What do you think about Linux ?..

I'm planing to get a linux for my computer without knowledge if it'll be worth to give a try ! So i'm asking you to stop by and share your opinions with it.. and please do not forget to write which version of linux you talk about either !

 

Ive been using it for about a year the learning curve is steep but worth it..Im using debian..try knoppix you dont have to install it to your hardrive..also read up here www.linuxquestions.org and here
www.distrowatch.org

 

My hubby uses Linux, we have windows running for me because Im computer illiterate, but he prefers suise linux. He has no problems at all but computers are his job. He has tried to show me how to use it properly but I have no interest. If you have any specific questions or need any help setting it up pm me and I will ask him to reply and help you out.

 

Linux might well be worth a try, free, and now there are distributions that set up ok! I've tried Red Hat a few times in the last 8 years, and Fedora last year, but didn't really stick with it as I kept finding it was "easier" to slip back to Windows. My aim before the end of the summer break is to have one Linux box set up on the home network, and maybe 2 or 3 (different distros) on the school network and really try to set them up as user-friendly boxes with everything set up as easy to use and as functional (Open Office, Gimp, Firefox etc) as the best Windows has to offer.

I'm interested in trying Fedora http://fedora.redhat.com/ and http://www.ubuntu.com/ and Novel Desktop linux as well, will report back if I make some progress!

 

there are different distro's out there if you are starting out with linux you could try:
1] knoppix (live cd) easy to use: http://www.knoppix.net/get.php
2] ubuntu nice and easy to use : http://www.ubuntulinux.org/Download
3] kubuntu nice and easy to use: http://www.kubuntu.org/download.php
4] mepis easy to use and easy to install....: http://www.mepis.org/node/1462
5] pardus a new (turkish based) distro : http://www.uludag.org.tr/eng/index.html

hope it helps....

 

I use debian and kubuntu a while ago I tried mephis and and ubuntu
linux is stable and secure once you get the hang of it it's easy to use I hope that there will be more aplications written for linux and that the hardware compatebility also will broaden.
Before linux I used windows2000 pro
And now I am stuck on linux in the near future I will try to use freebsd....

 

I use Linux SuSE Pro 9.1 on my computer in combination with the KDE gui.
Altho it has 3 installation cd's, it doesnt use very much of disk space,
also memory usage is alright.
My Amd 1,2Ghz with 256MB DDRam is having no problems with it and is fast
I can really recommend SuSE for your PC,
quite easy to use (u have to get used to it tho), and the setup is very very easy

If you want to practice linux,
I have a very small version,
which has quite alot of functions, but in size it's less then 64MB,
and the GUI looks a bit like windows
Very easy to use, especially on laptops imho.
You can put it on a CD (even if it's on CD, it will use a bit of your hard drive to save files and settings!), USB stick or on your hard disk
It's name is Linux Puppy,
you can download it, and find information about it, on this site:
http://goosee.com/puppy/

 

Liroy you have the same linux system running as we've got, I keep calling it susie instead of SUSE lol. I didnt understand the rest of your post but my hubby looked at it and nodded yep Liroy is right

 

Hmm.. that' was very helpful ! Thank you wrat,gixer,rexy,raysun and liroy..

Yeah! I've heard Linux is really fast rather than windows.. but my problem is, i've been using windows all of my life and i don't know if i can easly used to it.. and if my programs will also work well with linux! this is very important for me...

What are the advantages/disadvantages rather windows ?

 

Linux is free! In the past when I'd set up Red Hat (several times), I was learning fast and finding that there was so much software etc - but the first time I was held up finding that I could not get the Linux box to print to Novell Netware printer queues, and later when setting up a Squid proxy server could not get it to talk to our upstream proxy - these issues prevented me from pushing further to make it the "desktop standard" in parts of our school network.

Since then I did set up a Squid box which worked well for years, but now run a Windows 2000 (soon to be 2003) server network, not Novell. Last year I found that Fedora Core does do some amazing things, an enthusiastic student and I found out when we set up a Fedora Core box (4CD download) - the installer is easy/graphical and the distro includes a lot of software built-in: you can choose various bundles to make it a home machine, workstation or server. Also we found that it integrated perfectly with Windows server shares, and had all the functionality of a Windows 2000 or XP workstation. The only issue was that it was not a simple NT login screen at startup - and therefore couldn't be used by the "average" school network user with existing username/password arrangements.

Our setup at work/school is that we have an enterprise licence for all MS stuff and a lot of other software - there is no need to go linux - but on a personal level, now that I have seen how the ease of use has improved, and the advent of reliable software like Open Office - I think Linux is something the "average user" can now get into. Windows is always stock-standard "easier" if that is all you have been accustomed to, but I think I'll learn more about "real" computing if you get into Linux. I'll definitely be setting up a Fedora box in my main computing room and will try to use it often, and as a demonstration model to my serious students, and experiement with other distros as well. If I have space at home to set up a 6th computer, it will be a Linux machine for me to test/try things on.

