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If you are keen to give Linux a try as an open source operating system to take over the running of older PC / laptops, you will need to have a good disk image writer. This is because all distributions of Linux come as iso image file that you would need to put to either a DVD-rom or more likely, a USB flash drive. Personally, I have given up on the quirky DVD-rom burning long time ago since I had discovered UNetbootin. UNetbootin is a small utility programme allow you to source for popular Linux distribution and burn the iso image selected (which is downloaded via this application) to CD/DVD-rom or USB flash drive.

I had Linux distribution LXLE 14.04 installed in my Toshiba T210 since 2014. As some of the browsers’ functions began to malfunction, especially those related to the playing of videos, and I could not fix the problem even after updating the browser (in this case Vivaldi) to a newest version, I learned that this was solely because my OS is long in the tooth!

The iso image flash was corrupted!

To get the image of updated OS burned into USB drives, I had been using UNetbootin for a long time. But after many attempts to flash LXLE 16.0.4 iso to my USB drives, I was about to give up.

These attempts included:

(1) Changing the USB drive from 4 Gb to 8 Gb…. still I was asked to put in a username and password (which I was assured by LXLE’s forum if this happens, you have a corrupted installation of the iso file).

(2) Downloading the same iso file from another site and flash it again (just in case I had got a corrupted file from the first site) ….. the same login screen greeted me.

(4) Using GParted to reformat the USB drive each time. This had the effect of completely cleaning the USB drive for another iso image to be put on it … this made no difference!

(5) Try flashing the iso file of Puppy Linux Xenial Pup to a USB drive….. this worked.

(6) I then tried out installing real Ubuntu (which LXLE is based) on USB drive as instructed by this page . But I did not check the physical requirements i.e. the USB Drive’s size before trying this out using UNetbootin. I used a 8 Gb USB drive. It of course did not work. LXLE needs at least 20 Gb of space to work!

All these problems were not seen when I downloaded LXLE 16.0.4 in early July 2018 & burned the iso file onto my 16 Gb USB drive. And I had been “test driving” LXLE 16.0.4 for weeks so that all my printer drivers, and other software that I used on the old version of LXLE could be made to function in the new OS. Hence the quirky behaviour of UNetbootin could be due to

the system updating done after the LXLE 16.0.4 iso flashing. The updating could have done some changes to the functioning of UNetbootin!

I suddenly remembered that I had seen a USB Image Writer program in LXLE 16.0.4! So I tried to use this to flash the LXLE 16.0.4 iso file to a 4 GB USB drive as an experiment. This worked! The same program and procedure were used to flash the iso file of Puppy Linux Xenial Pup around the same time.

Careful when using GParted

GParted is a great utility programme for one to restructure the partition table of one’s harddisk (or even USB drives). However, as I described below, users are to take great precaution when using this utility. Any mistakes are usually irreversible. If you mess up your harddisk partition, you are as good as having the entire hard disk reformatted, losing all the content and installed programmes etc.

I was very careless when using GParted when I thought I had the iso flashing problem solved and I could release the 16 Gb USB drive by deleting the partition using GParted. This I managed to do easily. But GParted threw up something that said that I had another 16 Gb drive… so I went on to delete this partition table again (so I thought).

It turned out that GParted mistook the 4 Gb LXLE 16.04 live USB containing drive a 16 GB USB drive. And the working OS allowed me to delete its own partition!. I thus ended up without a working “live” version of LXLE 16.04 after that! Panic!

Luckily I had the iso files stored somewhere else and could restart my work. Thus with GParted, if you are in doubt of what you are doing, you should hit the “Cancel” button and reexamine your steps etc.

Etcher is a good USB Image writer

I then went back to my 12-years-old Dell Inspiron and fired up Puppy Linux. I searched the internet for USB Image writer and found Etcher. I proceeded to download the correct version. Etcher’s installation was very simple. I just had to extract the Appimage file and click on it! Using Etcher on Puppy Linux, I was able to write the iso image of LXLE 16.0.4 again.

The next project was to install a most up-to-date version of Linux distribution (based on Ubuntu) on my Toshiba T210.

