What can you do in Linux that you couldn't do in Windows?

I just wanted to start this as a fun thread, be creative, I want to see what you guys come up with.

Anyway, I'll start it off with a couple of my own.

1) Create a time-lapse video using gphoto2 to control my camera (Canon S3 IS, it took a picture every 10 sec., for about 3 hrs. when my laptop battery ran out), and GIMP-Gap to turn the pictures into a video.

2) Rip a CD with a single command, "abcde"

 

1) Browse the internet fullscreen and watch a fullscreen video, at the same time.

2) Have fun using my computer.

 

Download eleventy jillion virus-infected programs without suffering a single bit.

 

Run cylindrical 2-D axially symmetric finite element models of electrophoretic ion transport coupled with navier-stokes equations for the fluid dynamics. Oh, and the electric field was non-linearly coupled to the ion concentrations. I solved for 12 different ions. Solving the navier-stokes equations was the easy part!

Anyway, windows choked on this because it can't manage memory right. I kept getting out of memory errors. What frustrated me was that I have 2GB of RAM and it wasn't even all being used!! How could I be out?! Well, the out of memory error went away when I moved to debian linux. The program I use is called Comsol Multiphysics.

The other thing I can do in linux that I can't do in windows is NOT use the swap file!! Why oh WHY does windows insist on thrashing my hdd when I have 2GB of memory and most of it is still free?!

 

Run a console accessible and configurable server with multiple services, set up a router with multiple VLAN's for network segmentation and security, install and update ALL the software on the machine easily, set up a fully-featured development environment, configure every last bit of the system to function how I want it to, rather than working around limitations... need I go on?

 

All that and having an uptime of 4 months, beryl, and 3 monitors all tied together and working. Along with amaroK.

 

NOTE: I'm basing this on the Ubuntu Distro. (Gnome)
Some Distros might vary.

Windows can't customize the Taskbar, Log-in screen, Icons, Themes, ETC: the way that Linux can without using a 3rd Party app. And even with a 3rd Party app Windows still seems more restricted.

Windows don't have the ability to drag n drop like Linux. I can highlight text from any app (Gedit, OpenOffice, PDF files, ANY browser, etc) and put it to whatever. With Windows I would have to copy n paste most of the time. FireFox on Windows offers Drag n Drop, but it's very limited compared FireFox on Linux.

I can do some serious Multitasking on Linux that without being close to my RAM limit. Windows is just too resource hungry compare to Linux. I even allocate 1GB(out of 2GB) for XP on VMWare while I'm booted on Ubuntu, and I multitask on both OS and the same time with no problem. Vice Versa would most likely freeze everything or become to slow.

Linux installs most Programs and Drivers much faster than Windows does. Try installing OpenOffice on Windows compared to Linux. Huge time differ.

 

Let's add some more.

-Relatively simple, and functional remote access even when the server is on a connection with crappy upload. Like at my apartment before they upped the bandwidth, with only 40 kB/s upload, running remote desktop, or any graphical remote access was so slooow. But, just ssh into the terminal? Perfect. Add in screen for good measure, doubly perfect.

-On my laptop, I've configured my synaptics driver to do circular scrolling, that is, I can continuously scroll down a page with my touchpad by moving my finger in a circle around the edge, similarly to an iPod click wheel.

-Of course, the ability to download and install program(s) from the repositories, or update any all software on the computer which needs updating, with a single command. (In my case, "pacman -Sy <package-name>" or "pacman -Syu")

 

How could I live without "grep"

 

i cant even get linux to install... lol

 

You don't really install "linux"... Whatever distro you install uses the power of linux. So in other words, you're saying you can't get <insert linux distro name here> to install. Which just means you need to either try harder (ie. read read read the forums) or try a different distro. Which I highly recommend by the way.

And to add to the original topic:
You can say your OS's mascot is a Penguin (Penguins Rule) instead of some retarded 4 colored cube (what's the story behind window's symbol anyway?).

 

Run a system that doesn't slow down over time, seemingly for no reason at all.

 

hah yeah. no single task that you couldn't get done in windows, but a TON of good things going on in linux.

not suffer through microsoft making decisions, changing its mind, adding drm, getting rid of drm, integrating drm, and then not working properly with drm (all while treating you like a suspected terrorist before offering you operating system updates)

 

1. Have full remote management of servers, using a strong encrypted connection, from anywhere in the world, with as little as a 9600 bps dial-up modem.

2. Work with multimedia audio and video files, copying and converting between different formats without artificial constraints or DRM.

