Upgrading to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS - desktop or server?
Hi All, I am very grateful for the assistance which has been given over the years by this list. I am looking for some advice regarding the OS version to use in an upgrade. I have an AMD system with an SSD 1Tb as my system drive, it is where I do my image processing under Darktable, and I have a pair of disks RAID 1, which is Data under BTRFS, and everything has been fantastic. Ed Chan has been significantly helpful with some scripts to automate my back ups and snapshots. I am looking to upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, but should I load the Server version or will the Desktop version suffice? My activities include email, browsing, photo editing, watching the "University of YouTube", various social media. Many thanks Andrew Greig
Hello Andrew, On 12/28/20, Andrew Greig via luv-main <luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
Hi All,
I am very grateful for the assistance which has been given over the years by this list. I am looking for some advice regarding the OS version to use in an upgrade. I have an AMD system with an SSD 1Tb as my system drive, it is where I do my image processing under Darktable, and I have a pair of disks RAID 1, which is Data under BTRFS, and everything has been fantastic. Ed Chan has been significantly helpful with some scripts to automate my back ups and snapshots.
I am looking to upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, but should I load the Server version or will the Desktop version suffice?
There is no real difference to the underlying system, it is the applications and appearance that differs. If you go for the server, you may need to add more to get to the production desktop you want. If you go for the desktop version, you may have to add server packages to fit into your home network. I do agree with going for the LTS version, but I have gone back to Debian at this time, but prepared to look at the Debian derivatives who do not use systemd.
My activities include email, browsing, photo editing, watching the "University of YouTube", various social media.
Definitely "desktop" use scenario, but with significant resources when I consider the photo editing and darktable. I am just gently cursing the lack of slots in my motherboard and only one ethernet port. I need to look to a gateway device that can firewall and more, I need to put a HP LJ4+ (A4 Monochrome postscript laser) on a home network, but not internet exposed. I know you have had some problems at times in the past, consider a NAS and taking other services off your main desktop. I am considering a Pi-Hole at some point.
Many thanks
Andrew Greig
Regards, Mark Trickett
On Monday, 28 December 2020 2:22:22 PM AEDT Andrew Greig via luv-main wrote:
My activities include email, browsing, photo editing, watching the "University of YouTube", various social media.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ServerFaq#What. 27s_the_difference_between_desktop_and_server.3F According to the FAQ the main difference is the server version not having the GUI stuff. You can install the server version and install the GUI stuff from the Internet later, but it's probably going to be easier to install it all right from the start. So use the desktop version. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
From the use-cases you have described, yeah, I would have to concur with Mark & Russell here - go for the desktop version.
You can then install & run whatever server-side applications as you want on this Desktop PC. Want to get your hands dirty by doing most of your stuff in the command line / bash - no worries - you can always bring up the Terminal Emulator ... For an Ubuntu-based installation that I set up for myself, or for my friends, I often turn on the UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) that usually comes with Ubuntu-based Distros. And, I tend to prefer the GUI-version (GUFW) - which you can easily install via sudo apt install gufw. After installing the GUFW, I would then switch its status to On, and set the rules (Incoming=Deny, Outgoing=Allow). I find that even with these default settings, I could still run most of my apps, including several of the popular web conferencing out there - e.g. Google Meet, Zoom, BBB, etc. But of course, if you were to play with some of the server applications that are not using the standard ports like http/https, then you may need to tinker a bit with the GUFW firewall rules, or temporarily disabling the UFW altogether. H.T.H. Regards, Wen On Mon, Dec 28, 2020 at 2:31 PM Russell Coker via luv-main < luv-main@luv.asn.au> wrote:
On Monday, 28 December 2020 2:22:22 PM AEDT Andrew Greig via luv-main wrote:
My activities include email, browsing, photo editing, watching the "University of YouTube", various social media.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ServerFaq#What. 27s_the_difference_between_desktop_and_server.3F
According to the FAQ the main difference is the server version not having the GUI stuff. You can install the server version and install the GUI stuff from the Internet later, but it's probably going to be easier to install it all right from the start. So use the desktop version.
-- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
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On Monday, 28 December 2020 7:34:29 PM AEDT Wen Lin wrote:
From the use-cases you have described, yeah, I would have to concur with Mark & Russell here - go for the desktop version.
You can then install & run whatever server-side applications as you want on this Desktop PC. Want to get your hands dirty by doing most of your stuff in the command line / bash - no worries - you can always bring up the Terminal Emulator ...
No matter what you start with you can then install other stuff. You could probably even start with Debian and "upgrade" to a newer version of Ubuntu, but that's an expert level task that's not recommended. I don't think there's a good reason for separate server and desktop versions of Ubuntu to exist. It's probably as much for competing with RHEL server and desktop versions as anything else. With Debian you have a "net install" image that's about 180M to 350M which is text based by default and can install to either desktop or text-mode (which mostly means server) depending on options chosen. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
On 12/28/20 4:11 AM, Russell Coker via luv-main wrote:
With Debian you have a "net install" image that's about 180M to 350M which is text based by default and can install to either desktop or text-mode (which mostly means server) depending on options chosen.
I very much prefer this approach: install the base system (plus a desktop environment, if desired), then add whatever packages you want. Arch Linux (currently running on my laptop here) is similar.
On 29/12/20 5:19 am, Jason White via luv-main wrote:
On 12/28/20 4:11 AM, Russell Coker via luv-main wrote:
With Debian you have a "net install" image that's about 180M to 350M which is text based by default and can install to either desktop or text-mode (which mostly means server) depending on options chosen.
I very much prefer this approach: install the base system (plus a desktop environment, if desired), then add whatever packages you want.
Arch Linux (currently running on my laptop here) is similar.
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Hi all, Thanks for the advice and encouragement, the upgrade of the system has gone well. Now I will just upgrade Darktable and get to work. Andrew Greig
participants (5)
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Andrew Greig -
Jason White -
Mark Trickett -
Russell Coker -
Wen Lin