Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 After my virus adventure, I thought it would be useful to learn a bit about Linux and see what's better or worse about it. (stupid Windows) So, what makes Linux better? What makes it worse? How is it compatible? Etc. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordie Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 After my virus adventure' date=' I thought it would be useful to learn a bit about Linux and see what's better or worse about it. (stupid Windows) So, what makes Linux better? What makes it worse? How is it compatible? Etc. Thank you.[/quote'] Linux is a totally diffrent operating system then Windows. One cool thing about Linux is -It is free -It is open source (you can see it's source code and even modify it and distribute it) Linux can be downloaded from Linuxiso.org. On Linux many of the same applications you run on windows can be run on Linux using Wine (winehq.org). Many Linux based programs exisit. Linux also has file premissions that can prevent alot of damage being done to your system. I would download fedora core two or mandrake linux since they are directed towards the newbie/home user. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drz Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 plus, most virus, malware or adware written today are designed to attack microsoft OSs. Something about the way linux handles the filesystem makes it rather difficult to infect. The only disadvantage to linux, IMO, is compatibility. But groups like Wine are working towards changing that, and as more and more people start to use linux, more software will become availible for it. And on the compatibility note, it is entirely possible, and quite easy, to make a small MS compatible partition, and install windows after installing linux, setting up a dual boot system. Then, if you want to play a game or use a program in windows, its as simple as a reboot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 12, 2004 Author Share Posted October 12, 2004 Why not install Linux after Windows? And how well does Wine work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 Linux is an operating system that can be used for anything, whereas Windows is a product that can be marketed to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mardigan Posted October 12, 2004 Share Posted October 12, 2004 There is also http://www.transgaming.com/ that is helping port games over to Linux from windows based os. A friend of mine left his Linux machine running without reboot for over a year, finally the hard drive died completely. With windows the cache fills up and doesnt release, causing the adventual restart or crash of your pc. Linux keeps from doing that allowing no reboots and preventing crashes. With being an open source program, you dont wait a couple years for the new release by a major corp, it is done by the users. Draw backs is it can be difficult at first learning commands and installing. Advantage, it is the cutting edge for an os, you can create your own if you wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordie Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 There is also http://www.transgaming.com/ that is helping port games over to Linux from windows based os. A friend of mine left his Linux machine running without reboot for over a year' date=' finally the hard drive died completely. With windows the cache fills up and doesnt release, causing the adventual restart or crash of your pc. Linux keeps from doing that allowing no reboots and preventing crashes. With being an open source program, you dont wait a couple years for the new release by a major corp, it is done by the users. Draw backs is it can be difficult at first learning commands and installing. Advantage, it is the cutting edge for an os, you can create your own if you wanted.[/quote'] Yes but now with distro's like Fedora it's simple to install. Only thing that may be difficult is learning the command line. If you have no knowledge of ms-dos then it would be more difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Linux is an operating system that can be used for anything, whereas Windows is a product that can be marketed to anyone. Just how well do Windows emulators work? And will the default office application be able to open .doc documents? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Mardigan Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Yes but now with distro's like Fedora it's simple to install. Only thing that may be difficult is learning the command line. If you have no knowledge of ms-dos then it would be more difficult. Linux for Dummies quick reference guide is a good source for the differ commands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Just how well do Windows emulators work? And will the default office application be able to open .doc documents? You can get OpenOffice for Linux, it should open .doc files. I have no experience with Windows emulators on Linux, but I've seen Windows emulators on Mac and they're reasonably fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Just how well do Windows emulators work? I have never used one, so I don't know. I gather they work quite well but as usual it's a matter of finding the right tool for your particular job. LuTze has probably used most of the big ones. And will the default office application be able to open .doc documents? Yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodhound Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 I did a quick demo , using Knoppix and Suse CD, they both couldnt detect my integrated ac97 audio, and couldnt detect my integrated graphics. graphics still ran through a generic driver, but dont know if it will affect the performance. no hope for audio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 That'll teach you to buy integrated components Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bloodhound Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 its a god damn laptop init. it worked perfectly for my last laptop, but due to a defect, toshiba replaced it with a similar spec machine, and now it doesnt work at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sayonara Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 That'll teach you to buy laptops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 yeah, i agree with sayo as you have windows at the moment, do as previous suggested and set up a dual booting option, with a small area (partition) on your HDD dedicated to it, or maybe bigger as you will want to store