Is Raspbian as easy to use as mate/mint?

[Yanazake]

Hello there, I just wanted to throw this somewhere.

While I'm not a linux user, Mint has saved some files of mine in the past and didn't seem that bad to use. Now that I'll be getting a pi for myself, I don't want it just for gaming - I want to try and make some art on it, be it gimp or whatever art/image-edition-related program I can run on it.

That said, I'd like to have SOME ease of use with it, like having SOME plug and play support for usb devices or storage, a proper shutdown UI button [my pi won't have a case with buttons to turn it off] or at the very least compatibility with my old wacom.

With that said, and I believe there's no pre-made image with all that, I ask which way should I go. Raspbian and try to install the extensions myself, or directly to Mate? [since it's the closet thing to <int available for the Pi]

[tech-mech]

Raspbian is very easy to use. The RPF has done a great job modifying the LXDE desktop and as it is the official distro it has excellent support.

To add GIMP and or Inkscape you can either use apt from the command line or the graphic package manager included with the desktop.

To do a proper shutdown just select it from the menu and hit enter.

Use etcher to install to the card. If you want to try other systems use extra cards. I use other cards to test software installs or other experiments.

I also use (like right now) the x86 version on a netbook.

Dale

[fruitoftheloom]

Hello there, I just wanted to throw this somewhere.

While I'm not a linux user, Mint has saved some files of mine in the past and didn't seem that bad to use. Now that I'll be getting a pi for myself, I don't want it just for gaming - I want to try and make some art on it, be it gimp or whatever art/image-edition-related program I can run on it.

That said, I'd like to have SOME ease of use with it, like having SOME plug and play support for usb devices or storage, a proper shutdown UI button [my pi won't have a case with buttons to turn it off] or at the very least compatibility with my old wacom.

With that said, and I believe there's no pre-made image with all that, I ask which way should I go. Raspbian and try to install the extensions myself, or directly to Mate? [since it's the closet thing to <int available for the Pi]

I hope you bought the Raspberry Pi 3B+ with the Official Power Supply !


First and foremost Linux Mint and Ubuntu flavours are all based of Debian and in your past experience have been used on x86 CPU Hardware.


The Raspberry Pi uses ARM CPU and is considerably slower then a fully featured Windows 10 PC you have been able to buy the last few years for £150.00 (Tower only).


The supported Raspbian Stretch Operating System is based of Debian ARMHF and will have the majority of software you will find in Mint / Mate. Start with "Raspbian Stretch with desktop and recommended software"

https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/


Therefore look on the Raspberry Pi as a tool for education and learning, but not as a PC replacement and you will be fine..

[jahboater]

While I'm not a linux user, Mint has saved some files of mine in the past and didn't seem that bad to use. Now that I'll be getting a pi for myself, I don't want it just for gaming - I want to try and make some art on it, be it gimp or whatever art/image-edition-related program I can run on it.

I use Mint on my Intel PC and yes, it is excellent

For the Pi try Raspbian first of course.
As noted above it is a great, easy to use, distro with good support.

There are also various other OS's available.
The main point to remember is, they are free, they take a few minutes to download and try, so nothing is lost if you don't like one of them.
But as you are new to Linux, I bet you will enjoy Rasbian the most.

Mint, Ubuntu, and Raspbian are all based on Debian Linux.

Make sure you get the latest Pi3B+ model (with the plus) for the best desktop experience.

[tech-mech]

As noted the x86 version uses the RPF desktop mods to LXDE that the ARM version does.

But as it is the desktop that makes it easy or not to use they are very close to the same so going from one to the other is like switching from one RPi to another. Also as my netbook is old and slow with not much memory it is very close to my Pi 2B speed. Most software is available on both.

The point is that the desktop is easy to use and there is lots of info and help for it. I like the way it looks also. I do add and change the wallpaper so each card is different.

Dale

[hippy]

While Mint is my preferred Linux generally, I don't have any problem using Raspbian and its default Desktop on my Pi's.

