loads of linux questions for htpc setup

emu

emu

emu

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30 Jun 2005
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hi
this is my current htpc set up

emachines er1401
logitech k400 wireless keyboard
1tb external usb hardrive
hdmi connected to onkyo surround sound then fed into 42 inch panasonic plasma

its currently running windows 7 x64 and i find it a little bit sluggish

so im willing to try linux out (been reading mint is good)

this is what i would like to do software wise

linux mint with xbmc loaded on top

heres my questions

can i get linux to boot straight into linux without a password?
can i change the fonts so it looks a bit more like 7?
can i remote into the linux machine from my laptop like i do now using the windows remote desktop inbuilt software?
can i access the linux computer from my work, i currently use logmein to do this and it works very well
can i share the 1tb over my network so i can copy files to it easily?
i currently use newsleecher so would need to find a replacement for linux

the linux htpc would mainly be used for downloading and watching movies is it possible to break an install on linux ?

is it right i dont need to install any antivirus as well? i am thinking this will help it run a bit quicker than the windows x64 with only 2gb of ram

one last question i download unetbootin and that takes care of the install from a usb stick?
 
emu said:
can i get linux to boot straight into linux without a password?
Click to expand...

Yes, quite easy. Just set to "automatically login".

emu said:
can i change the fonts so it looks a bit more like 7?
Click to expand...

I imagine so, you just need to install the microsoft ttf fonts pack (theres actually a script that'll do it for you online if i can find it).

emu said:
can i remote into the linux machine from my laptop like i do now using the windows remote desktop inbuilt software?
Click to expand...

You can setup and use VNC; RealVNC works a treat and works just the same as RDP.


emu said:
can i access the linux computer from my work, i currently use logmein to do this and it works very well
Click to expand...

I think LogMeIn infact works on Linux now. If not, "Teamviewer" does and is exactly the same.

emu said:
can i share the 1tb over my network so i can copy files to it easily?
Click to expand...

Yep, you can use SAMBA and you can even set it up via webmin.

emu said:
i currently use newsleecher so would need to find a replacement for linux
Click to expand...

Yep, You can use Hellanzb/Lottanzb. They work much better than newsleecher.

emu said:
the linux htpc would mainly be used for downloading and watching movies is it possible to break an install on linux ?
Click to expand...

Of course you can break it, you can break anything. Generally they are a lot less prone to breaking-for-no-reason, aka Windows.

emu said:
is it right i dont need to install any antivirus as well? i am thinking this will help it run a bit quicker than the windows x64 with only 2gb of ram
Click to expand...

Yeah dont bother with AV.

emu said:
one last question i download unetbootin and that takes care of the install from a usb stick?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that just basically makes the HTPC think your USB is a cd and boot from it onto the installer. Just make sure you HTPC can boot from USB in the first place.
 
had a quick mess with teamviewer this morning and really impressed with that so thats one problem out of the way

my next question is i have downloaded gnome 64 bit version is this ok for 2gb of ram ?
or would kde 32 bit version be better?

thanks for all the replies so far :-)
 
emu said:
had a quick mess with teamviewer this morning and really impressed with that so thats one problem out of the way

my next question is i have downloaded gnome 64 bit version is this ok for 2gb of ram ?
or would kde 32 bit version be better?

thanks for all the replies so far :-)
Click to expand...

Whther you run 32 or 64 bit is irrelevant with 2Gb ram, I'd probably go 64.

Only reason to specify either is if you have 4 or more Gb then you need to use the 64bit version.

Personally I've always prefered gnome (until v3 which I'm still not 100% convinced by...).

E-I
 
Well the 4GB thing is only 4GB per process (IIRC), you can have more than 4GB RAM in a 32-bit system but its a per process limitation (last time i read up on it, over 3 years ago i would admit).

But yeah, go 64-bit, no reason to go 32bit anymore.
 
On the fonts, i have found them to be a bit weird. Sometimes no matter what packages you install nothing changes, sometimes everything changes. What i found that worked was going to the 'Appearance' app (not sure how you'd do it on command line, sorry), choosing the fonts you want (mostly Ubuntu for me) then details, make sure the DPI is right, select subpixel smoothing and full hinting (AA).

Some purists will tell you that AA is just a way of making a bad font look passable, and that a good font doesn't need it, but for me it just looks noticeably better no matter what font i try. Which probably means i'm trying the wrong fonts, but still :p
 
I've given up trying to make fonts look as nice as Windows. I've installed various font packages, I've played around with fonts.conf, there's always at least few websites or programs I use where the fonts just look fugly, fix them and it breaks the fonts somewhere else instead.

It's made considerably more annoying when you need good looking Japanese fonts as well.

I've got it to a point that I'm generally happy with, but it's not as nice as Win 7.
 
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