Simple enough. I started on Windows and use Windows XP to manage my Windows 2000 and 2003 Servers. I have tried various flavors of Linux, Ubuntu 7, Fedora Core 7, Dream Linux, PC Linux 2007 but all seemed to be severely lacking in the area of keyboard shortcuts which I use heavily. I am always hitting the "Windows Flag" key and using the various shortcuts. I have nothing at all against linux. I have my wife using PC Linux 2007 on her laptop as I was tired of having issues with it. Since I installed linux not a problem one. I always see the comment about being able to "do stuff in linux that I can't do in windows" and wanted some examples. Thanks
What can Linux do that Windows cannot?!?!?
- Thread starter 2canSAM
- Start date
From my perspective, the command line in Linux is much more robust than the Windows command line.
I can run linux off a disk without installing it. Try that with Vista.
There's also software for Linux that isn't available for Windows, or course that goes the other way also.
There's also software for Linux that isn't available for Windows, or course that goes the other way also.
Nothinman
Elite Member
- Sep 14, 2001
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[*]Install directly from the Internet from a business card sized CD: http://www.debian.org/CD/netinst/ .
[*]Use redundant levels of software RAID, even Vista Ultimate only does span and RAID0 AFAIK
[*]Not lock you into one vendor, if you don't like what Novell's doing use RH/FC, if you don't like what RH/FC's doing use Ubuntu, etc.
[*]Let you talk directly to the developers of the software you're using for free and even participate in the development if you'd like.
[*]Run single apps seamlessly across the network. I know Citrix can do this and I think TS can now, but I'm not sure about the licensing.
[*]Use all 4G of your memory with a 32-bit kernel. Although it's probably a better idea to just run a 64-bit kernel even if you want a 32-bit userland.
[*]Use a 100% 32-bit userland with a 64-bit kernel.
[*]Compress and encrypt your memory image when you hibernate. Not only does compressing the image save you disk space it makes suspending/resuming faster since there's less I/O.
[*]Run with a root filesystem mounted via the network.
[*]Update all of the installed software from a single source. Of course, once you go outside of the distro's repository this might not stay true.
[*]Set a block device read-only so that you can do forensics and be 100% sure that no writes will happen to the device.
[*]Setup Mandatory Access Controls via SELinux to enforce extreme levels of security.
I'm sure I could come up with more given enough time.
[*]Use redundant levels of software RAID, even Vista Ultimate only does span and RAID0 AFAIK
[*]Not lock you into one vendor, if you don't like what Novell's doing use RH/FC, if you don't like what RH/FC's doing use Ubuntu, etc.
[*]Let you talk directly to the developers of the software you're using for free and even participate in the development if you'd like.
[*]Run single apps seamlessly across the network. I know Citrix can do this and I think TS can now, but I'm not sure about the licensing.
[*]Use all 4G of your memory with a 32-bit kernel. Although it's probably a better idea to just run a 64-bit kernel even if you want a 32-bit userland.
[*]Use a 100% 32-bit userland with a 64-bit kernel.
[*]Compress and encrypt your memory image when you hibernate. Not only does compressing the image save you disk space it makes suspending/resuming faster since there's less I/O.
[*]Run with a root filesystem mounted via the network.
[*]Update all of the installed software from a single source. Of course, once you go outside of the distro's repository this might not stay true.
[*]Set a block device read-only so that you can do forensics and be 100% sure that no writes will happen to the device.
[*]Setup Mandatory Access Controls via SELinux to enforce extreme levels of security.
I'm sure I could come up with more given enough time.
Nothinman
Elite Member
- Sep 14, 2001
- 30,672
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No but it's extremely useful for recovery, testing hardware, etc. But it's off-topic because XP and Vista can both be run directly from disc, just grab a copy of BartPE and make your own. Although I don't think they have an option similar to Knoppix's 'toram' which will copy the disc to a ramdisk and then run from there.
Sure, just about every WM lets you setup keyboard shortcuts to run whatever you want. In Gnome the run dialog's default is Alt+F2.
