I am Asking this because I have seemed to outgrow most games and am looking for somthing more out of Computers, I have Windows 98,Win 2k pro, Win 2k advanced server, and curently using Windows XP pro, was thinking of going back to 2K pro scince I dont realy need all the Fluf that Xp has and will be working with Auto cad, but would like another operating System to mess around with and learn.
Can Some One tell me the Advantage of Linux over Windows
- Thread starter wickedone
- Start date
K thanks Nothiman thats is a nice stament I just hope I dont get to disgusted leaning a new operating system again, first Pc I had had a 5 1/2 floppy no HD and I forgot what distso of DOS , The only thing I now about lLinux is that it dosn"t suport new hardware and that I do like upgrading when I have the funds to but seems that wont hapen for a while now
This is really a loaded question. But, and i'm no expert on Linux either (not like Nothinman, or n0cmonkey)....but I do use linux regularly, so I can list some of the advantages:
1. Completely Customizable. You name it, you can do it. IE, OPEN SOURCE
2. More stable, and more secure. Dire Winnt admins always argue against the security part (using a "correctly administered w2k box" as their golden mantra) but the fact is, Linux comes from a Unix core, and Unix was built as a multi-user system from the start. And this goes for a web server too. Unless someone is able to gain root access, there's not a whole lot a malicious hacker can do on a Linux box.
3. It's free
4. A plethora of daemons that you can run.
5. Free + you can use it as an NT Server Box w/ Samba
But, where Linux has always lacked is Desktop Use. That's been coming around for a while, but the fact remains if you use a ton of business apps, or play games a lot, Windows is sstill the way to go. Linux has emulators (Wine, Win4Lin).....and while they do work, they're emulations, so they're slower. BTW.....vmware works on linux too.
The reason I learned Linux wasn't because I wanted to use it. IT's because I wanted to learn it, and apply it in my development. I've already created a few windows apps with both MySQL and Postgres running on Linux. And although the speed was slower, the customer really benefited from using Linux because they saved a hefty 5 figures in not having to buy MSSQL.
As for me, I use VC++, VB, and Photoshop a ton, and I hate Gimp. So, until there's a photoshop for Linux, I'll always have a Windows Box. Development wise, I just don't know enough to develop in Linux yet (but I'm learning).
So, to not answer your question
There's plenty of ways you can say Linux is better then Windows...but the better way to look at it IMO is situation based. What do I need it for? Can I use a Linux Box w/ a particular sserver to instead of a windows box to run a similar function (ie Web Server, Email Server, FTP server). Is cost an issue? Is stability an issue?If you look around at all the inexpensive hosts on the internet, there's a reason they use Linux. It's not just because it's free. It's because of it's stability.
BTW---Install it, and begin learning. The first two months will be hell, but as soon as you learn your way around a command terminal you'll be on your way. If you want a challenge, but one that will reward you in the long run, install it without the GUI, and learn to use VIM.
Nothinman
Elite Member
- Sep 14, 2001
- 30,672
- 0
- 0
You can't make blanket statements like that. Linux had SATA drivers before Windows, not that the hardware was available to the general public though heh. Same thing with the Opteron. Linux already has a port that basically works and Win64 for Opteron is just going into beta, as soon as I can find a dual Opteron board with an AGP slot I know I'll be upgrading =)
You do have to be carefull what you buy because not as much hardware is supported, but I wouldn't buy anything as soon as it's released anyway because there's always problems with the newest sh!t. Just do some research before you buy and you'll be fine. If you have the patience and the desire to learn you'll be fine, but if you don't care to learn how things work you'll just end up getting frustrated.
You do have to be carefull what you buy because not as much hardware is supported, but I wouldn't buy anything as soon as it's released anyway because there's always problems with the newest sh!t. Just do some research before you buy and you'll be fine. If you have the patience and the desire to learn you'll be fine, but if you don't care to learn how things work you'll just end up getting frustrated.
My reasons:
It has powerfull kernel and is very customizable. I don't need to worry about such small things like how to reduce some system service priority.
I can do everything from CLI, so I can connect from the other end of world to my home box and download something, or shutdown or just whatever.
It has some good programs I can't find for Win, like mplayer.
