Some Linux questions

[Donut417]

So first of all I know for a fact MSI is not going to provide a BIOS update for my board. Im running an I5 3570K by the way. Due to the cost of GPU's and RAM I know my machine will need to last at least another year. I noticed Intel released the Microcode update for Linux. So my question is, does that update only work in Linux, meaning Linux has to be booted, or does it update for all OS's?

 

Secondly I have a 50 GB partion on my SSD, as I intended to install Linux at some time in the future. I need a help picking a distro to try. I have used Ubuntu in the past (XP days) and most recently Ive used Linux Mint. I need a distro that has Good dual monitor support. Would also like Steam support as well, only because I like to play Stardew Valley which has Linux support. I want to make this clear, I hate KDE, ive used it before in the past. I dont like Unity either, but I seen Ubuntu went back to Gnome. What would you all suggest distro wise? 

[TheGlenlivet]

Writing this reply form a Mint 18.3 install, so you have my vote.

I wouldn't worry about the microcode issues with your board, though.  If Linux patches them away then Windows can patch them away too.

[Donut417]

6 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Writing this reply form a Mint 18.3 install, so you have my vote.

I wouldn't worry about the microcode issues with your board, though.  If Linux patches them away then Windows can patch them away too.

Yeah, last I seen MS's patch had to be removed. MS has done a shit Job with Windows 10 patches. To be honest, if the prices for GPU's and RAM dont stablize with in the next year, Im building a new machine and going Linux only. No reason to use Windows unless your gaming. 

[TheGlenlivet]

4 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Yeah, last I seen MS's patch had to be removed. MS has done a shit Job with Windows 10 patches. To be honest, if the prices for GPU's and RAM dont stablize with in the next year, Im building a new machine and going Linux only. No reason to use Windows unless your gaming. 

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4073290

Isn't this it?

[Donut417]

1 minute ago, TheGlenlivet said:

https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4073290

Isn't this it?

No I saw recently MS had to release a new patch to fix a current patch for Spectre. Also, my point is, they fuck up about half the updates. Feature updates are the worst. Because 8/10 I to reinstall Windows as the update fucks something up. Which is another reason Im looking to move to Linux. Because I want an OS, that is stable and half the updates dont fuck shit up. 

 

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3252165/microsoft-windows/microsoft-releases-emergency-windows-update-to-hamstring-earlier-spectre-defense.html info on the new update that fixes the old update or something to that degree. 

[TheGlenlivet]

Just now, Donut417 said:

No I saw recently MS had to release a new patch to fix a current patch for Spectre. Also, my point is, they fuck up about half the updates. Feature updates are the worst. Because 8/10 I to reinstall Windows as the update fucks something up. Which is another reason Im looking to move to Linux. Because I want an OS, that is stable and half the updates dont fuck shit up. 

 

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3252165/microsoft-windows/microsoft-releases-emergency-windows-update-to-hamstring-earlier-spectre-defense.html info on the new update that fixes the old update or something to that degree. 

Then just do Linux. 

[Donut417]

2 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

Then just do Linux. 

The point of the thread is I was looking for some suggestions on Linux distros. And wanted to know if I did the Microcode update in Linux, would it affect my Windows install. As I still game to a degree. 

[TheGlenlivet]

2 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

The point of the thread is I was looking for some suggestions on Linux distros. And wanted to know if I did the Microcode update in Linux, would it affect my Windows install. As I still game to a degree. 

The Linux Kernel Microcode update will not affect your windows install, and vice versa.  If you update your MOBO Bios with a patch for these issues, that would affect both.

Between Wine, VMs and Steam, do you need a seperate windows install?

 

 

[Donut417]

5 minutes ago, TheGlenlivet said:

The Linux Kernel Microcode update will not affect your windows install, and vice versa.  If you update your MOBO Bios with a patch for these issues, that would affect both.

Between Wine, VMs and Steam, do you need a seperate windows install?

