How many people solely use linux?

I'm curious as to how many people use linux only, without Windows or Mac OS X. Not looking to insult either of these operating systems, just curious as to how many people use linux only. As you can see by my signature, all three of my PCs use Ubuntu 10.04, Tablet, Laptop, Desktop. The desktop is mainly used by my mother and step father, who both, after a quick tour, love it and have experienced no problems at all with it. All of the hardware is well supported as well.

Just Curious

 

I don't. Sometimes I run MS Windows for gaming purposes, so I have on my home PC dualboot Fedora / Win.
Otherwise i use Linux for everything else - in home and in my office as well.

 

I use Linux but I also use OSX.
I think OSX's Aqua interface has better usability as any current Linux GUI.
There's more adherence to Fitts law with a global menu and programs just generally look and act in the same way and have more coherency which makes it easier to use and more productive than Linux.
Apple decides which way they want to go with OSX and developers quickly follow to make a much more tight and integrated system than current Linux distros.
But this is also OSX's biggest drawback and Linux's biggest advantage.
With OSX I have to do whatever Apple wants me to do with it.
Currently it fits most of my needs (music production and general productivity) better than Linux but it is still a very closed system.
With Linux I feel in control and I can change so many aspects of a system to really make it do whatever I want it to.
There are a few programs like Global Menu for Linux which mimic OSX's interface behavior but it's still kinda buggy and not all applications that I'm using are supported.
Most notably Firefox which is also a good example of developers not following the same interface guidelines which is exactly why Global Menu won't work with it.
Linux might work for most people but it lacks support in specialized fields like Audio/Video production.
My DSP's are not supported and many audio plugins and specialized tools won't work due to their proprietary nature.
I know that Linux has great programs like Ardour but it just doesn't nearly have the same feature set or quality than Pro Tools or Logic.
The choice and pure variety in programs that Linux offers is awesome though.
It's by far the most flexible OS and it's growing fast.
I just think it's still not mature enough for my needs but who knows, I might use it as my sole OS in the future.
As it stands right now, I'm only using Linux as a server OS and for programming.
I love that it's open source, that I can do what I want with it and the huge community behind Linux which is something that OSX will probably never achieve.

 

Dual boot here..Windows 7 and PeppermintOS is the linux distro i'm using ATM.

 

I have to be honest. I use Windows and Linux at work. At home I use Linux 99.9 percent of the time. PCLinuxOS is my choice by far.

 

Debian exclusively on everything I own, from my PCs to my media/web server, router, and phone.

 

What phone is that?

 

Nokia N900, technically a Debian derivative... but with some modifications it can run fully blown Debian.

 

Ah, that is what I thought. Greetings from a fellow N900 (and EasyDebian) user.

 

Nice! Cheers.

Feature set, OK, valid argument. Quality... I must disagree. I have a Focusrite Pro 26 i/o that I use with FFADO on a rt kernel with Ardour. It's the most rock solid multitracking setup I've ever used, and I'm a Digidesign certified engineer... not to mention the latency beats anything that isn't $10k more in hardware. It's got some rough edges in the usability and configuration... but that is no issue for me.

 

I opt for Linux when I can, but always need to have a VM or dual-boot at the ready for work.

 

With quality I didn't mean how stable or well programmed the software is but rather the sound quality of effects and plugins.
I never really liked native software effects no matter on which platform.
I've been using UAD-2 DSP's and effects for a while now and in my opinion no other software implementation comes close.
The compressor and eq in particular are much better sounding to me.
The reverb isn't fantastic but it's still better than other software effects that I've heard.
If I had the money though I would probably go for the real hardware and use Ardour but it's much too expensive for me at the moment.

Is the latency in Ardour lower than using Pro Tools or Logic?
Too be fair, it has been a long time since I've used Ardour and there have probably been lots of improvements that I don't know about.

 

I get ya, I was referring exactly to the stability and lack of crashing in Ardour... quality is totally subjective.

It depends, if you're using dedicated DSP cards that do realtime, like pro fools HD, then no. But those cost multiple thousands of dollars. For prosumer stuff, there isn't anything that comes even close to Ardour and FFADO in terms of latency, I can do ~4.5ms on as many tracks as I want on an i7 laptop. I spent $200 on the interface.

The hardest part for me was finding a stable kernel config for realtime, since I had to do it the hard way and build from scratch. But if you use something like Ubuntu studio it can be exceedingly easy. The problem with FFADO is that unless the manufacturer sends documentation and/or hardware to the project, it has to be reverse engineered. That's why support for MOTU gear sucks (not a friendly company) and Focusrite (sent multiple hardware units to the project) rocks. If I had more money to spend on my rig I'd probably step up to RME stuff, since they have the best Linux support of all.

