Slashdot Mirror

https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...

Ubuntu backports the kernels for the next four releases after each LTS. If you're on trusty you can simply install kernel 4.2 by installing the linux-generic-lts-wily package.
http://packages.ubuntu.com/tru...

Once 16.04 has been released the 16.04 kernel will be backported to 14.04, then the cycle repeats and we start getting backported kernels to 16.04 every six months.

The proper command to update is in the LTS Enablement Stack wiki: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel...:

sudo apt-get install --install-recommends linux-generic-lts-wily xserver-xorg-core-lts-wily xserver-xorg-lts-wily xserver-xorg-video-all-lts-wily xserver-xorg-input-all-lts-wily libwayland-egl1-mesa-lts-wily libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-wily libgl1-mesa-glx-lts-wily:i386 libglapi-mesa-lts-wily:i386

I don't think I've ever once said this -- or anything like it. But, it's seemingly reached that point. I guess, if I'm going to say it, I should make it a point to say it differently, perhaps better, than others. So...

If you have to go through all of that just to have your OS behave the way you tell it to behave, if you have to use hardware to stop your computer from doing what you tell it to do, if you have to work to keep things from the OS vendor, then do you *really* trust the OS at all? Do you really feel so compelled to use it?

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubu...

That said, I don't use Windows. If I were using Windows, I'd leave the telemetry data enabled. Yes, I'd let them collect that data - knowingly and willfully. I'd rather they have my data (it's seemingly anonymous and they've a decent history at keeping that data in their own hands and a vested interest in keeping that data for themselves) about my computer usage so that they could understand how I used my computer and what hardware I was using. It'd mean a greater potential for a better computing experience.

So, I'd leave it enabled. However, I can understand that some folks don't want it enabled and I think the OS should obey that choice. Off means off - not partially off. I use Linux but not because I want to keep my computer usage metrics from Microsoft nor because I have a dislike for proprietary software. I use Linux because I like to break stuff and learn new things. Breaking and fixing is how I learn.

But, if you've gotta go through all those hoops then should you trust it at all? At that point, you might as well go with a whitelist approach. Or, really, you might as well find an alternative even if it means some sacrifice. I wasn't learning anything new with Microsoft products so I simply stopped using them. I doubt you'd have the same motives as I. I do know that if I wanted to disable telemetry and had to go through all of that, I'd use a whole other OS instead.

I've been running Lubuntu exclusively at home for a number of years, and I have no complaints. I like the way it works out-of-the-box, browsing, wordprocessing and media player and installing software can't be easier with Synaptic the graphic package manager.

RTFM! ;-) (I've always wanted to say that. I don't think I've ever actually said it - in referencing the actual man pages.
http://www.freedesktop.org/sof...

Fedora's got a good bit of documentation on it that goes beyond just the man pages:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki...

I'm generally a Lubuntu user so:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/system...
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/System...

That last link is really pretty good - it doesn't look like it, judging by the URL, but it's pretty good at giving some info. From the second link, the one to the Fedora site, there's a link on that page that's actually pretty good. It's worth a read and it's explaining why they, the Fedora project, are going (went) with systemd. I'll save you the time and add a direct link to that as well.
http://0pointer.de/blog/projec...

I paid for my copy, it's paper, but this site claims that is Creative Commons and has a link to both the book and the web code examples, it appears to be legit so I'm going to go ahead and link it. It's the 2015 (9th Edition) Linux Bible. I own a copy, as mentioned, in dead tree format and have been happy with it as both a browse/read and reference book. It has some information about systemd in it as well. You can download the copy and code examples, free of charge, at this site:
http://appnee.com/linux-bible-...

A quick look says that it's the same as my paper book so I'm assuming that the content is the same.

Keep in mind, I'm not a systemd aficionado or anything. I've just never had cause to hate it like everyone says I should. So, I did a bunch of reading and I've done a bunch of thinking, some poking and testing, and haven't had a problem with it. I learned a few new commands, they've come in handy, and I'm pretty happy with it - so far.

User phantomfive (here on this site) has been doing a code review of it. I believe he's at section 12 now. That might be worth a read. You can get to his account easily enough by simply changing the URL. This should work: http://slashdot.org/~phantomfi... and you can get to his journal from there. The navigation will be on the left but I suspect you know that.

