I have been using / playing with Linux software for the last 15 years. I started with Red Hat and gave that up quickly. I am not a programmer, and really at this stage of the game, I don't intend to become one.

Currently, I have installed Debian 8, Mint Cinnamon, Mint Mate, Ubuntu 16.04 and Ubuntu 17.04. I pretty much gave up on Fedora 23 and 24,and Suse 13.2, although I still like Suse 13.2. I can use the terminal commands in Ubuntu, but have sort of given-up on Ubuntu because it just takes too long to load. The Mint twins I like, but again they take too long to load.

I just installed Debian 8 and I am quite impressed. This is about the third or fourth time I have installed Debian, but never really liked it too much. Now, with Debian 8, which I am beginning to like, I find that I can't use my sudo commands because my user name is not in the "sudoers" file.

This is getting to be a total waste of time! Lately, I have been thinking of getting rid of my Linux box and just go back to my Windows 7 Ultimate system.

Hi fggrub, and welcome to LQ.

Is it the Debian problem that you want help with? As far as I know, the sudo package isn't installed and the user added automatically by the Debian single CD ISO (which is the one I installed recently and perhaps you installed too).

So, you have to issue the following commands on the terminal:

I have to say, however, that given your comments, I would advise against you using Debian. Despite what others may say, if you're used to the ease of using Ubuntu or Mint, Debian adds a few extra hoops to jump through (like the one above) that may leave you feeling frustrated.

If Mint and Ubuntu are taking a while to start up, then perhaps your machine is somewhat underpowered, in which case you need to look at a distro with lesser demands e.g. MX Linux, Anti-X, or even Lubuntu, Mint Xfce or similar.

Overall, though, I would suggest that if you are getting fed up with Linux then you should head back to Windows 7 as you suggest. Life's too short to be unhappy with your computing system - if Linux isn't for you then it isn't for you.

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I am running an AMD FX 8350 Processor with 32 Gigabyes of Corsair DDR3 1600 memory on an Asus motherboard. I admit, it has been some time since I got new computer equipment. I guess, I have to get that Intel I7, sixth generation processor. One of the pros of using Linux is supposed to be that it will run on less powerful computers. My Windows 7 Ultimate system is running on an old Intel I5 processor with 16 gigabytes of memory. With no problems of booting-up quickly!

Ah, well there goes the "underpowered" theory.

How long are your Ubuntu and Mint load times? Have you checked the boot log to see if anything is going awry?

My personal experience is any distro that uses systemd to control booting is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH slower on average than SysVinit machines. Which is funny, since systemd was designed to speed up booting, but on the whole, while some versions do seem faster, most versions of systemd are slower than SysVinit, which is itself slower than Windows, especially 10.

I believe that, with Debian and most other non-*buntu distros, sudo is installed, but the sudoers file is not configured. The expectation is that you will use su to assume root privileges. (The sudo fetish is very much a *buntu thing.) For example:


See man su for more.

Note that, if you choose to configure sudoers, the command to use is visudo.

My laptop boots systemd Debian in about 5 seconds. I've also always used sudo, because otherwise you've got a root shell hanging open to exploit.

Wow! I have never seen Windows boot up fast. But you should be able to run any Linux no problem on that box. Is it slow when live booting or Installed. Are you installing to a hard drive or a usb? it does make a difference.