why linux?

I feel like trying linux, like ubuntu or kubuntu (diference?), but what should I expect when using linux? Better perfomance, a more safer OS, ????

 

Ubuntu uses the GNOME desktop environment while Kubuntu uses the KDE desktop environment.
On low end machines, Linux should perform better than Windows.
Although Linux (yes, and so is Mac OS) is safer than Windows, you should still be careful about how you work (since you're not entirely immune), you can still pass viruses on to other people (even if you aren't affected).

 

Linux is all about choices. You can choose a distro like Ubuntu that is easier to set up and use or a more complicated one like Gentoo. You have a choice to install and configure what you want and can choose to go as far as you want(ex: just install binaries or edit the source code a recompile the program yourself). A properly configured system is usually faster than Windows and has smaller system requirements.

 

I see, but is there like better programs or something really worthy to try? Cause I want to try, but is it just an option or is something else when we talk about linux?

 

in my opinion, there are many better programs for linux. Programs without ads, without EULA's to click OK through, programs that are constantly worked on and updated unlike a lot of windows programs.

Like Fire Snake said, Linux is about choices. You can do what you want, not what Microsoft tells you to do.

 

an example?

 

I personally Love Linux. Both because it helps my productivity and I always learn something and keeps me mentally engaged. As far as better programs, yes I feel many Linux programs are better, which is my opinion. Also Linux comes with a TON of programs by default just on the command line not to mention all the stuff you can install yourself from the repos. Windows really barely comes with anything.

My advise to you link144 is try it out, what do you have to lose? Remember that Linux is a huge term and encompasses much and is very different than Windows. I would try an easier to use and install distro like Ubuntu 8.10 first and read some beginner books and articles first. As you get more advanced read more and you might want to try other distros that are more complicated. With Linux you are always learning which is part of the fun.

 

Just dual-boot Ubuntu or install it in Virtual Box and try it yourself. Ubuntu comes with a download manager for most of its free programs, so they're not hard to find.

 

I'll surely try it. But these ton of programs that comes, are they installed with Icon or are they all like comands?

 

ok! I will do it! tks guys!

 

The difference between Ubuntu and Kubuntu is their desktop environment; Gnome and KDE.
Both have a different look and a different set of programs. You can have either one or a mix of these.
For instance, I like the file browser (like explorer in Windows) from Gnome and I like the Amarok music player from KDE.
With Linux, you are completely free to have whatever setup you want.
You should expect to do some research as already mentioned and to understand the linux mindset, read this: Linux is not Windows.
This Ubuntu basics guide is also usefull.
Cheers and have fun!

 

gftp for ftp or ssh transfers
transmission for torrents
gimp for photo editing
wireshark for network analysis
Open Office 3
Totem
Compiz fusion for desktop affects
conky or gkrellm for system monitoring
GParted for disk management
Eterm for terminal window


and that's just off the top of my head..

 

Some are command line only programs and some use GUIs just like Windows, and Mac OSX. You will know which one is which based on experience. For example you can use a program called K3B to burn a CD by double clicking its icon on your desktop and then choosing what type of project you want(Data CD, Music CD etc) and click burn. Or you can do a similar thing by using cdrecord from the command line, creating an image, and burning it. It's up to you. I use some programs on the command line and others with GUIs. In fact a lot of the GUI programs are built on top of the command line programs(meaning that the internal program doing the work is the command like program but a nice GUI has been designed on top of it hiding the complexities from the user).

 

SSHFS FTMFW!!!

nothing like mounting a virtual disk over ssh

 

open source, less of a resource hog ...plus certain flavors that help get into places..... what more could you ask?

 

U guys are really making me want to try it. I'll just wait for ma laptop to arrive, or maybe I'll do a partition on my hd!
Do u guys recomend doing a partition since these virtual machines usually lose some perfomance?

 

MR.Moo,

ur pic its just wonderful

 

For those of us who believe in the opensource free software movement, Linux is more a philosophy and a political choice. Yes one will get a safe Operating System, ... superior performance? Thats debatable. .. it depends on what one compares Linux to. A tuned winXP arguably is equal or superior to a typical Linux install. But Vista is too bloated to compete.

Now reference the philosophy, Linux is built upon a free software philosophy. That is not "free" as in "free beer" (nor "free as in price" ) but rather it is free in terms of:

• Freedom 0: The freedom to run the program, for any purpose.
• Freedom 1: The freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
• Freedom 2: The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor.
• Freedom 3: The freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public, so that the whole community benefits. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

Some Linux distributions follow this closer than others, other distributions follow it less, but that is the basic premise upon which Linux is built.