Installing Linux Mint 19 Tara over old LXLE 14.04

I had tried Linux Mint before and found out that it has a current version, Linux Mint 19 Tara (Xfce Edition that is suitable for older machines) which is based on the latest Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I downloaded Mint 19’s iso file and burned it using Etcher to another 4 Gb USB drive. I test-driven this and checked off all my requirements e.g HPLIP set up (and working with my old HP MFP 1132 printer/scanner), veracrypt installation etc. Then I went on to replace my old LXLE 14.04 (hard disk partition SDA8!) with Linux Mint 19 Tara!

So far I am happy with what I have.

As the old Toshiba T210 came with Windows 7 which was only a 32 bits version as opposed to the hardware which can take 64 bits, I actually put in the 64 bits version of Linux Mint 19. Tested the “live USB” before installation.

With 64 bits, I feel that the old Tosh now has some added computer power. But it could be a brand new OS that has not been burdened with some older operational files. I can now make full use of the 4 Gb memory that I had installed in this old Toshiba T210!

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In the previous article, I covered the basic information relating to the preparation one needs to do in order to set up Puppy Linux on a USB flash drive that is bootable. I also gave the rationale for using Puppy Linux and shared some examples on how revived old PCs / laptops could be deployed. In this article I will share my experience in creating such a bootable USB flash drive, comes complete with a working Puppy Linux distribution.

Unlike most other Linux distributions that have the USB flash drive bootable feature, Puppy Linux has an added advantage. Puppy Linux installed on a bootable USB flash drive is in fact persistent in nature. What this mean is, unlike “live” bootable USB flash drive of, say LXLE, where once a session is over, none of the updates, software installed are kept, Puppy Linux will keep all the updates, software installations etc. I guess these are kept in the “personal file” as described in the last segment of this article. So you can keep updating Puppy Linux!

How to set up a bootable USB flash drive that can run Puppy Linux?

1. Launch Unetbootin and select “Diskimage”. Keep the default “ISO” option.
   
   
2. Click the “ ….” tab to the right of “ISO”. Navigate to the folder with the Xenialpup iso file (for this example it is saved in “Downloads”).
   
   
3. Put something like “100 Mb” for the “Space” used to preserve files across reboots”, since Xenialpup is Ubuntu-based.
4. Under “Type”, make sure “USB” is selected. Plug in your USB flash drive, & make sure it is mounted (you can see this using File Manager).
   
   
5. If you don’t see your USB flash drive listed, go back to “Type” and reselect “USB”. It will look for the newly plugged in USB flash drive and under “Drive:” something like /dev/sdc1 will be shown.
6. Click “OK” and the installation of a bootable USB flash drive with Xenialpup OS will run automatically.
7. If your USB flash drive has any files on it, this message will show. Click “Yes to All” [Warning: this will wipe clean an used USB drive!]. Wait till the installation process is completed.
   

To run Xenialpup, reboot the laptop. Keep pressing and releasing F12 (the function key,  F12 works for both my Dell and Toshiba laptop, different brands may have different function key for this, but there is surely a function key to bring up the  boot up option screen of the computer) till the screen like the one below is show.

Use the arrow key to move to “USB Storage Device” or something like that and press Enter. That’s it!

The OS will load as shown on the screen captured above.

You will see a screen with a cute puppy when loading is done! Select “Xenialpup” and hit Enter on your keyboard.

The OS will load automatically. When the loading process is completely done and the OS is successfully loaded the screen with a cute squirrel will be visible (as shown below). You are then set to rock with the old laptop / PC again!

What software are supplied with Xenialpup?

Puppy Linux is not just a distribution of Linux. It is a combination of different parts of different Linux distributions and thus comes with lots of pre-selected-installed-with-OS software. It works on the RAM of your computer and thus it can be very fast if you have 1 Gb of RAM or more.

Xenialpup comes with almost all the software and applications that  you will need. These are grouped into categories such as Desktop, System, Setup, Utility,  Filesystem, Graphic, Document, Business, Personal, Network, Internet, Multimedia and Fun. You can obtain additional software clicking the cute little puppy at the Desktop, called “quickpet”(as shown below). Expert users of Puppy Linux have been configuring additional applications and software specially optimized for Puppy Linux and shared with the community of Puppy Linux users. These are called “.pet”.

If you need to read Chinese text like I do, you will appreciate one of these “pets”, CJK_fonts-ttf.pet that you can download and just click to instal.

