Should I get Linux?

[Scrooge2]

A lot of people rave about being devout linux users and I always wondered what the hype was about. Now that I got a big hard drive should I install Linux with Windows? What have i got to gain?

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
A lot of people rave about being devout linux users and I always wondered what the hype was about. Now that I got a big hard drive should I install Linux with Windows? What have i got to gain?

As long as you keep it patched, you're less likely to get hacked. Primarily because Linux isn't as much of a target as microsoft.

There are a lot of differences between Linux and Windows, but most people notice small things like fonts and such... A lot of hardware manufacturers still don't make Linux drivers....it's something to think about.

 

[Scrooge2]

So what are the pros? Why do people use it? Stability? Customizable?

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
So what are the pros? Why do people use it? Stability? Customizable?

yes,
i run getoo at home for my fileserver, because it's simple, elegant and most of all secure. At work i have a high end dell server for tomcat (server side java) again set up to be fast and completly customizable.

Download yourself mandrake and play around with it, you might just like it. You can customize just about everything and dont have to worry about critical updates every 2 days. Oh yeah it's free

 

[Scarpozzi]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
So what are the pros? Why do people use it? Stability? Customizable?

I use Red Hat, Fedora, and SuSE (just bought by Novell). I don't have a windows box at home anymore, except my laptop. I recommend using Firefox as a web browser....just be sure you have plenty of memory and at least a Pentium III class system. 1 Ghz should be more than enough.....though you can run Linux on less, the latest kernels like having extra prcessor and memory to really make the gui smooth.

 

[Ranger X]

Another reason people use Linux is because it's free and some are open source.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: Ranger X
Another reason people use Linux is because it's free and some are open source.

We like FREE. At work, I run two FreeBSD server along with a SuSe workstation connected to our citrix box. Hopefully in a year or so we can install more Linux workstations.

 

[Scrooge2]

But a lot of my programs wont work for Linux though?

 

[notfred]

No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
But a lot of my programs wont work for Linux though?

none of the windows programs work by default
its a different operating system, a lot of your programs wouldnt work an a Mac either..

 

[So]

Download SuSe and try it...I'm going to as soon as I get my KVM switch (in a few hours)...

I have my CD ready...wooo!

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

hahah great way to put it

someone that doesnt deal / know unix will hardly appreciate all that linux has to offer

that being said:

 

[screw3d]

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

That's exactly what happened to me too

 

[Atomicus]

I don't like the penguin :frown:

 

[Ranger X]

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

I think that only applies if you have new hardware. Most of the older hardware will be recognized by the operating system. Lucikly for me, I have an old POS as my primary computer.

 

[edro]

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

Wow... that is perfect.

If you want to play with Linux without the commitment, download Knoppix. It is a bootable Linux distro that only uses RAM drives, so after you pull the CD out and reboot, your machine is exactly as it was.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: screw3d

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

That's exactly what happened to me too

Yeah, I admit that's what happened to me two yrs ago when I last installed linux dual boot. finally, I just wiped the linux parititon to give XP a little more breathing room.

 

[Scrooge2]

So who do you recommend me getting the penguin from?

 

[xcript]

Originally posted by: Atomicus
I don't like the penguin :frown:

 

[y2kc]

Originally posted by: notfred
No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

sadly I've come to the same conclusion. Linux was kind of fun a few years back when getting anything to work (hardware-wise) was a challenge and even after i got everything to work it was like "now what?". i guess i'm not geeky (or smart) enough to appreciate it.

 

[bleeb]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
So what are the pros? Why do people use it? Stability? Customizable?

 

[Ameesh]

Originally posted by: Scrooge2
A lot of people rave about being devout linux users and I always wondered what the hype was about. Now that I got a big hard drive should I install Linux with Windows? What have i got to gain?

defintely try it! its worth while just to see what all the hubub is about. then you can decide how cool or sh!tty it is.

 

[Scrooge2]

which version of linux should i get? suse, redhat? who else and what is the difference?

 

[So]

Im going to try SuSe, but Mandrake is supposed to be really easy to set up, so you might want to try that.

 

[Firus]

quote:
Originally posted by: notfred

No, you shouldn't get it. You'll install it. Realize that you can't get either your hardware or software to work in it, spend 4 hours trying to install something that should be simple like a video card driver or a mp3 player, and then you'll need to actually get something done in windows so you'll boot back into windows. You'll do this three or four more times while linux remains interesting, simply because of the challendge of ttrying to make it work right, but each time you'll need to use Word, or Photoshop, or play a game, or something and you'll be forced to reboot back into windows for actual functionality. After doing this for a few days, you'll jsut always boot into windows by default, and all linux will be doing is taking up space on your harddrive and forcing you to press an extra key to start windows every time you boot.

Haha, I love it!
That's what always happens to me, but I still love using linux when I'm bored and feel like challenging myself to try to get a game running smoothly under winex or something similar...Then I just end up playing it in windows