Ubuntu
- Thread starter Pompano
- Start date
salvage-this
Active Member
Yep. It is my favorite OS. Gaming is the only thing that bums me about it.
JordyAtkins
New Member
I used to have it installed on both my desktops and my laptop, however I sold my laptop and built new computers. Planning to install it again soon to see what its like these days. You played around with any other Linux distributions?
lucasbytegenius
Well-Known Member
You guys most definitely have to give OpenSUSE a try 
:good:
:good:JordyAtkins
New Member
lucasbytegenius I did think I had seen your Avatar somwhere before. Now I realise where.
I think this has made up my mind. Over the forthcoming weeks I am going to install Fedora and OpenSUSE and test them out whilst university begins to pick up, and I apply for placements
I think this has made up my mind. Over the forthcoming weeks I am going to install Fedora and OpenSUSE and test them out whilst university begins to pick up, and I apply for placements
I've been dual-booting win7 and Linux Mint on my laptop. I must say I use Linux a lot when I'm on the go, as I think it extends the life of my battery when I'm not near an outlet, and it runs nice and fast.
zombine210
New Member
tried it for a semester, linux is definitely not user friendly. as an OS, it's good for programmers and masochists. if you want to get work done, windows is the way to go.
just some reasons why linux sucks: i could never get the video drivers installed, could not get the youtube app to work, or any video player for that matter. also, the network configuration app was hidden really good or never installed, wasn't able to change speed & duplex of network adapter. all help online is command only and good luck if your version is different, they change things ALL the time. to install software, you can't just download and double click, you have to tell your machine where the software is and know what other dependencies you need along with it or else it wont work and you're left scratching your head going 'wtf did you just do if not install this thing-ma-jig?' open office worked most of the time, until you needed to do anything past basic editing, then it just whines and fights you all the way.
not just ubuntu, i tried many different flavors of linux. i still run it sometimes when i'm feeling bored and/or sadist.
just some reasons why linux sucks: i could never get the video drivers installed, could not get the youtube app to work, or any video player for that matter. also, the network configuration app was hidden really good or never installed, wasn't able to change speed & duplex of network adapter. all help online is command only and good luck if your version is different, they change things ALL the time. to install software, you can't just download and double click, you have to tell your machine where the software is and know what other dependencies you need along with it or else it wont work and you're left scratching your head going 'wtf did you just do if not install this thing-ma-jig?' open office worked most of the time, until you needed to do anything past basic editing, then it just whines and fights you all the way.
not just ubuntu, i tried many different flavors of linux. i still run it sometimes when i'm feeling bored and/or sadist.
tlarkin
VIP Member
I am not trying to be a jerk when I ask this, but did you actually take the time to learn Linux?
The problem with Linux is that it is not Windows. It is nothing like Windows. So many people try Linux for a few months and always say, you know what, Linux would be better than windows if it was Linux but just like Windows.
If you want to update your drivers in Windows, you need to go each manufacturer website and download and install separate drivers. With Linux you can update them in one fell swoop.
Video card drivers are built into package managers now. If you cannot get that to work you can download an installer script, which is very easy to use. If you actually read the documentation on it.
You do not need to be an engineer to like or use Linux. You just need patience and the willing to learn it, because no matter what you think an OS should be, Linux is NOT Windows.
You tube app? You mean Firefox? VLC runs native on Linux and is super easy to install. You open up your package manager, check VLC box and hit apply and you are done.
I think you just tried to run before you could crawl and expected Linux to be just like Windows. It is not that hard to learn but people are so used to just point and clicking in Windows that is all they know.
The command line is not a must in Linux, but it sure does help, and it helps a lot.
zombine210
New Member
i've been 'learning' linux since the red hat days, lol. i have 5.something on cd and i actually bought the 7.2 bible. it's still full of stickies from way back when.
i know linux is not windows. i'm just saying that for such a powerful OS, it's a real pain to do anything productive. seems like every time i install a linux os, i have to 'learn' to use it since nothing i learned before applies anymore.
drivers are easy in windows. even though you need to go to each individual manufacturer to get drivers, at least you know they exist. linux uses more generic drivers and if you need any hardware acceleration from your video chipset you need to install an unsupported version and you're on your own from then on.
i have fun using linux at home to play around with, but as far as making a home movie, or using it for school or even work, i wouldn't depend on it.
the video player i'm talking about is totem (i think, i just did a quick search and that's what it looks like. it's whatever comes with ubuntu install.) you select from a drop down menu youtube and type a search and it always gave me problems. i can't remember right now what it said, but it never worked no matter what i did.
another time it sucked to run linux... i need vpn to connec to work. i search for ubuntu vpn. first hit seems good, ok. you get a bunch of mumbo jumbo of what vpn is. then towards the end, it give you a command to download & install the client. wait, NO it doesn't! you have to dork around with network manager which, like i mentioned earlier, was nowhere to be found in my installation even though my laptop had access to my wireless connection
i then managed to convert my pcf file but had to run the connection manually through the cli because, again, the network manager was nowhere to be found!
and yes, the command line IS a must in linux. every bit of help online uses the command line. installing programs is done through the command line, etc. i'm not saying it's a bad thing, i'm just saying... it's 2011! even apple managed to hide the command line from whatever unix system it's based off of.
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tlarkin
VIP Member
You make some good points and I agree. I just think some people expect it to be Windows but with cool penguins instead of the MS logo. I have had issues with drivers in Linux, but it wasn't Linux's fault. It was Nvidia's fault. I exchanged my Nvidia card for an ATI the next day and the ATI worked out of the box.
Linux developers often time reverse engineer Windows Drivers because companies will not release their drivers to open source, or they wrap the windows version in the NDIS wrapper which only gives basic functionality. However, certain companies fully support Linux. You do have to research your hardware a bit, and yes I agree with you that can be a pain.