Likewise, you can download other software via “quickpet” such as Vivaldi browser, LibreOffice and install them with just a click (but make sure that you choose the correct version for your old laptop / PC, both of my old machines were based on 32 bits architecture and softwares for 64 bits machines will not work on them).

What you are expected to do?

Puppy Linux will automatically detect what sort of hardware that your old laptop / PC has and will do its best to optimize these for your OS to work. But two areas that you may need to do some tweaking are Internet settings and sound settings.

The first screen you will see in the Quick Setup screen is shown above. You can set up the country, timezone etc. here. You may want to enable Firewall and Time from internet too.

For Internet settings, the OS auto-detects what internet connections that you might have (such as wired connection via RJ45 cable or wireless-WiFi).  There is a choice of setup tools but the simplest is to use Barry’s Simple Network Setup.

In my case (as shown above), By selecting “Interfaces” tab and clicking on “eth0” tab (located at the bottom right of the box, with “wlan0” and “windows”),  the app will try to connect with the internet over the network cable connected to my broadband router and a “success” screen will show. Similarly you can connect to WiFi using the same way.

For audio, you may need to configure the audio card.  Go to Menu->Setup->Alsa sound Wizard.

Select the Multiple cards section (No. 3). Select a sound card and select the “Test Sound” tab below. A new window will open. You should hear sound generated on the left and right speakers follow by the bark of a puppy. If you do not hear anything, put the volume to maximum and repeat.

The only other setup you need to do is the printer.  As there are many brands, it will be best to be general here. Go to Menu->Setup->CUPS Printer Wizard and follow the instructions to add a printer. Don’t forget to hook up your printer first.
[I must say, if you have a HP MFP laser printer, you may not be able to use CUPS Printer Wizard effectively. This is the only grouse I have with Puppy Linux and it is not its fault but rather HP’s complex number of models! At the time of writing, I have still not completely installed a proper driver for my HP MFP 1132 printer & scanner.]

Don’t forget to save the personal file!

When you need to exit, unless you are just evaluating and not saving the applications and software you have installed, you should save your personal files. Here is why you are advised earlier on to use a USB flash drive that is at least 8 Gb (16 Gb and higher is even better). The “system” file will need at least 1 Gb to work well (the more the merrier) and there is another partition that is made by the OS to serve as “swap”. I think “swap” as the name suggests, serves as the swapping of memory that helps the OS to run on RAM by “renting” or swapping memory on the fly (when you switch / load different software, for example). Although the system says that you will need to have at least another 500 Mb for your personal file, this is the bare minimum. I personally prefer the personal file allocation to be as big as possible to accommodate all the software and applications that I want to install. It will also carry my personal data files. But with the increasing use of cloud storage, I hardly store documents such as this piece of writing on the laptop, preferring Google Drive instead.

Thus if you are running the entire work from the USB drive, it is wise to have as big a memory as possible. I had chosen to save my personal files on the hard disk of my laptop to speed things up (and on account that I used only a 4 Gb USB flash drive!). But putting your personal files on the USB flash drive, you are truly portable! Provided that a host’s PC or laptop allows you to access the boot option (which most would), you can bring your entire computer on a USB flash drive and work on a “borrowed” PC such as at the internet cafe or a friend’s laptop safely.

With the second or third sessions of your usage, Puppy Linux will load a lot faster as it needs not tweak the system further as all the settings are saved before. So don’t pull the USB flash drive until the laptop / PC has shut down fully!

Happy Puppy Linux-ing!

Woof woof!

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You have that 7-year-old PC / laptop lying around gathering dust. The Windows operating system (OS) is too old but your hardware cannot cope with the latest Windows OS. Worse, the web browser is old and the old OS cannot support the new version of the browser anymore.  Thus there are security issues which are stopping you from accessing some crucial websites. You are thinking that this old laptop is as good as junk.

You have heard of Linux which is free (well most distributions are indeed so). However you are under the impression that you will be required to know a lot of programming stuff to use Linux. And you have also heard that the most popular and user-friendliest of the Linux distribution, Ubuntu is known to be getting heavy on resources. Thus Ubuntu may not work well with your old PC / laptop.

But hold on. Don’t junk that old laptop yet. There is a way to get more mileage out of the old workhorse. It is called Puppy Linux. Here, I share my close to a decade of experience with Linux, especially on Puppy Linux.