But yes with GUI it got little mess... multiple graphical toolkits which aren't compatible in any way (look, feel, api) being "all evil roots" imho.
You should try and decide yourself, just don't give up in first 3-4 hours and you'll be fine.
It has powerfull kernel and is very customizable. I don't need to worry about such small things like how to reduce some system service priority.
I can do everything from CLI, so I can connect from the other end of world to my home box and download something, or shutdown or just whatever.
It has some good programs I can't find for Win, like mplayer.
But yes with GUI it got little mess... multiple graphical toolkits which aren't compatible in any way (look, feel, api) being "all evil roots" imho.
You should try and decide yourself, just don't give up in first 3-4 hours and you'll be fine.
Definitely a loaded question... I would definitely agree with Nothinman's first post - you can by and large do what you want, it just takes some learning. The great thing about unix in general is that the more you learn, the more competent, efficient, flexible, powerful, etc, you become. It rewards you for learning. Windows, however, just seems more and more limiting, as you learn more. It does not reward you nearly as much. On unix you can watch a newbie do a few things, then watch a pro do those same few things, and chances are, they'll do them quite differently - but in windows, you always click on those desktop icons, or hunt through the start menu. No flexibility, no rewards for learning.
I could go on for days, and I expect drag to post something that does go on for days (), but those are the main differences I see.
I could go on for days, and I expect drag to post something that does go on for days (
), but those are the main differences I see.free
easier to configure and work with for lots of things => no crappy windows registry to deal with
great command line - command line definitally has its place in A LOT of things, way better than GUI for tons of things ( not to say that GUI isn't good too though )
great hardware support, everytyhing I've used has worked perfectly, where-as in windows its always, get teh latest drivers, bla bla bla... etc.
easier to configure and work with for lots of things => no crappy windows registry to deal with
great command line - command line definitally has its place in A LOT of things, way better than GUI for tons of things ( not to say that GUI isn't good too though )
great hardware support, everytyhing I've used has worked perfectly, where-as in windows its always, get teh latest drivers, bla bla bla... etc.
For me personally, one word is enough.
Freedom.
No EULA's to read through to make sure you don't do anything illegal without even knowing it.
No activation.
No serial numbers.
I can do whatever I want with it, want eyecandy? Grab the newest KDE and turn on all the bells and whistels. Want speed? Grab one of the boxes.
Tons and tons of good and free software.
And at work, I can't begin to tell you how much it does for my productivity compared to Windows, once you become somewhat "fluent" with *NIX, you'll love it.
Freedom.
No EULA's to read through to make sure you don't do anything illegal without even knowing it.
No activation.
No serial numbers.
I can do whatever I want with it, want eyecandy? Grab the newest KDE and turn on all the bells and whistels. Want speed? Grab one of the boxes.
Tons and tons of good and free software.
And at work, I can't begin to tell you how much it does for my productivity compared to Windows, once you become somewhat "fluent" with *NIX, you'll love it.
It doesn't hurt that by using samba on linux for file servers and domain controllers (Win2k domain) I have saved my company an astonishing amount of licensing cash.
Wow I should Of stayed up a littel latter last Night some very good post. You all covered what I was asking execently. One thing I was not tring to ask what is a a Better OS that realy is a loaded question like many stated, was wanting now the adavantages it offers. Linux Is Free hard to beat that and It says a lot for it, But there will be some things Windows can do better and some things Linux can do better like some said. Every one seemed to cover what I was looking for. after I finish with my Taxes today I will try dowloading a ISO distro of It, partition my drives and reformat for WIn2k and Linux dual Boot. Was Nice to here that Linux suports Sata Drives I was very Impressed with the new Raptor Drive reviews and the new Operton looks like it will have a lot to offer, only have a P4 1.8 ( willamet core ) on a Asus P4T with 512 meg of Rambus, right now. If I can manage to work enogh Overtime I might have enough to Build a new system in a few months that will show a big prefomance gain. In the mean time I can learn Linux some, and Frag On Win 2k when I get frustated with Linux wich I am sure I will for awhile. Then I will have a Linux only box down the road when I get use to it. Thanks again for all the input.
