Monthly Archives: May 2020

Old hardware on Linux

Rummaging thru the shed I found an old Logictech QuickCam from 2005. I had tried it on my Windows10 laptop with no success, so I thought I’d give it a go on Linux. I only follow 2 steps from this tutorial, installing cheese and opening the cam in VLC.

It’s strange but this seams to be the case with some hardware. Microsoft maintains backwards compatibility, but not all hardware or software creators keep things up to date. Generally, Linux has a vast library of old drivers that still work with the modern kernel, and it’s developing a reputation on running on almost anything.

Visual Studio Code

OK. Now I need to add MS’ Visual Studio Code and notes here is what I did… Umm followed a tutorial… Well I’ll explain below

I was going to download the .deb packed from the visual studio project website, however, if I can automate the updating process I will. So I looked around and found these instructions. And I found another tutorial, How to Install Visual Studio Code on Ubuntu 18.04, which was similar to the first. So I followed that.

In summary;

sudo apt update
sudo apt install software-properties-common apt-transport-https wget
wget -q https://packages.microsoft.com/keys/microsoft.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
"deb [arch=amd64] https://packages.microsoft.com/repos/vscode stable main"
sudo apt update
sudo apt install code

So that’s now working…


Moving to Pop OS

These are notes for myself, chronically my learn linux by doing experiences when moving to a Linux Distro, known as Pop OS. So after a bit of research to confirm I could keep using the software I use, I backed up my data and made the switch. The main reasons I choose Pop OS include;

  • Pop OS is a flavour of Ubuntu, which I’ve used before.
  • It has NVidia graphics card support,
  • And why not, really

Research

There were a few changes out of the gate I needed to make to support what I usually use. And most of the list are available on Linux and a simple sudo apt install ... to get working, but there have been a few exceptions.

Programming

  • PyCharm for programming and teaching
  • Visual Studio Code for the same, but for work.
  • Notepad++, because I like it, but it did require WINE

Multimedia

  • Blender for 3D Animation, modelling and design
    • apt install blender
  • Ultimaker’s Cura for 3D printing
    • via the Pop Store
  • Darktable
    • preinstalled
  • Krita
    • apt-get install krita
  • Inkscape
    • preinstalled
  • OBS for screen recording
    • apt install ffmpeg
    • apt install obs-studio
  • DaVinci resolve for video editing

Games

  • Steam, and most of my Steam Library came over 🙂 or at least the important games, well the ones I go back to.
    • Via the Pop Store
  • Artemis, fun bridge simulator (via WINE)
  • Arkenforge, for local virtual tabletop. (also via WINE, but I’m still working out the bugs)

Just in case

  • Virtual Box for handling the few windows app that do not run natively on Linux 🙁 Mainly for Affinity Photo, Designer, & Publisher.
    • apt install virtualbox
    • The Affinity was installed on Windows 10 inside Virtual Box

First Steps & Hiccups

The first thing I did was install KDE (a windows like Desktop Environment) and Terminator (an improved terminal)
apt install terminator
apt install kde-standard

My mouse when buggy (well almost unusable), I found the drivers and with a apt install openrazer-meta the problem was solved.

Most of the software has been very easy to add, but as I found the solutions to the edge cases I’ll update things.