Need Help to Make the Move to Ubuntu

To make a long story short, very recent developments have forced the purchase of a new desktop, a Lenovo H430. I realize this is not the perfect machine but I am hoping that I can make all this work.

My primary use for my desktop computer is to edit and print digital images, either taken directly with digital cameras or scanned using an Epson V500 for medium format, and a newly acquired Plustek 7600 AIs for 35mm.

I print to an older Epson for 4x6, and older HP Deskjet for 8x10 work prints, and now a new Canon Pixma Pro 100.

I currently use a wireless mouse and keyboard, and my display is a Eizo Coloredge CE240W, which is kept calibrated by an older Datacolor Spyder 3. I have the usual assortment of USB card readers and CD/DVD readers/recorders. Storage is handled presently with two 1 TB 7200 RPM hard drives, which becomes 3 with the unit in the new computer. The new computer will come with 6GB RAM onboard and I will probably upgrade to 10.

Obviously all this equipment has to play nice with each other. I am not computer illiterate but I am certainly a long way from an expert. I sometimes struggle to make this all work under Windows and I know almost nothing about Ubuntu. I am not even sure that Ubuntu can support all this hardware, but I know that if it is going to happen I will need help from the very beginning.

So, I am starting here. Many of you seem fairly savvy with this equipment and I felt that you would be able to tell me up front if I am looking to do something that will not be successful in the end. If it can be done I hope you can help or at least point me in the right direction.

Help...and thanks for all your advice and comments.

Why are you making the move to Ubuntu? Does your new machine not come with Windows? Is the cost of Windows too high?

The storage should work fine. I don't know if the scanners will work with sane or not. Check the sane web site for compatibility. They should work with Vuescan but that is not free.

I don't know about the colorimeter. Check the CUPS web site for printer support.

If you just want to check Ubuntu out, you can boot directly from a CD or a thumb drive.

Thank you for your suggestions, I will check into some of your suggestions.

I am recently retired, so cost has a part in decision to try Ubuntu. Yes, Windows 8 does come with the computer but if I go that direction I am more likely to load Windows 7, which I also own. However, the Windows operating system is only one part of the equation. Continual expense and software updates are imbedded into the Windows model, and the Apple model does not see to be much different. I almost spend more time trying to keep software up to date than I do actually working with my pictures.

Protection is also an issue. It seems that every week I am downloading new updates to various pieces of software because new security threats have erupted, and these updates are all after the fact. I keep up with automatic updates and have a fully paid subscription to Norton but in the last three months I have experienced several major attacks, two of which have crippled my system for at least a day, even though all my virus signatures, etc. are kept fully up to date.

As I get older all of this becomes more and more difficult to deal with. And now that I am retired the cost is no longer offset by an ongoing salary. The computer revolution is rapidly evolving into a digital nightmare in my humble opinion.

I know Ubuntu updates regularly, but the cost factor for this is very low. I also realize that Ubuntu is not necessarily immune to virus attacks, but it certainly occurs far less frequently.

I don't know if this will work or not but for me it is certainly worth it to invest a bit of my time to find out.

I like Ubuntu for servers, and it looks usable for desktop where you are writing and browsing the web. But I would stick to Windows or Mac OS X for image work. The software available is much more complete and you will be able to find lots of people to help you. I've used Windows 8 minimally and so far I despise it. Windows 7 is a far better choice in my not so humble opinion (but Mac is still my preference overall). Also, get more than 6Gb of RAM if you can. 16GB is very cheap for most systems.

Thanks Larry. If I have to stay with Windows I will wipe what comes pre-loaded and stay with Windows 7 as long as I can.

Thanks Pioneer for the additional info. I have used Linux and Ubuntu on the desktop for a very long time. I used Ubuntu at work for programming and systems work. When I built my newest computer about 1 year ago, I looked at Ubuntu hard. I absolutely love Linux and Ubuntu. As I write this and try to remember, the deal breaker for me was no deep-pixel support for my high-end graphics card. I bought a high-end NEC monitor and Nvidia pro graphics card. The video driver available for this card for Ubuntu did not have deep-pixel support. This was perhaps a bit overkill, but I wanted it so I got it. I have not since investigated if an update is available for this. Color management support was also not fully implemented, so that was another reason to not use it.

I already owned Vuescan for scanning. It is cross platform. This will cost you a little money (get the pro version), but it is a one-time purchase and is $80 with lifetime updates. Nice on that IMO.

I had also selected Bibble Pro for my editing and DAM software, which is also cross-platform. IMO, it is a great editor and is TONS faster than Lightroom. I really liked it but it could not handle the larger file sizes from my 6x9 scans. It has now been purchase by Corel, now Aftershot, and does offer larger file size support. But, I really don't like the Corel products and dropped it in favor of Lightroom. I don't like THAT update merry-go-round either. The next time I have to shell out for an update, I will review the Ubuntu offerings again and perhaps make the switch.