If you need stuff to "just work please and thank you" then, well, my experience has been that it just works. I, too, am no expert and have been learning more and more as I go - that's exactly why I switched to using Linux exclusively. I simply wasn't learning anything any more. I was stagnant and, well, there wasn't much more to learn about Windows. I'd already done the MVP thing, I'd been awarded the award multiple years in a row in several categories. I gave up my participation, burned out really, and just paid for my own damned MSDN subscription. So, it's been serving that purpose nicely for a while now. I'm getting older, to the point where it's time for me to legitimately worry about maintaining cognitive functions. I'd become lethargic, a passive consumer, and was not happy with that state of affairs. Thus, the switch and the ensuing switch to using it exclusively because I found that, even dual booting, I'd still just boot to Linux and I rebooted so seldom that I was often in the middle of something and needing to return to Windows to finish it. So, Linux it is... I had managed Unix just fine, so off I went... It's been a fun ride.

As an interesting (to me) aside: It's amazing how quickly things become normal. I had the opportunity to sit in front of a Windows 10 system for a brief spell. I was lost for a while. I've also had one occasion to sit in front of a more familiar Windows 7 system and, still, I was lost. I'd actually f

RTFM! ;-) (I've always wanted to say that. I don't think I've ever actually said it - in referencing the actual man pages.
http://www.freedesktop.org/sof...

Fedora's got a good bit of documentation on it that goes beyond just the man pages:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki...

I'm generally a Lubuntu user so:
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/system...
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/System...

That last link is really pretty good - it doesn't look like it, judging by the URL, but it's pretty good at giving some info. From the second link, the one to the Fedora site, there's a link on that page that's actually pretty good. It's worth a read and it's explaining why they, the Fedora project, are going (went) with systemd. I'll save you the time and add a direct link to that as well.
http://0pointer.de/blog/projec...

I paid for my copy, it's paper, but this site claims that is Creative Commons and has a link to both the book and the web code examples, it appears to be legit so I'm going to go ahead and link it. It's the 2015 (9th Edition) Linux Bible. I own a copy, as mentioned, in dead tree format and have been happy with it as both a browse/read and reference book. It has some information about systemd in it as well. You can download the copy and code examples, free of charge, at this site:
http://appnee.com/linux-bible-...

A quick look says that it's the same as my paper book so I'm assuming that the content is the same.

Keep in mind, I'm not a systemd aficionado or anything. I've just never had cause to hate it like everyone says I should. So, I did a bunch of reading and I've done a bunch of thinking, some poking and testing, and haven't had a problem with it. I learned a few new commands, they've come in handy, and I'm pretty happy with it - so far.

User phantomfive (here on this site) has been doing a code review of it. I believe he's at section 12 now. That might be worth a read. You can get to his account easily enough by simply changing the URL. This should work: http://slashdot.org/~phantomfi... and you can get to his journal from there. The navigation will be on the left but I suspect you know that.

If you need stuff to "just work please and thank you" then, well, my experience has been that it just works. I, too, am no expert and have been learning more and more as I go - that's exactly why I switched to using Linux exclusively. I simply wasn't learning anything any more. I was stagnant and, well, there wasn't much more to learn about Windows. I'd already done the MVP thing, I'd been awarded the award multiple years in a row in several categories. I gave up my participation, burned out really, and just paid for my own damned MSDN subscription. So, it's been serving that purpose nicely for a while now. I'm getting older, to the point where it's time for me to legitimately worry about maintaining cognitive functions. I'd become lethargic, a passive consumer, and was not happy with that state of affairs. Thus, the switch and the ensuing switch to using it exclusively because I found that, even dual booting, I'd still just boot to Linux and I rebooted so seldom that I was often in the middle of something and needing to return to Windows to finish it. So, Linux it is... I had managed Unix just fine, so off I went... It's been a fun ride.

As an interesting (to me) aside: It's amazing how quickly things become normal. I had the opportunity to sit in front of a Windows 10 system for a brief spell. I was lost for a while. I've also had one occasion to sit in front of a more familiar Windows 7 system and, still, I was lost. I'd actually f

Actually, it probably *won't* be pushed to the LTS if it did not come with the LTS. However, AFAIK, the mainline kernel PPA isn't maintained any more and they're provided in .DEB format here:

http://kernel.ubuntu.com/~kern...