Raspbian is the recommended choice and that is what most Pi users will be familiar with and therefore able to help with.

I would suggest giving both a dry run to see which you prefer.

[andrum99]

Raspbian is a good system. There are some gaps in the graphical configuration tools compared to Linux Mint, but that should not be a major issue since there is a good community here (and elsewhere) that you can ask for help. And Google of course! My suggestion would be to try Raspbian first since it is the most supported OS on the Pi.

[RaspbianDK]

I too would recommend Raspbian. Especially since you're a part of this community, where you can get all the help you desire.

[Yanazake]

Thank you all for the answers, I'll try raspbian first. Either way, I really believe the pi can work as a backup hardware in a moment of crisis [seriously, I spent months without a proper pc]

I know I shouldn't expect much of it, but I had already tried using a lot of low-end hardware for my creations, so I probably won't be that disappointed with what I get.

That said, I'm trying to find out about the official power supply. All I know is what it looks like from this page: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ra ... er-supply/
Thought I'd find some more info about it in the official[?] page... Anyway, anything like it's model number would be good for comparison of the one I found. It's not purchased yet, I'm waiting for pay day :p The power supply is registered as "123-5272" and looks basically the same as the official power supply, just in black color when searching for the number online.

[also, yeah, I found the 3b+ for a nice price on a good seller, also on the list for payday ]

[fruitoftheloom]

Thank you all for the answers, I'll try raspbian first. Either way, I really believe the pi can work as a backup hardware in a moment of crisis [seriously, I spent months without a proper pc]

I know I shouldn't expect much of it, but I had already tried using a lot of low-end hardware for my creations, so I probably won't be that disappointed with what I get.

That said, I'm trying to find out about the official power supply. All I know is what it looks like from this page: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/ra ... er-supply/
Thought I'd find some more info about it in the official[?] page... Anyway, anything like it's model number would be good for comparison of the one I found. It's not purchased yet, I'm waiting for pay day :p The power supply is registered as "123-5272" and looks basically the same as the official power supply, just in black color when searching for the number online.

[also, yeah, I found the 3b+ for a nice price on a good seller, also on the list for payday ]

The Official PSU is 5.1V 2.5A Strontonics T5875DV or T5989DV


Price is not as important as buying from an authorized reseller, which are linked of the buying page.


These kits are good value:

https://cpc.farnell.com/ucreate/rpi3-mo ... dp/SC14897

https://cpc.farnell.com/ucreate/rpi3-mo ... dp/SC14896

[wh7qq]

The main reason I use an x86 running Mint Xfce instead of my RPi 3B is memory. I find it restrictive and counterproductive to have my computer slowing to nothing when I open more than one or two tabs open on my browser, or, for example, open a big web page from a vendor like Adafruit with a lot of Java and images. I bought a mother board based on the relatively slow Intel J3455 for the sake of low power consumption but it enjoys 4 Gig of memory (expands to 16 G) and I can open as many tabs as I wish without it locking up. 1:1, it is not much faster than the 3B and is probably even with the 3B+ but the larger memory is the key. I did use the 3B extensively at one point but became frustrated by all the lockups when I ran into that memory wall. It is also nice not to have it sharing bandwidth between the USB and ethernet ports, running my SSD at full speed, having USB 3.0 ports and automatically putting my monitor to sleep in a low power state when I suspend it. Still, as far as ease of use goes, the RPi is perfectly fine. It is mounted on a VESA panel on the back of my monitor and it is easy to switch back and forth.

Power supplies: As you will probably get the 3B+, do not scrimp on the power supply. There are tons of them on the market but many are poorly regulated, especially as you approach the rated power. If you expect to run lots of hats or USB accessories, even the recommended supply may come up short. This is especially true if you ever run a mechanical hard drive from USB There are recommended power supplies that have higher current ratings and cost only a bit more...go for it. Probably, it is not a bad idea to run that spinning disk from a self powered USB expander.

