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newbie wants to leave windows

N

Novercalis

Senior member
alright, im a total newbie when it comes to linux.

beside being an OS, what is good about linux?
is it newbie friendly?
does it benefit for video editing ppl?
whats the best linux program OS (if there is such a thing)

pls direct me to a guide that talks about what linux is for me to understand.
since im currently about to build a new rig, I might as well, if it benefits me, go with a new OS and get away from windows.
Espically after the news of VISTA and DRM.. until someone hacks OSX for the "mactels" few yrs down the road, I might want to give Linux a try.

Atleast reply to this question:

Dont go Linux if you.....(finish the sentence, be nice dont be a jerk and finish the setence with a stupid line such as "are gay", etc... I know its tempting)
 
newbie friendly means different things to different people. try the ubuntu live cd to get an idea of what's ubuntu is like: (http://us.releases.ubuntu.com/releases/5.10/)

not one to video edit, but if you are married to a particular software package, i'm not so sure you'll be happy.

don't go to linux if you expect all your favorite windows programs to work in linux. there will no doubt be equally capable replacements, but they will be different.

don't go to linux if you have play a heaping helping of the latest games. some are ported, some aren't. nvidia drivers rock, ati drivers aren't all they should be.
 
Perhaps you should specify why you want to leave windows and then we could better answer whether linux is going to make you happier...

I would say straight off the bat - if you have trouble with managing your hardware in windows - you absolutely do not want Linux. If you want to play the latest and greatest games as soon as they come out (or indeed within 6 months to 3 years of coming out) then absolutely not Linux.

If you are going to be running a web server or only office apps/internet Linux may be worth a shot.

List what you use your PC for and we can give a better answer
 
Originally posted by: Seeruk

If you are going to be running a web server or only office apps/internet Linux may be worth a shot.

List what you use your PC for and we can give a better answer
Click to expand...

Thats very genralized. I do much more then that with my linux box. You started off true, but that statement is very false. You can do graphic design, play games (sure not brand new releases, but most popular games within 2-3 months of release) office work, internet, cd/dvd stuff. music/vid editing, etc. Its a great progamming enviroment, great server enviroment, blah blah blah (insert some zealot stuff here) blah blah blah ( use the $ say bad stuff here) blah blah blah (something about mac) blah blah.

Anyways, you are right, we need to know why he wants to switch and what he currently does with windows.
 
Originally posted by: sourceninja
Originally posted by: Seeruk

If you are going to be running a web server or only office apps/internet Linux may be worth a shot.

List what you use your PC for and we can give a better answer
Click to expand...

Thats very genralized. I do much more then that with my linux box. You started off true, but that statement is very false. You can do graphic design, play games (sure not brand new releases, but most popular games within 2-3 months of release) office work, internet, cd/dvd stuff. music/vid editing, etc. Its a great progamming enviroment, great server enviroment, blah blah blah (insert some zealot stuff here) blah blah blah ( use the $ say bad stuff here) blah blah blah (something about mac) blah blah.

Anyways, you are right, we need to know why he wants to switch and what he currently does with windows.
Click to expand...


lol
 
I've always had a soft spot for Linux, even back during the days when Corel was backing it with a retail version of their own. I've tried it a couple times with a few differnt distros - Mandrake, Redhat, Linspire etc, but always seem to run into a hardware of software compatability issue that, frankly, was a huge pain to solve, and in many cases was never solved.

It's probably the anti MS politics that always motivates me to take another gander at the latest distro. Ubuntu is a good case in point - it recently reviewed an award from tuxie magazine, where they stated, "Linux for the desktop has truly arrived"

Now, I know from personal experience that they've saying that every year since 1998 (maybe even before). I was curious about Ubuntu though, and after posing some specific driver, software and hardware questions as part of a proposed build I recieved the frank but honest answers (the community there is awesome btw) that I would run into some potentially big problems along the way. The next linux project I undertake will definitely involve doing my homework first.
 
Try here. Should give you an idea about what distribution may be the right one for you.

Just a gee whiz kinda thing, Linux is just the kernel(core of the OS). While the distributions(redhat,ubuntu, gentoo, etc...) are basically program packages added over the kernel to suite different tastes. Particularly the two, possibly three things, that seperate Linux Distributions are the Window Manager(how your desktop looks, more or less), the package manager type (how you get new programs installed/uninstalled in a sane method), and if the distribution is geared towards being more graphical driven or command line driven.

