How many people solely use linux?

I've been rockin' Linux (whatever the newest distro of Kubuntu is starting with Hardy Heron) as my sole OS on my laptop for about two years now and I have never seemed to regret it. It started when I realized that my Vista partition had managed to corrupt itself without me realizing it and then realizing that I hadn't used that partition in months!
Anyways, I'm on the lookout for a new laptop these days, anyone have any advice as to what I should get? I need a discrete GPU and while Nvidia is usually the default when it comes to Linux all this Optimus stuff has me worried. Is ATI drivers still as bad as they used to be in Linux?

 

I can't speak for everyone but I'm pretty sure they have improved a lot.

 

My experience with ATi drivers recently has been that they work well out of the Debian repo on a stock kernel, but trying to get them working with the latest kernel is always a serious hassle, building the drivers manually is extremely error prone. By contrast, the NVIDIA blob drivers seem to work or be patched by the time new kernels go stable, which isn't usually the case with ATi. The lack of NVIDIA Optimus support in their proprietary blob driver does prevent a lot of new laptops from being Linux friendly...

 

So just how bad is the Optimus unfriendliness? From my limited understanding it's a hardware problem that Nvidia can't write some sort of driver patch to fix. I would love to be able to get new hardware and still use some flavor of Linux while on the go.

 

I consolidated almost all of the info I could find in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/linux-compatibility-software/473915-no-support-nvidia-optimus-linux.html

Basically it would require re-engineering parts of the X server, but there has been talk of how to get around it. There are already mechanisms for switching first generation (hardware switch) switchable graphics and second generation (software/BIOS switchable) graphics, but Optimus is a bit of a different story since it shares components between integrated graphics and discrete graphics. If you use Linux on an Optimus system it will only be able to use the integrated graphics, as far as I know.

 

Ah, I figured as much, I think I actually came across your thread while google-ing the problem a bit back.

 

I have just made the switch. I'm running Ubuntu 10.10 b1. I've wanted to switch for a LONG time, and only just about 2 days ago I got fed up with Windows, so I downloaded me an ISO and here I am. I haven't touched Windows in 2 days so far, with even my phone being Android. Now being exclusive to Linux now, I'm going to have to learn some things..lol. I have a question though. (Also 10.10 is the smoothest Beta software I've ever seen... it rocks! Plus it looks great!)

Q: So I have a Netflix subscription and I've been reading up on the issue with Linux not being supported by Netflix's silverlight streaming client, even with Moonlight installed. So outside of running XP in a VM, how can I get access to my watch instantly? I'll make a VM if I have to, but is there any simpler way?

 

You could *try* to install WINE, install Windows Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Silverlight in WINE, and try it that way but I have no idea if it will work.

 

Interesting idea. I will try that... thanks!

EDIT: Nope, Silverlight requires more DX than Wine has access to.

EDIT 2: Ok, so I changed FF's user agent string to mimic Windows Vista and it goes right past the "browser incompatible" page and loads moonlight. But moonlight is a 3.0 client, and netflix requires a 4.0 client. I guess VM it is then.

 

This sentence in combination with the title question makes the poll pretty useless.
There is no correct answer if one uses Linux plus another OS that is neither Windows nor Mac OS.

 

I have solely used linux for a few years now, first 2 years of Ubuntu, then 2 years Arch. Running it on a Macbook Pro.

 

a VM would work. But would there be issues getting full screen, etc?

 

I use Windows for games only, Ubuntu for everything else.

 

Actually VirtualBox is pretty seamless in Full Screen mode. The one thing I feel is limiting me though is my video card on this machine is a GMA950. It works flawlessly with Windows as the sole OS, but on Ubuntu under VBox, it's pixelated, and jumpy. Oh well. Anyways, I think I'm just going to use "Watch Instantly" from my PS3 instead. I just ordered the disk a sec ago. I'm loving Ubuntu though.

 

Me too.

 

Exclusively Linux here and I have used Mandriva since 2001. Have been Linux-only at home since around 2005 (prior to that dual booting, with Windows usage gradually becoming less and less). I used to have to use it for work up until eighteen months ago at which point I started my own company. If I was going to start my own company I was definitely going to avoid Windows at all costs. I really, really hate having to use Windows now and it amuses me just how slow and annoying it is and that so many people put up with it.

I got talked in to doing a short job with an application that only runs on Windows just over a week ago, so I broke that rule on a one-off basis as it was only for a week and would pay for an ultra light laptop. It really goes against the grain to pay for a Microsoft licence, but although you can get some top end laptops from the boutique suppliers without an OS, no-one seems to do these lovely light, long life battery 13.3" screen laptops other than people like Tosh, Asus, Sony and the like - all of whom are too scared of Microsoft to refund the licence. Dell, to their great credit, will supply without Windows, but their offering in this type of laptop is lacking and, unbelievably, they charge more for a version without Windows.

I wrote to my MP to complain about this whole issue of Microsoft forcing manufacturers into only selling with Windows. It's staggering in this era of supposed regulations against anti-competition practices that Microsoft can still get away with this behaviour. Apparently the issue's been passed on to Vince Cable as he is secretary of state for business. I'll be chasing this up with him if there's no reply within a few weeks.

I've gone off topic a bit, sorry!

 

Obviously no idea whether you sorted this and I don't know where in the world you are, but Kobalt in the UK sell great lappies with nvidia GPUs in them. I ordered one and am waiting for delivery. Look in the Clevo part of the forum and in the FAQ there is a list of suppliers for their laptops. Many people will sell these without an OS .

Any queries, just ask.

 

using ubuntu 10.04 fulltime! i am going to use wine and playonlinux for games and other a bsolutley-can't live-without-windows-applications. however, i have been tempted to switch to kubuntu for sometime now

 

I use both Windows and Linux Mint. I have to use windows because of Onenote.