Basically, when switching, I think you'd have to ask - what basic functions will I need. I know if I can get online, and have an "Office" suite, browser-email, and graphics editor like Gimp, multimedia, CD burning software etc, then I'm fine, and can get more software and learn more as I go along. The graphical user desktop makes it all look easier now! Fedora seems to be installing as easily as XP at present.

Ok, I think I've said too much...

 

Hey, I finished setting up Fedora Core 4 on a PIII 800MHz box, 256Mb RAM, 10Gb HDD, basic 8Mb graphics card, sound, NIC. I'm amazed at how easily it set up, the graphical install was easy, I needed only 3 of the 4 CDs for the workstation option I chose. I added the proxy settings I needed to get online throught the school optic fibre internet, and here I am! It has a lot of programs built-in, like Firefox (which I'm using now), Open Office, Gimp 2.2, and I'll play around with a few more! So EASY, all set up straight from the downloaded CDs.

In no time I was able to connect to the Windows 2000 server shares, and could actually download a Windows patch and save it on the W2K server!

Well worth having a run with.... If I try another distro I'll report back, but I have to say, the desktop (GNOME) looks very smooth WindowsXP/MacOS 9 hybrid. What exactly is KDE? Should I try that too?

 

kde is a nice desktop also I use gnome and sawfish sometimes I use kde....

 

I think Linux is awesome. Doesn't get much better than it.

(I use FreeBSD, Ubuntu and RedHat. I currently like Ubuntu best)

 

Well,

In the linux version I use (SuSE) there is this big free opensource office thing called OpenOffice.
This has everything: powerpoint, word, excel... (in windows names) all of it
So that kind off things is no problem.

However,
you cant just install windows applications.
They wont work under linux,
so there wont be much gaming...
There is a emulator on linux, it is called Wine.
Certain windows programs can run under the linux OS with wine.
For instance, I am running mIRC (a windows IRC chat client) on my linux box, wine emulates the program. (So it pretends to the app to be windows and converts the windows commands into commands that work for linux).
Unfortunatly, not all programs can be emulated by this.
There is also a Gaming emulator, but I never got it to work...
Amazing was that UT 2004 seemed to run fine on it o0

Advantages when comparing it to windows:


1. Faster

2. More secure

3. Linux doesnt bitch all the time

4. You are in control of your pc, not reversed...

5. the SSH command line enables you to do anything to your PC (when logged in to root), like for instance, if you want to close an application, you wont have to keep clicking "Terminate application" in a certain taskmanager, and keep clicking it and then getting the question if you want to send a report, no... if you give the kill command, the application will be halted immediatly, no matter what.

6. Linux is completely free, and still it includes more then windows!

7. Windows cant support linux things, but linux is capable of supporting some windows things! (take wine as example)

8. Your computer is not vulnerable for most of the viruses,
you really wont be exploited or infected by clicking on a picture on a website,
while this can happen easily on windows.

9. Most of the standard browsers that come with linux are also commanders, you can manage files with it, you can copy things to USB sticks or whatever, you can do FTP and even SFTP.

10. Linux has a very good rescue backup system in case your (file)system is damaged by a certain reason

11. You can easily install things, you just go to the software manager, you use the search function to search for software that matches what you want, or matches the name you type in, and then it will tell you what CD you have to insert or it will download it...

12. Linux is very easy to use for internet things, alot of functions like traceroute, DNS lookup, whois information for IP's and domains etc. can be obtained with a simple command in SSH

I think that's about it... probably alot more but hey I think 12 things are quite enough...


Disadvantages when comparing it to windows:

well first of all, this is not really comparing but a fact,
you really gotta get used to it
And probably learn a bit of ssh... but that's no problem, it's very user friendly if you use KDE...

1. You cant play most of the big games of these days

2. Alot of software on the market is made for windows and wont work on linux.
(Sometimes you can find a replacing imitation program for linux tho)

3. Certain things are hard to understand (especially if you are used to windows), however, other functions usually compensate this...


I think that's really all...


Hope u can do something with the info.


@Gixer:
Cool!
You got a nice OS then ;D

 

nightfall_dream,

What do you plan to do under Linux?

 

hmm..
@rexy my computer knowledge is not enough to understand all the things that you type, i'm sorry and thanx

@liroy thnx u did it for me, i never used linux before so i'm not sure if i would do well to get it in my computer! if only problem i could work under my windows programs, that'd be great!

@white feather, just for personal use of my computer gaming, programs, music etc..

 

I only have one question before I install kubuntu.
Are the hard drive formats the same? I mean, can A Linux OS read a NTFS formatted drive?? I'm a NEWB with Linux...

 

yeah it is no problem the disk can be formated by kubuntu I hope everything works out well for you if there is something I can help out with just ask....

 

The hd formats are not the same. Linux can mount and use MS Windows formated hd/partitions, but Windows needs a service like Samba within a network to write and read Linux fomatted hd/partitions.

 

What I'm going to be dealing with, is a brand new Western Digital HHD.
The one I have is going bad. (My own fault.)
This Gateway it will all be installed on, uses the NTFS format.
(Maybe thats just winblows, I don't know.)