Extra pc on windows 7 network - should I use Linux on it?

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padjakkels

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Hey,

We are getting an extra pc on the Win7 network here at work. Thinking about installing Linux on it. The programs that will be used on this pc will be: libre office, acrobat reader, thunderbird and firefox -> all of this is available on Linux also... Thinking of installing linux mint 17, then we don't have to buy win7...

Will it be easy to connect this linux to the win7 network?

All the files is saved on the 'server' which is actually just a win7 pc with a shared drive across the network. I've never done the setup of linux to win network. No usernames or passwords is used on the network.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Sarel
 
It'll work fine. Samba is native on all unix systems. Linux these days is plug and play.

Worst case: you install windows later
 
Ye, linux is piss easy to setup these days. You'd want to move to it after using for a while and then not have to ever buy a windows license ever again :)
 
Yes this would work nicely via samba. It's actually a good idea to one day have a linux box host the files as you wont have to worry about patches which kill your machine etc linux is just more stable you setup the box and it just works. Your users can continue using winblows (:D) to access the linux server
 
Don't listen to them. They are talking rubbish.

The truth is that the Linux utopia is painful. The learning curve is steep. Be prepared to put the hours in. It's the stupid little things that always end up being frustrating. If you have any friends that are familiar with Linux based OSs, they will tell you how easy it is until you hit a snag and ask them to help.

If you are only planning it for 1 PC, then it won't be worth the effort. If it's part of a larger scheme to move off Windows, then maybe it's worthwhile.

I ran a few Linux PCs over the years, but it just took up too much of my time and I really didn't get anything out of it. I still have a Linux based NAS which is a source of constant frustration and will soon be converted into Windows Storage Spaces. A friend of mine is a big Linux enthusiast so we like to have a laugh when something trivial that would take 5 minutes in Windows takes him a week to figure out in Linux...
 
Thanks for all the advice. Many years ago we had a server running RedHat, and there was no one to support it here on the platteland, and if something went wrong, no one could help us. That was the reason we moved to windows.

Unfortunately we use proprietor software which only runs on Windows, so some of the computers must have Windows. The last time I played with Wine on Linux, it really was not stable and extremely slow. Downside is the users don't know Linux...Windows is a lot easier for a non-tech person.
 
me_ said:
Don't listen to them. They are talking rubbish.

The truth is that the Linux utopia is painful. The learning curve is steep. Be prepared to put the hours in. It's the stupid little things that always end up being frustrating. If you have any friends that are familiar with Linux based OSs, they will tell you how easy it is until you hit a snag and ask them to help.

If you are only planning it for 1 PC, then it won't be worth the effort. If it's part of a larger scheme to move off Windows, then maybe it's worthwhile.

I ran a few Linux PCs over the years, but it just took up too much of my time and I really didn't get anything out of it. I still have a Linux based NAS which is a source of constant frustration and will soon be converted into Windows Storage Spaces. A friend of mine is a big Linux enthusiast so we like to have a laugh when something trivial that would take 5 minutes in Windows takes him a week to figure out in Linux...
Click to expand...

^^^ All of this. Considering all the time you end up wasting on linux it's cheaper to just pay for the damn windows license!
 
You windows guys do realize that you could have paid for support for your linux systems, right?

As far as sorting out the server goes, some guy could have remotely SSHed into it and fixed everything up for you. If the problem was the network/wiring/hardware, then that is not something you can blame on linux.

Just because the software is free, does not mean you should force yourself to learn things that you don't think add any benefit to you. Pay some guy $15 an hour for 2-3 hours a month and he'll make sure everything works fine.

The bigger picture behind FOSS is when things break, these broken things are visible and can be patched quickly.

When your proprietary software exposes a port and lets hackers access your customer data for 3-6 months, that is when you should worry more.

PS. I have no gripe with paying for software, but when you can't see the code/patch it, you're playing roulette (if the system is hooked up to the internet).
 
me_ said:
Don't listen to them. They are talking rubbish.

The truth is that the Windows utopia is painful. The learning curve is steep. Be prepared to put the hours in. It's the stupid little things that always end up being frustrating. If you have any friends that are familiar with Windows based OSs, they will tell you how easy it is until you hit a snag and ask them to help.

If you are only planning it for 1 PC, then it won't be worth the effort. If it's part of a larger scheme to move off Linux, then maybe it's worthwhile.