 

You may want to look into Xournal.

 

As of yesterday, I solely run Ubuntu 10.04. I've got another desktop, that within the next week or so, will be put to use as a Linux Distro Tester.

 

I'm trying to wean myself off of windows but it's proving to be a challenge. Until I can play all of my games in linux, I'll be keeping windows around (unfortunately ).

 

I was triple booting on my old laptop: Win 7 x64 Pro (full power stuff (64bit)), Win XP (old apps) and Wolvix 2 Beta 2 (Linux just for fun mostly and quick little os for just browsing).

I should be getting a new laptop soon though, which'll already be running Win7 x64 natively.. I'll probably add Wolvix and perhaps xp and maybe another bigger linux distro.

 

I haven't checked the Wolvix project in quite a while....think I'll mosey on over there......

 

Last time I visited this thread the answer was no, but at the moment I am windows free - openSUSE, Ubuntu/Kubuntu hybrid and Debian.

I suspect I'll be reinstalling Windows sometime soon though.

 

I went over there....someone needs to take Wolvix to the Veterinarix....

 

No Windows, Slackware64-current exclusively.

 

Why is that?

 

I always like to have at least one installation of both Windows and linux; usually I dual boot. There's always something that runs much better on one or the other.

 

I am Linux-only. Arch Linux is the distribution for me, as I am a bit of a control freak.

 

Same here actually, but I tend to use linux the majority of the time.

 

I run Linux-only on my secondary computer, but Windows-only on my primary computer (Thinkpad T500). I actually installed Ubuntu 10.04 instead of XP because Windows couldn't find the WiFi driver on that laptop, but Ubuntu had no problems. Just upgraded to 10.10 yesterday.

 

I just started messing with ubuntu again and realized there's 10.10. I'll probably keep it on my flash drive this time around though, it runs amazing on my main laptop compared to my old test system I had used for it.

I still like Windows more, personally >_>
But its good to be well rounded.

 

I have a buddy that only uses ubuntu ! he is quite possibly the smartest kid in the IST program.... i think that's saying something for Linux ?

 

Ubuntu is pretty bloated. Try some lighter distribution on your old machine! If you're already familiar with Ubuntu, Crunchbang or the LXDE variant of Mint might be good alternatives. But I have no experience with their current versions. Lubuntu is still too buggy imo.

btw: I have Debian with LXDE running fine on a 12 years old AMD K6/2 with 450MHz.

 

I've been thinking about giving Debian a try. I don't like the direction Ubuntu is heading.

 

And what stopped you from already doing tat?

 

Just too lazy to download it. But I'm also happy with Ubuntu 10.04. How many CD's do I need? I see there are 30 some CD images for Debian.

 

You need only one disc if you don't have a slow internet connection. If you want to use the stable branch either download the 1st regular CD [1] or just the netinstall CD [2].
The current testing branch [3] is in freeze state for some months now and already pretty stable (more than a usual Ubuntu release). So I'd suggest to already try that one unless you're planing to set up a server with it.

[1] Downloading Debian CD/DVD images via HTTP/FTP
[2] Debian -- Network install from a minimal CD
[3] Debian -- Debian-Installer

 

Any real practical reason to put Easy Debian on my N900 or is it just more or less one of those "because we can" things (like how it can also dual boot Android)

Latest release of Maemo 5 broke 2 programs I like

Shutter Widget & BlueMaemo cant get them to install now after I flashed to new firmware.

 

It's to run apps in a regular environment... but it can be slow. It's somewhere between "because we can" and practical for running full blown apps.

Dunno about BlueMaemo, maybe if there's a version in extras-devel it would work.

 

I use Linux full time.I only run Winders to keep it updated.

Mint 10 Julian fur me.

 

As of 2:23am today, I am officially running only Ubuntu 10.04!

 

I would love to use Linux solely, but it's not possible for me. Most of our machines at work have Windows (there may be a couple of iMacs + OS X). At home, both my desktop + laptop have Windows 7. I like playing Civ4 (+BTS), and I have some music programs (Cakewalk, Finale). However, I may change my setup of my laptop into dual-boot or Linux-only. My distro of choice is Slackware -- it was the first distro I ever used (Slackware 2.x, ~1995 ).

 

I think you just showed your age.

 

The computer I learned BASIC 101 on printed to a paper terminal

 

My first computer experiences were somewhat later. I grew up leaning AppleSoft BASIC on an Apple IIe.

 

Like many others, I use Ubuntu or Mint 95% of the time and Windows for games and those few programs that aren't available for Linux or don't run well with WINE.

I have an SSD in my laptop and that means I have to use kernel 2.6.33 or later for TRIM to work. For anyone wanting to put Linux on an SSD, here are some important tweaks:
Tuning Solid-State Drives in Linux

Performance is truly amazing. Ubuntu 10.10 (x64) boots to a usable desktop in 8 seconds and shuts down to power-off in 3 seconds. This is on a laptop with a Core i3-370M CPU, 4GB RAM and a Corsair Nova 128GB SSD.

As someone else said, I don't like the direction that Ubuntu is heading in.... like going to the "Unity" desktop soon and changing default software, etc. I may soon switch to Fedora, Debian or Arch. I'm not looking forward to the learning curve though... I've been using Ubuntu for 3 years and have not familiarized myself with how other distros work for package management, etc. Debian shouldn't be too hard since Ubuntu is based on it. But I get lost REAL quick in Fedora or Arch. Not enough basic Linux knowledge.

 

If you came along with Ubuntu 2 or 3 years ago Debian won't cause you any trouble.

 

nope, support for visually impaired users is awful. The only time I use Linux is SSH to the uni server from my mac. so basically I use UNIX that's it.