3. Spend my time *using* my computer instead of managing / fixing it. With Linux, I don't need anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-adware, defrag, registry-cleaners, etc.

4. No need for software keys, codes, registration, activation, etc. It just works. And if I want to copy it and give it to a friend, it's free and it's legal.

 

Can you suggest a program close to ChemOffice in functionality available in Linux? I am interested in particular about the NMR spectra prediction capability of ChemOffice, and maybe a few others that escaped my memory right now.

 

1) Do whatever I want with my system without someone breathing over my neck about it.

2) Get it for free.

3) Not notice a normal operating difference between 1GB and 2GB. (less memory overhead)

4) Not kill my hard drive for no reason.

5) Not have my system slow down after installing an office suite.

6) Browse the net safely.

To be honest though, if I made a list of things I could do in Windows and not do in Linux, my personal list would probably be longer. But a lot of the things on that list wouldn't really be as important, so I think it still leans to the Linux side.

 

I beg to differ, in fact, I bet a lot of the people on this forum do, considering a lot of the items people listed I know can't be done in Windows.

Such as updating almost all software with a single command, or running a console based server (read: no GUI).

Heh, I was actually tempted to ask people to list those as well, but then I figured, "eh, this is just supposed to be a fun thread for Linux fanboys, not a serious Windows vs. Linux discussion," so I left it out.



Let's add another one, I just set this up today, and honestly, you probably COULD do this in Windows, I just don't know how. That is, same end result, not necessarily the same way.

Play music on my desktop with mpd, through a local icecast server which I listened to using VLC running on a Mac at work.

 

Wouldn't that be more a software issue? Which my hugest grip with Linux.

 

Not much really. Even if you just want to use free and open source software, almost all the major applications are available for Windows. People also often don't realize until later that at least some of their hardware features will not work in any Linux distro. Little but much used things like the sideways scrolling feature on a tilt-wheel mouse, for example. On laptops, you may end up with some extra-feature buttons that work, and other that don't. Some of your peripherals like printers and scanners may or may not work, or may work only in a limited way. Linux is great when everything works, but even if it does, the minute you encounter something that doesn't, you could be spending a lot of hours trying to fix something that can't be fixed.

If it's privacy and security you want, there are ways of securing Windows which make it pretty much as secure as any Linux desktop system.

If you want to tinker, Linux is great for that. But you can easily tinker and have the best of both worlds just by installing Cygwin on your existing Windows installation. It works very well indeed. With a default installation from the internet, you get a bash shell right in Windows, and as you decide what more you want, you run the Cygwin startup program again to download and install any extra packages you want. It's really great, and a lot less trouble than dual booting -- plus ALL your hardware still works as it was intended to.

 

That's really dependant on user preference & experience. Most Hardware compatibility problems can be fixed. Linux lets you find an option or a fix. In Windows, if it's not compatible ..it's just not compatible.

I've had more problems with Vista and Drivers, than Linux. And IMO the there's nothing better than Dual-Booting OSs on a Single drive. Unless you have two HDs, then a OS on each one is better.

But what I was saying is that if ALL or MOST Windows Programs were able to run under Linux then what would be the purpose of even thinking Windows.

 

You can dual boot, and then this entire comparison becomes a non-issue.

Or are there problems with that of which I haven't heard?

 

(1) install software without having to reboot.

(2) find solutions to bugs by googling while on Zindows the solution is always the same: reinstalling!

(3) shutting down by typing 'shutdown' and not pressing start

etc etc...

 

Sorry, I can't. I have never used or heard of chem office. It might run under WINE, though, unless it requires .NET.

 

Yes, some people (including myself) do see a problem with that. It still supports Microsoft. I don't want to get into a flame war, so I won't get into details, but I have my own ethical reasons why I don't like to support Microsoft (basically, I don't agree with a lot of their business practices).

And, dual booting in itself is very annoying, a full reboot just to use a specific app? When I have a perfectly good alternative otherwise? It's also especially if you want to run a home server (which I don't, but I can imagine people wanting to), since a server should aim to have 24/7 uptime, or as close to it as possible.

Edit:

But Windows itself isn't open source. If you want to only run open source, then, no Windows

I agree with this, but as someone who's dedicated to running Linux, I try to do my homework before buying, to make sure that my hardware/peripherals work well with it. If it doesn't, I bring my money elsewhere.

Just having a bash shell doesn't mean that you squat if you don't have an OS designed to be operated through a command line. I use a lot of CLI based apps, which means, I also configure them through various conf files. Assume I want to configure something like say, an FTP server on my machine. On my Linux box, I can ssh in, install packages, and edit the configuration files without a GUI at all. Which means, I can do it without using a whole lot of bandwidth, or using many resources in general.

