Jump to content

Why linux?


Guest tr34d
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey guys, here's me story

 

I've been interested in linux for a while, looking through various pc magazines, seeing the news and hearing such good feedback about linux has finally pushed me to delve a bit deeper.

 

Longtime windows user :P (BLASPHEMY). And yeah, was just wondering why linux? Using windows for a while, had everything I've needed. And besides the obvious advantages linux has over windows (faster, less prone to error) can you do as much as you want, or even more with Linux, than you can Windows?

 

Not an argument, just wondering :P I'm downloading mandrake as I type this and yeah. If anyone can enlighten me that'd be great :) Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome to the board!

 

Why Linux...that's could spark quite a debate :P

 

For me, I was curious. A friend of mine had it, and I asked for a copy. It was old (Mandrake 6.2 or 7.0, but this was a number of years ago). I got into it, tinkered around for a bit, then went back to Windows; but the curiosity and experience stuck. I have since installed almost every version of Mandrake, ran cooker (testing) for about 2 years, then branched off to other distros (running gentoo currently). I love it linux. It offers a flexibility that you don't see in Windows. Everyone can have their own tastes and their own style (check the Show off your Desktop threads (might have to look back a few pages for some of them) in the Art and Design forum)

 

In general, Linux is more secure than Windows. There are some who may argue this point and say that both have faults in security, but I'm simply speaking in general terms here.

 

Mostly what I was after was the interest factor and the customization that Linux offered me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this is such a difficult question to answer. does linux play windows games? some. will linux play windows media? most. can linux run faster? depends on what you have loaded. kde will take a while. the more services you have will increase the load time. misconfigured services can cause long load times. linux can be more secure, in the sence that you dont need to worry about viruses and spyware. but i have seen linux misconfigured so that its less secure than windows.

 

bottom line is, linux can be what you make it. its not so much "can linux....", its more of a matter of "do you know how".

 

i've been accused of being a linux fan boy, and thats somewhat true. yes i love linux. at the same time, i would not want to give misinformation. to the windows convert, the most frustrating thing about linux, is the learning curve. you have to take time to learn linux.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

bottom line is, linux can be what you make it. its not so much "can linux....", its more of a matter of "do you know how".

 

i've been accused of being a linux fan boy, and thats somewhat true. yes i love linux. at the same time, i would not want to give misinformation. to the windows convert, the most frustrating thing about linux, is the learning curve. you have to take time to learn linux.

 

Thats fair enough, looking around at all of the tutorials, how-to's and commands it such, it does look rather complex :P. and we're all fan-boy's of something aint we? heh :)

 

Well i'm interested in what linux has to offer, so as soon as i get home i can load it up and have a look. :D Cheers for the feedback :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of the issue of why linux is because you got everything that you need for free or a very marginal cost. Also you start discovering communities (more on Why Open Source?).

 

The 4 step program to be a Linux user should be:

- Install free software on your windows machine (Firefox OpenOffice.org, GAIM etc..)

- Get a LiveCD (Knoppix, Gnoppix)

- Install a dual boot on your machine

- Trash Windows :)

 

I used to be in a Special Interest Group for Linux and I can tell you some of the key reasons to switch:

- Curiosity (I want to learn this)

- Pride (I am a geek I need to know everything)

- Hate (we all hate Gates)

- Paranoia (Virus, worms, my data is KING)

- Control (Don't want no Palladium-DRM up in this *ish)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome on board!

 

If you already have everything you need, then Linux won't give you more, and probably less.

 

But do you?...

 

The saying is "When all you have is a hammer, all things look like a nail". Linux is not only a hammer, but a complete toolset instead.

 

After some time using Linux if you bear with the initial learning curve, you'll find that some things that you used to do with Excel or whatever... are not "nails" after all, and may be best accomplished with another tool. You'll then face another learning curve: that of the other tools, for all you knew until then was the "hammer".

 

As this step is past, you'll feel more comfortable with Linux. And then you'll see things the other way around: with the wide set of tools Linux offers, you'll begin to see that the combination of them may help you in performing new tasks, which you wouldn't ever have though possible while still in Windows. For this you'll face yet another learning curve, that of the scripting, of the configuration files, and possibly of programation.

 

This all happens in the span of years. You may enjoy it, and contribute your discoveries to the community, help new learners, or even involve yourself in free software projects.

 

Linux is not easy. Linux is not a Windows replacement.

Linux is the freedom to learn. Linux is the freedom to improve. Linux broadens your horizons.

 

Welcome to Linux, I hope you'll survive the different learning curves :), with all the help we can provide.

The worst thing that can happen to newcommers is plain and simple uncompatable hardware, but that's not Linux' fault, it is the manufacturers'. This has an unfortunate tendency to give Linux undeserved bad press.