I guess it's more accurate to say that AFAIK it's not quite the same as the regular PPA functionality. It is, in the URL, still listed as a PPA but I don't think it functions like one any more. I could be mistaken and I'm, by no means, a guru.

I have come across this:
https://github.com/GM-Script-W...

That's supposed to check for an updated kernel after login and automatically. I don't think I'd want that. I'd disable that feature and use it's other feature which allows you to check/upgrade manually. Seriously, unless there's a reason to use it - there's often no real rush to upgrade to the latest and greatest kernel. The LTS will be getting the security updates for the duration of its support lifecycle and, if it works, there's probably no benefit to be had by upgrading for the *average* user. It is, of course, still possible - the easiest method being at the first link. You can edit out the end of the URL and be find the non-daily builds as well, so you can use that to find a specific kernel if you need something more specific than the daily or latest.

Caveat: I am, by no means, to be considered an expert. Verify any and all things I say/suggest by using other sources as needed. Not only am I not responsible if you hose your system, I'm probably not willing to come to your house and fix it. Meh, I might if you're local but chances are REALLY good that you know more about it than I do. While I am, technically, on the Lubuntu maintenance team that's purely by accident and I've done absolutely nothing but read the mailing list - I signed up by accident and someone decided to accept my application - I assume they'll let anyone join. As I have access to a great deal of hardware, I should probably learn a bit and, maybe, offer up a few build boxes/test systems. I just don't feel comfortable offering until I know more and I probably won't know more until I offer and then get taught so it's a bit of a chicken and egg thing.

Ubuntu supported architectures list says that it easily could be IBM servers - the P-series boxes are pretty powerful machines.

Not a dumbass. Everyone had to learn everything they know at some point in their life.

Today is your day for kernel compilation! Yay!
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/BuildYourOwnKernel

OpenJDK is 100% compatible with the Java public APIs. So they are switching to something which is the same ...

You can also download a blocker from Microsoft.

The blocker, called WUBI, isn't available from Microsoft but is provided by a third party. You can download it here.

nah

Output of sudo apt-get moo maybe was the inspiration? See:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/135042...

Unless it's fortune | cowsay or something. See:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/135042...

Given the relevance, often oblique, I'm inclined to believe this is manually done. I've not seen it mentioned on Slashdot's hidden thread.

Output of sudo apt-get moo maybe was the inspiration? See:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/135042...

Unless it's fortune | cowsay or something. See:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/135042...

Given the relevance, often oblique, I'm inclined to believe this is manually done. I've not seen it mentioned on Slashdot's hidden thread.

Not sure I understand the assertion that MAC is used sparingly ... e.g. Ubuntu has AppArmor on by default, with many profiles in enforcing mode out of the box (Ubuntu security docs), Fedora Core has SELinux on by default, with protection for many apps in place (Fedora Core SELinux info).

So? Is paying the price for hardware that does what you want the problem, or is it the idea of inadvertently supporting the argument of someone that you disagree with? It looks like the Lenovo S21e will work with kernel 4.2 (and has some issues with earlier versions, due to the touchpad and wifi). Something like Dell's XPS13 "Developer Edition" comes preloaded with Ubuntu. Although it's a 13" screen, it's got a tiny bezel, so it should be similar in size to a smaller-screened laptop. Of course, it hits on your apparent cost constraints again ;-)

Canonical has 161 laptops certified for Ubuntu 14.04. You could cross-reference that list with a list of 10 and 11.6 inch machines to find one that you'd consider suitable.

That's some nice snark there.

So none them.

Community Help Wiki
Ubuntu Desktop Guide
Community Help & Info

Yep, horrible, nonexistent documentation. The community help wiki is particularly useless, what with the comprehensive guides to just about anything you can imagine. Would you believe it's actually text? I mean - they expect you to actually read! They're so crap that they don't even beam knowledge directly into your brain with zero effort on your behalf. Sheesh.

The whole point of asking questions is because one doesn't know and/or hasn't been able to find the answer elsewhere.

Not always. People are lazy, and will ask a question to which they could easily find the answer by typing the exact same text into a search engine. Hence my "try not to be lazy" comment. Asking questions is fine - it's why the community exists. All I'm saying is that you should always make at least a minimal effort to find an answer yourself before imposing yourself on someone else's time (which they are giving you for free). You will get a better response if you say "I googled for 'X' but didn't find anything useful". Also in many cases you'll find the answer you need by searching, and if you do it's faster and easier for you than posting on a forum and waiting for a response.