 

 

Well I have a valid license, so I should just use it. Plus, running VM's is too cumbersome.  Also, If I decide to play something like Just Cause 3, I dont think it will work well In Linux as performance is lower. Plus this is more of a test. 

[Gastric Penguin]

Just wanted to mention that Linux can patch microcode quite early in the boot process, allowing your whole system (kernel-space and userland) to profit from it.

On Windows that isn't possible as far as I know, so if you load the microcode there, it won't protect the kernel-space. Userland software which is using the new opcodes provided by the microcode should still be secure tho.

[Wild Penquin]

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

So first of all I know for a fact MSI is not going to provide a BIOS update for my board. Im running an I5 3570K by the way. Due to the cost of GPU's and RAM I know my machine will need to last at least another year. I noticed Intel released the Microcode update for Linux. So my question is, does that update only work in Linux, meaning Linux has to be booted, or does it update for all OS's?

Others already replied, but I believe it was not yet stated, that microcode upgrades are not stored in the BIOS or it's settings or nothing like that (meaning: it is volatile!). It needs to be uploaded to the CPU at each bootup. I presume there could be boards where BIOS upload the microcode to the CPU, but IIRC most do not. Perhaps that's because the microcode has nothing to do with the BIOS per se, and extra flashings would be needed whenever microcode is changed. So, it makes more sense that the OS handles microcode.

7 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Secondly I have a 50 GB partion on my SSD, as I intended to install Linux at some time in the future. I need a help picking a distro to try. I have used Ubuntu in the past (XP days) and most recently Ive used Linux Mint. I need a distro that has Good dual monitor support. Would also like Steam support as well, only because I like to play Stardew Valley which has Linux support. I want to make this clear, I hate KDE, ive used it before in the past. I dont like Unity either, but I seen Ubuntu went back to Gnome. What would you all suggest distro wise? 

I believe Ubuntu is still a good choice for the average user, wanting a mainstream DE.

 

Any modern DE should have good dual monitor support. Some of the lightweight ones might not (since they are not that featurefull). Try Gnome/KDE Plasma.

 

I currently use Arch Linux, but if you are not the type who can use command line, use Google and read Arch Wiki pages, it is not for you. My choice of DE is Plasma (=KDE), which you hate :-) Starts fast even on a MacBookPro from mid-2009 (SSD).

 

About KDE: Which version were you using previously? I liked KDE3 best (some even say it's been downhill since KDE2! But I didn't use linux back when it was a thing) but in any case, KDE has wastly changed over the iterations. KDE4 was worst. Plasma was buggy as ... a bugsoup when it was released even on mainstream distors! But it is quite stable and mature these days.

[ProjectBox153]

I despise standard Ubuntu. It's got a lot of what I'd describe as "quirks" that don't make sense. Try Mint 18.3 MATE. It works really nicely. 

[wasab]

personally i am a linux mint fan. 

 

fedora is nice too. I plan to have it as my primary and only desktop OS. Witcher 3 is currently the only thing keeping me from nuking windows 10 on my gaming rig atm. 

[dmaes]

Not a fan of Linux Mint. I broke my install with a simple 'apt-get autoremove'.

As a general rule, I like to keep as much upstream as possible. The more downstream you go, the more change there is that package repositories get mixed up, the more chances for trouble.

Right now, I'm running Fedora on my desktop, and Arch on my Laptop. If you're new to Linux, I would recommend Fedora.

[Donut417]

17 minutes ago, 101dmrs said:

Not a fan of Linux Mint. I broke my install with a simple 'apt-get autoremove'.

As a general rule, I like to keep as much upstream as possible. The more downstream you go, the more change there is that package repositories get mixed up, the more chances for trouble.

Right now, I'm running Fedora on my desktop, and Arch on my Laptop. If you're new to Linux, I would recommend Fedora.