 

Yves.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The main thing is if you are: 1. Into computers, 2. Curious, and 3. Ready to learn, you should survive the lurning curve. That's the main thing you need to survive. For me this was about 2 1/2 months of the summer before I was fully comfortable with Linux as I was with Windows, but that was with much time investment.

 

The reasons for Linux differs per person. For a corporation they do it for security and cost mainly. For a programmer they do it for the richness of options and the community-base. Linux is as varied as you wish it to be. For me, it was 1. The ability to tinker with your system to your heart's desire. 2. The knowledge that my hardware is being used to the max. Linux programs are often very efficient. 3. The choice of what I want my system to do, and not the other way around, and to be free of EULA's. 4. Geek-value :).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Linux is not for everyone. That does not necessarily mean that it is for "geeks" only. There are many "average computer users" out there that replaced their Windows version with a Linux distro, because it (just like Windows or Mac) also works out of the box and gives the end users the tools they need every day. Most people want to browse the web, write text documents and emails and maybe burn some photo-cds. This can all be done with almost any operating system. So why Linux?

 

Many people say: "Total cost". Others say: "No virus problems" and still others say "More stability". All of this is true for Linux and e.g. BSD (and were main factors when I switched).

 

But there are even more reasons. One thing I do not like at all with Microsoft is that they collect data about you and your computer habits and you cannot do anything against it if you use their software. And you do not know what they use this data for (and they won't tell you). And if you buy their software and run into problems and call them, you will be treated more like a prisoner, a software-pirate, a "lousy customer" than with respect. These things really put me off. Am I paranoid? Maybe, but I am not willing to let a company take over control over everything and live in a "1984" scenario à la George Orwell.

 

What I do like about Linux is: You can change the system the way you want it to have. If you want bloat, then you get bloat. If you want no bloat, then you don't get bloat. It is up to you. And even if you do not know anything about computer systems, Linux WILL teach you something about computing. More than Windows ever did. Thus, Linux educates you and education is always a good thing IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello tr34d :)

 

I'm quite new to linux myself :)

 

It is a steep learning curve (especially learning all the command line stuff... but the man pages are helpful), and I've definately got a long way to go, but I think it will be worth it :)

 

Things I like so far are:

 

- Multiple desktops. They are really useful, especially when you're doing lots of things at once and don't want a cluttered screen

 

- Lots of retro games :banana: I'm easily pleased....

 

- Open Office. It looks a lot like Microsoft Office, but it doesn't have the annoying Paperclip. It's compatible with MS office docs as well, which is good.

 

- The Gimp. Much nicer than photoshop imo :) And it's free!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why Linux?

 

Why not...

 

I got a Knoppix live cd with a magazine and was intrigued, but everything I needed at the time I was running on XP and didnt know what to make of all the apps on Knoppix. Then an article or two, a bit more name recognition...but the other boot dropped with Gates announcement about pulling support in the summer of 05 for "pirated" copies. On the same page of the newspaper was an item about Sun going open source. I was gobsmacked. Here was MS threatening to nail everyone who wouldnt shell out the bucks cause their box came with an OS which happened to be windows....(installed in some back room of a third world computer outlet from the same cracked cd) and hell, we didnt know any better when we got our first box, did we?

 

It was the Gates announcement, implying he had most of us by the balls , when I decided very consciously to know another way. Free as in free beer is the least of it. I can make it through a whole day these days without having to resort to cracked goods and can give this Linux stuff away without an activation number or some other nonsense. And I hope it is the future, cause Vista just dropped out of the sky and a lot of people have some choices to make. And true to his word, MS stopped supporting 2/3s of the XP boxes in the world ...(but didnt cut SECURITY updates?! well, he may be dumb but he aint stupid....Why Linux? Choice , freedom, security, community and of course...why the hell not?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My student freebie of winows XP had a line in the licence saying it could not be used for commercial purposes. Now I am no longer a student and I do a lot of web design work, I had to change really.

 

Personally, I think the tools available for linux for web design are better than those available for windows.....and free! (only my opinion). I can now create graphics with tools such as The Gimp and Inkscape without the cost of buying Fireworks or Photoshop :banana:

 

Bluefish seems pretty neat as an Html editor (going to try Quanta next). gftp is slick. I can run Apache with PHP and test all my stuff locally (possibly could have done that with xp - but never looked into it).

 

I have been an openoffice user on windows for well over a year.....and it seems to work twice as quick on linux :D

 

The only thing I really honestly miss from windows is fottball manager 2005 (game). But I have not yet tried playing it with cedega or wine. Has anyone else?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:o Wow, heh this is really great feedback :P I was expecting to get rambled (anyone who's in the atomic forums [atomicmpc.com] would share my thoughts) but this is great :D Thanks alot for the feedback, although. I've got one question, i've got photoshop in windows, am i able to just use wine should my need to conform to adobe rise again?

 

Thanks again :D

 

Tr34d

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...