What can I do with Windows? Remote Desktop? VNC? Sure, but those generally require a lot of bandwidth. I don't think Cygwin has an ssh server, but even if it did, I don't think I could manage installing and configuring that in Windows without a GUI.

Just because you have Cygwin doesn't mean you can use it to change your Window Manager/Desktop Environment. You still have to run Cygwin on top of the Windows GUI. And that doesn't address the issue of Window's crappy RAM management (which noahsark mentioned), or as myself and Pitabred have mentioned, running a console based server (no GUI). Cygwin has its place, but I just don't see it as a replacement for a proper Linux installation, much the same as how running WINE isn't a replacement for running Windows.

 

0) Be free. As in free thought.

that is:
Free to reinstall my OS when I see fit, without asking permissions to anyone.
Free to do what I want with my PC with the full power granted by the command line.
Free to see what's under the hood, and - if I am clever enough - to fix problems and changing unwanted features without having to rely on $BigCompany to roll out a new expensive version of the OS.
Free to do what I want without having my data sent to some $BigCompany server to make sure I am still doing what they permit me to do.

Point 0) is enough for me.

 

I'm not sure you have ever seen Cygwin in operation. There is no GUI, just a Linux console (but without leaving Windows). You can get X and a GUI if you want one, but it doesn't come with it as default. Just about everything one can do from a Linux terminal you can do in Cygwin, including running servers, etc. After all, Cygwin is meant more for pro administrators. While you are working within Cygwin, you wouldn't even know you're on a Windows platform, except that everything is right there as soon as you click out of the Cygwin windows (and you don't have to close it). You don't need a desktop manager though, because Windows already gives you that (which, when you think about it, is not that different than most KDE environments people use). All of your Linux mount points are within one Windows folder, but within that folder, they are there just like they would be in a native Linux installation.

I've installed many Linux distros in my time, but this particular laptop makes it impossible currently to use wireless, simply because there's no way to actually turn on the card itself (this requires a special launcher even in Windows). I also have a full, native Debian install on a separate partition. It works great. The only thing I can't do is connect via wireless (ethernet is fine). None of the current solutions work. The Cygwin way, no problem. I like having both Cygwin within Windows, and Debian by itself on the same computer.

 

starling, what's the wireless chipset on that laptop?

 

mine is driver support

 

Yep. Although technically not a Linux console... but a command-line shell using Bash or pretty much whatever shell you like. I even edit files in vi (o.k., vim) on Windows using cygwin, and use scp to copy files to and from Unix/Linux systems.

The only thing is, it is a bit slow compared to Linux. Especially moving files using the "mv" command.

 

starling, I have used Cygwin before, albeit not very extensively. To me, running Cygwin sits at the same level as running a Linux virtual machine on a Windows host, just not worth it.

Granted, I knew a lot less about Linux then, back then I only had experience with the Unix cluster at my university, which is, of course a similar but different beast. In any case though, I was sorely reminded of that fact that I was running Cygwin within Windows whenever I had to use "ctrl+c" to close a program, as Windows would close Cygwin instead! I'm sure there's probably a way to catch and circumvent that behavior, but I wasn't dedicated to running Cygwin at that point, so I didn't seek out a solution.

You're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to mine. To me, the necessity of running Windows in itself is enough to turn me away from using Cygwin, though if I was forced to use Windows, then Cygwin would be the next best thing to have. But, I'd rather shop around, and choose hardware that I know is well supported in Linux (hence supporting companies that show good Linux support), than pay for an OS that I don't think is worth the money. Maybe I'm just crazy, but, I like having package management to manage all the software on my system, having (usually) useful error messages when things go wrong*, and software designed for people to use, not software designed to make the most money (read: software that plays nice with apps, and doesn't rely on proprietary formats).

So, when the day comes that I'm forced to use Windows again, then I'll check out Cygwin again, but, until then, I'm perfectly happy running without it.

*Note: I'm not so delusional to think that various Linux distros don't have stability issues and (seemingly) inexplicable bugs and crashes. But, in Windows the solutions seems to be "reinstall!" Whereas in the Linux world, I'm usually able to figure out where the problem actually occurred and fix it.

 

I can run way faster than I ever ran XP, and probably about 3 times faster than Vista.

 

Windows will help me make $60 once I sell Vista Business that comes with my F8sv-A1.

Linux can't do that!