 

ubuntu running on the HTC evo.

Install Ubuntu on HTC Evo 4G - Complete How to Guide | Gadgets DNA

lol

 

what about your toaster, 'groceries? sorry, couldn't help it.....

 

I personally don't exclusively. Although the majority of what I can do on Windows I can do on Linux, either natively or through Wine. I keep my Windows partition around since Dell doesn't offer the ability to apply BIOS updates from Linux and also for a few games and anything else that I can't manage to get working acceptably with Wine.

 

I know, I know, I had to say something didn't I, my washing machine runs debian and my dryer runs ubuntu... poor toaster is stupid tho, doesn't have any chips...

 

I used to run it solely; Ubuntu 9.10. But after starting an IT course at school I switched back to Windows, and will some day get around to building a Linux Box.

 

Actually it's pretty easy to flash a Dell BIOS in Linux, just search for it or hit my website (I wrote a short guide) but I can understand keeping a windows partition, since other firmware updates have windows-only installers, like optical drives.

 

can't live without my adobe software... literally, without them I'd have no income!

 

me too with my tax software, but those I am able to run in virtual machine thankfully.

 

I run XP on two computer's with the rest of my computer's running Ubuntu hacks such as Ultimate Edition(Ubuntu) and Super OS which is also Ubuntu.

I loaded Mint 9 LXDE to see what it was all about and it looked good!

 

I've been running Linux exclusively at work for a number of years now. About 6 months back, I also finally gave up the home Windows Gaming PC and now have just the Linux box. I had no Windows on it at all until about a month ago, but did finally have to install Windows on a separate partition because of a new PC Game I wanted to play that crashed under WINE, so I dual boot when I feel like playing that game, everything else I do under Linux. Gaming seems to be the achilles heel for Linux; wine has made tremendous progress but Windows (and even Mac a little now) is still the dominant platform here.

I also have a laptop and a netbook (Samsung NC10), both running Linux.

This is all Fedora, btw. I do play with Ubuntu, Mint and other distros now and then, which are nice for their own reasons, but I've followed Fedora since the early days (back when it was still RedHat) and I just have grown a preference for it. One thing I really like is the upgrade process is more Ubuntu-like now; just run a script and jump to the next version. All of these machines were imaged as Fedora 11 at one point and have seamlessly auto-upgraded to 12 and now 13.

Oh, I also recently bought a TonidoPlug, which runs Ubuntu ARM. Nice little machine for $99, it's my file server now and I don't have to leave the (more power hungry) desktop running all the time.

 

Hmm, any link to that TonidoPlug?

 

TonidoPlug - Tiny, Low Power, Low Cost, Linux Home Server | Access your files, music and media from anywhere

Also:

PlugComputer Community
SheevaPlug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I bought the Tonido primarily because I wanted a plug computer and at the time they seemed to be hard to find everywhere else, and Tonido had the best price. It turns out the Tonido software itself is actually pretty good so I get good use out of that too.

 

Hmm, I'm going to take a look at that, looks very nice, thanks for sharing

 

Laptops I use run on Debian system since 2005. Basically everything works fine, but not perfect because problems like graphic card driver support. Though it can not be blamed on GNU/ Linux, somehow it is inconvenient e.g. 3d acceleration is required.

GNU/ Linux provides a set of tools that users can create powerful utilities for solving their problems. Hardware support for window is still better than GNU/ Linux IIRC. Both have their own advantages, but I still prefer GNU/ Linux (e.g. Debian) to Windows.

 

Actually, that's not true, depending on how you define 'hardware support', because:

• GNU/Linux supports more hardware out of the box than Windows ever has and ever will,
• GNU/Linux runs on dozens if not more architectures and types of hardware.
• Windows supports very little hardware on it's on with most of them being provided by third party drivers that need to be installed for hardware to function correctly.
• GNU/Linux scales better than Windows across super computers to legacy hardware and netbooks.

 

I don't dual-boot anymore. I do, however, use Windows in a VM (mostly for compatibility with Office users, since .docx/.xlsx/.pptx support in OpenOffice is rather buggy).

 

I love Ubuntu(and Linux Mint)! But I also like playing games(I need my fix ) and using Windows only software. If it could run Windows programs, I'd switch to Ubuntu.

