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New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by tom osselton on February 16, 2026, 07:18:45 PM »Gremlins from the Kremlin 1944
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New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by tom osselton on February 16, 2026, 07:17:30 PM »Remember this?
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Software Tools / Re: Experiences, thoughts and rants about using Linux as a newbie after Windows
« Last post by vtsteam on February 16, 2026, 06:54:42 PM »Sorry Sorveltaja, I cross posted the above without seeing yours first -- I was just continuing talking about Linux based operating systems -- not ignoring your questions.
I really don't know why Brave is not working properly in Mint OS. The only place that can help is probably a Mint OS forum, where people can test out using their similar OS and Brave. The variables are 1.) your hardware with MintOS 2,) Mint OS with Brave or 3.) a bug in Brave. Usually takes others to help figure that kind of thing out.
EDIT: I originally mistakenly wrote PopOS above instead of MintOS -- now corrected.
Also, wow, that's a LOT of timers. But not totally surprising. Mint is (or was) based on Ubuntu, and promoted as an even more user-friendly OS. So my old and possibly wrong impression of it is, that it might be even "bigger" then Ubuntu, in terms of stuff running and user stuff added on. But I'm really not familiar with it enough to really say.
I really don't know why Brave is not working properly in Mint OS. The only place that can help is probably a Mint OS forum, where people can test out using their similar OS and Brave. The variables are 1.) your hardware with MintOS 2,) Mint OS with Brave or 3.) a bug in Brave. Usually takes others to help figure that kind of thing out.
EDIT: I originally mistakenly wrote PopOS above instead of MintOS -- now corrected.
Also, wow, that's a LOT of timers. But not totally surprising. Mint is (or was) based on Ubuntu, and promoted as an even more user-friendly OS. So my old and possibly wrong impression of it is, that it might be even "bigger" then Ubuntu, in terms of stuff running and user stuff added on. But I'm really not familiar with it enough to really say.
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Software Tools / Re: Experiences, thoughts and rants about using Linux as a newbie after Windows
« Last post by vtsteam on February 16, 2026, 06:43:35 PM »So the strengths of operating systems based around a Linux core are that basically anyone who wants to can come out with their "Linux" and the same for their applications. But it also has a negative effect of creating a Babel of "Linuxs" and it is difficult to know which one will suit a person best -- especially without trying a bunch of them. But to do that, they may be different enough that each requires relearning .
The other problem is that many of these operating systems want to be installed onto hard drive in order to experience them at their full speed and capabilities. While some have so called "liveCDs" or live versions which are run-able without installation, they don't give an adequate impression of the installed version.
One alternative to full installation is to try to run a particular Linux OS in a virtual machine on another system -- a Windows version, for instance. But this often leads to other problems in speed, and usability, particularly if access to ports or other protected primary OS facilities are required. Also it's often tedious to set up and/or run a VM, and they can take up a LOT of space on HD.
A third possibility are some of the very few OSs that can be dual booted beside an existing Windows installation, and are compact enough not to seriously diminish HD space. Puppy Linux (which also comes in a variety of named OS's -- adding even more confusion) is designed to take up minimal space for the entire OS, plus applications (generally a gigabyte or less, total).
Other than the bare OS, all storage for additional applications and data can fit into a single folder within the Windows partition. Puppy linuxs typically are small enough to be loaded entirely into RAM at boot time, including applications. This allows the OS to run extremely fast, since there are greatly reduced disk accesses.
The fourth possibility is an offshoot of Puppy linux called EasyOS -- which is what I use. This OS is also extremely compact, and can be installed like Puppy Linux, beside an existing Windows installation. But the alternative that it is actually designed to work very well with is to run entirely off of a thumbdrive, without even needing the system's HD.
This makes it portable between computers. Everything is on the thumbdrive (unless you choose to store something on the HD). In effect the thumbdrive is the computer, and the actual computer is just transparent hardware that runs it.
Naturally, the faster higher quality thumbdrive will run this OS faster, but remember that the OS is generally loaded entirely into RAM during a session, so it runs at RAM speeds. The only noticeable reduction in its speed for a slower thumbdrive is while booting, or saving back to the drive at the end of the session, or as commanded during the session.