That’s life still in that old piece of hardware!

I cannot do any programming, I don’t know much about HTML, less so about php or java. But you don’t need to know these to use Linux.  I had switched from Ubuntu to a light version distribution of it called LXLE in 2011. While evaluating the latest LXLE version  (based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS aka one version behind the latest, LTS stands for Long Term Support, about 3 – 5 years)  I discovered that although the OS worked well with my 8-years-old Toshiba Portege T210, it could not be loaded on my 11-years-old Dell Inspiron 1520!

I used to run my old PC (bought in 2004) on one of the lightest Linux OS, Puppy Linux. Puppy extended the usefulness of the old Dell for years till the PC’s motherboard died in 2017. Hence it is a no brainer for me to try the latest Puppy Linux on the 11-years-old Dell laptop.  The latest version of Puppy Linux,  Xenialpup is also based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. And it could be loaded on the 11-years-old Dell!

As long as the old PC / laptop has at least 1Gb of RAM (Puppy Linux could even run on 500 Mb RAM) and could run Windows XP before, it will be able to run on Puppy Linux. For older machines, there are even versions of Puppy Linux with smaller footprint that could ran on low level of RAM, as low as 256 Mb. A list of RAM-operated Linux distributions is available at Wikipedia,  but I have only tested a few of these and found Puppy Linux to be best supported and relatively user-friendly .

How can I deploy revived old PCs / laptops?

When I commenced on operating a university college as its CEO in 2015, I faced the problem of dealing with many seemingly obsolete PCs. Most of these PCs were still in good physical working order, only the operating systems were out of date. This meant that most could not cope with the demands of resources heavy design and editing softwares. But, for simple web-browser-based usage such as searching for library information, wordprocessing, keying data etc. these old machines, if their OS could be updated via Linux could have a second bout of useful lives.

Together with my institution’s then Head of IT Services, we embarked on a small project to revive as many of these old machines by changing the OS from Windows to Linux, using the LXLE distribution which I was already very familiar with. Here are some examples of how we redeployed these revived machines:

1. As data capturing device for marking the attendance of staff, tracking keys to rooms & tracking of tools at the workshop:
   

   

   

   We sourced for barcode readers (RM180 – RM350 per item) and hooked these up with a Google Sheets. Users just have to scan their staff identity cards to have their attendance recorded. The same set up could also track keys to rooms where a user just need to scan the barcode on the card that came with the key (or tool) and then his/her  own staff/student identity card to have the record taken.
   

2. For students to fill in different forms created using Google Forms:
   

   

   I moved as many of the routine administrative tasks to Google Docs / Sheets / Form as possible to cut down on paper usage and to have almost instantaneous capturing of data. Thus revived PCs were placed at strategic locations such as the Registry, the Library and the Student Recruitment office for this purpose.

3. As terminals for accessing information at the library:
   For accessing local server’s information (of the institution’s library) and on web-based information and resources, these revived PCs, with up-to-date web browsers could be used effectively.
4. For general usage of students in computer laboratories:
   

   

   We refurbished the hardware of some of these old PCs to have higher RAM and deployed them at general computer laboratories for students to use for writing, doing email, data logging, doing desk research on the internet etc.. This allowed us to reserved the new PCs with resource heavy software (for design, programming and visual editing work) in other locations specifically for classes requiring such softwares.

The above are just some obvious examples of how redeployment of revived PCs / laptops can be implemented in an education institution’s setting. For private or business usage. The revived old PCs / laptops can, at the very least, used as a data entry terminals, extra desk research PCs and even playing presentation of videos or Powerpoint slides etc.

What you need

I shall confine this article to my experience with Puppy Linux’s Xenialpup version. But most of the steps are applicable if you choose other versions / Linux distribution.

In terms of software here are the ones that you need to download.

