This table is both about Linux and if you would like to try it installing it or to run it from a live stick use the manual below.


About your operating system / Choose your linux


To start off a conversation about your operating system we've prepared some questions. Feel free to divert / extend / change / annotate. Feel free to do so on this pad!

Xubuntu---compability--otherwise would use mageia
Ubuntu->didn t know any better at the time of stepping to linux(it sort of works) it has also a nice design like a linux without too much complication?
ubuntu : it's easy to use but there are issues with it (though i'm not really intending to change at the moment, out of habit i guess).
I am on Manjaro which is a french / danish OS if I recall well, it is based on Arch linux. The community is friendly and small.
I am using Debian because it's easy to install and it gives you more options than Ubuntu (I like Gnome 3)
I am using Mint (Linux), after some experimenting with other systems (Debian, archlinux, crunchbang) it's the convenient option - why? Hmm. I stopped using Ubuntu at some point, because of the way they re-thought the repository as a shop, for example and started to pre-manage users into categories. So Mint is equally convenient, but does not come with that assumption. Also, I like the less hysterical approach to updating.
Ubuntu : first easy version to install
xubuntu-->lighter
Debian: it was the first I got and it stuck, I got fed up with OSX making choices for me (updates etc) and wanted more explicit control
Ubuntu: I use Linux since 2000 and Ubuntu was the first easy distribution without too much bugs. I still have Windows installed for last check of Word layout for work purposes
Ubuntu : I am still in a try out process / otherwise I also use Macosx
Ubunut - because i had to buy a new machine and it was the most compatable (i used elementary os previously)
Ubuntu & macosx. I'm poly.
I am (anna) using Ubuntu 14 becquse it's open and usefull for coders and developers.
I'm using windows because some of the software I'm using work only on this os
I'm using Ubuntu because it is easy to use and allows the openness I like of Linux
Ubuntu
ubuntu since april
Windows because I need it to run some softwares - which ones?mostly graphic design/image and video editing and video games
ok, but why linux??????????????????????
virtual machine a bit buggy 
in windows copy-paste is horrible---phenomenology of copy-pasting
laptop  died monday morning, new computer, new install--->new  hardware-->new ubuntu(wanted to test on a live usb in shop before  buying a machine-->looked bad upon, like a terrorist)
Debian. I started with Ubuntu, then moved to Fedora and now I use Debian. To start I needed an easier linux distro but as Ubuntu started to get evil I moved to a freeer distro
Debian, lots of debian (previously Win, Gentoo, Ubuntu, OSX)
OSX x2 victims :(
Linux Mint 14 Nadia  (which means i am 3 versions behind... due to evident laziness)
OSX because I'm lazy to switch, but I could in theory, using less and less adobe stuff. Plus OSX is confortable lazy?
I slip in behind in my shame with osx
OS green pantone
debian because it's stable and free open source 

yes philosophy, ideology and political 
Discussion group 1
- annoying to be dependent on adobe, triyng to get over it 
- Proposition: constitute 'communities of DETOX" - from google, adobe
- The main problem about switching to free software is the issues of ergonomy?
- Teaching photoshop and gimp in the same time (the specular)
- The problem with the 'insall party' philosophy is that it is presented as easy-  Its not!
- the problem of the instinctiveness of corporate software (paradox of the 'super designed')
- 2003 in England: if you were dislectic you were given a MAC OS fro free (cos more intuitive for dislectic people)
- we can also do a DETOX for people having outdated linux versions!
yes, for this one and the previous one (Debian)
no
yezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
for its community, becquse I always need help
Yes, Debian sort of ensures your system is "clean"
yes & yes
yes
actually not sure i ever chose. more just thought it was the only way for non-tech people

I used to, more then I do now. It's become so habitual that I am not sure I notice, or I am aware, or think about it at the moment
not sure if i'd say ownership, but i feel connected to it (and I feel like I can make changes and ask questions)
not all the days, but i feel better when i see the macs new OS
no
not really. how so?
Increasingly, I've configured it very specifically to my tastes and needs. As I learn more about it I feel more confident to reinstall everything and make more explicit choices of what my system should be.
No
No No
No  no no, why not?
First no answer is because I use it but I don,t contribute to it
little script to keep preferences every new install-->porting set up to new machines as well
ownership machine vs ownership system
20 reinstalls..plus editing..graphic as well..
More or less. Although UEFI is making life difficult for dual-boot installing.
Used to, but I feel like Ubuntu is not the same (wtf, app store?)...  Keep meaning to switch to debian/mint or something lighter.
Not at all
Mostly yes, keeping the system free/libre gives an abstract & comfortable sense of control, I like the "personal" aspect of personal computing, making it "mine" is important
A bit, and responsability on the fact some things works and others I still need to figure out
not ownership. But certain dispossession in the good sense.
more or less, 