) on a Asus P4T with 512 meg of Rambus, right now. If I can manage to work enogh Overtime I might have enough to Build a new system in a few months that will show a big prefomance gain. In the mean time I can learn Linux some, and Frag On Win 2k when I get frustated with Linux wich I am sure I will for awhile. Then I will have a Linux only box down the road when I get use to it. Thanks again for all the input.If you like fragging, Quake, RTCW, and the Unreal games work on Linux (I actually get a few more fps on my linux install than Win2k):evil:
Nothinman
Elite Member
- Sep 14, 2001
- 30,672
- 0
- 0
I play Q3 in Linux almost daily and have played RTCW and UT2K3 in Linux, they all run as good or better than they do in Windows.
I wasn't impressed, to me SATA is attempting to fix the symptoms of IDE (the current IDE drives lack disconnect, so instead of adding that we'll just make it so you can only put one drive per wire) and not the real problems. I have 1 IDE drive in my machine because they're so cheap, but all my main drives are SCSI 160. It would be nice if they would just start making cheap, desktop level SCSI drives so we can ditch IDE.
I doubt you'll get a big performance gain. Maybe in some games, but day to day use is hardly CPU bound. The bottleneck almost everything I use my PC for turns out to be disk speed, no matter how fast your hard disk is it's still too slow.
I wasn't impressed, to me SATA is attempting to fix the symptoms of IDE (the current IDE drives lack disconnect, so instead of adding that we'll just make it so you can only put one drive per wire) and not the real problems. I have 1 IDE drive in my machine because they're so cheap, but all my main drives are SCSI 160. It would be nice if they would just start making cheap, desktop level SCSI drives so we can ditch IDE.
I doubt you'll get a big performance gain. Maybe in some games, but day to day use is hardly CPU bound. The bottleneck almost everything I use my PC for turns out to be disk speed, no matter how fast your hard disk is it's still too slow.
True performance may not be a real big difrence. Never had a SCSI drive do to cost, might see if I can work a SCSI drive in the new system but will probly be short funds I seem to spend the extra $ on video Cards darn things cost almost as much as a new top of the line CPU. Another thing that seem's to be a bottel neck is the PCI bus, there is supose to be a new PCI bus in the works that may show a true perfomance gain but like all hardware will have to see what happens after it is released, same with all the new bus speeds coming out just read a review on the new Centerwood board Asus is coming out with, looks impressive but agin not out to the public yet werer the real testing happens as far as I am concerned ( that is were al the issues come up from conflicts from othere hardware and software come out).
I still need to build a new system though my son totaly fried his PC it seems that I gave him when I built this one about 3 years ago. Promised him to give him this box once I was abel to build another one.
I still need to build a new system though my son totaly fried his PC it seems that I gave him when I built this one about 3 years ago. Promised him to give him this box once I was abel to build another one.
Don?t have to deal with annoying licensing scheme.
Very little update/patches needed to be done compare to Windows.
Do you like to learn new things? Do you have a use for Linux? If the answer to either of these questions is no, you should rethink learning it.
Yes I like learning new things that are worth while that is one of the things that is drawing me to linux. Do I have a need for it cant say yet I wont now till I use it for sopme time and learn how to use it to a certain degree.
Linux makes one hell of a server.
Back when I was a Mac-head, I had a Linux box running CUPS (Greatest collection of printer drivers on the planet, most are Windows-quality and there are a lot of depreciated drivers included that you can't get on WinXP), Ghostscript, and atalk. Upshot being that my PowerMac saw two LaserWriters on the network - one was a LaserJet 1100 and the other an Epson Stylus Photo EX.
No amount of money will make WinXP do that.
Back when I was a Mac-head, I had a Linux box running CUPS (Greatest collection of printer drivers on the planet, most are Windows-quality and there are a lot of depreciated drivers included that you can't get on WinXP), Ghostscript, and atalk. Upshot being that my PowerMac saw two LaserWriters on the network - one was a LaserJet 1100 and the other an Epson Stylus Photo EX.
No amount of money will make WinXP do that.