Those of us who believe in this philosophy, find Linux provides us a superior understanding as to what is taking place on our computers, and puts us more in control as to our own home computing platform. Typically that does require extra work. Hence Linux is not for everyone.

In my case, the use of Linux is a political and philosophical approach, and I reject for my own home use, Microsoft Windows and MacIntosh, because of their proprietary aspects. Some go further than myself, and say less than complimentary things about proprietary software. I'm not that strong in my views to so criticize others, but I do prefer the basic philosophies that go with Linux, and hence I give Linux my support.

I'm an openSUSE Linux user.

 

If you upgrade your hardware too many times vista might decide it is being illegaly copied and shut down. If you are on this forum then likely you will be upgrading perhaps to a solid state hard drive more or faster ram and perhaps an N wireless card. I have installed ubuntu on machines with 486 processors and 128 megabytes of ram they work fine.

 

Linux seems pretty cool, I ougghta give it a shot, seems to open

 

As well to OP: you can try it out using a LiveCD so you don't need to worry about actually installing it if you just want to play around with it.

 

I love linux. But I can't I need windows and I hate it. I known, you can give me reasons to move etc. but in the end. I can't. I need to work with autocad. yes I have some linux cad programs but that's not the same. and I really need autocad. same has other programs. Games, well I can rune some with cedega but there are many glitches and the performance isn't the same. and I've hundreds of pc games for windows only that doesn't run in linux.
That's why I'm not linux all the way. I would love too I've dual boot... I would love that someday we could live happy ever after without windows without concerning about compatibility.

 

If you try or use Ubuntu, try Kubuntu first. I think it's bad that Ubuntu is so much more popular than the other. Kubuntu is KDE + the rest of Ubuntu but it's Ubuntu that is worked on the most. Ubuntu gets updated first and than Kubuntu follows. That's a controversial topic but it's only Ubuntu fanboys that will keep arguing it.

You might like KDE anyway if you are used to Windows. KDE 4 has progressed to the point in which it looks a lot like Vista and there are even suggestions that Vista has copied KDE! I think, overall, it is better and more pleasant, visually, than Gnome. Also, Gnome takes away the user's options for configuration and Linux Torvalds has even stated this in the past.

Whatever distro or desktop you choose, you can try whatever you want via LiveCD and no, it won't do anything to your current OS. Just don't click 'Install' and you will be fine.

 

I think a lot of it has to do with how much reading you have to do. You need to be able to devote time to this and if you can't, you get frustrated and give up. It is the way it is.

I don't like when snobby Linux users berate people for giving up or complaining about it. I think it's natural, normal. I also find that dual booting can be really hard and a pain so I advocate you learn how to create a dedicated and separate grub partition if you decide to dual boot. It is easier and it works really well. You install grub to a partition that can be very small and then chainload your operating systems.

Again, you have to do a lot of reading and need the time to learn it all. Otherwise, it is constant frustration and troubleshooting various problems that inevitably come up.

 

You should expect something completely different. Really... Linux is not Windows. Don't look at it to just drop in and replace it. Expect to be a newbie again. Expect to get frustrated at some things.

The best thing to do is to make a list of things you use your computer for, and then look to see what OS does that better. If you're a hardcore gamer? Linux isn't even on the board. Programmer? Linux is MUCH easier to get developing with. Web surfing? Linux works pretty well, network access is generally faster than the same machine under Windows, but Linux doesn't have IE so some sites don't work. Office tasks? If OpenOffice.org works for you under Windows, it'll work great under Linux. Because you're curious and want to learn? Why aren't you running Linux already?

 

Latest Linux distributions try to be more user friendly no matter what Linux flavour it is, some programs indeed can be ran through a terminal only, but as a new linux user you probably will not need them for now, or you even never heard about them

Give it a go, you have yet to discover something beautifull.

 

What if you do High Def Video Editing, photoshop work, 3d modeling and final draft script writing? Can Linux facilitate that?

 

1. User friendlyness

Some Linux users would say that Ubuntu and Kubuntu are user friendly but from personal experience they are not. I am an ordinary user with no computer programming knowledge, and to install graphics and dvd playback it requires operating a 'console' in that language.

From personal experience, effort is required to find the solutions to your questions. I have yet to find a user friendly manual for beginners. There are manuals around but written in bad English and hence unclear and hard to understand. I don't know why Linux does not adopt the one click install model from Windows, it would be so much easier.

If you are like me then you might want to try Mandriva instead, which has most things installed, I have never needed to access the 'console'.

