Linux or Windows

[jangnim]

For those of you who are too timid to do a load of linux, you can get a copy of msys. This program is a nice little program to allow you to learn the command lines for minimal unix. Pretty easy to install.

 

[Amanda-Soo]

lets hope you dont vote for president on the same grounds

LOL! Good point.

 

[epiclesis]

I just put Ubuntu on two of my computers. It's Debian based and it is awesome. I highly recommend it.
I never thought I'd use gnome, and it's better than KDE and you don't have to mess with all the packaging and stuff because practically everything you need is already installed on it.

anyways, jmho... i love my ubuntu computers. <3

 

[n u l l g a l]

Linux forever. I'd use it solely if it weren't for stupid school stuff. Grr... once again... college is holding me back from my REAL goals.

 

[cabbitgrrrl]

Linux forever. I'd use it solely if it weren't for stupid school stuff. Grr... once again... college is holding me back from my REAL goals.

yea i got that problem too at the moment lol

 

[innodonni]

If you want the truth about Linux go here:

http: // www novell com /linux/truth/

 

[rdale]

If you want the truth about Linux go here:

http: // www novell com /linux/truth/

that's :
http://www.novell.com/linux/truth/
to make it a little easier to get to...
good link innodonni

 

[xMinionX]

Windows has worked pretty darn good for me so far, and the few times I tried Linux (for school), I ended up fighting with it half the time.

 

[amiel]

Linux all the way!

I use mandrake on my laptop and only use windows rarely for a few good programs that cannot yet run on linux.

btw, mandrake can also resize ntfs partitions

 

[jangnim]

Windows has worked pretty darn good for me so far, and the few times I tried Linux (for school), I ended up fighting with it half the time.

Good point xMinionX, but have you considered that you have been so indoctrinated into the profitability of Microsoft that you haven't given linux a fair shake?

True, linux has a learning curve, but consider that MS had such a curve in the beginning. Over the years MS has had the R&D money, out of your pocket and mine, to "improve" their product. But the fact is that WinXX still does not provide enough security for their users. Linux is better here. WinXX has so much overhead, eating memory and disk space and processor time, linux does not have near this overhead.

Overall, WinXX exists to make money for Microsoft, and not for the people who use it. Linux is cheaper, and more efficient. Take time to learn it as well as you know WinXX and then reply.

 

[xMinionX]

Good point xMinionX, but have you considered that you have been so indoctrinated into the profitability of Microsoft that you haven't given linux a fair shake?

I have no need to give Linux a fair shake. I have no real need for Linux at all. Windows does what I need. All I use the computer for is internet, games, and word processing. I didn't even try gaming on Linux, but a friend of mine did. He ended up fighting with Linux half the time. I don't do any networking, programming, etc.

I don't care how profitable MS is. It could be the poorest company in the world, and I'd still use it, because it does what I need it to do.

If it makes you feel any better, I've never bought a copy of windows. *cough*

If I really found myself with a need to use it (say, I needed to run a server for something), then I'd probably take the time to learn it. But it wouldn't find its way onto my persona machine, except maybe in a dual-boot with XP Pro.

 

[The3rdhero]

it depends what i wanna do

i play ALOT of games, so windows is best
for hosting servers and general computing - linux is best
but linux gets my vote

 

[tekwerx]

Bah, gaming on Linus works. Transgaming's Cedega runs excellently! I can use it to play WarCraft 3, Anarchy Online (a MMORPG!), and pretty much anything else you could want to play. For YEARS, this has been the only reason I have kept windows around. I no longer need windows for ANYTHING. Lets see:

M$ Office - OpenOffice
WinAmp - XMMS
Windows Media Player - MPlayer
PhotoShop - GIMP
Internet Exploder - FireFox

And, of course, all the games as well. The FUD that M$ and their users are spreading about how hard Linux is to learn and use nowadays is ridiculous. Sure, it USED to be, but now I can d/l a distro, install it, and use it without ever needing to go to a command line, some kind of prompt, or leave the GUI for any reason (except to reboot).

If you truly want to switch to a free OS with no virii, no BSODs, and excellent configurability, use Linux.

The top "n00b" friendly distros are Xandros, Linspire (although not as much anymore), Mandrake, and Ubuntu. Right now, Ubuntu is skyrocketing its way up to the top - its a treat. I recommend you check it out, its excellent. http://www.ubuntulinux.org
It installs a basic set of apps for you to use, and all you need is to apt-get your new programs. I use this distro because I like Gnome (looks somewhat like OS X - my fav OS), its based on a newbie Linux distro (Debian), and is extremely easy to install, configure, and keep up to date.

