Topic: Switch to Linux? (Read 4843 times)

HeavyJay · « **on:** August 24, 2002, 05:52:12 AM »

I currently use XP, and it's never crashed. But I'm looking to expand my horizons a bit and learn some new shit in the process. I'd like to build a new box and put Linux on it, but I'm not sure if it's worth my time and energy. Any suggestions?

Demosthenes · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2002, 11:06:43 AM »

I've used Red Hat, and found it a bit buggy and kinda flaky (in particular with non-standard chipsets... if you have kind of an oddball motherboard, like I do, it can be very very difficult to find drivers that work).

I've done a lot of research into the subject, and it's looking like Mandrake is going to be my next Linux purchase.

And yes, I said "purchase".

While it is free to download and install, and perfectly legal to do so, I usually recommend to people to just go out and buy it. There are several reasons for this.

It's still pretty cheap (only around $70 at the most, compared with $300 and up for most Windows systems)
You get documentation without having to download and print it
You get support, and access to the support areas of the vendor's site
It's quicker to buy it than it is to spend several hours downloading the entire kernel and burning it to CD
It usually comes with extras that you can't get for free (like the full version of StarOffice, which came with Red Hat, and I believe comes with Mandrake as well)
It helps support the open source community, which encourages development in that area[/list:u]

LFD · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2002, 02:08:22 PM »

and the good lord said, let there be Linux and there was....and all was good.

hob goblin · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2002, 02:33:42 PM »

i'd stick with XP if you want to play games alot and things like that

linux was designed for a stable OS, and has dramatically been used for servers...

if you just want to jam on warcraft 3 all day, don't install linux...

but then again, if you have linux, you're leet...so, go ahead.

HeavyJay · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2002, 07:59:40 PM »

I'm not really into gaming, so perhaps Linux is for me. I'm going to look into it. Thanks for the advice.

Fade^C · « **Reply #5 on:** June 18, 2003, 09:25:47 AM »

I've been using Linux for many years now. I have to say that Mandrake is the best for newbies and Debian, is the Linux system for pros.

I use Debian, and I love it.
I've used Mandrake a few times and find that it was simple to set up and everything else. Perfect for a n00b.

have fun

copperrein · « **Reply #6 on:** June 19, 2003, 05:23:12 AM »

I use mandrake 9, which so far has blown me away. Yes, mandrake is the plush distro...but it is still linux, and you still have a terminal and a kernel which is essentialy the Red Hat kernel.

I don't think of linux at 'leet'. If anything, since it's free (which is why I started using it) it's like a wellfare OS. And it's not that easy to start out on, no matter what distro. This will pop up that will require alot of googling and asking around. The first days I had linux I had to learn alot of crap to get my modem to work....but once I figured out 'set serial'...and I heard that annoying modem noise...life was grand.

Until it came time to get my scanner running....

Fade^C · « **Reply #7 on:** June 20, 2003, 06:56:01 AM »

Linux is definitly not for you if you want ease in setting it up. I am sure that Windows was the same way to all of you, when you first learned it. You have to forget everything you know in a sense, and start over. I've been using linux for about 8 years now and I cam remember feeling ecstatic that I set my sound card up (I was 14 years old lol).

It's hard for many n00bs lately to switch to linux, because many of the guru's out there flame you for asking a question. I had to learn on my own, and it was a long process.

It all comes down to what you prefer. Unix/Linux is an awesome OS, and I am happy about not having to deal with viruses, crashes and being able to control every aspect of my computer. Windows is a good OS too, good for games and has pretty good software out for it, and hell it is easy to install and set up with all the drivers.

I can't promise you you'll have a good time setting up and learning Linux at first, but I can promise (if you put in the effort, and lots of time) once you start to learn and love Linux to its potential you'll be very happy with it.

Go make the decision for yourself, its all about what you feel like doing and using.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #8 on:** June 20, 2003, 09:41:25 AM »

... and I can say the opposite on that one.

I've found Linux to be simple to set up... no harder than Windows 98 or Windows 2000 anyway. And I've had great responses from Linux gurus when I've asked for help.

It's just different. Not harder. Different.

Hell, in my opinion, because it doesn't hide information from you the way Windows does, in some ways setting up and using Linux is easier. It's more intuitive. It's not designed to do EVERYTHING for the user right off the bat -- which is one of the things that, in my opinion anyway, makes Windows so frustrating for so many people -- so Linux doesn't fight with you over doing simple tasks.

*shrugs*

Anonymous · « **Reply #9 on:** June 20, 2003, 10:44:30 AM »

When I setup Linux, it was fairly easy to install. I didn't use it simply because I didn't have enough time to during that period of time to learn something new. I wouldn't mind picking it up now, perhaps start out by reading a Linux for Dummies type of book, and then work from there.