I ran a few Windows PCs over the years, but it just took up too much of my time and I really didn't get anything out of it. I still have a Windows based desktop which is a source of constant frustration and will soon be converted into a CentOS desktop. A friend of mine is a big Windows enthusiast so we like to have a laugh when something trivial that would take 5 minutes in Linux takes him a week to figure out in Windows ...
Click to expand...

[Fixed that for ya]
 
Swessels, I think your question should be 'should I try something new?'. Why not give it a try. It's simple to setup a network share.

If it doesn't work out and you hate it, change it back to Windows. If might be fun and you could learn something new :)
 
lol, yeah. I've actually ordered the desktop without Windows, gonna try installing Linux Mint 17 (already downloaded it) when it gets here. Hopefully I get it right the first time. :)

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. :-)
 
Mint's nice. My 2 cents: Use it as is for a while first before you start tweaking it. I lost count of the number of times I tweaked something, then mint went titsup and I couldn't sort it out short of re-installing.

Now I just get my screen resolutions and config right, make sure everything on the network can be found, read and written to, and leave it at that.

Out of the box, mint really only needs the wallpaper changed :D
 
me_ said:
Don't listen to them. They are talking rubbish.

The truth is that the Linux utopia is painful. The learning curve is steep. Be prepared to put the hours in. It's the stupid little things that always end up being frustrating. If you have any friends that are familiar with Linux based OSs, they will tell you how easy it is until you hit a snag and ask them to help.

If you are only planning it for 1 PC, then it won't be worth the effort. If it's part of a larger scheme to move off Windows, then maybe it's worthwhile.

I ran a few Linux PCs over the years, but it just took up too much of my time and I really didn't get anything out of it. I still have a Linux based NAS which is a source of constant frustration and will soon be converted into Windows Storage Spaces. A friend of mine is a big Linux enthusiast so we like to have a laugh when something trivial that would take 5 minutes in Windows takes him a week to figure out in Linux...
Click to expand...

You're doing something wrong.

My mother uses Linux on her laptop and that thing is solid as a rock. The nice thing is that she never used Windows before so she hadn't been "indoctrinated" :D
 
Well, we received the extra PC and I'm busy installing Mint...will see how easy it is to connect to the shared folder over the network. Will keep you guys updated. :-)
 
Now, if the Linux boffins can help me, will I really be glad.

I'm struggling to access the shared folder on the Win7 pc on the network. I've googled and most of the articles in the results doesn't work. Can someone please direct me perhaps to an article on internet that will explain it? What is the easiest way?

I do see the Windows Network in Linux, but if I click on that it time out, and displays nothing. We do not use usernames or passwords on any Win7 pc's on the network. We use dynamic IP addressed also. I've already changed the WORKGROUP to the correct name as on the windows pc's, that was easy.
 
swessels said:
Now, if the Linux boffins can help me, will I really be glad.

I'm struggling to access the shared folder on the Win7 pc on the network. I've googled and most of the articles in the results doesn't work. Can someone please direct me perhaps to an article on internet that will explain it? What is the easiest way?

I do see the Windows Network in Linux, but if I click on that it time out, and displays nothing. We do not use usernames or passwords on any Win7 pc's on the network. We use dynamic IP addressed also. I've already changed the WORKGROUP to the correct name as on the windows pc's, that was easy.
Click to expand...

And this is why it is valid to warn people who are new to Linux that they might struggle with it. It's not fanboi-ism, it's reality.

Sarel, try this: http://superuser.com/questions/601760/access-a-remote-windows-shared-folder-from-linux-mint

The gist of it is to install the necessary package via the terminal as follows:
Code: 
sudo apt-get install cifs-utils
 
swessels said:
Now, if the Linux boffins can help me, will I really be glad.

I'm struggling to access the shared folder on the Win7 pc on the network. I've googled and most of the articles in the results doesn't work. Can someone please direct me perhaps to an article on internet that will explain it? What is the easiest way?

I do see the Windows Network in Linux, but if I click on that it time out, and displays nothing. We do not use usernames or passwords on any Win7 pc's on the network. We use dynamic IP addressed also. I've already changed the WORKGROUP to the correct name as on the windows pc's, that was easy.
Click to expand...

Have you install samba on the Mint machine?

Code: 
sudo apt-get install samba
 
Dunno about Mint, but in Ubuntu just click on the Home Folder icon to open Nautilus.
Then choose Go / Location... from the menu (or Ctrl-L shortcut key), type in:
Code: 
smb://<name of windows PC>/
...and press Enter.

If that doesn't help try the following from a terminal and post the output here:
Code: 
smbclient -L <name of Windows PC> -U <username>
 
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