 

how do you install ubuntu is linux? i dont know how to partition my harddrive to anything to install it

im also really afraid of nuking my hd or accidentally "over writing" my vista installation (which is clean installed too btw). will it automatically install the way i want it to?

btw...if i maintain music/pictures on a seperate partition than installed ubuntu os, than can i still access it and use it (even though its controlled by vista)?

 

All these questions and more have been asked in other threads on this very forum. This is also completely unrelated to the topic of THIS thread. If you want your questions answered, please just read/search some of the other threads here, and do some research on your own, and THEN post with any questions you have, in an appropriate thread (read: not this one).

 

It's all very nice, but isn't true that a *nix distro will compare poorer with MS Windows XP Pro for batterie management? I get at the moment 6-7 hours of batterie life with Wifi enabled and up to 9 hours without it. And beeing noobified by folks taht aren't really keen on helping is a bit frustrating, when I know pretty much my way around in a *dows box.
Plus I would hate to loose my foobar player or my uTorrent client for now.

As for the comment on the colours's logo of windows, I'd say that it is a "kind" of a smart way to say "we are multicultural, we are here for all (and not just the 1337 crowd)". Of course that is my interpretation. But It seems that a few big companies out there are actually using this strategy (eg: eBay, IBM, Google). Think about it.

Linux is appealing to me as a techy toy, but for everyday software production, I'll stick with MS product for now, until convienced to do otherwise.

Regards.

Tam

 

Hi Lemur,

I have to rely on this laptop under circumstances which did not allow shopping around, so I'm stuck with it. It's very Linux-friendly in every way except wireless. It has a Broadcom 4318 AirForce One card, but that's not the problem. Linux recognizes the card just fine as what it is. The problem is that the card must be turned on by software (not just driven, but actually switched on). It's not a card feature, but a motherboard one. Without being able to switch it on under Linux, it's no go. No amount of fiddling with acer_acpi will correct it. Even Windows does not handle this wireless setup without a special "Launcher" from the manufacturer which runs at boot (and takes a while to do it, too).

A comment about "supporting" Microsoft. I don't support it, I only use what came with the computer. It's there, I use it. Other than that, I actually haven't bought any MS software since 1997. Everything I run is open source or free, and that includes all the common desktop applications and many utilities normally seen on Linux. If it wasn't for the wireless issue, I would ditch Windows completely on this machine, because as I said before, everything else works just great with Linux, and I prefer Linux anyway (Linux is much more friendly than Windows for people who like to know what's going on under the hood). In everyday computing, it's just not practical to have to reboot in and out of Windows and Linux all day long just to connect to the internet. So in order to have some Linux ability under Windows, I run Cygwin on it (as well as having an actual native Linux installation on another partition).

 

It sucks to be stuck with a chipset having such a "feature". (I'm sure Broadcom marketing is spinning that as a "feature".) I presume you've googled for "Broadcom 4318 AirForce One" together with "linux" and found the solutions described in the results unable to solve your problem.

 

Tam,
You interpret a multicolored logo as saying "we're multicultural"? Well, if you really feel that way, go ahead. Personally, I think they just want something eye-catching. (And, I don't see how a non-multicolored logo means that it's for the 1337 crowd).

starling,
It sucks to hear about your wireless issue, I would hate to be in your situation. If it were me, I would be seriously considering using a PCMCIA or USB wireless adapter (probably PCMCIA, simply because I'd never use the port otherwise). But then again, using the integrated wireless is definitely a lot more convenient, and just plain sleeker.

 

Here's one nobody mentioned:

I can move my Linux HDD from one computer to another without having to re-install the OS. In fact, all the needs to be done, is to re-build the kernel with the appropriate drivers for the new system. (Also works for cloning the partitions to a new HDD).

I did exactly that when I upgraded from my P4 2.4 Northwood desktop PC, to my dv9500t 2.0 C2D laptop.

Further, if I keep two different kernels, one compiled for each system, I can move the drive back and forth between the two, booting the appropriate kernel for that hardware setup.

Windows can't do that. Not even close. With Windows, you're lucky if you don't get a blue-screen when change a single piece of hardware, much less the system board, CPU, and everything else. There's not a man alive who would "ghost" a desktop pc Windows installation, onto a laptop computer and have any expectation of it working properly, much less moving the OS back and forth between two different systems.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnpJC6zjEHA

 

One word... Streamripper

With streamtuner/streamripper combo (which took all of 10 seconds to install and configure) I can rip music from all the internet radio stations my connection can handle. All the songs are automatically named, and sorted into folders according to radio station. It even starts up a local server that way I can listen to any of the stations with ANY MEDIA PLAYER I WANT while only taking up the bandwidth of the one connection.