Personally I just run one terminal window and then run screen inside of that so a new shell is is just 'Ctrl+a,c' which is 3 keys exactly. =)
Nothinman,
Great replies. You know I did have to use a knoppix live cd to recover my outlook files once when my XP box crashed. Time to spend some more time on the nix side.
Great replies. You know I did have to use a knoppix live cd to recover my outlook files once when my XP box crashed. Time to spend some more time on the nix side.
nerp
Diamond Member
- Dec 31, 2005
- 9,867
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Linux still lacks in the quality of audio/music/video production and editing as well as gaming, due to a lack of stable drivers for specialized devices and quality apps to use them. Many high end professional products cost big bucks and there is really no suitable linux alternative.
I don't think one OS should ever be considered the "end all" solution.
I don't think one OS should ever be considered the "end all" solution.
Check out this thread, you can create a shortcut for this with two keys in Ubuntu
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=79560
While Linux may not have as much professional software, I think they do have more free stuff in those areas.
AnonymouseUser
Diamond Member
- May 14, 2003
- 9,943
- 107
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Damn Small Linux will do that too. I've even booted DSL from a flash drive. You can install to the hard drive too if you wanted, but while it isn't exactly practical to use as a main OS, it can be used as a portable OS on nearly any computer (you can save files to the flash drive and even install extra programs from the 'net).
There are a number of full-featured Linux distros now that have the flash drive option as well.
Linux provides the power user with versatility and customization that's unavailable anywhere else.
Plus you can't beat free.
Plus you can't beat free.
take a snapshot of my filesystem and mount that filesystem wherever I want
I'll use our file server for some examples:
create a file share that redirects to a different folder based on the username of the person connecting
hide files and folders that a user can not read
send deleted files to a recycle bin (remember I'm talking about a file server here)
run a script when connecting to a file share
run a script when disconnecting from a file share
This is just the examples I can immediately think up about our file server. As Nothinman said, I could think of more, but I could go on and on and on so I'll stop here. Also, these are things that are not _possible_ to do on Windows; I can think of a ton of things that I can do for free on linux that I would have to purchase additional software to do on Windows, or can only be done on the server editions of Windows.
And then of course there is:
view the source code for my OS and programs
modify the source code
burn a cd of it and give it to all my friends
install it as many times as I want and not have to track a single installation key
not have to worry about losing my media, I can just re-download it
I'll use our file server for some examples:
create a file share that redirects to a different folder based on the username of the person connecting
hide files and folders that a user can not read
send deleted files to a recycle bin (remember I'm talking about a file server here)
run a script when connecting to a file share
run a script when disconnecting from a file share
This is just the examples I can immediately think up about our file server. As Nothinman said, I could think of more, but I could go on and on and on so I'll stop here. Also, these are things that are not _possible_ to do on Windows; I can think of a ton of things that I can do for free on linux that I would have to purchase additional software to do on Windows, or can only be done on the server editions of Windows.
And then of course there is:
view the source code for my OS and programs
modify the source code
burn a cd of it and give it to all my friends
install it as many times as I want and not have to track a single installation key
not have to worry about losing my media, I can just re-download it
Everyone has different computing needs, so the answer will vary by user. For ME, the main thing is that Linux can do ALMOST everything I need, but for FREE. I cannot afford to upgrade my Windows OS right now (I'm at Win2k still) so Linux allows me to have a modern OS that performs better, is more customizable and is much prettier to use than Win2k, that does 95% of what I need it to do. I basically just boot into Win2k when I have to do my finances or if I need to back up a DVD (Linux can do this, but is much more limited). And I could cut out the finances part, but converting from MS Money to an open source financial package is very time-consuming (manually entering and defining transactions) and I just haven't had time to do it yet. When I do get this accomplished, then the only thing I will need Windows for is backing up DVDs. Fortunately, I don't buy many DVDs (none for myself or my wife, only for our 3 year old), so it's not often I have to back one up.