Yes, though I cannot afford to think about it on a daily basis, I realise now you are asking. Also I forget and need to Relearn all the time.
yes but my knowledge of it is limited, though expanding, and i forget too. discovering layers is actually quite beautiful, understanding them is another issue.
the more I understand how it works, the more I loose a sense of ownership.
It is important, and the level of knowledge must evolve to understand more and more
It is a little bit like artisanat and printmaking. you begin with simple tasks, and then you discover its based on more complex dependencies. then you decide to enhance your comprehension and begin doing everything yourself - there's a doomed level youll start printing your own electronic cards -- afterwards it learned me that collaboration is more efficient -- technology is based on society
Yes, but without trying to know everything or you do not get any work done outside playing with Linux
I would love to know much more, but I feel really easly bloked by the technical knowledge
Yes it is, I am in a learning progress of how thing I use work 
Yes, defintely important, but it feels like wanting to understand all jazz music that has ever been made, where it comes from etc
Important to know how it works to a level where you can see other logics and possibilities. Maybe that's an infinite tunnel (rabbit hole), but at least have control of machine to use it as a tool for creating, instead of just consuming.
Yes, but recently versions are hidding how things work so it becomes more and more difficult
I always forget to learn it because  i'm lost in the tasks i do wth it, it remains a dark pit 
yes at least knowing that I can if I want !!!

To a point, you can lose your soul if you dive in too deep (custom kernels is already too deep)
Sometimes I just want to solve something -- make a library work, install something, make the audio work, add a screen resolution... -- but I don't always have the time to learn deeply how it works. I keep notes and recipes for the things I need to solve

the computer came empty, so i had to fill it with something - it seemed to be good for start . however, i like ugly interfaces  -- i choosed the computer for its resistance -- and added physical decorations
Obviously for it's looks. Ehm. Er. Also, convenience, because many colleagues/friends/fellow travellers have the same machine.
I jumped the thinkpad bandwagon because the laptops are good and cheap and have a reputation for making running linux easier. I like its ugly. The OS itself though I tweak to look nicer.
I chose Thinkpad in the first place (with Windows) in 2006 for its transportability and battery life; then I installed ubuntu on it and the battery life decreased, but I like that it looks and feels as 'a tank'
My wish to have a machine under Linux came from last Relearn, and the feeling of frustration from using a virtual box.
in a way yes! i have used elementary os because of the looks.
what does the "looks" of a machine/system mean ? interface ? the shape of the computer ? choosing a machine is a pain (trying to figure out which parameters is unpleasant for me)
machine not, dual-boot installation I did myself
I would like to, but the choice is poor
Yes; for it's weight and cqpqbilities: processor; grqphics card,...
Looks? All terminals are sexy : ) indeed ;-)
capabilities
Totally, thinkpads are really handsome, and oldskool terminals look more familiar, comfortable and trustworthy than fancy Mac/Win/Google design guidelines du jour


Yes, obviously!
Yes, my most recent re-installation was to explicitly choose and tweak an interface.
It's quite tedious
i just change the gnome settings to a window manager with less "effects" (argh), i think it's called "gnome classic no effects or something like that (a totally ridiculous name)
Yes, I do not like the trend towards smartphone/tablet environments but prefer the 'old' desktop look.
yes, always. for exampl, typically, ubuntu doesnt have things like 'open in terminal' activated by default, so i change things like this. but also i spend toooooo much time fiddling with graphical things like highlight colours, or font sizes
what a fancy thing
canonical designers design in mac os, only test in linux (can't live without adobe)
unity it s wrong--> the fluid interface (big icons)--> keep pace with apple-->"women friendly interface"/always set back to classic when installing ubuntu
removed animations from window manager, made sure terminal has colors.
Yes, as much as I can.
removed some of the graphics :)
yes, XFCE is nice but kind of dry. I customised it a bit for window splitting and stuff
yes, changed to gnome3 (not anymore)
No; I didn't
Yeah, with a minimal window manager (Awesome) with mostly the default settings, which look good enough
Yes. I tried different window managers trying to find one I like. I'm currently using awesome (and enjoying it so far).

Installing a live-stick


There are a few live-sticks lying around containing an Debian 8 image. Use one of these, or create your own!

Download a disk image from the local network / the internet


An 64bit Debian image can be found on the local network
../software/
../software/debian-live-8.1.0-amd64-gnome-desktop.iso

Or on the white USB stick. It's labeled 'debian image 64bit/32bit'

Alternatively you can download an image from the internet:
Debian: https://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/
Mint: http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=190
Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Create the Live Stick


Loosely based on debian's FAQ ( https://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#write-usb )

It's the easiest to create these livesticks using linux.

Copy the image you downloaded on the stick using the following command:

dd if=<file> of=<device> bs=4M
where:



The copying might take quite a while. If the command is finished unmount your stick and boot from it :)

How to boot from the Live Stick

> shut down your machine
> insert the usb stick with a live-image on it 
> start your machine, and hold alt (on mac) (thinkvantage on linux)
> pick 'Windows' --- (why is it called 'windows'?)
> pick 'live (amd64)'
> your live-image is running! your username is user and your password is live

> install the wifi firmware (on mac)