Typically people find the window and package manager they like the best, for GUI builds. Once you get into it, all the command line procedures are nearly identical, with exceptions for different programs running in the place of others per distribution. IE Nano vs VI, which both are text editors the command sequences are just a little different. Each has a pros and cons but one distribution may favor Nano over Vi for whatever reason.

In all honesty once you get used to the Linux'isms you can configure the machines to your suited tastes, while using the distribution defaults to get you started in the direction you want to go.
 
Yea, I built my system with linux in mind. So all my hardware works, everything is just peachy. But if you just take any old PC and stick linux on it, well who knows what your getting into. Thats why I tell people to try out a liveCD first, or use virtual PC or vmware. Then if they really like linux, learn it in your spare time and switch when you get your next PC. But do your homework and dont buy broadcom wireless cards, ati video cards, and all the other problem type hardware.

Here's my box
AMD64 3500
1 gig ram
dfi nforce4 ultra board
nvidia 6800gt 256meg
a couple sata 300 gig drives
and a nec dvd burner
dell 2001fp monitor

Lan just works, video just works, everything just works. I'm currently looking into wifi and I've found a few cards with native linux drivers. I'll be picking one up soon. I'm positive it will just work.
So when you do take the step, give it a fair chance. Taking any old box and then complaining your hardware doesn't work isn't fair. Its like trying to install windows on a mac.

Sorry, just my personal rant for the day. You wouldn't buy a unsupported for windows, dont buy unsupported hardware for linux.

Anyways, back on topic. Did you give the liveCD a try and see what happened?
 
Originally posted by: Novercalis
btw the link didnt work.
Click to expand...
Don't go Linux if you didn't immediately recognise that a closed-paranthesis mark in the URL was the reason you got a 404.
 
I went trough many Linux distros and liked Gentoo the best because it taught me the most. I sold my PC and bought a mac Powerbook. It works really well. Mac OSX is based on BSD which is a very secure flavour of Unix. All the Linux commands are the same as Unix when you get behing the GUI.

Hope this helps, Olias
 
Originally posted by: sourceninja
Originally posted by: Seeruk

If you are going to be running a web server or only office apps/internet Linux may be worth a shot.

List what you use your PC for and we can give a better answer
Click to expand...

Thats very genralized. I do much more then that with my linux box. You started off true, but that statement is very false. You can do graphic design, play games (sure not brand new releases, but most popular games within 2-3 months of release) office work, internet, cd/dvd stuff. music/vid editing, etc. Its a great progamming enviroment, great server enviroment, blah blah blah (insert some zealot stuff here) blah blah blah ( use the $ say bad stuff here) blah blah blah (something about mac) blah blah.

Anyways, you are right, we need to know why he wants to switch and what he currently does with windows.
Click to expand...

Ummm yah it is going to be generalized with general info to go off...?

I find it's always best to start off with the 'if you wanna play the latest games' or are addicted to bleeding edge hardware like me (the smell of fresh silicon makes me hard!) then Linux is not the right choice.

To give you an example - on my machine I have no support for the pre-n nic even though its now almost 12 months old, ATI support still sucks, I have to recompile a kernel (not for the newbie!) to get support for more than 900mb RAM, all sorts of tinkering required for Linux to believe that YES I REALLY DO WANT TO USE THE AUDIGY AND NOT THE MOBO SOUND CARD!!, and even my 'supported WG311v2 wireless card is a bitch to configure and will randomly stop working altogether.

BUT if hardware is not so important, i.e. you use applications/servers and not so much games/multimedia then you will probably find a nice troublefree home in Linux.

Hardware is the single most important question with Linux, is it really free if you had to (like me) buy a £60 wireless nic to replace the one that worked just fine in Windows, and a new TV card for £40 (to replace the one that just worked in Windows)??? I believe the sum total of those 2 is almost double the price of a WinXP Pro Licence!!

So to sum up (and I really do not want to sound negative) if your PC usage is heavily dependent on newish/cutting edge hardware then you may wish not waste weeks of your life getting thouroughly p*ssed off. Absolutley look at Linux using a Live CD if you think your requirements are somewhat less. Graphic Design, Office Applications, internet, Email, web servers etc all have great and free software in Linux world.

DO NOT USE VMWARE to assess linux as it will not use your hardware. Is uses pseudo-generic devices that will leave you none the wiser as to the level of support for your hardware.

 
Originally posted by: Seeruk
Ummm yah it is going to be generalized with general info to go off...?