1. The image (iso format) of the OS, Xenialpup. Don’t worry if you do not know what iso do. Part (b) shall cover this.
2. Download and install a copy of Unebootin, the little application that allows you to write your OS onto a USB flash drive. There are versions for Windows, Linux and Mac. The instructions to use Unebootin will be covered in a section below.
   To install Unebootin for Windows is easy. It comes in a .exe file, so just click on this file.
   For Linux users, there is a bit more work to do:

– Note where you have downloaded Unebootin (it will be a file with a name like unetbootin-linux-661.bin). Usually this will be the folder “Downloads”
– Alt-x to bring out the Terminal.
– Type (without the quotation marks) “cd Downloads” or the exact location where you’ve the file.
– Type “chmod +x unetbootin-linux-66l.bin” or whatever name the downloaded file is called to make it executable.    (you can also do the same to change the attribute of this file in File Manager: highlight the file->Right click->Properties->Permissions->Execute (change it to “Anyone”))
– Type “./unetbootin-linux-661.bin”
– The small application will be installed.
(For making a .bin file executable & run it, I followed instructions from this site)

For hardware, you will only need a USB flash drive. While I used an old 4 Gb drive, you should use one that has at least 8 Gb capacity with 16 Gb being even better (as we shall see later why this is so). If you are using an old USB flash drive, you need to know that during the “burning” of the iso file, your existing data could be wiped out.

In the next article, I will cover the details on how to go about creating a bootable USB flash drive containing the entire Puppy Linux OS. I will also share our experience on how best to configure the OS so that it works well with an old laptop.

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Commentary (Jun 11, 2018): For over 8 months, I have not been able to upgrade Vivaldi on my old Linux (Ubuntu-derived LXLE). There is a file that is needed but not updated in the distribution. So far, I could still use Vivaldi without any issue but am afraid that as more security updates come along, I will have to switch from Vivaldi if I cannot use Gmail etc.

I have been using Firefox as my main browser since Google decided that it would not be supporting Google Chrome for Linux  about a year or so ago. I am a Linux user by choice and am writing this piece using my son’s hand-me-down, a Dell Inspiron 1520 of 2007 vintage. I use LXLE, a lightweight distribution of the famed Ubuntu (which itself has grown very heavy for older personal computers) which is very suited for “ancient” personal computers.

I tried Google’s open source browser, Chromium which is still being maintained for Linux. For some reasons that I could not figure out, it refused to run after installation on my other “younger” laptop, a Toshiba Protege T210 (a couple of years younger than the Dell Inspiron) which is also powered by LXLE.

The reason for me wanting to use the latest Google Chrome is simple, a lot of modern websites just do not load properly or render well in older version of the browser. Although Firefox was good, lately it has become sluggish and often crashed. As I do most of my work, especially writing using Google Docs and data crunching using Google Sheets, Firefox had become very unreliable lately.

I tried using Opera. It somehow does not have full compatibility with Google Chrome and some of the websites and web apps just did not work well and like Firefox, it got to be very sluggish at times. I knew if I wanted to keep up my productivity, I would need to find a solution to my browser problem and do so fast!

Then I found (or rather rediscovered) Vivaldi Browser which I briefly heard of in 2015. Unlike Opera which has some issues with full Google Chrome / Chromium compatibility in terms of rendering some websites with heavy scripts and apps, I found Vivaldi intuitive, fast, and easy to use.

Vivaldi which was launched in March 2015 by Jon von Tetzchner, Opera’s former CEO, has a lot of features for people like me, those who open 10 – 15 tabs at one go and doing lots of research, writing, number crunching etc. fully online, aka the power users!

Although I still experience periodic slow response from my mouse and keyboard while “Vivaldi-ing” when I have more than 10 tabs opened, it is a darn sight better than the fully unresponsiveness I encounter when using Firefox or Opera. The full Chrome pedigree of Vivaldi means that anything that works on Google Chrome Store will be game for Vivaldi. So if you fancy any extension that you had been using on Google Chrome, it should work on Vivaldi.

For the very “tech” focused readers, there is a blow-by-blow “Opera vs Vivaldi” by Slant. I just learned from Slant’s article that Vivaldi allows one to stack up tabs which is handy when doing research by putting related content etc. together for ease of reference and location. Another Vivaldi’s feature that is great for people doing lots of research online is the “Note” function which allows you to take notes about a site you are visiting, copy the link, copy selected area and even take a snapshot of the site.