I'm going to chuck in my 2p's worth here
I'm a Windows Head. I'm not embarassed of the fact- Windows does what I want it to do, with admittedly sometimes a little fuss. I actually played with Mandrake 9.0 a while ago, and while I found it was okay (much better than what I've seen before), it still lacked the "completeness" that XP has shown me (waits for the flames to start).
I do enjoy learning, believe me, but I don't enjoy spending four hours messing around with a PCI 56k modem, trying to get it to be picked up by Linux, and then tearing my hair out when it dials using one massively complicated dialer, but not another, much simpler one. This is the kind of thing that has kept me with Windows, not to mention games and compatability.
Yeah, OpenOffice is good, but it's no MS Office yet (ducks quickly). Yeah I can play Q3 on Linux, but I play Counter-Strike (btw, does that work on Linux now?) and some other games, most of which will never be available on Linux. I know Wine is pretty good, but the only things I could get it to run were Notepad and Word97; nothing much else.
Lastly, I haven't found a Linux distro on the web who's Hardware Compatability Database lists my USB Allied Telesyn ADSL modem or my Radeon 9kPro as being supported (please correct me if I'm wrong here)- drivers are almost always, IMHO, out for Windows first.
Like someone else said, if you want to learn and think that Linux could be a good deal better than your current setup, then by all means give it a go. It might be a steep learning curve for you, it might not. Different people get on with it in different ways (and then you've got different distros to add more difference to that lol), but if it's only going to give you an alternative, not an improvement, then my opinion would be to stay with what you know.
Personally, I'd get an old, low-spec PC and stick Linux on it, have a play, get to know it, see if you like it. That's the only true acid test
Dopefiend
I'm a Windows Head. I'm not embarassed of the fact- Windows does what I want it to do, with admittedly sometimes a little fuss. I actually played with Mandrake 9.0 a while ago, and while I found it was okay (much better than what I've seen before), it still lacked the "completeness" that XP has shown me (waits for the flames to start).
I do enjoy learning, believe me, but I don't enjoy spending four hours messing around with a PCI 56k modem, trying to get it to be picked up by Linux, and then tearing my hair out when it dials using one massively complicated dialer, but not another, much simpler one. This is the kind of thing that has kept me with Windows, not to mention games and compatability.
Yeah, OpenOffice is good, but it's no MS Office yet (ducks quickly). Yeah I can play Q3 on Linux, but I play Counter-Strike (btw, does that work on Linux now?) and some other games, most of which will never be available on Linux. I know Wine is pretty good, but the only things I could get it to run were Notepad and Word97; nothing much else.
Lastly, I haven't found a Linux distro on the web who's Hardware Compatability Database lists my USB Allied Telesyn ADSL modem or my Radeon 9kPro as being supported (please correct me if I'm wrong here)- drivers are almost always, IMHO, out for Windows first.
Like someone else said, if you want to learn and think that Linux could be a good deal better than your current setup, then by all means give it a go. It might be a steep learning curve for you, it might not. Different people get on with it in different ways (and then you've got different distros to add more difference to that lol), but if it's only going to give you an alternative, not an improvement, then my opinion would be to stay with what you know.
Personally, I'd get an old, low-spec PC and stick Linux on it, have a play, get to know it, see if you like it. That's the only true acid test
Dopefiend
Very well said! I think that thats what most window users feel. It's not so much about willingness to learn new things, rather weighing in time spent and feedback. What many window users think is 'why invent the wheel again'? The answer is if you do spend hours with getting something very simpel going in linux (that is obvious in windows), later on when you get comfortable in linux, the feedback will be greater then you could imagine. its just a diffrent thing all together.Originally posted by: DopeFiend
I'm going to chuck in my 2p's worth here
I'm a Windows Head. I'm not embarassed of the fact- Windows does what I want it to do, with admittedly sometimes a little fuss. I actually played with Mandrake 9.0 a while ago, and while I found it was okay (much better than what I've seen before), it still lacked the "completeness" that XP has shown me (waits for the flames to start).
I do enjoy learning, believe me, but I don't enjoy spending four hours messing around with a PCI 56k modem, trying to get it to be picked up by Linux, and then tearing my hair out when it dials using one massively complicated dialer, but not another, much simpler one. This is the kind of thing that has kept me with Windows, not to mention games and compatability.