I find it's always best to start off with the 'if you wanna play the latest games' or are addicted to bleeding edge hardware like me (the smell of fresh silicon makes me hard!) then Linux is not the right choice.

To give you an example - on my machine I have no support for the pre-n nic even though its now almost 12 months old, ATI support still sucks, I have to recompile a kernel (not for the newbie!) to get support for more than 900mb RAM, all sorts of tinkering required for Linux to believe that YES I REALLY DO WANT TO USE THE AUDIGY AND NOT THE MOBO SOUND CARD!!, and even my 'supported WG311v2 wireless card is a bitch to configure and will randomly stop working altogether.

BUT if hardware is not so important, i.e. you use applications/servers and not so much games/multimedia then you will probably find a nice troublefree home in Linux.

Hardware is the single most important question with Linux, is it really free if you had to (like me) buy a £60 wireless nic to replace the one that worked just fine in Windows, and a new TV card for £40 (to replace the one that just worked in Windows)??? I believe the sum total of those 2 is almost double the price of a WinXP Pro Licence!!

So to sum up (and I really do not want to sound negative) if your PC usage is heavily dependent on newish/cutting edge hardware then you may wish not waste weeks of your life getting thouroughly p*ssed off. Absolutley look at Linux using a Live CD if you think your requirements are somewhat less. Graphic Design, Office Applications, internet, Email, web servers etc all have great and free software in Linux world.

DO NOT USE VMWARE to assess linux as it will not use your hardware. Is uses pseudo-generic devices that will leave you none the wiser as to the level of support for your hardware.
Click to expand...

ATI needs to work on their drivers. Blame them.

Last time I checked 802.11n isn't a standard. Each device may be working off of various different versions of the proposed standard. Why support something that isn't final?

Add support for the other TV tuner card, or buy a tv.
 
Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Originally posted by: Seeruk
Ummm yah it is going to be generalized with general info to go off...?

I find it's always best to start off with the 'if you wanna play the latest games' or are addicted to bleeding edge hardware like me (the smell of fresh silicon makes me hard!) then Linux is not the right choice.

To give you an example - on my machine I have no support for the pre-n nic even though its now almost 12 months old, ATI support still sucks, I have to recompile a kernel (not for the newbie!) to get support for more than 900mb RAM, all sorts of tinkering required for Linux to believe that YES I REALLY DO WANT TO USE THE AUDIGY AND NOT THE MOBO SOUND CARD!!, and even my 'supported WG311v2 wireless card is a bitch to configure and will randomly stop working altogether.

BUT if hardware is not so important, i.e. you use applications/servers and not so much games/multimedia then you will probably find a nice troublefree home in Linux.

Hardware is the single most important question with Linux, is it really free if you had to (like me) buy a £60 wireless nic to replace the one that worked just fine in Windows, and a new TV card for £40 (to replace the one that just worked in Windows)??? I believe the sum total of those 2 is almost double the price of a WinXP Pro Licence!!

So to sum up (and I really do not want to sound negative) if your PC usage is heavily dependent on newish/cutting edge hardware then you may wish not waste weeks of your life getting thouroughly p*ssed off. Absolutley look at Linux using a Live CD if you think your requirements are somewhat less. Graphic Design, Office Applications, internet, Email, web servers etc all have great and free software in Linux world.

DO NOT USE VMWARE to assess linux as it will not use your hardware. Is uses pseudo-generic devices that will leave you none the wiser as to the level of support for your hardware.
Click to expand...

ATI needs to work on their drivers. Blame them.

Last time I checked 802.11n isn't a standard. Each device may be working off of various different versions of the proposed standard. Why support something that isn't final?

Add support for the other TV tuner card, or buy a tv.
Click to expand...

I feel no need to 'blame' anyone.

It's just facts that should be taken into account. 802.11n is provided by just about every manufacturer of wireless cards, at the end of the day its only an algorithm to get multiple signals working together at each end (at the router end its done by Linux already!).

The fact that ~1million of the nics have been sold worldwide should probably make it a good thing to support.

Buy a TV? what kind of crap answer is that 😛

Seriously - stop being so defensive - Linux has faults! Deal with it 🙂
 
Originally posted by: Seeruk
I feel no need to 'blame' anyone.
Click to expand...

ATI offers crap support for their cards under Linux, it's their fault. You say that Linux doesn't support ATI well, but that's just not true.

