Computer Fixed For Now

GOT THIS OLD JUNKER going better again, thanks to the huge Linux community, there has, so far, always been a distribution of Linux that works on it.   In this case I just updated to Linux Mint 20 from 19 (Mate) and it's running better than it did most of the years I've used it.  One feels so grateful when something is working again, felt like mentioning it.

Also, using Puppy Linux, one meant to be used as a live boot from a USB or CD (it's so small you don't need a DVD).  It's useful for testing to see if it's a hardware issue without getting into the mess and bother of testing on a more complex operating system.  I'll mention again that if you use it from a CD or DVD that isn't re-writable it's useful for doing online banking, ordering and other transactions that might involve the use of a credit card which could be vulnerable to malware on your computer's hard drive.   Puppy Linux has its limitations and it is slightly annoying to have to reboot from a CD every time you use it and type in pass words and reconnect with WiFi (though it will force you to remember your password for that) and reinstall extensions to the browser - which you should also update every time.  But if you get into a routine with that it takes about five minutes - how long do you spend cursing Windows as it's doing updates on its schedule and not yours?  

I've found I can use most of the Windows software, some of it quite old now,  that was important to me under the Wine extension of Linux, which simulates a Windows environment.  I haven't tried doing that with Puppy but it works pretty nicely with Mint.  I'm thinking of installing MX Linux on another of my old junkers, after I have a little experience with it I'll tell you how it works.  So many distros it's a shame I don't have time to use more than a few.  

It's always fun to tell the telephone crooks who say they're calling "about your Mac or Windows computer" that your computer isn't one of those.  If there's one thing you'll never suspect using Linux it is that someone from a company will be calling you about anything because its almost all a volunteer effort.  I'd like to use an even more obscure operating system, one with such a small user base that it's almost a guarantee no one is going to bother writing viruses to attack it.   If I could get them to work with WiFi I might do that for going online.  Maybe I should just go back to plugging it into the wall.  That works, as I told my brother as he was tearing his hair out trying to get his computer to talk to his printer.   If I do I might have more to say on that someday, too.