Sometimes you find the answer but it's so convoluted you still don't know how to do what is being said (I've seen tons of such documentation).

So you ask questions about the answers. You put a post on the community saying "I found documentation X but I'm stuck at Y. Can somebody help? I don't understand Z". You will get an excellent response to this kind of question.

Considering everyone at some point in their lives has asked a stupid question, telling someone who doesn't know the answer not to ask a stupid question is essentially telling them not to bother asking in the first place.

You seem to have missed a critical word which I included in my sentence: try. I didn't say "don't ask stupid questions", I said "Try not to ask stupid questions". Everyone asks stupid questions, it's inevitable. But you will get a better response from the community if you put some minimal effort towards thinking for yourself and try to avoid asking stupid questions. I know, it's difficult, but if you use the energy which you'd otherwise expend spewing vitriol you'll manage to figure a surprising number of things out by yourself.

I'm outta here.

Good, off you go. Enjoy your horrible unconfigurable spyware. We don't really care what you use that much. Just don't come crying to us when you're butthurt about (insert this week's awful thing forced on users).

This is one of many reasons there will never a Year of Linux on the desktop.

It was 2003. Sorry you missed it.

That's some nice snark there.

So none them.

Community Help Wiki
Ubuntu Desktop Guide
Community Help & Info

Yep, horrible, nonexistent documentation. The community help wiki is particularly useless, what with the comprehensive guides to just about anything you can imagine. Would you believe it's actually text? I mean - they expect you to actually read! They're so crap that they don't even beam knowledge directly into your brain with zero effort on your behalf. Sheesh.

The whole point of asking questions is because one doesn't know and/or hasn't been able to find the answer elsewhere.

Not always. People are lazy, and will ask a question to which they could easily find the answer by typing the exact same text into a search engine. Hence my "try not to be lazy" comment. Asking questions is fine - it's why the community exists. All I'm saying is that you should always make at least a minimal effort to find an answer yourself before imposing yourself on someone else's time (which they are giving you for free). You will get a better response if you say "I googled for 'X' but didn't find anything useful". Also in many cases you'll find the answer you need by searching, and if you do it's faster and easier for you than posting on a forum and waiting for a response.

Sometimes you find the answer but it's so convoluted you still don't know how to do what is being said (I've seen tons of such documentation).

So you ask questions about the answers. You put a post on the community saying "I found documentation X but I'm stuck at Y. Can somebody help? I don't understand Z". You will get an excellent response to this kind of question.

Considering everyone at some point in their lives has asked a stupid question, telling someone who doesn't know the answer not to ask a stupid question is essentially telling them not to bother asking in the first place.

You seem to have missed a critical word which I included in my sentence: try. I didn't say "don't ask stupid questions", I said "Try not to ask stupid questions". Everyone asks stupid questions, it's inevitable. But you will get a better response from the community if you put some minimal effort towards thinking for yourself and try to avoid asking stupid questions. I know, it's difficult, but if you use the energy which you'd otherwise expend spewing vitriol you'll manage to figure a surprising number of things out by yourself.

I'm outta here.

Good, off you go. Enjoy your horrible unconfigurable spyware. We don't really care what you use that much. Just don't come crying to us when you're butthurt about (insert this week's awful thing forced on users).

This is one of many reasons there will never a Year of Linux on the desktop.

It was 2003. Sorry you missed it.

That's some nice snark there.

So none them.

Community Help Wiki
Ubuntu Desktop Guide
Community Help & Info

Yep, horrible, nonexistent documentation. The community help wiki is particularly useless, what with the comprehensive guides to just about anything you can imagine. Would you believe it's actually text? I mean - they expect you to actually read! They're so crap that they don't even beam knowledge directly into your brain with zero effort on your behalf. Sheesh.

The whole point of asking questions is because one doesn't know and/or hasn't been able to find the answer elsewhere.

Not always. People are lazy, and will ask a question to which they could easily find the answer by typing the exact same text into a search engine. Hence my "try not to be lazy" comment. Asking questions is fine - it's why the community exists. All I'm saying is that you should always make at least a minimal effort to find an answer yourself before imposing yourself on someone else's time (which they are giving you for free). You will get a better response if you say "I googled for 'X' but didn't find anything useful". Also in many cases you'll find the answer you need by searching, and if you do it's faster and easier for you than posting on a forum and waiting for a response.

