so i think i'm done with windows for personal computing (YA installed linux mint)

[smakme7757]

Ubuntu 12+ will allow you to enable FDE during the initial install, so no need to encrypt the Home folder if you do it this way. You will however be promted for the key during startup (as you would expect).

*Pics stolen from Google Images: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/11/privacy-ubuntu-1210-full-disk-encryption

As for me, I used Ubuntu throughout the current semester which is coming to an end due to us doing lots of work in Linux enviroments. Unfortunately I personally won't be able to make a 100% move over to Linux on my Desktop or Laptop purely because i really like the software i work with on Windows. That goes for my usual day to day software as well as development tools i use for my menial projects.

However, apart from running Microsoft Windows Server 2012 with the Hyper-V role I've moved nearly all my servers over to Debian Wheezy and Ubuntu Server from Server 2008 and 2012. I'm finding it to be very powerful as a server platform now that i'm getting the swing of things!

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ubuntu 12+ will allow you to enable FDE during the initial install, so no need to encrypt the Home folder if you do it this way. You will however be promted for the key during startup (as you would expect).

That's very nice. Do you have any idea when downstream distros (Mint) will get FDE too? I would prefer to use Mint, I don't particularly like Ubuntu's new GUI. But I def. need FDE in order to switch away from Windows.

Btw, this thread prompted me to install Linux Mint 14.1 64-bit Cinnamon onto a 32GB USB3.0 flash drive (in a computer with only USB2.0 ports), and it installed fine (thankfully, Mint's installer makes it easy, unlike Ubuntu), but I cannot seem to install Skype.

According to the software manager thing, there is a Skype package for Mint, but it's really some old 2.0 version of Skype.

I followed the instructions here:
http://www.tecmint.com/install-skype-4-1-in-ubuntu-xubuntu-linux-mint/

And all I get is a screen full of dependency errors.

 

[kmmatney]

I get frustrated when I have to start my XP computer at work. Soooooo slowwwwww. You could put a core i7 in that machine, and startup would still be slow because of the startup lag. I have to show up like half an hour early to login just so I can get all my stuff open by the time I start. Even then it takes me a good 45 minutes to have everything open. If it was Linux it would be like 5 minutes. Maybe 10 if all my passwords are expiring.

That doesn't seem right at all. I spend a lot of my time developing within Windows XP virtual machines, inside of Windows 8, on my work laptop. I have 2 x 256GB SSDs (17" Dell Ispiron Special Edition with Core i7). It typically takes about 6-7 seconds to the logon screen, and about 3 seconds after I type in the password before I can start doing work. I often have 2 or 3 of these open at once.

Anyways, how does Mint compare to Ubuntu. That's the last version of Linux I tried to use - but I gave up after trying to get a few drivers to work...

 

[StinkyPinky]

Surprised to see a few people mention Hyper-V. It's ok and a decent effort, but VMWare make better hypervisors.

 

[Doomer]

Nothing would make me happier than to see Linux become a viable alternative to Windows. I occasionally load it to see if there have been any improvements to USABILITY. while usability seems to be gradually improving, it's still far far from the point where the average user would feel comfortable. As for me, the occasional brick that always proves to be insurmountable is enough to keep me in the Windows camp.

Also, the Linux command line really sucks ass. Never mind understanding it, even if you're typing something from the web, incomprehensible gibberish will always lead to typos and frustration .

But still, I hope that someday Linux will arrive and MS will fade to oblivion. But until the Linux code monkeys come to understand that without USABILITY software is shit, it just ain't gonna happen.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I find Linux command line actually better than windows. In windows to get even remotely the functionality of Linux you need to install 3rd party add ons like powershell. In Linux, it's all built in. Though this is more relevant in the server side of things for automation, on the desktop you should never need the command line, which sadly lot of stuff still does, but it's gotten much better. Biggest thing for me is multi monitor support, it really needs to be improved. Part of this issue is the video card makers' fault for refusing to work with the linux devs though.