games there, and they're big. i think recent polls showed that linux OS accounted for 0.something% of total OSs in the world... which is why there arent many compatable software, at the same time bieng open source, anyone can modify it, so home made mods are easily available. its not soo popular because it has only just started taking off, what with security things in microsoft's OSs and the fact that it is not basic-user friendly due to the programming language used (its not hard, just you have to learn it). personally i think that if you surf the net safely and have decent AV and firewall (and are just generally sensible, dont give out email address, dont get a virus) then microsoft is ok for security, the only other reason you'd want linux is for the advance editing side of it, if that is the case, make a small partition on your HDD (hard drive disk) and instal linux on there (using dual-booting) so that you can test it out to see waht you think of it. dont try it if you are not willing to learnt the language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aM Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Fedora core 2 is a nice distribution, it is simpel to install/use the only prob i had with it was that my ati drivers would not work , i bet i could have fixed this proble easy enough. Mandrake 9.2 dident find my integrated network card(nforce chippset) so i dident test this one so good as fedora c2. About installing linux on a windows machine(windows is installed allready when u whant to try linux), this can be done easy you just need to creat a new partiton that u can have linux on. If u do somthing like this you should be abel to select OS when ur pc boot. aM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 i think that linux has some problem with certain hardware, is this a common problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 Now, next questions: How different is linux in GUI and such? Better? Worse? Is it very compatible with Windows files? Does it have any major bugs/problems? Is it faster/slower than XP? Thank you very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drz Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 How different is linux in GUI and such? Better? Worse? I personally think it is better. It has multiple desktops, can run multiple programs, and multiple users. Its damn near uncrashable, as was mentioned, computer running without reboot for long time periods is not unheard of. Mine ran for 6 months before I decided I wanted a different OS. I'm lucky if my pc can run XP for 6 hours without needing a reboot. As to the comaptibility issue, like I said, this is the main downfall. However, as to internet browsing, there is nothing linux can't do really. A few MS specific protocols may not work, but multimedia works fine on linux. I'm pretty sure the office program mentioned does indeed handle MS word documents, spreadsheets, and databases. I know Star Office does, which I believe is included with mandrake linux. One tip I would suggest, once you find a distribution you like, try to find a version of it in the store. It costs about $50 bucks, but with mandrake for instance, you get support, a big fat book, access to various websites and updates. Comparing to a new version of Windows, $50 is barely a drop in the bucket. Plus, you help support the people that are moving linux forward, and in turn, helping yourself if choose to stay with it. With all this spyware, adware, and viruses running rampant, I'm about ready to go back to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 My XP can run for many hours without a reboot... the only crashes I've had are the fault of games and such. XP can also do those GUI things, but what is "multiple desktops"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drz Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 ok, picture next to your start button (linux has something similar) a little box with upto 16 boxs in it. Say for instance you start the pc up, open up the browser and come to the forums. You decide you want to run some other program, maybe an mp3 player. You click one of the other 16 boxes, and it switches to a blank desktop. You can place certain programs, like a word editor, art program, etc on the desktop of your choice. Its just bells and whistles really, I for one think the gui's in linux are far more advanced, and offer much more function then a typical windows gui. Also, you can always close the gui, return to the command line, restart the gui if for some reason you wanted to. Windows eliminated that when they eliminated dos. I was being sarcastic about my computer's run time with xp, it stays up for days at a time without reboot. But linux machines can run for months and months, and then some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted October 13, 2004 Author Share Posted October 13, 2004 So you're saying that you open a new desktop, and then you can set up more programs on it? Is this like having "virtual computers" where you can have two different desktops running at once, and when you switch it stores to the hard drive? I don't really understand it. It's like having the taskbar that holds programs in XP, except with up to 16? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5614 Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 right, i dont have this but i think i get the idea, you know how you can swap from program to program, imagine being able to swap from desktop to desktop... just like you have word homework.doc and you go to schooltimetable.xls in linux (i think) you have your games desktop in which you are playing a game and another desktop where you are doing your homework. like multiple virtual computers like a task bar which holds desktops (and each desktop can run its own programs) and theres a limit of 16 of these 'desktops' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drz Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 ^ pretty much. like I say, its just bells and whistles, which is what made Windows so popular. It is indeed usefull, especially for 3d modeling, art work, anything that requires switching from one program to the next. oh ya, and the coolest thing about linux is free software. While your typical microsoft programs do not work on linux, there is almost always a free version that is as good as these high dollar commercial apps. For instance there is a free 3d modeling program availible for linux that is about as good as 3DSM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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