Each side has its pros and cons, Windows for office use, Linux for good security when setup right. Depends on what you're looking for in your system.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #10 on:** June 20, 2003, 11:26:32 AM »

Quote from: Chris

Windows for office use

You don't mean like "Word" and "Excel" when you say office, do you? Because OpenOffice can pretty easily take the place of MS Office with little or no learning curve at all. Hell, it can do things that MS Office can't (like export directly to PDFs, for one)....

OpenOffice comes pre-loaded on the new Mandrake distro, and there's a Windows version that's free to download as well.

Hell, on my desktop PC at home, after reformatting and reinstalling Windows recently, I haven't even bothered to reinstall MS Office on it.... I installed the new OpenOffice instead, since it already does everything I need, and it isn't as bloated, resource intensive, buggy, or insecure.

Min · « **Reply #11 on:** June 20, 2003, 11:46:48 AM »

That's interesting Demo. If you create a document using that, can you open it in Word?

Anonymous · « **Reply #12 on:** June 20, 2003, 11:47:35 AM »

Nope, not just for Word, Excell and whatever other pieces of crap come with the Office Suite. I meant that most applications out there today are intended for the Windows platform. If done correctly, I think Windows is a pretty user friendly platform, once you get rid of the useless crap. Afterall, in an office, it's the administrator's job to tweak all of that crap. The average user shouldn't have to deal with the crap.

Anonymous · « **Reply #13 on:** June 20, 2003, 11:49:01 AM »

Quote from: Detta

That's interesting Demo. If you create a document using that, can you open it in Word?

I'm pretty sure it works both ways. From Word to Open Office, and from Open Office to Word. I'll give it a few moths before Microsoft finds a way to screw with OpenOffice, just like how AOL messed with Trillian when Trillian made a client to be used on the AIM network.

Demosthenes · « **Reply #14 on:** June 20, 2003, 12:22:06 PM »

Yup. Word documents open in OpenOffice and using OpenOffice you can save to Word .DOC format without any problems at all, from what I've been doing with it. Same with Excel.

I've been using OpenOffice for a few months now, and so far I like it so much that I only use MS Office products at work anymore.

The only time I ever open Word or Excel at home is to check formatting to make sure my documents look okay... which they usually do. Bullets come across funny in documents going from OpenOffice to Word sometimes, but there are ways around that, too.

The nice thing about it is that the OpenOffice Text Writer is pretty much a Word clone... if you know one, you know the other. Almost everything works the same way, and you can even make your toolbars the same. You can tweak it however you like. Same with the spreadsheet program.

revmoo · « **Reply #15 on:** June 22, 2003, 01:20:53 AM »

meh...

umm, openoffice and word and such are pretty much inter-operable, though on complicated docs, openoffice can trip up on some stuffs.

anymoo, everyone seems to want to use mandrake......Here's my reccomendation. Install slackware. It is hard to use, makes no sense to noobs, and will drive you nuts.

Then, switch to redhat. I found it to be the best way to learn the fundamentals, and if you can get through a slackware install, you can get through anything.

/incoherent ramblings

HeavyJay · « **Reply #16 on:** June 23, 2003, 09:11:38 AM »

I'm going to install Mandrake on an old Doze box of mine. I've got to add a new drive to it first, cos the total available drive space is 2.2GB.

Does anybody know if GAIM and/or any IRC apps come pre-loaded with the newest distro of Mandrake? If the latter isn't available, I suppose I could always just use BitchX..

Demosthenes · « **Reply #17 on:** June 23, 2003, 10:19:10 AM »

Quote from: HeavyJay

I'm going to install Mandrake on an old Doze box of mine. I've got to add a new drive to it first, cos the total available drive space is 2.2GB.

Does anybody know if GAIM and/or any IRC apps come pre-loaded with the newest distro of Mandrake? If the latter isn't available, I suppose I could always just use BitchX..

Yup. Both GAIM and at least one IRC client are on the new Mandrake, and both of them work great.

HeavyJay · « **Reply #18 on:** June 23, 2003, 11:21:14 AM »

Hawt damn. Now I can use /me commands and not feel stupid when they don't work

rjah · « **Reply #19 on:** June 24, 2003, 03:59:56 PM »

I have a question about linux vs Windows.. (damn bad topic to start on as a forum noob)

I already have a windows gaming box, but I want to start sharing dvd's with friends. We all own craploads of them, and have a good diversity between us, so I think it would be cool to just share everyone's copies with the rest fo the gang (its like 6 people). This brought me to the conclusion of setting up virtual drives with the images of the dvds on my hdd. I wanted to make a new PC, so this is just a damn good excuse. I will be using alcohol 120% for the copies (unless somone knows better software). Now which OS would suit me better for this? The computer, including all hdds will be just for virtual drives filled with dvd images. I have never used linux before, but I am not a strong windows fan, so I thought maybe I should try out linux. Would linux (something like mandrake or another prebake i can buy) be better suited for this task, or does it not matter at all?

I would also like minimal space consumed by the OS so that I may have more room for dvd images. But I am unsure what a linux install takes for space. Any thoughts/opinions?

btw I like your forums, they have some really awesome information in them.

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