Now, yes it IS possible to install this OS on an HD, and that's what I have because that's all I use, and I want absolute top speed booting or leaving. And it is truly fast in every aspect on this recent laptop of mine.
Okay so enough about that. Back to Linux based OSs in general.
Applications. Most Linux applications were until a few years ago compiled by the developers of each separate OS to suit their OS (and their taste). Thus applications for one variety of Linux OS probably wouldn't work in a different variety. However things began to consolidate back then when Ubuntu, which had for a long time compiled it's own programs and maintained repositories of custom compiled apps, switched over to using Debian applications and package management. This saved a huge amount of similar but separate effort.
Likewise some of the OSs I'm familiar with in the Puppy Linux family switched over from using first only homebrewed programs to later some Slackware compatibility, and then Ubuntu, and finally Debian apps. But there are still many Puppy-relates OSs that use other OS's repositories and apps. EasyOS presently uses Devuan apps -- Devuan is a fork of Debian.
Anyway, again, Linux is a huge subject if talking about desktop operating systems, and it is almost impossible to quantify. But it is possible to talk about as a history, and that provides some explanation of what it means. It's very different than Windows or MacOS or Android because each of those is a single entity main tained by a single company
The other problem is that many of these operating systems want to be installed onto hard drive in order to experience them at their full speed and capabilities. While some have so called "liveCDs" or live versions which are run-able without installation, they don't give an adequate impression of the installed version.
One alternative to full installation is to try to run a particular Linux OS in a virtual machine on another system -- a Windows version, for instance. But this often leads to other problems in speed, and usability, particularly if access to ports or other protected primary OS facilities are required. Also it's often tedious to set up and/or run a VM, and they can take up a LOT of space on HD.
A third possibility are some of the very few OSs that can be dual booted beside an existing Windows installation, and are compact enough not to seriously diminish HD space. Puppy Linux (which also comes in a variety of named OS's -- adding even more confusion) is designed to take up minimal space for the entire OS, plus applications (generally a gigabyte or less, total).
Other than the bare OS, all storage for additional applications and data can fit into a single folder within the Windows partition. Puppy linuxs typically are small enough to be loaded entirely into RAM at boot time, including applications. This allows the OS to run extremely fast, since there are greatly reduced disk accesses.
The fourth possibility is an offshoot of Puppy linux called EasyOS -- which is what I use. This OS is also extremely compact, and can be installed like Puppy Linux, beside an existing Windows installation. But the alternative that it is actually designed to work very well with is to run entirely off of a thumbdrive, without even needing the system's HD.
This makes it portable between computers. Everything is on the thumbdrive (unless you choose to store something on the HD). In effect the thumbdrive is the computer, and the actual computer is just transparent hardware that runs it.
Naturally, the faster higher quality thumbdrive will run this OS faster, but remember that the OS is generally loaded entirely into RAM during a session, so it runs at RAM speeds. The only noticeable reduction in its speed for a slower thumbdrive is while booting, or saving back to the drive at the end of the session, or as commanded during the session.
Now, yes it IS possible to install this OS on an HD, and that's what I have because that's all I use, and I want absolute top speed booting or leaving. And it is truly fast in every aspect on this recent laptop of mine.
Okay so enough about that. Back to Linux based OSs in general.
Applications. Most Linux applications were until a few years ago compiled by the developers of each separate OS to suit their OS (and their taste). Thus applications for one variety of Linux OS probably wouldn't work in a different variety. However things began to consolidate back then when Ubuntu, which had for a long time compiled it's own programs and maintained repositories of custom compiled apps, switched over to using Debian applications and package management. This saved a huge amount of similar but separate effort.
Likewise some of the OSs I'm familiar with in the Puppy Linux family switched over from using first only homebrewed programs to later some Slackware compatibility, and then Ubuntu, and finally Debian apps. But there are still many Puppy-relates OSs that use other OS's repositories and apps. EasyOS presently uses Devuan apps -- Devuan is a fork of Debian.
