Linux?

[mrpotty]

At the moment I'm experimenting with Linux. I installed one of these "Virtual computers" and have it running with different versions.
First I tried something called "Damn Small Linux", which is pretty quick, but also very difficult to handle if you have never used Linux before. (And it's only available in english).
Then I used a version named Knoppix, which is much slower but on the other hand much easier to handle for a windows user.

But the real reason for this topic: What are your experiences with Linux? Is it good, is it bad, which one is the best for who? It's pretty difficult to find in the www any information that doesn't seem to be biased AND is easy to understand, so...anyone?

[Darth_Comrade]

I've never used Linux, but according to my father- who's an IT manager, anda fried of mine who's kind of a bigger computer geek than I am- Linux is very reliable, you will not be complaining of glitches and such.

Although, I've heard Linux is not as user-friendly as Windows or Mac.

[jinxs]

I think Linux is more of A computer hobbiest thing well thats I heard , I just started to study Computer things...

Not probably the best for newcomers...

[nabusan]

Linux is apparantly better...for programmers and stuff. But the user interface is kinda weird. It's not something for the average user. I prefer the simplicity of Windows more.

Though, they do have versions of Linux that mimics Windows in almost every way. But there are some software compatibility issues that I'd rather not have.

[chrisc801]

If you want the simplest (and in my opinion, best) version of linux, search for ubuntu

Here are three reason's to use linux:

1. Almost all linux OS's are completely free.

2. Runs better on older hardware

3. Excellent Stability

[mrpotty]

Duh, I know all this stuff too about being more reliable than windows and stuff. That's what you can read everywhere. But I wanna hear more from people who have worked with it and what their experiences was.

nabusan said:

Though, they do have versions of Linux that mimics Windows in almost every way.

Yeah, this "Knoppix" version looks and works pretty window-ish.

chrisc801 said:

If you want the simplest (and in my opinion, best) version of linux, search for ubuntu

I will have a look at it, thank you.

[nabusan]

I think I heard something about Suse Linux too, but never tried it.

[Nulla]

alot of them are really hard to use if you have never used it before. as chris said if you want to try one use ubuntu @ ubuntu.com... and if you want to use a virtualised instance like VMWare u can try it within your windows environment.... ubuntu is at v.7.0.4 atm and you can also try it by booting it as a live operating system.

ubuntu is also very stable, having a base from debian linux software is relatively easy to get too. id say atm its the most popular linux OS and is very polished for a linux system...

ubuntu is also gnome interface based, which is really nice and easy to use... if your used to knoppix.... which was one of the first live-cd based OS's you can try ubuntu's kbuntu which is the same thing as ubuntu but uses the interface KDE which knoppix uses.

if your using it for proper gaming though driver support for you video card is limited.. they work but you're usually better off with the driver it gives you.... the neat thing with ubuntu is that they support pretty much any device for general use.

plus you can run it on pretty much any computer with builds for most available architectures including macs even though you woundnt on a mac because its unix based anyway.

i have ubuntu and windows xp on my dual boot laptop and its great, works for pretty much everything.

[mrpotty]

Okay, I think the next I will try is Ubuntu.

[Luqkim...]

I tried Linux once... needed some getting used to, and the features were very limited.

I jumped shift to Windows XP the first chance I got...

[wallaceb]

i myself use Knoppix, and i like it a lot. i use it mostly to get computers that wont load windows running so i can access files on the HDD.

[mrpotty]

wallaceb said:

i myself use Knoppix, and i like it a lot. i use it mostly to get computers that wont load windows running so i can access files on the HDD.

And would you recommend it to people who are just tired of windows?

[wallaceb]

yes i would. it's GUI is fairly similar to windows. i would give it a try.

[Nulla]

and the current ubuntu release has a beta version of desktop effects which uses the graphics system to make windows fade in and out, with cube desktop switching and a graphic window selector like in mac os x, which is pretty cool too and works without good hardware either.... this is new for linux based systems, the first time ive seen it anyway...

mac os x already has these features for ages and works awesome.... (i have an ibook too btw)

wallaceb said:

i myself use Knoppix, and i like it a lot. i use it mostly to get computers that wont load windows running so i can access files on the HDD.

can you edit files on ntfs drives with knoppix these days ?

as far as i know, you can only read... ubuntu does this too..

you might be able to do some writing if you play around with something called along the lines of ntfs-tools or something...

[Nulla]

This message was deleted by the original poster.

[wallaceb]

no, linux cannot do much at all with NTFS. some versions i have seen have some hacked support for NTFS but it does not work that well.

i know Knoppix can read NTFS (obviously if i use it to access file on broken computers) but.... i actually do not remember if i have ever tried writing to the drive it might allow access to the file system.

[Nulla]

ive tried it all and writing is very tricky, and unstable....

the best thing about linux live cds are the fact that you can edit pretty much any partition type and repair the records as needed (except hfs+ for mac)

even mac os x can't write to ntfs partitions

[chrisc801]

nulla said:

ive tried it all and writing is very tricky, and unstable....

the best thing about linux live cds are the fact that you can edit pretty much any partition type and repair the records as needed (except hfs+ for mac)

even mac os x can't write to ntfs partitions

If I want to write to NTFS partitions from my mac, I just make it a shared folder on my windows box and put it on the network.

[Nulla]

chrisc801 said:

nulla said:

ive tried it all and writing is very tricky, and unstable....

the best thing about linux live cds are the fact that you can edit pretty much any partition type and repair the records as needed (except hfs+ for mac)

even mac os x can't write to ntfs partitions

If I want to write to NTFS partitions from my mac, I just make it a shared folder on my windows box and put it on the network.

true, but for a external drive which came formatted NTFS (lol) is kinda useless. funny that they say the drive is 'compatible with Mac OS X' when i got it

[nabusan]

OMG Nulla, a friend of mine would be so into you right now ;D He finds girls who know their way around a computer incredibly hot ^^