The world of Linux. I found Linux Mint! First Week

Well with the passing of XP I have been looking at a alternative to Windows 7 and so on for our computers at the school. We have a lot of good old working Dell Machines that just won't cut it on Windows 7 or even 8(if we could get the teachers to go for 8 even). So I looked into Linux. Mainly I started with Lubuntu a trimmed down version of the very popular Ubuntu version of Linux OS. While I am having trouble with getting Networking down I like using it so much I bought a used Laptop and put another type of linux on it for more powerful computers.
I have been using a distribution(a set of programs and software that make up a Linux package) called LinuxMint 17 Cinnamon.  I have been using LinuxMint a little over a week now and as a Computer Tech I would like to do a little review. Over all I really like it. It is very different but yet the same. I have set mine up to look like my favorite interface so far which is Mac OS X. I have a dock at the bottom which works the same way and I am still looking for a menu back to act like Mac. The menu they have work a lot the same way as a start menu which you don't get with Windows 8. All my hardware works with Linux and didn't take much to get working other than my Wifi card which required a extra install that came from Ubuntu side of things. I didn't have to do much to get it working though. I installed on a HP Compaq 6715b by the way. I did have to download my brother printer driver and install it via a debian package but I didn't even need a install disk to find my printer on the local wifi. It picked it up very easily.
As far as every day use most everything works good. I get on facebook watch youtube, and surf the web in most cases faster than my Windows 7 Laptop with better specs. LinuxMint is a little different as it has extras installed for helping with Flash video which is not fully supported by Ubuntu. 
The main problem I have had and it hasn't hurt me to too much is installing software. The Software Manager is great for installing most anything you need such as office programs and what not. I haven't been able to get Open office to work because I don't know how. Installing software other than that on the manager is not easy for New to linux people. There are things called .deb packages that are easy to install, just about any one that worked on a mac or windows computer will be able to do but files with a .tar or .gz must be done with help from the command line or some packages you don't even download the file the traditional way you do it via the apt-get command in the terminal.
That is a big thing in my opinion just for the fact new users and users with little idea of how to even use a command line will steer away from Linux unless installing software becomes easier.
Other than that I really love my little Linux Mint computer. It is fast even on my lower hardware and can work with just about anything. I would really recommend it to any one looking for a linux alternative and if you can have some patience to learn the commands which aren't that hard after you use the a a few times. I hope this helps some one and I hope to be doing some updates on this later on.

Kids Live Safe! WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW! Don't pay for something that's FREE!!!

I don't write like this often and you may never see this on this blog again. I really hope you don't because this it truly sad. I got a ad for this in my e-mail today and after thinking about it I clicked on it to just to see what is going on. I thought it might be a nice website to look this kind of thing up and it might be but I was not about to pay for their service for something that if you just take a little extra time you find out is free public records online!
Kids Live Safe is (or claims to be) a search engine for looking up Registered sex offenders. I got the part where it asked for a credit card and then just wanted to cry about the state of our world. They show you a lot of fancy loading screen about loading pictures, loading arrest records and so on but at the end of they day they are looking up public info that you can find on other sites. They use fear inducing words like "do you know if there is a offender near you" and are your kids safe. Heck the website is kidslivesafe.com !!!! They do advertise other services like background check and what not and maybe those services are good and worth it. The only thing is I have a problem with them using fear to sell a product that is FREE for public consumption. Yes they might have more detailed info and great pictures but at the end of the day all you really need to know is the address. I have that!
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/registry is named poorly but on this site you will find a list of all 50 states links to their databases. The one for Texas my home state can bring up a list and a map view based on zip. In the map view which I used after clicking on a few legal agreements to use this only for public and not private use(like business endeavours) then you can view all this for free. I assume most states have the same set up. I get a pic, know address, weight, height, and some other stats. FREE!! the law requires this to be FREE. Kids live safe might have a easier website and some extra features and thats cool but don't try to scare people into thinking that you are the only way to get this info. That is all sorry but this is my rant I want safe kids as much as the next guy, I work for a SCHOOL. I pray that this never happens to you, or your family so please by all means stay informed. Fell free to repost this, or share with others.