The post title sounds a bit like a quirky industrial SF movie, but no, it’s only about my desktop geekiness. I’ve recovered an old Clevo PC Specialist laptop, once my mainstay, with a borked screen and a severely ailing battery. I had considered getting the screen fixed, and that would have been more affordable than the Acer customer service end of my lovely 713 Spin Chromebook, but in the end decided not to do it. Instead, I started to research putting a Linux distro on my old faithful and turn it into a makeshift desktop for some technical geek fun times.
I go right back with Linux, messing about with Red Hat Linux 5 in the late 90s, at a time when Internet Explorer was as dominant as anything and Microsoft held the monopoly, or so it seemed. At that time, it was a struggle just to get Linux to dislay anything on my monitor, and only after a lot of config coding did I get anything up and running. Since then, I have been back to Linux, every now and again, to see where the desktop has got to. With thought to my first foray, it seemed kind of just right to be returning with the Fedora distribution, a downstream version of the commercial Red Hat. This bucks my trend of Debian based distros, and most notably the very popular Ubuntu.
Looking afresh at what was out there, I noted Fedora’s push for the new technologies, such as Wayland, LFS or Pipewire. So it is pushing and front running, cutting edge whilst stable, and continuously refreshed. I wanted a completely vanilla Gnome 3 desktop at its core, and sure I have tweaked somewhat, but under my control. YouTube is always your friend, guiding me on the tweaks and tips to get Fedora more aligned to my needs. There is something of an excitement factor to using Fedora, which may in part be the return, but I sense it also relates to the experience on the desktop and the way that Fedora updates. I have started using DNF, which with a config change or three looks to be a powerful update tool in the terminal.
There is a zealous fervor to Linux distro allegiance, so I will qualify the above with a note that there are rich and tailored distros for everyone, in many hues, GUIs and package update systems. You just need to find the one that is right for you. I think I may have found mine.
The impetus for all this was my son’s Steam Deck storage upgrade. Cam had finished the hardware upgrade, a relative breeze given the consoles modability and good design. I was tasked with downloading a new Steam OS ISO and producing a bootable USB for loading. Dipping the toe back in, it all feels much easier than the last time I did it. I used the Rufus app on my windows laptop and after a few clicks the USB was good for loading. With that underway, I contemplated getting a Linux distro primed. A quick test of Bhodi Linux, just so that I could play with E17 Enlightenment out of the box, had me all prepped for a clean install of Fedora on the ole mainstay.
 Gnome Fedora with some apps loaded (including Role) |
Blimey! Discord, Spotify, OBS, Chrome, and Audacity were all quickly loaded and ready to use. I was feeing quickly at home in a much more desirable dwelling. Task, app and workspace switching were all silky and fluid. I sensed that my laptop was really gratefu for some more use and using such good software. Thewebcam plugged in and worked. WiFi connected, though I’ve gone wired for now. Bluetooth not recognised, so have got a cheap dongle heading my way by celestial dragon. So enamoured by the project, I have invested in a cheap DDR3 8GB Ram module to double the memory I have onboard.
I no longer have the Feanor fire towards Morgsoft that perviously burned my desire for freedom from the Gate’s hegemony. For many a year I have been using Windows extensively as a base for productivity applications that are so feature rich and easy to use. Virtual Machines allowing, if I could have Affinity suite on Linux, then I’d be pretty close to kissing Windows a fond farewell. The pragmatist in me recognises the affordable utility of Windows and the applications I use for layout. I’ll look afresh at Gimp, but think that using Scribus may set me back in getting a book completed. We’ll see.
I’m now considering a refurbished Lenovo X1 Carbon, or some such, so that I can carry my Fedora about with me!
At some point I’ll have to switch back to my Windows tower, but not for now. Ahh, the simple pleasures…