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What is the point of Linux? (Not a flame)

jediphx

jediphx

Platinum Member
Ok I have used windows most of my life mainly because like most when I was young I played games and most games were windows. I have dabbled with mac os and have tried to dabble with linux. I have tried so many linux distros I have lost count. There always seems to be some hardware that won't work and it takes insanely to much time to either get it working or fail to do so. I really want to try new things but I really have a hard time understanding the purpose of linux
 
From someone whose gotten his ass kicked by Linux a few times, I can still see the point. The software is open, and your free to modify it as you like. It costs nothing, and it's kind of fun trying to get everything setup right. You get a real sense of accomplishment(or at least I would if I got wireless and 56k working 😛) getting it setup nice.

Now dual booting I don't see much point in, unless you're using Windows for training wheels, or just want to dabble in Linux. Windows does just about everything you need including games, so I don't see much point in having 2 O/Ss for daily use, but who am I to say? I currently have XP and Vista installed, and have Ubuntu and Win2kpro running in VMs, so take my opinion for what it's worth 😛
 
Last time I saw a Linux-based setup run was around two years ago. I'm curious, what is the current status of Linux and gaming ? By that I mean is it now possible to run recent D3D/OGL games ? I think I've played Quake 3 Arena back then, or was it on GNOME ... can't remember.
 
I like the idea of linux... being free and all, plus I just like messing with things and getting them working. I dual boot linux and ms only because I "need" Photoshop. I have tried using The Gimp, but I just cant seem to do as well with it as I can with PS. If I could get PS working satisfactorily on linux, the MS partition would be off of here in a flash.

I used to run Suse, but right now I'm running Ubuntu.
 
There always seems to be some hardware that won't work and it takes insanely to much time to either get it working or fail to do so.
Click to expand...

It only takes longer because you don't know the system already, it's definitely a barrier to entry that sucks but it's no one's fault but the hardware manufacturer's. I can have a completely up to date Debian installation running in the time it takes to download and unpack the packages + say 10 minutes to jump through the installer.

I really want to try new things but I really have a hard time understanding the purpose of linux
Click to expand...

The point is freedom. If you don't mind paying to rent software that you have no real control over then Windows or OS X is probably just fine for you.
 
Every single operating system out there has a target audience. You'd be suprised as to how many folks out there use something different then Windows. It just doesn't fit everyone's needs and requirements. Myself, I'm a LAMP (Linux Apache MySQL PHP) developer. I create web app/sites using free yet very efficient technologies. There is also more functionality offered using LAMP then using the web technologies offered by Microsoft. If you are curious to know why, it's because Microsoft sells closed-source software (ie, the developers at Microsoft are the only ones who can add said functionality into the package). While using open source software (ie, Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), a community of individuals develop the software. What's nice about this is people from all across the world help develop the functionality. So instead of maybe 1000-2000 developers working on a particular item (ie, Asp.NET (I'm just taking numbers out of the blue, it's probably not very accurate)), there might be 10x that amount, give or take, which are working on building functionality in PHP and it's extensions.

I also dual boot my system. I rarely play games, I primarily use my computers for work. Could I live solely off Linux. I don't see why not. Then again, I do have years of experiencing with it. For someone new to Linux, it can be a daunting challenge. But I'm sure when you first touched Windows it felt just as intimidating.

If it helps, I have over 15 years of using Windows, and over 10 using Linux. And I'd take using Linux over Windows any day. Why? Because I like the feeling that I'm actually in control over my own computer. I know exactly what's going on. With Windows, I always feel there is a lack of control. Plus, with the history of Microsoft, I tend not to really trust them all that much.
 
I tried linux a few times - red hat versions - back when you had to manually setup the installation to get it just right upon bootup. I think it was about 6-8 years ago... back when I was in my "tinkering" and beta testing Microsoft OS's. I figured since I had a removable drive setup, I'd give Linux a try.... plus [from what I recall], the Linux version of Q3A had the option to have multi-colored letters in your name... and Q3A just seem to run a lot smoother under Linux. 🙂

Installing Linux is one of those things I'd suggest to someone who either likes to tinker or wants to try something new and [as a previous poster stated] have a sense of accomplishment when you get everything setup.

Dunno..it's just one of those things you have to try to see if you'll like it or not. 🙂
 
stability, speed, convenience, very modifiable and more than anything open source , all of which windows isnt
 
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