 

[smakme7757]

Surprised to see a few people mention Hyper-V. It's ok and a decent effort, but VMWare make better hypervisors.

That comes down to use case. At the moment for just running a VM on your PC VMWare is a better product due to native full screen support. As for hosting server enviroments with Windows Server or RedHat and other popular Linux server systems there really isn't that much of a difference from a performance standpoint.

One can argue all day over the centralised systems they each use, but i don't see vSphere (ESXi, Vcenter) as a clear cut winner anymore. Definately not after Hyper-V 3.0 has hit the streets. Maybe the vSphere suite edges out on large scale deployments, but VMware have definately lost a lot of the technological lead they had a few years ago.

 

[energee]

Also, the Linux command line really sucks ass. Never mind understanding it, even if you're typing something from the web, incomprehensible gibberish will always lead to typos and frustration.

What are you talking about? Even the Grub command line has superior completion and a richer set of features than Windows' "cmd.exe".

 

[smakme7757]

Nothing would make me happier than to see Linux become a viable alternative to Windows. I occasionally load it to see if there have been any improvements to USABILITY. while usability seems to be gradually improving, it's still far far from the point where the average user would feel comfortable. As for me, the occasional brick that always proves to be insurmountable is enough to keep me in the Windows camp.

Also, the Linux command line really sucks ass. Never mind understanding it, even if you're typing something from the web, incomprehensible gibberish will always lead to typos and frustration .

But still, I hope that someday Linux will arrive and MS will fade to oblivion. But until the Linux code monkeys come to understand that without USABILITY software is shit, it just ain't gonna happen.

Yea, i totally disagree with this.

Of course if you don't understand how the system is built up then you're not going to get far. But saying that the Linux command line "Sucks Ass" is just poor form.

It's extremely intuative when you get used to navigating the system.

For certain tasks the command line is king.

 

[lxskllr]

For certain tasks the command line is king.

It's also pretty much unnecessary. I can't think of anything I've done in the last month that **required** the terminal. I use it out of convenience. I think the last time it was required was when I hosed my system, and used testdisk to recover files. That's a cli only program, and it was over a year ago when I used it.

 

[smakme7757]

It's also pretty much unnecessary. I can't think of anything I've done in the last month that **required** the terminal. I use it out of convenience. I think the last time it was required was when I hosed my system, and used testdisk to recover files. That's a cli only program, and it was over a year ago when I used it.

If there is a GUI alternative available then it's usually easier, i don't disagree, but there are just some tasks where such software doesn't exist.

Usually doing these sorts of tasks through the GUI can take a lot of time. Where as a single command in the terminal can usually get the job done in a few minutes.

 

[lxskllr]

If there is a GUI alternative available then it's usually easier, i don't disagree, but there are just some tasks where such software doesn't exist.

Usually doing these sorts of tasks through the GUI can take a lot of time. Where as a single command in the terminal can usually get the job done in a few minutes.

I was just making the point that the terminal usually isn't necessary. A lot of people think GNU/Linux requires extensive keyboard use, and textbooks full of arcane commands. You /can/ do it like that, but the typical user could likely get by never using the terminal. Certainly that would be the case for Windows class tasks.

The terminal really isn't that scary though, and it allows everyone to be a "programmer". Instead of wishing someone would create something that would handle your micro-niche need, you can do it yourself with modest effort in the terminal.

 

[smakme7757]

I was just making the point that the terminal usually isn't necessary. A lot of people think GNU/Linux requires extensive keyboard use, and textbooks full of arcane commands. You /can/ do it like that, but the typical user could likely get by never using the terminal. Certainly that would be the case for Windows class tasks.

The terminal really isn't that scary though, and it allows everyone to be a "programmer". Instead of wishing someone would create something that would handle your micro-niche need, you can do it yourself with modest effort in the terminal.

By all means, most users wouldn't even need to touch it if they are using it for general use stuff.

I use it for administrative purposes so i see great gains from using. I just forgot for a second that we were discussing Linux as a consumer/workstation OS... never mind me.