Fwd: Which distro are we going to install?

Fri Sep 26 15:11:36 EDT 2025

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: chandler latour <chandlerlatour25 at gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Sep 26, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Subject: Re: Which distro are we going to install?
To: David Spoelstra <davids at mediamachine.com>

Hey,
I apologize for being late to the discussion, I don’t check my email as
often as I should and I got busy with some things.

I’m writing because I also plan on bringing along a laptop to demonstrate
Linux, though I don’t plan on having a big organized presentation. I’m just
gonna have the computer around and loaded up to show off another option to
people who have more questions about Linux.

It’s gonna be an old budget HP laptop from 2015 with an Intel celeron N3050
processor (this is the same old spare one that I currently run Slackware
on; I’ve had my fun with Slackware and I’m ready to nuke it to help out
with this type of thing). My intended target Linux distribution is Lubuntu
Linux. It’s based on Ubuntu, and supports the same package base as Ubuntu,
but loads different default programs, including the LXQT desktop
environment. This is because it’s intended for older and slower computers,
and this laptop is very old and slow indeed. Do you respect and acknowledge
this decision, or should I target stock Ubuntu instead for uniformity?

Also, I’m torn between installing it live or installing it and setting
stuff up prior to the presentation. If I install it live, I can’t show off
as many programs since they might not be set up yet. If I install it
before, I can set up all kinds of programs (Gimp, Blender, Kdenlive, even
some light computer games) to show people what even a spartan computer can
do with a new lease of life. Does anyone recommend one option over the
other? I’m leaning more towards setting it up beforehand.

I appreciate any input!
- Chandler

On Sep 19, 2025, at 13:13, David Spoelstra <davids at mediamachine.com> wrote:

>it just gives you a slider between the minimum and maximum that can be
reclaimed
I believe the current default on Ubuntu is side-by-side = 50%.

>Are you wanting to co-present when I get to the "installing GNU/Linux on a
machine already containing Windows" part of the night?  I'd be happy if you
do!
Up to you. I'll be happy to jump in and add anything missed. I think we
should just play it by ear. However, all my machines already have Ubuntu on
them, so you should show the install. I'm sure Ubuntu will be close to what
you show. I was bringing the machines so people could see Ubuntu on various
machines. If I don't have too much to backup, I can maybe put one machine
back to Windows only, but I'm not guaranteeing it.

>Ack.  The weekend before the meeting, I'll send out e-mails / announce on
Twitter / etc. that attendees should bring a blank 4 GB (or greater) USB
disk.
Yeah, sorry. Ubuntu 25.04 says: "You will need at least an 8 GB USB flash
drive."

Are we going to talk about Chrome Flex? I put that on tons of old
non-technical friend's machines (and my wife's friend's machines) and they
LOVE it. It's actually amazing how much you can now do with a Chrome Flex
machine. My wife uses it after a scare where she got hacked. Now I don't
have to worry. She has run it since 2017 when it was CloudReady and LOVES
it. I have NEVER had her ask me a question on how to use it. Before that, I
served as weekly tech support for her. None of the people that I have
installed Chrome Flex on their machine have asked questions either.
However, I still serve as tech support to my Ubuntu friends. *So, maybe we
might want to talk about Chrome Flex?* I can bring a Chrome Flex machine
too. However, Chrome Flex needs an 8GB flash drive too.

Lastly, can we create a web page with links to some of the info we are
going to talk about so people can find it when they go home?

-David

On Fri, Sep 19, 2025 at 12:11 PM Bernie Hoefer <LUG-Member at themoreiknow.info>
wrote:

> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
>
> On 025-09-18 14:49 UTC-05:00, David Spoelstra wrote:
> ===
> >> Do you know, David, if an Ubuntu install will do the same thing?
> >
> > Yes it does. The installer is super easy. You can pick side-by-side
> > (50% each and it will shrink down Windows), or you can do a custom
> > amount for each and it will shrink down Windows.
> ===
>
> That is awesome to hear.
>
> It sounds a better than what Fedora Linux offers in that when one chooses
> to shrink an existing partition, it just gives you a slider between the
> minimum and maximum that can be reclaimed.  It is up to the user to figure
> out for themselves how much they need.  (Indeed, the minimum reclaimed
> starts at 0 B.  One can choose as little as ~2.3 GB, which I guess is good
> enough for a minimal Fedora installation... but how is a user suppose to
> know that... and how much do they need to reclaim if they want a full
> workstation install?)
>
>
> ===
> > I can bring:
> > 2015 Dell Inspiron 5548 with i5-5200U and 8GB
> > 2014 HP ProBook 440 G2 with i3-4030U and 8GB
> > 2011 Mac Powerbook with i7-4558U and 16GB (my main machine)
> ===
>
> Are you wanting to co-present when I get to the "installing GNU/Linux on a
> machine already containing Windows" part of the night?  I'd be happy if you
> do!
>
>
> ===
> > I agree with Dan about liability. Instead, we should tell people to
> > bring 8GB flash drives and we'll put the distro on the drive for
> > them and they can live boot and install later themselves.
> ===
>
> Ack.  The weekend before the meeting, I'll send out e-mails / announce on
> Twitter / etc. that attendees should bring a blank 4 GB (or greater) USB
> disk.
>
> Thanks again, David!
>
>
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