Linux sux moist a$$

[john]

Well maybe it isn't that bad but I can't get either wireless lan card to work.

Talk about a user unfriendly OS.  And I have to get used to using this on a daily basis.

Kill me now.

[RVertigo]

Ly-nux is teh poopzorz IMO...

But, hey... It's an open source server OS that will run on a 486.   

[calamari]

Ly-nux is teh poopzorz IMO...

But, hey... It's an open source server OS that will run on a 486.   

so will win95 

I've tried to 'make the switch' to linux about 8 times now (last one was 2 months ago), and everytime I end up returning to win, since linux is not user friendly yet (suse, mandrake, ubuntu, etc etc).
Yes, for the average user who only wants to write letters, surf the web or listen to music, linux offers no problems, but when it comes to hardware support, getting the most out of video/sound devices (one must use generic drivers), and multimedia support (video editing, and multimedia in general), it just sucks hard.

You have to spend half of your life compiling who-knows-what, searching for dependencies, etc... not to mention the 70/80+ background services that run in Linux with a default installation (against the 17 services I have running on my win box).

[xtalman]

I've been using Linux since about kernel 2.0, mostly because I work in science.  I have grown to like it.  It's the only thing that lets me still use my 333 mHz laptop with up-to-date software.  It's also free.

Things have gotten much better as it's gotten more popular.  Even so, there's a lot of room for improvement.  A lot of problems can be circumvented by choosing hardware that's a generation older.

You rarely have to compile stuff anymore.  On many distributions you can just type apt-get install (whatever software) and it will pull software and any dependencies off the internet and install it on your computer.  No need to go to whatever random website and download it.

I'd recommend Ubuntu/Kubuntu if you want something more user friendly.  After that, I use CentOS or Fedora Core.

[TheGoodGuy]

im running SUSE 10.0  the damn thing detected everything no problems.. thing rocks!

Unbutunu didnt run on my laptop .. its 2 years old..didnt like my video card.

SUSE10.0 rocks!

you can download the version from bit torrent - i downloaded the open source version OSS my dad bought the retail SUSE 10 so i got both.

[sys49152]

Well maybe it isn't that bad but I can't get either wireless lan card to work.

What card(s) and what distribution.  Are you trying to replicate your hosted server environment at home, or do you have any flexibility on what you're running?

Yes, for the average user who only wants to write letters, surf the web or listen to music, linux offers no problems, but when it comes to hardware support, getting the most out of video/sound devices (one must use generic drivers), and multimedia support (video editing, and multimedia in general), it just sucks hard.

I have no intentions of starting yet another OS religious battle, so I'll just respond with the following :

I run linux (debian) at home, and besides "writing letter, surfing the web and listening the music", I do the following :
- connect to the office using cisco vpn software
- rip and transcode or re-encode my dvd's (the kids like to scratch them up, so I create backups of everything)
- transfer miniDV video for editing on my machine, and author DVD's
- download and manage all my financial information
- some resonably advanced photo-editing (bought a digital SLR last year, and got into this)
- sync with my treo 650 (usb and bluetooth)

I'm not saying it does everything a windows machine does (I miss first person shooters and not being able to run google earth), but not very much more.  And yes, I agree that win98 will run on a 486, and that it's a reasonably decent OS for most, but I find that most of the bleeding edge hardware released today will have a better chance running on linux than on a win98 machine.

[groff22]

I have been messing around with other operating systems for a few years now, my favorite alternative being BeOS (Now called Zeta, www.yellowtab.com)... Linux was always there, but with too much to configure I never was able to settle on ONE flavor or get ahold of installing shiet ... I've tried a few distros... Most of them seem the same, but I suppose if you're hardcore linux fan you'd see the differences. The endless options of configuration also lead to a problem of no set standard for applications.

I currently use a distribution alongside my WinXP called Ubuntu (www.ubuntulinux.org) which uses GNOME window manager. I must say that Mr. Shuttleworth (Of Thawt fame, also an Astronaugt) is brilliant. His team managed to create a simple OS which is easy to use and offers a huge library of downloadable and 100% compatible software ALL Free!

