to totally corrupt things just by trying to install normal stuff like window managers, and you have to follow huge documents to get simple stuff to work

ubuntu and Mint are huge and sluggish, when you want to upgrade, the packages have moved into a new repository so you have to burn a new cd

[stillusingthepup]

you said: "I have a full install of precise and use it everyday
The best feature is being able to boot without a CD, so I can always install newer versions.

It doesnt have those slowdowns like windows where you have to investigate and clear out temp files,spyware and all that stuff

I tried ArchLinux and didnt like it as its easy to totally corrupt things just by trying to install normal stuff like window managers, and you have to follow huge documents to get simple stuff to work

ubuntu and Mint are huge and sluggish, when you want to upgrade, the packages have moved into a new repository so you have to burn a new cd"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I use Linux Mint 14, I also use Ubuntu 13.04 because of Unity and the "side dock", which is so much like the Mac OS. There were, still are, flamewars and hateful protests regarding the switch away from an iconized desktop. Mint does that. No more need be said.

But Puppy, all the recent versions, and all those older versions (4.2.1 and Stardust 4.3) make the ancient laptops I like to rescue run like they NEVER did with Windows - any flavor. No driver search, no multi-hour update bleariness. Puppy Just Works.

[tallboy]

[Eldon]

I started using Puppy years ago around Lucid's introduction or maybe before, when I was having problems and needed a small rescue OS to troubleshoot and so fourth.

At the time, I got a bit frustrated with a few hardware issues, that made it so that I couldn't use it exclusively, such as graphics/networking. But it got the job done(which is more than some other distros could do), and it was good enough, yet easy enough to use, that while I didn't use it day to day, I thought it was an excellent distro worth keeping an eye on.

As time passed, I periodically tried newer versions to see if the issues I had were resolved. Some were, some weren't. But still, I was encouraged by the constant development and improvement which made me decide to keep checking in as I was sure Puppy would eventually be something I was more comfortable with for daily use.

I was right. Once Slacko came around, I was comfortable enough(and had few/no issues) to use it for long periods without feeling the need to boot Windows. NdisWrapper finally worked for me and I had no other hardware issues.

I became so comfortable with it that here in Texas, when it gets really hot(much of the year), and my air conditioner can't keep up, I open up my PC, and disconnect the internal hard drive, and run Slacko from a USB flash drive for months without booting Windows, with rare exception.

This not only keeps it and other components from overheating, but it also keeps the drive from crashing due to heating up to 52 degrees Celsius or more. Not only that, it saves electricity! So in addition to all of it's other charms, Puppy has extended the life of my older hardware with minimal(if any) sacrifice to features/performance.

So now I actually use Slacko for half the year or more. When i don't it's often for specific programs or games that Puppy can't run(/well). Recently I've had to boot windows repeatedly after Slacko started crashing, but only to do a disk check, as Puppy doesn't do the job right on my drive for some reason. It may be due to failure of the flash drive, or my RAM, or some corruption after it crashed that is making it keep crashing. But I plan to re-install after I back up my save etc. and keep using Slacko because it's superlative for what I need it to do.

Other distros are capable of running on such a setup, but none that I've found compare to Puppy Linux. Many would take up my entire 8GB flash drive, and few are as easy and powerful to use. The only thing that might make it more attractive for the "average Joe" is perhaps something like PCManFM, but ROX does just fine. Hands down, Puppy is the linux distro for the "average Joe". Capable, small footprint, easy to use/install, and constantly getting better.

Big, big, thanks to 01micko and Barry K. and all the other developers involved!

[Ted Dog]

LOL, I also open my computer up and remove hard drives to keep hardware cool during TX heat. I use an optical drive like you use a flash drive and lost one due to heat I'm sure of it.
I ripped that cooked blu-ray drive and found that the little controller chip is cooled by a dap of thermal gel and the metal case is pressed into that gel. So my new one was moved down to the lowest bay nearest to the intake screen and the top bay remains open for better air control
When I got my new netbook I made sure the HD was easy to get to and run it without HD or battery. Battery is stored in a air tight large sandwich baggy in the frig.

[wibble]

Sunday I will have been using Precise puppy for a month.

It has crashed a few times, but to be honest I ask a lot of it with only a gig of ram.

Best thing for me is now all the tools just work out of the box, no bashing my head against the desk when I realize I library I want to use is Linux only.

Gradually learning the terminal commands, but its alot of fun. every time i learn one it expands what I can do or makes a previously slow task that much faster.

No more Clicky Clicky, as much as I can I try and make tools or scripts to automate so I can do more important things like look at lolcats ect..

My PC is now very fast, waiting to upgrade the ram so I can get 3-4 gigs to see what kind of a difference it makes. Plus I will be able to emulate zos it will be sweet.

Overall very positive experience.

Sometimes I have been getting the "cannot fork" memory error. I don't know why that is.

wish I could find a way to make the tool bar like osX. I guess that would be the icing on the cake.

That and making the terminal black/green (the color seems to be stuck on green for some text and blue for others on a black background.) anyone know how i can set it to just green on black I would be most grateful.

[L18L]

[8-bit]

For an osX style bar, do a search of the forum for wbar.
It is a configurable bar with icons that can be placed anywhere on the desktop and when you mouse over an icon, it grows in size to show it would start if clicked on.

[wibble]

Thanks very much guys!

[ardvark]

[rmcellig]

Well, I'm back trying Puppy Linux 5.2.8. Like other posts in this great thread, I have been trying other distros. Some of them I like but coming back to Puppy is like opening the door on the first day of Spring and smelling air that is refreshing and promising. Maybe not the greatest analogy but you know what I mean. I'm giving it another go. My Dell 3000 and my old HP laptop are currently booted from CD accessing a save file on the internal HD. So far things are going fine again.

[rufwoof]