I briefly investigated Darktable and I have used the Gimp for photo editing in the past. Darktable seemed to be lacking some features at the time, IIRC. The Gimp did not have >8-bit support per color channel either, or at least it didn't seem to be fully implemented. Perhaps it will in another 10 years.

I don't have an inkjet printer, but I think many are well supported via CUPS. You really need to check into this. An alternative would be to dual-boot for output, although that is a bit of a PITA.

If you have a spare hard drive, I'd replace the hard drive in your new computer, install Ubuntu on that, and experiment. You don't need a huge one to investigate. It might be worth buying a new one just for the test. If you decide to use Windows, you can always use that driver for additional storage. If you are comfortable doing restores and you have the restore disks for your new computer, you can always restore Windows after investigating Ubuntu.

Keep us posted on your progress!

-Rob

I certainly don't have your experience. It is nice to know that Vue Scan is supported in Linux because I can't see evidence where either of my scanners have Linux support looking at the San site.

I did some brief checks on Cups but I need to find the names of my printer drivers before I can go further since the list is by driver, not by printer.

I do have two hard disks (actually three though one is currently my back up) so I can use one to load Linux and see how things work before I fully commit. I am already working with GIMP so that should not be a huge leap.

I don't remember which display card I am using, it is an NVidia card but I'll have to dig out the paperwork to remember the exact model.

Looks like I am off on another adventure.

I've been using Linux since it was in Alpha. The only computer I have running Winblows is the one I use for all my photo editing and printing. Ubuntu and the rest just aren't there yet.

eric rose said:

I've been using Linux since it was in Alpha. The only computer I have running Winblows is the one I use for all my photo editing and printing. Ubuntu and the rest just aren't there yet.

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That is too bad Eric. Ninety percent of my computer use since I retired is image editing and printing. The remainder is almost all internet based. I had really hoped that I would be able to leave Windows behind. I am already using GIMP, LibreOffice and Mozilla Firefox.

Ah well, dual boot will have to suffice for now. Thanks. At least I can start learning how to use Ubuntu as I wait.

Pioneer, others have much more current experience with Ubuntu than me. I looked at it with GIMP, but just didn't want to spend the time to learn a whole new way of doing stuff, although it was a close to what my older version of Photoshop is. If you decide to go with Linux based operating system, you MUST find an active and current forum in which to help you along the way unless you have someone you know who "knows" Linux. Trust me on that......

Keep your Windows 7 or XP, get all your drivers and dll's straight, make sure and make copies of all that stuff for backup, then make complete and total cloned copies of your hard drives every month or so. That way when one of those hard drives dies unexpectedly you won't spend days and days putting everything back together again. You might look at VMWare for Linux. I believe that's what my brother-in-law uses to play with windows on most of his Linux flavored boxes. I know I tried that with one of my Linux boxes and I had (being a noob to Linux) difficulties getting VMWare and Lunix and Windows XP to all do and work the way I wanted them to. Those problems were mine as the brother-in-law has no such Linux/VMWare/Virtual Windows problems.

I am finally getting familiar with Win7 despite all my other puters are XP. I still intend to have something running XP for at least 5 to 7 more years. Good luck..

Bob E.

There is a free linux-only editor called "Fotoxx" that supports 16-bit images internally. It has an unconventional interface but a fair set of features. I think you'll need to install it manually, it's not up to date in the Ubuntu repository.

I have an Epson V600 scanner that I occasionally use in Ubuntu. You'll need to install a driver from Epson. Search for "V500" on <http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/search/01/search/?OSC=LX> and download/install those named "scanner" something.

I use and love both windows linux and dos.
No tool can do it all. I'll work on a jpeg with three diffent ones.
Just have fun.
James in Ga

James in Ga said:

I use and love both windows linux and dos.
No tool can do it all. I'll work on a jpeg with three diffent ones.
Just have fun.
James in Ga

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Thanks James in GA. I am having fun.

I played with Ubuntu for a couple months. For normal business computing I was able to use it with no headaches. But everytime I would start doing photo/graphics work I had nothing but trouble. GIMP works but everything else was a headache.

Long story short, I ended up staying with Win 7 and have just made the move to Win 8. I am not a computer guru and became tired of constantly fiddling. Right now everything plays nice together and allows me to shoot, scan, edit, print and back up.

I still love open source and use it whenever it makes sense for me. I will certainly come back to this idea in two or three years to see if things have progressed enough by that time to make the switch.

Thou shall do well. You are on the right path with all this.
James in Ga

Use Vuescan for scanning and Turboprint2 for inkjet printing on Ubuntu. Works great! I thought GIMP was 16 bit now? Personally, I had to get off the windows bus about the time .net came out and have used Ubuntu ever since. As a software developer by trade I just could no longer support Microsoft.