2. Security

Linux might be safer because it is not a target for virus programmers. If people started to target the system then there may be a problem as there is limited anti-virus programs, only one if I recall correctly.

3. Performance

For me, boot up time is the same as Windows XP. However, shutting down takes longer than on Windows XP for some strange reason.

The user interface is more responsive than Windows, but applications were not significantly faster, if at all.

4. Personal conclusion

I will stick with Windows until something more compelling appears from the Linux world. Mandriva is nice but not compelling enough to make me change operating systems. I like my graphics user interface where I can simply do and find anything with a few click, basically a 'dumbed down' operating sytem as some Linux users would say. I wouldn't have it any other way, why would I want to wrestle and stress over how to do things??

This is my opinion and experience, yours may be different, but give Mandriva a try.

 

There is no need in Ubuntu to use the terminal for the things you mentioned.
Ubuntu has several GUI variants to do those things.

Ivar has just posted a link for an extensive 130 page (PDF) user-friendly manual for Ubuntu 8.10 that will answer most newbie questions in comprehensive English.
There you can read how to do 2/3 click installs.
Cheers.

 

Nice to know some progress has been made since I last used it.

 

I pulled this from the web to sum it up for you; I added comments in brackets to clarify somethings:

Pros to using Linux:
# - It's very fast
# - It doesn't get infected (false: never underestimate the power of human stupidity. Linux machines can still be compromised)
# - It's highly configurable
# - A lot of free software is available
# - The OS is free
# - It's stable (assuming you don't choose software like Compiz Fusion)
# - Many distros to choose from
# - Doesn't spaz when the hard drive is nearly full (actually, ext3 filesystems can spaz when they near capacity)
# - Tons of eye-candy available.
# - There's Wine for many Windows apps and games

Cons to using Linux:
# - A few commercial games hiccup in Wine (actually, a lot. It's very unreliable)
# - You have to actually learn how to use a new system
# - Lack of compatibility with many commercial programs like Photoshop and After Effects (although there are many Linux native equivalents that are all free)
# - Can't listen to your iTunes collection.
# - (Lack of hardware support for some devices may require you to learn and invest time and effort)

Source: http://laptoplogic.com/resources/the-reality-of-using-linux-every-day

 

I have NEVER once had problems with compiz fusion. I'd say it's very stable at this point.

 

yes. for gaming just dual boot as you'll probably be there a while anyway It's a great day to day OS. I wish I could physically lay out Windows like my linux installs so that upgrading wouldn't be such a hassle.

 

Really? Not once?

A lot of users report issues with resuming from sleep or hibernate mode; mostly, 3D drivers provided by ATI and Nvidia have issues with ACPI implementation.

 

That's an nvidia driver problem in general. I have compiz running on both openSUSE and ubuntu, sleep working perfectly. The problem isn't compiz, it's the lack of decent linux video drivers. Even this is going away. More companies are putting stuff out and more people have been working on video drivers.

 

You and I both no that personal testimonials mean nothing; but if you really insist that it's a lack of decent Linux drivers, then by all means offer me reasons and I shall edit my earlier post.

 

Im using linux mint. I LOVE IT....i only have it loaded on an older p4 compaq notebook. It is fairly fast with the minimal equipment im using. I will be dual booting Mint on all my boxes. I have to use windows for certain programs for work, but when it's just play time, Im going to be sporting linux.

 

I've recently moved all my work over to Ubuntu....it's pretty nice working and staying within the linux enviro....I run my tax and accounting windows programs in VirtualBox, everything else like documents and what not in linux. I sync my Windows VM up with my external harddrive via SyncToy, and sync my entire /home incl the VM to my external with Grsync. Very quick and easy.

 

i loved linux... i used to boot edgy back in the day using wine to run apps, but ventrilo and games never worked at the same time back then, so i opted to dual boot. but then i realized my computer idled on windows all day long, so i moved everything back to windows...

if linux had the compatibility, i would be all over it. my use for linux right now is using that ability to go through my windows system in linux in case my windows partition is compromised with either errors or viruses that are difficult to remove.

as for compiz (it was beryl back in the day), i had issues getting it installed and configured, and then occassionally some effects wouldn't work and would cause hangs.

 

I'm not a linux whiz like some of the other people here but if you want to try then linux then you should use a live cd. If you have a free dvd or or a decent sized thumb-drive then you can use linux without installing it. I found Ubuntu was very user friendly compared to some other versions I tried. Here's the link for the thumb-drive version.
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/
All you do is format it for fat32 (I think). Once it's on there you simply reboot the computer and boot from the usb. When you're done you simply reboot the computer and take out the drive.

 

Check this link for more info about your queries: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=413142