One feature of Vivaldi that Windows users may not be excited about but Linux users like me will, is the “Screen Capture” function at the bottom right of Vivaldi’s panel. It comes in very handy when you want to capture stuff you see online that you need for your research. The feature picture of this article was captured using this function and I got a choice of doing the entire page or just the selected area. In this case, I had chosen the latter. Now there is no need for me to run an external screen capture software then do an “Alt-Tab” to make sure I get back to my browser to do a F11 (full size) then repeat “Alt-Tab” to set up screen capture software to work. I did install some third party’s extension to do screen capture which worked.  But this extension also added on additional weight to Firefox (and slowed it down). For Vivaldi, I do not think I need to install any extension at this stage!

The ability for me to see how a site I am visiting is loading on the status bar which is no longer present in many other browsers is yet another feature of Vivaldi that I like. It tells you how big a chunk of data you are consuming and how much of it you are loading. Also, when using Vivaldi, you will not be bombarded with advertisements like some other browsers.

You can download Vivaldi at its website. Vivaldi has cross platform compatibility which means that you can run it on Windows, Mac and Linux. It is just too bad for Android users that there is not yet an Android version for Vivaldi! If you signup for an account, you will also be given an email account from Vivaldi that allows you access to many of the community postings etc. that were the “key features” which were taken off from Opera. One article said that Vivaldi’s service which is rolled out of Iceland, a country that has one of the world’s toughest privacy protection law. The@vivaldi.net domain by itself offers a very attractive feature for users who seek to protect their privacy while sending and receiving emails!

Let us hope that I will not need to revise this article often and that Vivaldi as a project will continue to bring work efficiency for users like me.

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I was on Facebook Messenger chatting with my old friend, ex-colleague and fellow parent-teacher-association pioneers of SJK(C) Tun Tan Cheng Lock (Chinese primary school), Dr. Margaret Liew today. She lives in the USA & told me that I could get her on Telegram much more readily than FB Messenger. She did not like Whatsapp because she gets too many messages especially from groups that might mask/push down friends’ crucial messages.

Off I went to put back Telegram on my Android powered Xiaomi Note 3. The installation via Google Play was fast and event-less. But I got stuck when I tried to register my mobile phone with Telegram’s server. “member_occupy_primary_loc_failed” was played out. I repeated the registration, getting yet another SMS with the required code from Telegram’s server and yet there was the same error message. Then I proceeded to reboot my mobile phone. Same frustrating error message came out. Then I remember, this was the very reason for me to give up on Telegram in the first place.

Not being a person who gets defeated so readily, I went on Google to find clues on how to solve this “Telegram mystery” and was somehow pointed to a site (I guess it is Telegram’s own) that provided desktop versions of the mobile messaging software in API format. There, I found not only the usual Windows version of the desktop app, there were even 64 and 32 bits for Linux too.

I use LXLE, a lighter version of the popular Linux distribution named Ubuntu (yeah, I prefer Linux which is faster and safer to Windows and my older computers can run just as fast as the new ones on LXLE). Of course if you are using Windows, the .exe file that you can download will self install when you click it and you need not bother with fiddling with the decompression of the file etc. set out below for Linux users.

I faced a slight problem. The Telegram API for Linux did not come in the easily installable format of “.deb” which I could just download and click (much like the “.exe” files for Windows). Instead it was a compressed file that needed me to use the terminal and commands to decompress and activate. After several sites which gave me the wrong instructions, I found a site that gave the correct instructions. I followed the “old fashion” way as listed in this site and viola, Telegram Desktop version was working on my laptop.

I then proceeded to successfully register for an account with Telegram’s server after giving my mobile number. This solved the issue of registration. But it still did not solve my problem with registering Telegram on my mobile phone. Just when I was about to give up, I received the first message from Telegram itself. There was a code given that I was instructed to use on my mobile phone to link both the desktop and mobile versions of the app. The moment this code was keyed into my mobile phone’s Telegram app, the problem was solved. Telegram actually worked on my mobile!

For Whatsapp users, Telegram has most of the features that one will need including Groups, profile etc. What it has that is a bit unique is the feature to allow one to put in a username. It will generate a link that you can share with your contacts. This comes handy if you are not willing to give your mobile phone number to someone and it makes adding new contact very easy. In my case I did not have Dr. Liew’s US mobile number and I just use FB Messenger to share my username link with her and 10 seconds later we were connected!

The desktop app for Linux means that unlike Whatsapp, I do not need to open a tab on my browser each time I switch on my laptop and do the QR Code scanning etc., this makes using Telegram on desktop that much easier.