At my last job we ran business class HP desktops. The first thing I did when I got hired was formatted my desktop they gave me, and loaded Linux on it. For two reasons. I wanted to get Linux to work with Enterprise level stuff and learn more about it in that environment; secondly I hated how windows just dragged on forever and forever. I even installed IE on my Linux box to get around any web based stuff that required IE. You can depend on it, but you have to take the time to learn the differences. If you aren't willing to take the time or don't care to, then you probably should stick to Windows or Mac OS X.
I have always just used my web browser for that sort of thing. It was probably an issue with Flash, which again is technically a problem with Adobe and not Linux, but who's problem it is doesn't matter if it doesn't work for you.
another time it sucked to run linux... i need vpn to connec to work. i search for ubuntu vpn. first hit seems good, ok. you get a bunch of mumbo jumbo of what vpn is. then towards the end, it give you a command to download & install the client. wait, NO it doesn't! you have to dork around with network manager which, like i mentioned earlier, was nowhere to be found in my installation even though my laptop had access to my wireless connection
What VPN client were you using? Juniper, Cisco, and other commercial networking hardware usually has their own client and most of them support Linux. Almost all enterprise level managed switches you buy run some form of Linux in the OS/firmware.
Well, this is a tough one to convince new users or average users to switch. Is the command line needed? No, it isn't and the GUI is getting better each release. Just look at Ubuntu 10.10. I am sure I can probably do most any basic task an average user would want to do with out launching the terminal.
However, knowing it just makes it that much more powerful. Also, bash is bash, shell is shell, zsh is zsh, csh is csh and so forth; and they all work with Linux/Unix. So once you learn a shell it really doesn't change from distro to distro the command line functions are there. What will change maybe is the version of the binaries which should be documented in the man pages.
Linux is definitely not for everyone, but it can definitely do everything your windows box can do, but it just takes a different approach. There will be a learning curve and a time of adjustment, and if you take the time to learn it, it will be worth it. If you decide to stick with a commercial OS like OS X or Windows, that is fine too.
pane-free
Member
Greetings to all. I'm glad to be here and know this will be both a learning and a helping when I am able experience. My handle says it -- I've abandoned the dominant OS and am now Pane-Free! Haven't worked much with that OS since W2K and some XP -- mostly tweaking the registry for performance in workstations. Performance remains one of my top priorities.
@Pompano
I'm very glad you are having good experiences with ubuntu. I own many hard drives and began learning GNU/Linux with Jaunty Jackalope; now have 10.04 LTS by means of SuperOS, use one of the Canada servers for main ubuntu repo (SuperOS has its own, as well) and enjoy much to do with movies and music with it.
@ salvage-this
Gamers would do well to look at http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/download_trial/ as I downloaded a trial version, let it expire and Codeweavers then offered me a 50% discount to purchase one of their three versions.
True Debian-based distros are my favorites -- antiX (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=466611)& CrunchBang (http://crunchbanglinux.org/), especially; aptosid, too, will teach a newbie a lot in pleasant fashion (http://www.aptosid.com/). The award-winning script smxi (http://smxi.org/site/about.htm) helps simplify post-install tweaking immensely for these type distros, including adding liquorix kernel options to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.
LinuxMint-9-LXDE (http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=60)remains a favorite, as well. It and Peppermint One (http://peppermintos.com) both share at least one very talented developer (Kendall) and it shows in both of them. I keep going back to them.
Thirdly, Slackware-based distros like Salix64-xfce-13.1.2 (http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/products/linux/salix/salix64-xfce-1312-install-cd-64bit-pc.html) and absolute 13.1.6 (http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/products/linux/absolute). Salix is the way to go IMHO for those who want to learn how Slackware works. The developers have added dependency resolution capabilities and the forum is very helpful. It is, perhaps, the most-improved Linux distro of 2010. Zenwalk (http://www.zenwalk.org/) is very good, too.
Pleased to make all of your acquaintances (as Mattie likes to say)!
@Pompano
I'm very glad you are having good experiences with ubuntu. I own many hard drives and began learning GNU/Linux with Jaunty Jackalope; now have 10.04 LTS by means of SuperOS, use one of the Canada servers for main ubuntu repo (SuperOS has its own, as well) and enjoy much to do with movies and music with it.
@ salvage-this
Gamers would do well to look at http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxgames/download_trial/ as I downloaded a trial version, let it expire and Codeweavers then offered me a 50% discount to purchase one of their three versions.
True Debian-based distros are my favorites -- antiX (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=466611)& CrunchBang (http://crunchbanglinux.org/), especially; aptosid, too, will teach a newbie a lot in pleasant fashion (http://www.aptosid.com/). The award-winning script smxi (http://smxi.org/site/about.htm) helps simplify post-install tweaking immensely for these type distros, including adding liquorix kernel options to your /etc/apt/sources.list file.
LinuxMint-9-LXDE (http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=60)remains a favorite, as well. It and Peppermint One (http://peppermintos.com) both share at least one very talented developer (Kendall) and it shows in both of them. I keep going back to them.
Thirdly, Slackware-based distros like Salix64-xfce-13.1.2 (http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/products/linux/salix/salix64-xfce-1312-install-cd-64bit-pc.html) and absolute 13.1.6 (http://www.osdisc.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi/products/linux/absolute). Salix is the way to go IMHO for those who want to learn how Slackware works. The developers have added dependency resolution capabilities and the forum is very helpful. It is, perhaps, the most-improved Linux distro of 2010. Zenwalk (http://www.zenwalk.org/) is very good, too.
Pleased to make all of your acquaintances (as Mattie likes to say)!