 

Asus EEE PC 1201N used to run WIn7 when i got it. Then updated the Wireless and run ubuntu 10.4 till i noticed its way too slow on it (Ubuntu 9.10 runs great guess 10.4 is messed up). Looked around for different Linux Distro...

ended up with Mint which runs great so far.

My 8year old emachine runs Win7 my GF Lenovoruns Win7 her backup HP runs Win7.

I am with linux since about 3Years. and running strong and good till 10.4 came out.
Also use a Pogoplug for my external HDD here is a link to it:
Pogoplug

 

I run a Ubuntu 10.04 Linux VM to do what Linux is designed best to do: Running a server (I run a Python stack with Plone instances on it, no LAMPP crap here, thanks).

For every day uses, I stick with my heavily customized version of Windows (almost everything I use is third party/customized, down to the shell).

 

You could try Wine, I game every now and then using it and it works pretty well. There is also always a Windows VM, Virtualbox has 3D now.

Hmm, you could try disabling a few things to speed it up, Honestly Mint should be about the same speed as Ubuntu, it is Ubuntu after all.

How is LAMP(P) crap?
And why customize something that *clearly* doesn't like to be customized?

And in the end, it's not much different.

 

Although I have M$ installed on my laptop (dual boot with Mint 9), I boot it maybe twice a year for LAN parties when I don't have my desktop.

On my desktop, I usually run Windows, because Arch isn't up to full speed yet. And because I'm often gaming when I run the desktop.

 

I've been using Ubuntu until now. On monday I'm installing Debian squeeze.

 

To Thomas.....sorry only a short Thread Hijack i guess....

I tried a few thing but nothing worked...it got so bad that i had to reboot every 15min to get my Internet working again. its connected to wireless but i could not even get on my router.
So i decided to go with Mint and so far i like it\



But yeah Linux all the way for daily home use anyway. WIN7 on my old Laptop.....just in case..lol

 

Good luck

Though, in all honesty, Ubuntu and Mint have the same hardware support, I dunno what your issue was exactly. Maybe I can get an idea, what card do you have?

 

It was working alright until the last few updates. it was acting very slackish lately anyway. Wireless is a Atheros N before it was that Ralink 10.4 could not find in the ASUS EEE PC 1201N

I loved Ubunut the past 2 Years and then 10.4 came out and i was disappointed in it as far as performance and speed and issues all over. When i installed it i get to the end to reboot, the cd is ejected and then i get IO errors. I tried USB install every new install done the same. i had to install 9.10 the upgrade to 10.4 that was working ok also on start up ION Graphic errors....like i said if they come out with a new version i try it again for right now MINT is my choice

 

You know, I was wonder what was up with all those I/O errors. Gnome panels also get corrupted (white space/messed up icons) on some updates too. I may try mint as well, since I've been hearing good things about it. Or maybe plain Debian, since I don't like too much stuff installed - does anyone know if this is much harder to install and set up than Ubuntu?

 

Well, the install process is fairly similar to Ubuntu's Alternative Install CD, and there is no LiveCD.

 

If you like lean and mean you might like PCLinuxOS MiniMe Edition. It lets you start from an almost bare bones KDE desktop. You can then install whatever you want form Synaptic.

 

Oh....PCLOS fanboy eh?

 

I use Windoze quite a bit at home actually, probably at least 4h/day.

The interesting thing is, I have this sharp separation between work/leisure usage. At work (and also when I'm working at home), I use Linux virtually 100%. I might respond to a work-related email when on Windows sometimes but that's it. Otherwise, all work stuff is done on Linux.

At home, I use Windows more frequently than Linux. The two principal reasons are (i) Netflix Watch Instantly and (ii) DJing software (Native Instruments Traktor).

 

Me! Well, almost.

99% of what I do at home I do on my netbook running Ubuntu. Call me crazy, but my netbook running Ubuntu is my main computer.

The only time I use Windows at home is for games.

 

Haha, well, if it works for you.

 

New Linux user here

I only use Ubuntu 10.04 now and I love it.
I enjoy this so much more then Windows XP but when my new laptop comes I'll be dual booting Ubuntu and Windows 7

 

So you did get it to work? congrats!

 

Unfortunately I did get it to work...

I say unfortunately because I feel like I never want to go back to Windows again.

 

Haha! I'm glad! That's awesome!

 

As I said in my other thread:

Ubuntu! Where have you been all my life!?!?!?!?!?

The first thing I plan on doing when my Envy 14 finally arrives, I'm going to partition the hard drive and dual boot it