You apparently have even more restricted finances than I do but if you scrimp on the power end, your experience will not be very good. Also, do not scrimp on the uSD card. One or more 32G, =/>class 10 from a major source. My x86 board cost twice what the RPi did and I had to add memory so nearly 3x...already had the power supply, case, SSD, etc.

[morticiaskeeper]

I do the vast majority of my development on a Pi 3 B+ in Raspbian. That's 25 different pi projects, mostly involving gpio connectivity as well as cameras, GPS, relays, temp sensors, WiFi probe sniffing, NFC & SQL.

My main computer running Debian is only used for writing SD cards because its faster, and, in Windows 10, running Sketchup because I can't finds anything better for 3d print design.

Everything is backed up to a server so if it starts struggling, I just write a new image and start again. The biggest performance points involve using a genuine power supply and not having too many windows open, especially in Chrome.

[rbohm]

based on my limited experience, raspbian is easier to use than mint, but primarily because it is a less involved OS. mint is more along the lines of a windows OS, with a lot of stuff built in. raspbian on the other hand is a more basic OS. both can be modified to suit what you want to do though.

for instance i am using my pi as a media center, to that end i added kobi for playing videos. vlc blows imo.
the nice thing about linux based OSs is that if you screw things up badly, and you have to be something of a complete idiot to do that, linux is easy enough to reset or even reinstall if necessary. window can take hours to reinstall.

[Yanazake]

My raspberry finally arrived, and for now all I was able to do with it was install raspbian on a small sd card I have.

Still trying to figure out how to get rid of the black borders, but I shouldn't turn it on anymore for now because none of the power supplies I have are fit for the job.

Can't wait to try my tablet and gimp on it :B

[LTolledo]

Still trying to figure out how to get rid of the black borders,

the black borders can be taken out.

Assuming you booted up Raspbian Stretch with Desktop,
1. Click on the Raspberry Pi icon
2. Scroll down to preferences and click it
3. Select Raspberry Pi Configuration
4. On the Systems tab, disable Overscan

Additional things that you can do with the Raspberry Pi Configuration Window:
5. You may change your Hostname and Password as well (changing from default password is absolute must, unless you like your RPi being hacked).
6. On the Performances tab I suggest setting the GPU memory to 192GB if you want to watch videos with your RPi.
7. On the Interfaces tab, most of us recommend setting the SSH and VNC to enable.

Explore the other settings in the Raspberry Pi Configuration to your liking....

when you are finished with the settings, you will be asked for a reboot. After reboot and you will no longer see the black borders on the screen.

If you're used to Linux Mint Mate, you wont have too much of a problem using Raspbian Stretch.

Accessing and posting on this forum using my old reliable MSI U100 netbook running Linux Mint Mate Tessa.

[Yanazake]

LTolledo, thanks for the infos, I'm not sure about the pi being hacked but guess it's better safe than sorry.

Some more things arrived, and now I can fiddle with it a bit better. One of the things I found out is that it won't send HDMI data to things that aren't screens, or so it seems. I probably need a "force send video through HDMI" configuration - saw that somewhere...

Also noticed that a certain Ian stick I have is heating up like hell and dismounting, and this is more noticeable under retropie than raspbian.

Finally, I can't for the life of me find a way to install gimp on raspbian :c tried sudo methods and there was some sort of install command file I downloaded, but no luck at all. It's really confusing...

[davidcoton]

Finally, I can't for the life of me find a way to install gimp on raspbian :c tried sudo methods and there was some sort of install command file I downloaded, but no luck at all. It's really confusing...

I haven't checked, but try:

Code: Select all

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
sudo apt install gimp

You may be disappointed with the performance of Gimp on the Pi (but again, I haven't tried).

[Yanazake]

Not sure what it was, but SOMETHING. did the trick. Gimp is installed and ready for some testing. Now I just need to install my wacom bamboo... This will be a challenge

[LTolledo]

If you got it to run (the Wacom Bamboo) please share with us how you did it successfully.

Am interested as well, as I got one of those too, but still boxed up. (opened before but now its boxed up for storage)

and I suggest better posting it as a different topic....