Yeah, OpenOffice is good, but it's no MS Office yet (ducks quickly). Yeah I can play Q3 on Linux, but I play Counter-Strike (btw, does that work on Linux now?) and some other games, most of which will never be available on Linux. I know Wine is pretty good, but the only things I could get it to run were Notepad and Word97; nothing much else.
Lastly, I haven't found a Linux distro on the web who's Hardware Compatability Database lists my USB Allied Telesyn ADSL modem or my Radeon 9kPro as being supported (please correct me if I'm wrong here)- drivers are almost always, IMHO, out for Windows first.
Like someone else said, if you want to learn and think that Linux could be a good deal better than your current setup, then by all means give it a go. It might be a steep learning curve for you, it might not. Different people get on with it in different ways (and then you've got different distros to add more difference to that lol), but if it's only going to give you an alternative, not an improvement, then my opinion would be to stay with what you know.
Personally, I'd get an old, low-spec PC and stick Linux on it, have a play, get to know it, see if you like it. That's the only true acid test
Dopefiend
Having said that i think that learning in windows is also rewarding it's just 'diffrent' type of learning from linux. *.nix follows logic, while as windows things are just like that, there is not necessarly a logical reason for it.
Originally posted by: HarryAngel
Very well said! I think that thats what most window users feel. It's not so much about willingness to learn new things, rather weighing in time spent and feedback. What many window users think is 'why invent the wheel again'? The answer is if you do spend hours with getting something very simpel going in linux (that is obvious in windows), later on when you get comfortable in linux, the feedback will be greater then you could imagine. its just a diffrent thing all together.Originally posted by: DopeFiend
I'm going to chuck in my 2p's worth here
I'm a Windows Head. I'm not embarassed of the fact- Windows does what I want it to do, with admittedly sometimes a little fuss. I actually played with Mandrake 9.0 a while ago, and while I found it was okay (much better than what I've seen before), it still lacked the "completeness" that XP has shown me (waits for the flames to start).
I do enjoy learning, believe me, but I don't enjoy spending four hours messing around with a PCI 56k modem, trying to get it to be picked up by Linux, and then tearing my hair out when it dials using one massively complicated dialer, but not another, much simpler one. This is the kind of thing that has kept me with Windows, not to mention games and compatability.
Yeah, OpenOffice is good, but it's no MS Office yet (ducks quickly). Yeah I can play Q3 on Linux, but I play Counter-Strike (btw, does that work on Linux now?) and some other games, most of which will never be available on Linux. I know Wine is pretty good, but the only things I could get it to run were Notepad and Word97; nothing much else.
Lastly, I haven't found a Linux distro on the web who's Hardware Compatability Database lists my USB Allied Telesyn ADSL modem or my Radeon 9kPro as being supported (please correct me if I'm wrong here)- drivers are almost always, IMHO, out for Windows first.
Like someone else said, if you want to learn and think that Linux could be a good deal better than your current setup, then by all means give it a go. It might be a steep learning curve for you, it might not. Different people get on with it in different ways (and then you've got different distros to add more difference to that lol), but if it's only going to give you an alternative, not an improvement, then my opinion would be to stay with what you know.
Personally, I'd get an old, low-spec PC and stick Linux on it, have a play, get to know it, see if you like it. That's the only true acid test
Dopefiend
Having said that i think that learning in windows is also rewarding it's just 'diffrent' type of learning from linux. *.nix follows logic, while as windows things are just like that, there is not necessarly a logical reason for it.
Remember that a lot of us that got started in Linux and other Unix-like systems enjoy the hacking around. No matter how much I bitch about this or that piece of software to Ctho9305 over AIM, I enjoy troubleshooting it, and messing with it, and whatever else I have to do to get the damn thing working. So I spent ~2 hours yesterday working on something that ended up not working. I'll get it working, probably in a better way next week when I should have time to work on it again, but I learned a few things. It was fun, even the frustrating parts. Some people aren't into that, I can't blame them.
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 23K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 19K
-
-
-
Intel processors crashing Unreal engine games (and others)- Started by BFG10K
- Replies: 2K
Facebook
Twitter