Linux Users

[Guest Jimmy Jack]

Yep, just joined up. I searched the board for Linux discussion, but there was very little, the last discussion ending about a year ago. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only user of Linux here, so consider this a bit of a roll-call.

 

I've been running Linux for about a year, starting with Ubuntu Linux (installed Dapper Drake when it was still a beta and am now using DD and Edgy Eft, the new beta) and experimenting with DreamLinux, Mepis, Damn Small Linux and Debian Sarge.

 

I prefer Ubuntu. It basically strikes the perfect balance between usability, user-friendliness, customization, a great user community and range of available programs. After a 30 minute install and about an hour of tweaking using Synaptic (a whole thread can be devoted to Synaptic alone!) I had a rig that could run all the programs and files I used with Windows AND could even run some Windows .exe files. overall, a great operating systems.

 

And the best part? No more system rot, no more blue screen of death, generally no more Windows headaches.

 

Any preferred distros, fellow users or favorite open-source programs?

[MrRant 0]

Eh. I run Ubuntu on a server I have in my place but I don't really use it as a desktop replacement as there still is some more work to be done. I would agree that it is the most user friendly distro if one did decide to completely change over.

[Guest Princess Leena]

I only use Linux on my XBox. It works much like Windows. I have no complaints.

 

I don't see the purpose of using Linux on a PC, though, other than just being interested into learning and such. You can't run all programs. And with XP, you very rarely get errors or blue screens of death any longer.

[Mike 0]

I use a little of everything... Just to name a few good distros I use for various purposes, clients, etc are: RedHat (yes, its still free, provided you compile the source your self), Fedora Core 3-5, CentOS, ClarkConnect, E-Smith, Knoppix, BackTrack, Cluster Knoppix, i give up there are too many... Haven’t given ubunto a chance really, but I focus more on servers than client alternatives. Nice to see a good topic in this folder too!

[Slayer 0]

I used Gentoo for a time and liked it, but uninstalled it because I needed the HD space

[Guest Jimmy Jack]

I don't see the purpose of using Linux on a PC, though, other than just being interested into learning and such. You can't run all programs. And with XP, you very rarely get errors or blue screens of death any longer.

 

Honestly, I've never seen this issue people have been talking about with the "not able to run all programs" thing. While I obviously can't run all the windows .exe files, the Linux equivalents have been better in almost every case.

 

Amarok beats Winamp hands-down in my opinion, and this is from Winamp's biggest fanboy back in the day (yep, I even paid the fee to use it!).

 

Open Office won my heart when previous versions of PowerPoint wouldn't work with my buddy's new PowerPoint but my Open office Presentation files worked well and had no trouble reading all versions of Power Point.

 

With libdvdcss and the win32 codecs, I can play every file I could using XP.

 

With WINE, I can play games I couldn't run on XP that were of pre-XP origins.

 

Basically, I've been able to do more with Linux than I could with Windows. i understand and accept that my story isn't the only way things can turn out, but I really can't imagine going back to Windows for any reason. Especially now with it's authentication, DRM and other bullshit being built into it.

[Guest Jimmy Jack]

Demo of XGL/Compiz

 

Kickass eyecandy!

 

 

 

 

Vista can eat a fat one.

[Guest Danny Dubya v 2.0]

Started with Mandrake, then went to Gentoo for a while, then to Ubuntu. As Jimmy Jack said, their community is one of the better ones, even if they still have their share of gnutards.

 

(installed Dapper Drake when it was still a beta and am now using DD and Edgy Eft, the new beta)

Actually, Edgy is still in alpha. Not that I was able to tell at first, either, since Knot 3 is fairly stable.

 

Amarok beats Winamp hands-down in my opinion, and this is from Winamp's biggest fanboy back in the day (yep, I even paid the fee to use it!).

Is that an appropriate comparison? I do agree with you, but I'd think that Audacious, BMP, XMMS, etc. is to WinAMP as iTunes, Rhythmbox and other database-driven, similarly-interfaced players are to Amarok.

 

I wish I had the same luck with WINE. It's gotten really good since it entered beta a while back, but it still can't run Populous 3, SimTower and a few of the CDs that came with school books.

 

Compiz is really cool, although a bit distracting to me. Can't wait until it gets to the point of not freezing up X in the first 10-20 minutes.

[Guest Jimmy Jack]

Started with Mandrake, then went to Gentoo for a while, then to Ubuntu. As Jimmy Jack said, their community is one of the better ones, even if they still have their share of gnutards.

 

(installed Dapper Drake when it was still a beta and am now using DD and Edgy Eft, the new beta)

Actually, Edgy is still in alpha. Not that I was able to tell at first, either, since Knot 3 is fairly stable.

 

Amarok beats Winamp hands-down in my opinion, and this is from Winamp's biggest fanboy back in the day (yep, I even paid the fee to use it!).

Is that an appropriate comparison? I do agree with you, but I'd think that Audacious, BMP, XMMS, etc. is to WinAMP as iTunes, Rhythmbox and other database-driven, similarly-interfaced players are to Amarok.

 

I wish I had the same luck with WINE. It's gotten really good since it entered beta a while back, but it still can't run Populous 3, SimTower and a few of the CDs that came with school books.

 

Compiz is really cool, although a bit distracting to me. Can't wait until it gets to the point of not freezing up X in the first 10-20 minutes.

 

 

You've got a point. But either way, i'd still place Amarok at the top of the heap, no matter who's in the heap.

 

Yup, retard Freudian slip on my part, I meant Alpha. But sometimes I can't tell the difference. It's feeling as stable as Dapper did at the beta stage. Impressive. I'll probably do the dist-upgrade when it hits beta for real and hit the ground running.

 

I like Compiz, and when I upgrade my hardware, I'll actually be able to use it. Right now, I'm running 256 MB RAM with a 1GHz processor, a Honda Civic of the computer world. Actually, the piddly RAM and CPU is why I switched to Linux. Windows was just a bitch to run after a while and I just said "Fuck it". Of course, when i upgrade in a couple months, I'm going for at least 2-4 GB RAM and a heavy CPU as well. I figure Ubuntu should flow like greased lightning with some quality hardware.