Linux or Windows??

Ajsie · Post by **Ajsie** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:26 am

Hi!

I am a windows xp user at present and have been sticking with it for a long time. i think i know quite a lot about the os and am willing to take a step further...to the linux system.

But i can say this...i no nothing about it at all!
And my first questions are:

1 what is good with Linux?
2 Is it a reliable os with mimimal crashes (that is what i have heard)?
3 Is it a flexible os (easy to use and install programs/devices, user-friendly and so on)
4 has it some advantages compared with windows?

...cause I have no idea. Would be pleasant if someone gave me some hints and advices ...thx beforehand!

Roody · Post by **Roody** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:45 pm

It's a good OS, but not nearly as user friendly as Windows and if you have a home network it can be a bear at times to work with other Windows machine or at least that has been the case with me.

cyberskye · Post by **cyberskye** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 1:48 pm

1 what is good with Linux?

A nice side salad, possibly spinach or other greens

2 Is it a reliable os with mimimal crashes (that is what i have heard)?

I've heard this too

Seriously it is in relation to windows. Not the most stable of the various *nix variants by a long shot - constantly evolving.

3 Is it a flexible os (easy to use and install programs/devices, user-friendly and so on)

Very user friendly - not at all beginner friendly. Installers and Management Tools are just about the only thing unique to a particular Linux distro.

4 has it some advantages compared with windows?

Yes...and disadvantages too. Linux is still pretty utilitarian - forget games(hw accel). You need to truely understand how the sw and hw speak to each other and there are very few wizards.

There is no magic bullet - no OS that is reliable, easy to learn/use and secure. If you are interested in learning something new go for it. Download an ISO and install it. Decide if you like it. You can search Google for " Linux Live CD " that is bootable and allows you to play with linux without actually installing it on your HDD

I would not compare it to windows - it will only frustrate you.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan. I've just seen a lot of posts complaining that Linux doesn't behave like windows - which is probably because it isn't.

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:58 pm

Linux doesn't behave like windows - which is probably because it isn't

LOL!

I started with Linux by downloading and trying out about 30 different LiveCD versions. A LiveCD is an iso image that you can download and burn to a CDR using your cdburner software in Windows. Make sure that you select "create CD from iso image" and don't justt put the iso itself on the CDR.

After you create the CD, set your bios to boot from the CDROM driive first (it probably already is set that way). The Linux opearting system will boot from the cd and run in RAM only, it does not get installed. You can use it just like booting from the hard drive and there's no risk of damaging your existing windows installation:

Get FREE live CD's here:
http://www.frozentech.com/content/livecd.php

Ajsie · Post by **Ajsie** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:44 pm

Okay.

I looked up some live cds and have downloadad mandrakemove version...its pretty cool.

But one thing I always try to figure out:

1. Why are there so many differents Linux such as Mandrake, Redhat, Slackware and others?
2. What are the differences between them?

cyberskye · Post by **cyberskye** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:48 pm

Installers and Management Tools are just about the only thing unique to a particular Linux distro.

As for why there are so many? I dunno, why Wendy's Burger King, and McDonalds?

Paft · Post by **Paft** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 6:14 pm

Ajsie wrote:Okay.

I looked up some live cds and have downloadad mandrakemove version...its pretty cool.

But one thing I always try to figure out:

1. Why are there so many differents Linux such as Mandrake, Redhat, Slackware and others?
2. What are the differences between them?

1.) Because Linux is basically a free-for-all, roll your own type of system. If you have an issue with Mandrake, remove some of their tools, add your own, and make a new distro. It's all about what users prefer - deep down, though, they're all the same.

2.) Just a few tools. One distro might use pico, another vi, and yet another emacs. Just a few tools, interfaces, and the look is really different.

cyberskye · Post by **cyberskye** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 6:15 pm

As a follow-on: Linux is a kernel, not an operating system. People often make this mistake. A distribution is the kernel plus the various packages that the distributor thought useful - apache, samba, etc.

In my experience there are three reasons someone picks up linux:
[indent]1. Those who want to learn Linux for it's own sake
2. Those that want to perform a specific task (run a secure webserver, etc)
3. Those who want a career in Linux admin/eng/dev/etc

[/indent]For the first, I would recommend Debian or gnu/linux. Do not use a gui until you know how to do everything from the command line.

For #2 I would recommend Fedora Core, Mandrake, or some other windows-like distro. You won't really end up learning as much as installers/gui tools hide the complexity from you.

For #3 I would recommend SUSE or RedHat Enterprise Linux. They are the most commercially supported and are backed by HP, Dell, Novell, IBM - just to name a few. The Mgmt/Configuration utilities will become enterprise standards.

Skye

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 6:36 pm

And yet another follow up to the above:

Because Linux is a kernel, and it's free, the opportunity exists for developers and advanced users alike to create their own distros.

Myself, I staretd with the Live CDs and ended up installing Debian because (1) it's relatively small in size, (2) is easily customized with only the applications I want and (3) it can be installed via the net by first running the setup app and then downloading only those packages that you want.

Also, I wanted a linux system so I could have a web server, mostly used on local network, but sometimes opened up tp the www.

My setup is on an old compaq celeron 333 w/ an addition hard drive and 128 RAM. Because I do not use a big fluffy eye-candy package like Gnome or KDE, the system remains fast and stable. I use a lightweight window manager called Fluxbox.

A real advantage to Debian is that it can run on older hardware and older pcs, and if using it for a web serevr you will never know the system is old.

crossconnects · Post by **crossconnects** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 9:12 pm

I taught Linux at a tech school. (Don't ever go there. Some instructors are good, but the emphasis is on attendance. Attend all the classes and you'll pass, whether you know anything or not.)

I am an MCP, but have given up on Microsoft, and currently run Debian on my desktop. I've tried Red Hat, Mandrake, Suse, Slackware, Storm, and others, but The ease of maintenance got me into Debian.

konomi · Post by **konomi** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 10:20 pm

If you are going to give a Linux distro a try, I would suggest trying XANDROS.
http://www.xandros.com Download the Open Community Edition. Try it out and see if you like it. It is super simple to setup networking including Windows Networking. I was printing to my Win2K machine in about 10 minutes. Other distros took several hours. It installs in less than 30 minutes, including updating to the latest packages. It is a Debian varient.
If you like the software, you can purchase the business edition, which comes with CodeWeaver for running Windows applications. Not All but some of the major one like Office.
For a Live CD distro, try PClinux (http://pclinuxonline.com/pclos/html/download.html) IT is a chance to look at a very strong KDE interface.

This is of course just my personal opinion, I have done windows since Version 2 (if you can believe it) and I just recently said give me different.

jasonruiz85 · Post by **jasonruiz85** » Tue Jun 29, 2004 6:04 am

Fear the n00b! If youre just starting out, i recommend knoppix, which can also be installed on your harddrive. In the last 2 monthes I havent had one crash.

SG Broadband Community

Linux or Windows??

Linux or Windows??

For the beginner, try XANDROS