Sometimes you find the answer but it's so convoluted you still don't know how to do what is being said (I've seen tons of such documentation).

So you ask questions about the answers. You put a post on the community saying "I found documentation X but I'm stuck at Y. Can somebody help? I don't understand Z". You will get an excellent response to this kind of question.

Considering everyone at some point in their lives has asked a stupid question, telling someone who doesn't know the answer not to ask a stupid question is essentially telling them not to bother asking in the first place.

You seem to have missed a critical word which I included in my sentence: try. I didn't say "don't ask stupid questions", I said "Try not to ask stupid questions". Everyone asks stupid questions, it's inevitable. But you will get a better response from the community if you put some minimal effort towards thinking for yourself and try to avoid asking stupid questions. I know, it's difficult, but if you use the energy which you'd otherwise expend spewing vitriol you'll manage to figure a surprising number of things out by yourself.

I'm outta here.

Good, off you go. Enjoy your horrible unconfigurable spyware. We don't really care what you use that much. Just don't come crying to us when you're butthurt about (insert this week's awful thing forced on users).

This is one of many reasons there will never a Year of Linux on the desktop.

It was 2003. Sorry you missed it.

Other than Windows 10, what other operating system is compatible with currently sold 10-inch laptops (including detachable laptop-tablets), including WLAN and suspend? The ASUS Transformer Book T100TA, for example, doesn't appear to work well in Debian (source) or Ubuntu (source).

Or did you mean choosing to do without a laptop entirely?

First, if they are moving from 7 to 10 they are learning a new OS

In what world? For the basic user very little at all has changed between 7 and 10. The interface looks a tiny bit different, "All Programs" is now called "All Apps" in the start menu but otherwise there's absolutely nothing about windows 10 that needs "learning".

To the extent that they're moving from Windows 7 to Linux, the learning curve may be less than that from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Things are less screwed up in the user interface, and probably more familiar to a Windows user.

If they're moving to a KDE or xfce distribution, there might be a (very small) learning curve. It might take longer if there's a highly customized xfce configuration (as we have). Similarly for Gnome distributions. Of course, I agree that the learning curve for Unity is quite long, and might require as much as a whole hour. Oh, and you can change the user interface later, if you want.

Yeah, my T430s has been great with Linux and Qubes OS. Its also really tough, IMO. Thinkpads (not the consumer Ideapads) have remained near the very top in the Linux compatibility column.

OTOH, if you want something that is built to be SO compatible with Linux that all the hardware will run using open-source drivers, take a look at the Purism Librem. They have sexy 13" and 15" models.

Last but not least, you should know about Hardware Compatibility Lists (HCLs): All of the Linux ones I know about have become shrunken and worthless *except* for Ubuntu's which can recommend a wide variety of certified-compatible models. If it works with Ubuntu, there is a very high probability it will work with other decent distros.

Avoid Zenbooks.

They have a very slick design and a good battery life, but are well known to mount crappy SSD with a proprietary interface. It seems they not last very long (see comments in the link below), and because of the proprietary interface, a replacement SSD is 2-3 times more expensive than disks with comparable size. Mine died a few weeks ago and I found way more convenient to buy a special adapters to mount a cheaper disk, even if it creates a small bulge at the bottom of the laptop.

I would discourage also the Macbook Pro's because of the fair amount of work that's required to have a reasonable percent of the hardware working fine. In particular, with Linux you would lose one of the main advantages they have that's battery life.

I'm going to buy myself an XPS13 Dev edition, even though I don't think it has the absolute best hardware.

Which manual should I read: the manual for the laptop, which gives only the instructions for Windows, or the manual for the Linux distribution, which says Suspend/Resume: Not yet working 0/10?

For what it's worth, typing "man mdadm" or "man lvm" in a console should provide you with the documentation for those tools, as it will with most command-line utilities. Consider GParted or system-config-lvm if you need pretty GUIs, both of which have help built into them. "man upstart" works as well, although if you want something with pretty formatting and extensive examples, searching Google for "upstart manual" results in this as the first hit: Upstart Intro, Cookbook, and Best Practises

I don't think there really is a "wrong virtual terminal". Use whatever you like. xterm is pretty bare-bones; konsole also works and is more powerful, among others.