I looked in to Fedora. Not sure about Steam Support. But I heard that Fedora has a beta feel. That they really dont do LTS releases like Ubuntu. Though if thats not the case Id be willing to give it a go. I just want an OS that I dont have to reilnstall every 6 months to a year because an update fucked shit up. Because thats what we currently have with Windows 10. 

[dmaes]

5 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

Not sure about Steam Support.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux#Fedora

 

5 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

But I heard that Fedora has a beta feel. That they really dont do LTS releases like Ubuntu. Though if thats not the case Id be willing to give it a go. I just want an OS that I dont have to reilnstall every 6 months to a year because an update fucked shit up. Because thats what we currently have with Windows 10. 

Fedora doesn't have LTS releases like Ubuntu. I think it is pretty stable tough. (Haven't had any problems with it). To be honest, I have had more problems with outdated packages on Ubuntu LTS installs, than I had problems with 'broken because to new' packages on both my Fedora install and my Arch install together. When you're just doing normal desktop stuff, updates are most of the time very stable, but get outdated pretty fast. I might even say that my fedora install feels more stable than my Ubuntu LTS installs. Because most of times, all packages are at their newest version, whereas in Ubuntu LTS, some packages might need the newest version of a package, but Ubuntu is not updating the dependencies.

[wasab]

3 hours ago, 101dmrs said:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux#Fedora

 

Fedora doesn't have LTS releases like Ubuntu. I think it is pretty stable tough. (Haven't had any problems with it). To be honest, I have had more problems with outdated packages on Ubuntu LTS installs, than I had problems with 'broken because to new' packages on both my Fedora install and my Arch install together. When you're just doing normal desktop stuff, updates are most of the time very stable, but get outdated pretty fast. I might even say that my fedora install feels more stable than my Ubuntu LTS installs. Because most of times, all packages are at their newest version, whereas in Ubuntu LTS, some packages might need the newest version of a package, but Ubuntu is not updating the dependencies.

Mint is mostly a community project based off Ubuntu LTS. Fedora is backed by a billion dollar corporation and develop by its professional developers alongside community members. As a result federa gets updates and upgrades constantly and obsolete versions older than 1 year is usually no longer supported. I don’t see why that is a issue however when upgrading Linux to newer version is so simple and file backup only requires a copy and paste of the home directory.

[Donut417]

8 hours ago, 101dmrs said:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux#Fedora

 

Fedora doesn't have LTS releases like Ubuntu. I think it is pretty stable tough. (Haven't had any problems with it). To be honest, I have had more problems with outdated packages on Ubuntu LTS installs, than I had problems with 'broken because to new' packages on both my Fedora install and my Arch install together. When you're just doing normal desktop stuff, updates are most of the time very stable, but get outdated pretty fast. I might even say that my fedora install feels more stable than my Ubuntu LTS installs. Because most of times, all packages are at their newest version, whereas in Ubuntu LTS, some packages might need the newest version of a package, but Ubuntu is not updating the dependencies.

In that case I think Ill try Fedora. 

[005grn]

Ubuntu MATE

 

[Sauron]

On 1/30/2018 at 3:42 AM, Donut417 said:

MS has done a shit Job with Windows 10 patches.

That's not true actually, the patch recall is Intel's fault. It's their code that was botched and caused problems. Some linux distributions were also affected.

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, Sauron said:

That's not true actually, the patch recall is Intel's fault. It's their code that was botched and caused problems. Some linux distributions were also affected.

Lets see about every feature update that MS has release has fucked one of my systems at home. Not just mine, also friends and family as well. Not to mention the initial upgrade from 7 to 10 was borked from day one. Ive been averaging reinstalls about once to twice a year. 

[Sauron]

12 hours ago, Donut417 said:

Lets see about every feature update that MS has release has fucked one of my systems at home. Not just mine, also friends and family as well. Not to mention the initial upgrade from 7 to 10 was borked from day one. Ive been averaging reinstalls about once to twice a year. 

I'm not saying windows update is good, just that in this particular instance the fault is not microsoft's.