Linux users? Anyone?

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Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:26 am

Linux. It's awesome. This seems like an intelligent board, so when I hear things about proprietary software, I wonder how many people use something other than Windows/Man software?

If you do, then please - let us know what OS your rig is running! If you don't, then I strongly advise looking into a copy of Ubuntu. It's simple, easy to use, and FREE.

So what do you run? Right now I'm using Kubuntu (9.04, Jaunty) on my web surfing rig, but my storage comp (Raid-3 array) and my router are also Windows-free.

I've converted my girlfriend to Ubuntu, although most of my friends keep Windows for gaming reasons. How about you guys?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:38 am

I have dual OS on my box. Mandriva One and Windows XP Home. If windows craps out, I can always boot to Linux. Very Happy

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 571

Ubuntu Linux on my netbook (makes an excellent screen-size friendly OS) and Windows 7 with a bunch of Cygwin services on my desktop.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:46 am

I run dual OS. Both are Windows. Sad

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:39 am

Ubuntu 9.10 on my main box with Crunchbanglinux 9.04 on my netbook.I dual-booted for a few months, noticed that I didn't use Windows much at all so kicked it out.

Not quite a Newb Joined: 11 Oct 2009 Posts: 79

I tried and tried my best to make my Ubuntu s.10 installation to connect to the net, or to do anything... but failed miserably.
The tutorials keep saying what I should type in the command line (or whatever it's called), but the thing is I can't find the darn command line. Embarassed

One other issue I have with linux (just like every other open source thing) is there are so frigging many different releases and I don't have the time or the knowledge to test them all just to see which one is usable.
Each release tends to attract it's own group of users who say it's the best and that I should look no further.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against open source, on the contrary, but it's very confusing and I even live in this bubble in which I believe I have above average knowledge about computers.

So I'm on XP, and doing just fine.
All the apps I ever needed run smoothly on it, and when it crashes or gets viruses, trojans or whatever, I just reinstall it. I don't bother with firewalls or antiviruses. It takes me less than an hour (much quicker than doing a full scan on 17 different diagnostic softwares) .

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 9:08 am

It's true that knowledge of the Linux OSes takes a degree of familiarity. Here's a few things that I wish I was told early on in the Linux universe:

Ubuntu is a great Linux OS to cut your teeth on. It has GUI versions of all the vital command-line actions, and it's well maintained.
Sometimes Ubuntu is a little TOO well maintained. Turn your computer to search for updates every week, or maybe every two weeks. It seems like every darn hour they come up with some new thing you have GOT to update! Sheesh.
Ubuntu is run by people who have a hardcore, purist belief in free software. The Ubuntu people will NEVER EVER EVER NEVER put proprietary software in their releases.
Unforch, many vital components of a computer's software are proprietary. Flash is the most notable, although MP3 compilers are also important.
Super Ubuntu (or Super OS) is a version of Ubuntu that comes with proprietary software already packaged. While Ubuntu is a "pure free software" group, SuperOS is a "it works right out of the box" group.
The command line is known as Terminal in Ubuntu. It's a lot like MS-DOS, but more powerful and with different syntax. You can find it in the programs list.
Lots of drivers don't exist for Linux, and many of those that do are really finicky. If you happen to be a hardcore Linuxist (like me) then your hardware purchases are governed largely by the presence of Linux drivers. (Main rule? Test it first. Borrow a buddy's webcam and see if you can get his to work before buying your own, etc.)
Releases like Ubuntu's Hardy/Intrepid/Jaunty are largely irrelevant, just use the newest.
If you already just reinstall your OS to get rid of viruses, then you'll love Linux. Unlike Windows, Linux can run itself off a CD, no hard drive required! It's that compressible. Installing it is a breeze and its partition manager is much smarter than the last Windows one I saw.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:25 am

Multi-boot; managed by GRUB. AROS, Linux (right now Ubuntu 9.04) and Win Xp.
In the past 12 years I used various linuxes (Red Hat, Mandrake, Slackware, SUSE, Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, openSUSE).
Had enough of .rpm and tarballs and learned to appreciate .deb and another smart thing called autopackage.

For me KDE was love at first sight. I mean KDE 1.0; Liked 3.x.x too. But 2 and 4...
So that's why I use GNOME now.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 21 Nov 2008 Posts: 619

I have used a few Linuxes in the past, I currently have a dual boot with windows and PCBSD.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 12:20 pm

I am currently using Windows XP 32bit However I really need to get a 64x OS like Windows 7 to get the full power out of my PC.

I've just built a new one and its all shiney and new and plays games and stuffs! Very Happy

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:12 pm

I used to run dual Ubuntu/XP but found Windows more convenient becasue it runs PS, so removed Ubuntu.