Out of curiosity, what distribution are you using? It sounds like you're trying to do some pretty complex system administrative tasks, and, well, I don't think it's unreasonable that those would be difficult to do for somebody who is unfamiliar with Linux and doesn't know where the documentation is.

I will say that generally, modern distributions with a focus on usability make it simple to configure multiple displays... but trying to get a single desktop working across multiple video cards (especially ones that use different drivers!) is either very difficult or impossible. You're better off using a single video card that has multiple outputs.

Everything? No. Just the kernel and X. Also note that if you first upgrade to a non-LTS kernel you're only getting support on that until the next LTS kernel is out, if you want something you can leave untouched for a few years afterwards you'd better stick with the original kernel.

That's right, RHEL/CentOS separates security updates with feature updates. Ubuntu doesn't do this, which really puts it in a class of a hobby/garage server or desktop.

If only that were true it would be a nice payout. Ubuntu provides a dedicated program to install JUST critical security updates which you could have found yourself with 2 seconds of googling or by reading the Ubuntu Sever documentation.

The same as MS Windows. It is just the one people know. That does not make it a good choice for the cloud, just a familiar one.

Uh, I would assume that cloud servers are running Ubuntu Server. You know, the one which isn't a desktop OS.

And I'd bet that most windows cloud servers are running some Windows Server variant, which also is a Server OS.

The same as MS Windows. It is just the one people know. That does not make it a good choice for the cloud, just a familiar one.

Uh, I would assume that cloud servers are running Ubuntu Server. You know, the one which isn't a desktop OS.

I'm sorry, but Ubuntu on mainframes? Ubuntu is the linux distribution FURTHEST from being appropriate for a mainframe - it's heavily targeted towards desktop users...

You don't seem to be aware of Ubuntu Server http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server/

What spyware, please include citations.

Scale out with Ubuntu Server

@Anon: "I'm sorry, but Ubuntu on mainframes? Ubuntu is the linux distribution FURTHEST from being appropriate for a mainframe - it's heavily targeted towards desktop users, particularly those with a lower level of expertise (or a lower desire to put work into their OS) than the average linux user. What's more, it's adware/spyware now, which is definitely something I'd hate to have on a mainframe - the last thing you want is your OS transmitting and receiving data at random!" ref

I can't see any evidence to supprot the claim that it's based on Android. http://www.ubuntu.com/phone/de... suggests you can write apps in Qt, so presumably there's no Dalvik, JVM etc: With the arrival of the Ubuntu SDK, apps can be written to work on all Ubuntu form-factors: it’s the same Ubuntu OS on the desktop and on the phone, so a single native application can work on both. Which means you re-use most of the app when you add support for a new form-factor.

Sorry yourself.

If you really purchase the laptop for Linux usage, it doesn't take long to check the list of supported hardware to make sure everything works. My attitude is that if the vendor doesn't support Linux, they're not gonna get my money. Works way better than buying random crap and then blaming the OS. Thinkpads particulary are fantastic for Linux.

Just follow your link, then click on "FAQ". Search for link named "Agreement".
http://assets.ubuntu.com/sites/ubuntu/1473/u/files/section/legal/Canonical-HA-CLA-ANY-I_v1.2.pdf

Can anybody provide a link (or actual text) to Canonical's Contributor License Agreement? I googled and all I could find was this page which seems to be asking people to sign something they haven't even read.

Ubuntu 14.04's kernel is the 3.13 version, originally, and that is the version in Mint 17 and 17.1.

Ubuntu 14.04.2 has 3.16, while 14.04.0 and 14.04.1 have 3.13 (If you originally installed a version earlier than 14.04.2 and applied the default updates, it's still the same Ubuntu, but the kernel upgrade is an optional update/upgrade. Also there's a different version of Xorg/Mesa in there - which Mint doesn't follow exactly)
The point versions of Ubuntu are addressed there :
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel...

That's nitpicking but if you do have some issue with hardware with either of the kernels (perhaps more likely with a laptop) then it's good to know. Upgrading from Mint 17.0 or 17.1, you get the choice of upgrading the kernel or not.

They were spreading the same crap about Windows 8 machines. I haven't found a machine yet that I can't install Linux onto.

I haven't yet found one that I can. I've asked several people who claim that there is no problem, how do I get into UEFI setup, to turn it off (or add my own keys)?

http://www.top-password.com/bl...