Anyway, again, Linux is a huge subject if talking about desktop operating systems, and it is almost impossible to quantify. But it is possible to talk about as a history, and that provides some explanation of what it means. It's very different than Windows or MacOS or Android because each of those is a single entity main tained by a single company
25
Software Tools / Re: Experiences, thoughts and rants about using Linux as a newbie after Windows
« Last post by sorveltaja on February 16, 2026, 06:11:51 PM »Thanks for clarifying these subjects 
.
To get back to testing, I've been using Mint Mate for several weeks, and one thing I've been trying to track/trace is, what causes second long freezes every few minutes or so, when watching Youtube videos using Brave.
I know this is nitpicking, but it's kind of an annoyance. I don't remember that happening in Pop OS (which uses Gnome as a default DE), so perhaps it's more like distro or DE (desktop environment) -related component thing.
So I assume, that there are some background service(s), which can't be handled through Mate's control center --> startup applications. They simply aren't shown there. But it feels like there's timer-related or intermittent service(s) using certain resources with high priority, causing the hiccups.
To get a list of services, that use timer, can be seen by entering command:
systemctl list-timers --all
In my current system, there's 12 of them:
motd-news.timer motd-news.service
fwupd-refresh.timer fwupd-refresh.service
anacron.timer anacron.service
apt-daily.timer apt-daily.service
dpkg-db-backup.timer dpkg-db-backup.service
logrotate.timer logrotate.service
an-db.timer man-db.service
plocate-updatedb.timer plocate-updatedb.service
apt-daily-upgrade.timer apt-daily-upgrade.service
systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
e2scrub_all.timer e2scrub_all.service
strim.timer fstrim.service
To get started, one on the top, 'motd-news.timer', is described as "'MOTD ? Message of the Day. "motd-news" is a package that makes a call periodically to Canonical servers to get updated news for support and informational purposes."
Source: https://canonical.com/legal/motd
On that page is also instruction of how to disable that service, so I assume it's safe to do so.
...But the file mentioned in that page doesn't exist in my current system at all, so I created it, adding entry 'ENABLED=0 to it, and rebooted, but that service was still there. Not sure why it doesn't work in this distro/DE. Maybe it does with 'bigger' Ubuntu based distros?
Anyway, alternative way to disable it (and service related to it), is to enter commands:
sudo systemctl disable motd-news.service
sudo systemctl disable motd-news.timer
And to make sure that they don't get automatically triggered/started again, is by masking them:
sudo systemctl mask motd-news.service
sudo systemctl mask motd-news.timer
Reboot to apply the changes.
We'll see how that goes.
. To get back to testing, I've been using Mint Mate for several weeks, and one thing I've been trying to track/trace is, what causes second long freezes every few minutes or so, when watching Youtube videos using Brave.
I know this is nitpicking, but it's kind of an annoyance. I don't remember that happening in Pop OS (which uses Gnome as a default DE), so perhaps it's more like distro or DE (desktop environment) -related component thing.
So I assume, that there are some background service(s), which can't be handled through Mate's control center --> startup applications. They simply aren't shown there. But it feels like there's timer-related or intermittent service(s) using certain resources with high priority, causing the hiccups.
To get a list of services, that use timer, can be seen by entering command:
systemctl list-timers --all
In my current system, there's 12 of them:
motd-news.timer motd-news.service
fwupd-refresh.timer fwupd-refresh.service
anacron.timer anacron.service
apt-daily.timer apt-daily.service
dpkg-db-backup.timer dpkg-db-backup.service
logrotate.timer logrotate.service
an-db.timer man-db.service
plocate-updatedb.timer plocate-updatedb.service
apt-daily-upgrade.timer apt-daily-upgrade.service
systemd-tmpfiles-clean.timer systemd-tmpfiles-clean.service
e2scrub_all.timer e2scrub_all.service
strim.timer fstrim.service
To get started, one on the top, 'motd-news.timer', is described as "'MOTD ? Message of the Day. "motd-news" is a package that makes a call periodically to Canonical servers to get updated news for support and informational purposes."
Source: https://canonical.com/legal/motd
On that page is also instruction of how to disable that service, so I assume it's safe to do so.