Looking forward to Windows 7 amd told by my IT Guru that it is good.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 1:58 pm

Computers in the ratter household run on Mac OS X, which behind the GUI is really Unix. I keep a couple of versions of Windows (2K and XP) around, running as virtual machines (VMWare Fusion) for the odd function that doesn't have a good analog in the Mac world (Quicken and Visio, mainly).

I also use a BSD Unix-based firewall/router: pfSense.

I also run Ubuntu in a VM for development and general fooling around. Vox's comments (in his "wish I was told early on" post) hit on many of the reasons why Linux isn't more widely mainstreamed. People who want to get "under the hood" generally love it. The far more common "appliance" users have a harder time and generally don't stick with it.

OS X, in my view, is a good middle ground. It's posix compliant, as are many Linux distros. Commercial, yes, but well supported with open source software (including much of the OS itself), and easy to get under the hood if that's your thing; if it's not, no need to even know that Terminal exists.

I'm not rabidly anti-Microsoft (just mildly) and hear good things about Windows 7. But it still comes in several flavors and the prices escalate quickly. Mac OS versions tend to cost $129, or less than $200 for a "family" license, and there's only one version of the basic OS (the only other one is Server, and it's $499, and now provides unlimited seats at that price.)

Trophy Videos · Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 2:20 pm

I'm a fairly new Linux user, and have tried many distros on live CD. The one i like the best is Puppy Linux. Unlike Ubuntu, which always seemed to annoy me with "failed updates. Dependencies not found...", and software glitches that had to be fixed, Puppy Linux's software packages install and work after you install them. Their forum is very active for help, and it's an easy linux to use and learn. It's stable, fast, and works even on very old hardware. I have windows on my desktop, and run puppy on my baiting box.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:50 pm

Used various versions of SuSE (up to version 8 I think). Kept a windows partition for the odd time Linux didn't have the required software.

Then I discovered OS X.

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 7:23 pm

I use Windows for some of my work I do, at he office I'm on Ubuntu all our servers run Centos

Not quite a Newb Joined: 09 Sep 2009 Posts: 44

I do have a mac however I do also run Ubuntu on a media PC and Debian on a home server. However I need to run Windows for work too. Mainly though I use OSX. I do love the free OS idea though.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:17 am

My wireless card and Ubuntu hate each other. It's sad because I love them both. So I dual with the dreaded Vista and Ubuntu.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 08 Apr 2006 Posts: 571

^^ Have you tried getting the wireless card working with ndiswrapper? I've never had one that didn't work with ndiswrapper...

Not quite a Newb Joined: 11 Oct 2009 Posts: 79

You probably never had D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G510

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 7:14 am

@ remu:
WTF?
I think I tried that, but I'm just shaking off the Microsoft brainwashing, so I don't really walk the Linux walk yet.

I'll go surf the interwebs to see what e-formation I can upload offlines.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:09 am

I used to dualboot Gentoo and XP, but my desktop environment and some other things broke themselves to the point where I couldn't use it any more, so I gave up.

Recently I've been trying to get Linux working again (Ubuntu, OpenSUSE) but for whatever reason I can't seem to get it to cooperate with dual monitors. Every time I switch to the nVidia drivers, X goes bizarro on me and refuses to output to my screens. I just gave up and gave in to the wishes of M$. I still refuse to use Vista though. I have a soul!

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 12:04 pm

BTW: I'm running Windows 7 on a laptop - Although I prefer Linux, Win 7 is quite impressive, a lot better than Vista thats for sure.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:42 pm

I can't be arsed, to be honest. Every year or so I'll give Ubuntu or another of the builds a try, hit glitches like my monitor ratio not being supported, try to work through them with a frankly largely unhelpful community (because it is so fragmented I guess), and eventually try to hobble along. I try to find suitable replacements for apps I need to use regularly like Avid (video editing), but there are no suitable apps, codecs, etc.

So, I still run Vista or XP, neither of which I have a problem with, although I happily use open source software and support the open movement which is reminiscent of the early days to me. GIMP, OpenOffice and Firefox on Vista will do most of what I want, and I run Avid for my editing work.

Linux will stabilise I'm sure, and hopefully once it stabilises, people will write a bunch more drivers, some decent NLE software for the platform, etc. That would be great. But for now I have to stick with the better known and better supported Vista.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 10:45 pm

Using Ubuntu and win7 as VM's on Vista. I must admit I don't use both of them very much, windoze is still more convenient to me because op the number of supported apps and support.

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 11:29 pm

SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10