The one thing I can think of related to the topic is: easily install and try tons of software that I never have to pay for. Usually in Windows, the good software is almost always shareware (sure, there are lots of freeware gems out there too), but in Linux nearly ALL the software is free by design and you don't ever have to worry about crippled features when the shareware time limit runs out. And through Synaptic, install/uninstall is a snap.
In summary, the one thing that Linux can do that Windows cannot is supply me with a satisfying computing experience at no cost.
The one thing I can think of related to the topic is: easily install and try tons of software that I never have to pay for. Usually in Windows, the good software is almost always shareware (sure, there are lots of freeware gems out there too), but in Linux nearly ALL the software is free by design and you don't ever have to worry about crippled features when the shareware time limit runs out. And through Synaptic, install/uninstall is a snap.
In summary, the one thing that Linux can do that Windows cannot is supply me with a satisfying computing experience at no cost.
I will have to disagree. I find that the best software on Windows is often open source software. For instance, best pdf printer: pdfcreator, best ftp client: filezilla, best web browser: firefox, best web server: Apache, best ftp server: filezilla server, best extraction tool: 7-zip, best media player: vlc. I could go on and on. If I need to find a new program to meet a need, I look to open source before proprietary, irregardless of cost.
Less specifically than the huge list presented by Nothinman, I think it's rather convenient to just type two commands to update every piece of software on my computer(save for proprietary stuff, which I don't really need much of).
Office package, web browser, news reader, media player, file compression tools, etc, all with two commands, and with a good connection it takes all of a few minutes even if all of them needs an update.
Substitute two commands for pressing a few buttons if you prefer the GUI
Office package, web browser, news reader, media player, file compression tools, etc, all with two commands, and with a good connection it takes all of a few minutes even if all of them needs an update.
Substitute two commands for pressing a few buttons if you prefer the GUI
imported_falacy
Member
- Aug 4, 2007
- 38
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I miss a few things when using XP rather than KDE, such as...
1. MULTIPLE DESKTOPS!!
Man, is it ever so much more organised to have multiple desktops. This is especially true in how KDE allows people to customize each desktop.
2. CUSTOMIZATION!!
Sure, I use a custom uxtheme.dll, but hands down KDE is much more customizable than XP - and way nicer to look than Vista....
3. A useful command line.
I'm old. I had a great time with my Commodore 64. I like bash scripting.
4. Mounting files as file systems
Windows uses pagefile.sys in this way, but as far as I know you can't create a file and use it as file system in Windows like you can do in Linux. This a great way to make a portable personal file system that you can also encrypt up the wazoo if you felt like it. Heck, the unix-like file system is actually one of my favorite parts of Linux - it's so versitile! Symbolic links are great too.
Other than those things, Windows XP is just as good for everyday usage as Linux, while at the same time XP is better for gaming and hardware compatibility. Vista is a waste of time and I personally find the UI ugly, akward, and counter productive in compairison to OS/2 Warp through Windows XP or any linux 2D GIU - you know, just like the Word 2007 UI that I refuse to ever use...
1. MULTIPLE DESKTOPS!!
Man, is it ever so much more organised to have multiple desktops. This is especially true in how KDE allows people to customize each desktop.
2. CUSTOMIZATION!!
Sure, I use a custom uxtheme.dll, but hands down KDE is much more customizable than XP - and way nicer to look than Vista....
3. A useful command line.
I'm old. I had a great time with my Commodore 64. I like bash scripting.
4. Mounting files as file systems
Windows uses pagefile.sys in this way, but as far as I know you can't create a file and use it as file system in Windows like you can do in Linux. This a great way to make a portable personal file system that you can also encrypt up the wazoo if you felt like it. Heck, the unix-like file system is actually one of my favorite parts of Linux - it's so versitile! Symbolic links are great too.
Other than those things, Windows XP is just as good for everyday usage as Linux, while at the same time XP is better for gaming and hardware compatibility. Vista is a waste of time and I personally find the UI ugly, akward, and counter productive in compairison to OS/2 Warp through Windows XP or any linux 2D GIU - you know, just like the Word 2007 UI that I refuse to ever use...
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