I am quite sure you can get that wireless card to work, it might take some time of reading through forums to get the right info... Check www.ubuntuforums.org... Great wealth of knowledge there.

Linux has come along way and in many ways it's faster than Windows! My 0.2c

[Phaedrus]

Anyone have a newer version of Linux on CD they would send me if I paypal them the costs for shipping? I have some OLD linux CD's laying around..Redhat 5.0, Mandrake (forget the version but circa 2002), etc. But I want to try a newer here at work.

Anyone? 

[groff22]

Anyone have a newer version of Linux on CD they would send me if I paypal them the costs for shipping? I have some OLD linux CD's laying around..Redhat 5.0, Mandrake (forget the version but circa 2002), etc. But I want to try a newer here at work.

Anyone? 

You can get the best distro shipped to you for free...

https://shipit.ubuntu.com/

[Phaedrus]

hmmm Ill have to check that out, thanks

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Hey Phae, if you've got time, I can download and then Direct Connect (through AIM) the newest version of Red Hat Enterprise (get it free through the school.. woohoo!). I'm on a T1 here, so if you've got a decently fast connection, the 4 CDs should only take an hour or so to transfer... Drop me a PM, or better yet, get on AIM and let me know!

[Phaedrus]

Yeah, thats my problem. I have dial up at home  and a split T1 at work, but my boss would get annoyed if I DL'd something that size during peak hours. Maybe if I come in at some oddball time like 4am or 10pm, but I dunno if I wanna do that. 

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Well, damn... like someone else said, ubuntu is good...

[john]

Well, damn... like someone else said, ubuntu is good...

Yes, I think it's a slick setup myself.  When I get my linux box all squared away it will have Ubuntu in it.

[natedawg120]

Yeah Linux in general is a pain in the ass to get set up and everything working.  Once it does though it can go forever. 

[Phaedrus]

I figured I would just add an update.

I've got SUSE Linux 10 up and running well. Got it pretty much configured how I want it. I ended up buying the CD's a while back on ebay for shipping and media costs, basically.  I have my machine dual booting Win XP home and SUSE Linux 10 now. I kept the XP partition around for work stuff that I need, but have been using Linux for all of my own stuff. I really, really like it. It has come a long way since last time I used it and when I first started out with it back with Red Hat 5.0.

I went with SUSE because I'm a Novell kind of guy, and couldn't be happier with it. 

I never did try Ubuntu.

I did, however, download a copy of Slax 5 (a small, live CD distro of slackware). It is also very cool, and DEFINITELY worth checking out for anyone that wants to give Linux a shot but doesn't want to partition or go through the install process. It just runs right off a bootable CD:

http://slax.linux-live.org/

So I have my SUSE 10 / Win XP home and my Slax CD to carry around with me. All is well in the world 

[dracflamloc]

Hey I had no idea we had some linux geeks here!

Awesome!

And here I was thinking I was alone in the world 

[groff22]

Cool, I haven't tried it; however, Suse 10 is supposed to be pretty f@$%ing cool - glad to hear you like it... Novel got XGL to work pretty good which makes the OS a bit MAC-ish with neat visual effects (if you have a good videocard), I'm eager to check out. Yeah new version of Ubuntu will be out sometime early June, I'm running Ubuntu 5.10 at the moment.

And have tried Slax Kill Bill edition, module based so you can make your own custome live cd - it's tight and i'm a geek but I prefer Gnome .

[Phaedrus]

  I saw the Kill Bill edition but passed and just D/L the standard one. And yes, Gnome kicks ass. 

I was even surprised that my USB flash drive works under SUSE Linux. I wasn't expecting it to, but it did.  And of course with programs like The Gimp (alternative to Photoshop/PSP), OpenOffice (alternative to MS Office), Gaim (alt to AOL IM), and a whole slew of other apps, it almost makes even needing Windows questionable.

The only quirk I've found thus far is that I am having a hard time getting my El Cheapo Walmart-bought Lexmark printer to print. I'm working on it, though. 

[groff22]

Sweet, Suse is taking mammoth steps with every release it seems ...  Check out gnomefiles.org if you haven't already... Two killer apps, TunaPie and Streamtuner.