It's just facts that should be taken into account. 802.11n is provided by just about every manufacturer of wireless cards, at the end of the day its only an algorithm to get multiple signals working together at each end (at the router end its done by Linux already!).

The fact that ~1million of the nics have been sold worldwide should probably make it a good thing to support.
Click to expand...

Then port those drivers over to the kernel proper. It shouldn't be difficult.

Wait for 802.11n to become a standard, things will be easier then.


Buy a TV? what kind of crap answer is that 😛

Seriously - stop being so defensive - Linux has faults! Deal with it 🙂
Click to expand...

I do deal with it, but these aren't Linux's faults.
 
seems people are being very black and white here, why not setup a dual boot? then you get the best of both worlds...if you already own windows then its not gonna cost you can anything extra lol

you an do it at least two ways, such as:
1. split up a partition on a single hard drive, install each os on one of the 2 halves
2. buy/use a second hard drive, put one OS on each drive, be sure to install windows on the first drive(master), linux on the second(slave)

im currently doing number 2, this also provides you with a OS your familiar with so you dont lose productivity. i use my linux setup all the time and switch to windows to run games, certain apps, and anything else "when i have to" 😛 its fun to switch over and practice and play and learn on linux in you free time. as for a distro, i would strongly suggest Ubuntu, its based off another distrobution called Debian and is probably one of the most "recommended" distros as of late. ive gone from knowing very little about linux to really starting to get a good feel for the setup in just a couple weeks. yes there is a learning curve but what doesnt have one when your just getting started?!?

hope this helps

 
I don't think that "what is linux?" and "I want to leave windows" are a good combination. Linux is best experienced on a spare machine until you have gained enough expertise to decide whether or not you want to use it as your main desktop. Not that that's linux specific, a cold switch of anything so fundamental as an operating system is probably not a good idea.
 
I give up lol


Anyway Kamper is spot on... a dual boot is a good option (I have about 6 boots at home!) to try em all and see 🙂
 
Linux is good for several reasons:

1. Open-Source
2. Secure
3. Highly Customizable

Don't get Linux if you don't want to learn how to compile packages, put a lot of effort in to making things work, or wants straigh-out-of-the-box compatibility.

If you want to try Linux, go with Ubuntu.
 
Linux is a very powerful tool...but...it is "NOT" newbie friendly. The GUI just isn't a user friendly for newbies. That is not to say that you should not experiment with it and get on the learning curve. There is a lot of help available for new Linux user. Make sure you fully understand what it is that you intend to use your PC for before making this decision. If you are a big gamer...Linux may not be the way to go. You may even want to consider a dual boot option having both XP and Linux available.
 
Originally posted by: michealo
before you switch to linux, you have to ask yourself "why do i want to leave windows?"

the "cool factor" for going linux is gone
Click to expand...

I think one of the main draws would be once you learn the platform, you only have the cost applications. Opposed to the licensing scheme you get involved with while using Microsoft products.

In the IT field I have yet to see a completely homogeneous environment. I see typically a heavier lean on MS products, but there will always be *nix flavors in the mix. That alone is a very viable resume enchancing subject. It's worth your time to learn other platforms, just like in a sales related job it might behoove you to learn other languages.

There are plenty of practical uses for learning outside the Windows world. For me it goes well beyond just home use, as my current job requires the use of both Linux and Windows knowledge.

As for Seeruk, the two issues you brought up are definately issues that the end user really shouldn't have to deal with. Though at least in Ubuntu, you can use synaptic to grab a i686 kernel, which will download and configure even down to being the default grub boot option with a simple click. The defaults on the Audigy are with the digital out, and it's only a check box to hit to use the analog out. Using the gui alsaconfig it's really a trivial process. Granted both of these are issues that could be handled, as far as the i686 kernel is concerned, I'm certain they do the i386 kernel for broader compatibility reasons.

The wifi support from developers has seemingly always been poor for Linux. Though again reiterating previous statements, that is a developer issue. The Linux kernel isn't responsible for writting drivers for all hardware, but maintaining the packages for drivers to work within the kernel space. Or so at least that is how I see it. Beyond that, the distributions have to work out the kinks of how their images work out of the box.
 
I agree with you entirely on all points TGS 😉

Sound card problems are a little more complex than that in Ubuntu but some other distros handle it much better.

All I am trying to do is make sure he is aware of the problems. If he is moving because he can't set up component X in windows, then its likely to be even more 'complex' in Linux and that he should research his hardware 1st.
 
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