Ubuntu

https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...

Mint

http://community.linuxmint.com...

https://insights.ubuntu.com/20...

but the link to the Meizu website provided there is broken right now: http://www.meizu.com/en/ubuntu...

I do kind of hate how KDE has to break everything and start over for each new QT version.

tl;dr: Then don't upgrade. Or trust your distro to do the right thing. There's no one KDEN any more.

KDE tends to group a rethink of their project to a new Qt version, why not? Software evolves. KDE4 introduced plasma, phonon, solid. There is no single "KDE 5". The KDE Frameworks 5 reorganizes the KDE libraries, and the new Plasma 5 desktop changes the theme and graphics stack. http://blog.jospoortvliet.com/... tries to explain what's going on.

I started with Kubuntu 9.04 which ran KDE 4.2, and by 4.4 it was trouble-free. The recent Kubuntu 14.10 -> 15.04 upgrade switched me from KDE4 to Plasma 5.2, I think Kubuntu is the first major distro to jump to Plasma 5. It was a seamless upgrade, everything just worked despite the seismic changes underneath (systemd, Plasma 5, etc.). Plasma 5.2 in Kubuntu is using various libkf5 packages and libqt5core5a according to http://packages.ubuntu.com/viv... , but I believe not all the KDE apps have switched over from KDE4. It's interesting that in the blog post above Jos Poortvliet writes "I'd recommend moving over your work desktop or laptop for [Plasma] 5.4." In my experience Plasma 5.2 and the KDE apps are in good shape, better than the audio and display problems I had with KDE 4.2. I reported a couple of medium-priority KDE bugs that were fixed already so I added the Kubuntu backports PPA to get Plasma 5.3, and it's better still.

YMMV.

Haven't we learned anything from, oh I don't know, Neo Free Runner? Ubuntu Phone anyone? Apparently, we did not. These are spectacular failures, and RTFA just brought us another one.
First, the price is ridiculous: they say 480 Euro for complete device. I look at my Google Nexus 5 and I'm telling you: even if this piece of crap will be able to run Android apps (which I doubt), it does not justify the pricetag. Especially considering its laughable specs - I mean, c'mon, atrocious 3.5 screen and 0.5Gb storage?!
The problem is worse: there is Linux on it. What are you talking about? Which software I could use on a phone? What, GIMP?! Kate?! Full-blown Firefox? I don't care what OS is inside, frankly - I want a working phone, with fscking software in it. And opensource does not provide it - not one bit. It will be glitchy and buggy mess, as always, and I don't want it. I use Debian on desktop, and it is OK (finally, in 2015) - but on mobile? You've got to be kidding me...
Bottom line: I'm willing to bet on 50 bucks that this piece of crap will not gain even 0.5 marketshare in 5 years from now - if any.

"The rapid deployment of high speed internet access, fiber to the home, cable and other last-mile technologies, even in developing nations, means that the problem of needing offline access to functionality is becoming more and more a moot point."

High speed internet access is a bit of a relative term and you still need offline access to your data if and when the net goes down. According to this South Korea has faster broadband. A bootable USB device is going to be usefull for a long time to come.

I've installed Ubuntu OEM on a few computers old before giving them away.

https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...

I also dislike random placement of windows. Here are some tweaks you may find useful.

You know that you can do that right?
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/VividV...

Pick your flavor - GNOME, KDE, etc. What do you care if it's the "default" - are you too stupid to pick something else?

You do realise you can add your own repositories on e.g. Ubuntu, right?

https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...

Yeah, yeah. The sky is falling.... Except that it isn't. With signed bootloaders like shim, you can install or run any operating system yourself without changing the BIOS to disable Secure Boot at all.

Not being able to run a 3rd party OS was a concern with Windows 8. But the open source community have solved that problem. So being able to disable Secure Boot is no longer required.

If your daughter knows how to install Linux, which nowadays isn't very hard depending on the distro, you can always check their site.

Most major distros provide a list of hardware that should be compatible, to avoid having to mess with drivers and such.

Here are a couple of links :
http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/
http://community.linuxmint.com/hardware
https://wiki.debian.org/InstallingDebianOn

https://help.ubuntu.com/commun...

Seems like I can't verify your signed message. This is your public key I found and used: http://keyserver.ubuntu.com/pk...