If you want to switch to Linux, IM me using one of the little icons next to my name...I'll be glad to talk at you about switching and even help you through the process of switching should you choose to do so.

 

[Vegeta7286]

Bah, gaming on Linus works. Transgaming's Cedega runs excellently! I can use it to play WarCraft 3, Anarchy Online (a MMORPG!), and pretty much anything else you could want to play. For YEARS, this has been the only reason I have kept windows around. I no longer need windows for ANYTHING. Lets see:

M$ Office - OpenOffice
WinAmp - XMMS
Windows Media Player - MPlayer
PhotoShop - GIMP
Internet Exploder - FireFox

And, of course, all the games as well. The FUD that M$ and their users are spreading about how hard Linux is to learn and use nowadays is ridiculous. Sure, it USED to be, but now I can d/l a distro, install it, and use it without ever needing to go to a command line, some kind of prompt, or leave the GUI for any reason (except to reboot).

If you truly want to switch to a free OS with no virii, no BSODs, and excellent configurability, use Linux.


The top "n00b" friendly distros are Xandros, Linspire (although not as much anymore), Mandrake, and Ubuntu. Right now, Ubuntu is skyrocketing its way up to the top - its a treat. I recommend you check it out, its excellent. http://www.ubuntulinux.org
It installs a basic set of apps for you to use, and all you need is to apt-get your new programs. I use this distro because I like Gnome (looks somewhat like OS X - my fav OS), its based on a newbie Linux distro (Debian), and is extremely easy to install, configure, and keep up to date.

If you want to switch to Linux, IM me using one of the little icons next to my name...I'll be glad to talk at you about switching and even help you through the process of switching should you choose to do so.

I used ubuntu for a day and for some reason I wasnt able to apt-get some programs (kopete for one)
I'm currently on Knoppix 3.7 (US converted) on my PC.

I recently got a laptop, it took me 5 hours to install Windows XP and download/install the updates and everything I need and get it working how I like it. It takes me 30 minutes to set up a Linux system.

 

[Lecarde]

I used ubuntu for a day and for some reason I wasnt able to apt-get some programs (kopete for one)
I'm currently on Knoppix 3.7 (US converted) on my PC.

I recently got a laptop, it took me 5 hours to install Windows XP and download/install the updates and everything I need and get it working how I like it. It takes me 30 minutes to set up a Linux system.

Any debian based distro can download from debian repositories. Just alter the etc/apt/sources.list and add the official repositories

I didn't like Ubuntu much. I like Gnome a lot, but Ubuntu seems to have some compatability issues. I'm on Kanotix now, its the best OS I've ever used

 

[belladonna]

windows because ihavent tried the other yet i have no problems apart from internet explorer crashing regularly.

 

[ericf]

BTW: FreeBSD is unix if I'm not mistaken

FreeBSD is directly descended from Unix. But it is not Unix. Not anymore. In the lawsuit, years ago, the BSDs won the right to freely distribute the code but they had to remove several chunks that were proprietary and they lost the right to the name "Unix" with that code. None of the current code is actual code from the original Unix system (but seriously... would you expect there to be any).

So it isn't Unix. But it is Unix's baby. And Linux would be a distant cousin (as it was derived from the same ideas but was never from the original source tree).

 

[Swart]

FreeBSD is directly descended from Unix. But it is not Unix. Not anymore. In the lawsuit, years ago, the BSDs won the right to freely distribute the code but they had to remove several chunks that were proprietary and they lost the right to the name "Unix" with that code. None of the current code is actual code from the original Unix system (but seriously... would you expect there to be any).

So it isn't Unix. But it is Unix's baby. And Linux would be a distant cousin (as it was derived from the same ideas but was never from the original source tree).

I believe the buzzword now is "Posix compliant", since the term Unix may no longer be used.

 

[GrayArea]

You know what i like about Windows? It means less confusion for people that just want to check their email and that means less stupid questions for all those poor ITs out there that have to deal with them.

You know what i like about Linux? everything. I'll admit that it's not for everyone but if you're a tweaker, themer, coder or would-be, it doesn't get any better. I like that you can see what your system is doing, where it is going, and who has their grubby little packets on it. I bask in the fact that it's free. There really isn't anything going on with Linux that you can't customize to your exact needs and it does all this and more in one powerful yet streamline little package. Linux devs may not necessarily be pretty right out of the box, but aren't things better when they're custom fit?

"Long live Tux." here, here!

 

[epiclesis]

I used ubuntu for a day and for some reason I wasnt able to apt-get some programs (kopete for one)

1) Kopete only runs on KDE... Ubuntu runs gnome.

2) Ubuntu comes with synaptic, which is really easy for updating and packages and such.



I've been running Ubuntu for a few weeks now and I absolutely LOVE it.