...But the file mentioned in that page doesn't exist in my current system at all, so I created it, adding entry 'ENABLED=0 to it, and rebooted, but that service was still there. Not sure why it doesn't work in this distro/DE. Maybe it does with 'bigger' Ubuntu based distros?
Anyway, alternative way to disable it (and service related to it), is to enter commands:
sudo systemctl disable motd-news.service
sudo systemctl disable motd-news.timer
And to make sure that they don't get automatically triggered/started again, is by masking them:
sudo systemctl mask motd-news.service
sudo systemctl mask motd-news.timer
Reboot to apply the changes.
We'll see how that goes.
26
New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by awemawson on February 16, 2026, 06:02:38 PM »It?s probably full of them Steve. At the moment I?ve walked away from it to preserve my sanity.
The turret is in an odd jammed state, not being able to move the tool disk forward or backwards. Something is mechanically stuck, but also my oil central heating boiler in the workshop has sprung a leak requiring total replacement. I?ve had the new one delivered (?3049 !) but not yet installed. I am required to employ a registered installer so that?ll be a few more ?100?s
The turret is in an odd jammed state, not being able to move the tool disk forward or backwards. Something is mechanically stuck, but also my oil central heating boiler in the workshop has sprung a leak requiring total replacement. I?ve had the new one delivered (?3049 !) but not yet installed. I am required to employ a registered installer so that?ll be a few more ?100?s
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CNC / Re: It's new to me
« Last post by vtsteam on February 16, 2026, 05:50:35 PM »I think your leadscrew idea is interesting, looking forward to seeing if it works out for what you want to do with the machine. Sorry to hear about the Alibre glitches. Frustrating. But it does seem like you're moving along with this rebuild/upgrade. Keep on truckin!
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New from Old / Re: The Sequel - Oh Blimey I bought a CNC Lathe (Beaver TC 20)
« Last post by vtsteam on February 16, 2026, 05:39:25 PM »Andrew, have you seen anything that kinda looked like this?
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[ You are not allowed to view this attachment ]
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CNC / Re: It's new to me
« Last post by ddmckee54 on February 16, 2026, 05:18:33 PM »Before I completely tear this thing apart again here's a couple shots of what it looks like with the new rails installed.
I installed the mocked-up lead-nut assembly just as a sanity check - it fits so I guess I'm still sane.
Installing the X axis rails on the side frames is causing some issues.
That change, while it made the alignment of the machine MUCH easier also threw a monkey wrench into some of the other stuff. There is no longer 1/4" between the bottom of the bed and the bearing blocks, it's more like 3-ish mm. I've got some 1/4"x1-1/2" aluminum angle that I will modify to make the bed/bearing mounting brackets. I'll lose another 3mm of Z work height, bringing the max working Z height down to about 60mm, but that will be fixed after I get this thing running again. It can make itself new extended Z height side plates. The X axis lead-nut mounting block will need to change. The current plan is to add 3mm to the dimensions of the existing mount, and print that. Then I install that lead-nut, measure how thick of a shim I need between the lead-nut and the bottom of the bed, print the shim, and install it - Eazzee-Peasee.
I installed the mocked-up lead-nut assembly just as a sanity check - it fits so I guess I'm still sane.
Installing the X axis rails on the side frames is causing some issues.
That change, while it made the alignment of the machine MUCH easier also threw a monkey wrench into some of the other stuff. There is no longer 1/4" between the bottom of the bed and the bearing blocks, it's more like 3-ish mm. I've got some 1/4"x1-1/2" aluminum angle that I will modify to make the bed/bearing mounting brackets. I'll lose another 3mm of Z work height, bringing the max working Z height down to about 60mm, but that will be fixed after I get this thing running again. It can make itself new extended Z height side plates. The X axis lead-nut mounting block will need to change. The current plan is to add 3mm to the dimensions of the existing mount, and print that. Then I install that lead-nut, measure how thick of a shim I need between the lead-nut and the bottom of the bed, print the shim, and install it - Eazzee-Peasee.
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Announcements & Issues / Re: Pictures not expanding
« Last post by Brass_Machine on February 16, 2026, 05:08:28 PM »Try it now.
Oooh, swish - what plugin is that?
Highslide Image Viewer