Ubuntu

[Guest]

It's a valuable tool to have knowledge about your computer system.

 

WATMM requires no explanation that western infrastructure is run by/on computers (not saying it's possible live without), but as so far has to go been without, the computer world still stands, and is rapidly ever increasing.

 

check it check it check it check it check it

check it check it i want to explore

 

 

My knowledge on the subject : virtually non-existent. New laptop will be booted on something else than Windows though.

 

Change arrangements on your face

[Guest]

dunno lol

[Guest M360]

Change arrangements on your face

[youtubehd]6PAthMTiGEg[/youtubehd]

[Guest fiznuthian]

1) Partition your drive into halfs

[Guest skibby]

Linux Mint is the hot stuff for user-friendly Linux these days. It's basically Ubuntu with a few ease-of-use tweaks and a more familiar, Windows-esque desktop environment.

 

I'm no tech wiz but I myself have been using it for about 2 years now, coming from Ubuntu for 2 years before that.

I highly recommend the "Cinnamon" edition.

 

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

In fact, I'm downloading a pre-release edition of Mint 16 right now!

 

Seconded.

 

Why? Because you will regret installing Ubuntu due to the Unity interface, and possibly the fact that everything you search for on your own computer gets sent to Ubuntu for marketing reasons, etc.

 

You probably really don't want to use Ubuntu for this and other reasons.

 

But linux is basically like OSX but free updates for life, and more and more software to get done what you need.

 

Try it, it's really fun and theres lots to learn about how your computer works n stuff. I had a blast when I first started using Linux.

[Guest fiznuthian]

Oops.. cut my post there.

1) Partition your drive into two halfs

2) Install Windows on one half, Ubuntu on the other

3) Install VMware or Virtualbox on Ubuntu and create a virtual Windows install

4) Use Ubuntu for day to day whatever with the Windows VM running for any windows tasks you need
For anything else (specific games or audio) just reboot into the Windows partition

I find this works great because for general Windows applications a virtual machine does well enough that i'd never notice the difference.. For everything else they're just a reboot away anyways.
Personally I take advantage of workspaces in Ubuntu and keep Windows running full screen on one of them. I switch to that workspace and in less than a second i've switched OSes. VMWare has a feature called Unity that integrates running Windows applications into your linux desktop environment. It's awesome to have Word/Excel, or Photoshop running using my Xubuntu window decorations, animations, etc, dock, etc.

Also keep in mind that Valve has brought a lot of games to Linux already and has plans to bring more. I've tried Team Fortress 2, Natural Selection 2, Left for Dead 2, or any of the Source engine games for that matter. Now that Nvidia has propietary linux drivers (thanks Valve) these games run fantastic on my rig. I'm fairly certain that they run faster on Ubuntu than on Windows now.. Can't vouch for ATI products though!

[Guest fiznuthian]

 

Linux Mint is the hot stuff for user-friendly Linux these days. It's basically Ubuntu with a few ease-of-use tweaks and a more familiar, Windows-esque desktop environment.

 

I'm no tech wiz but I myself have been using it for about 2 years now, coming from Ubuntu for 2 years before that.

I highly recommend the "Cinnamon" edition.

 

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

In fact, I'm downloading a pre-release edition of Mint 16 right now!

 

Seconded.

 

Why? Because you will regret installing Ubuntu due to the Unity interface, and possibly the fact that everything you search for on your own computer gets sent to Ubuntu for marketing reasons, etc.

 

You probably really don't want to use Ubuntu for this and other reasons.

 

But linux is basically like OSX but free updates for life, and more and more software to get done what you need.

 

Try it, it's really fun and theres lots to learn about how your computer works n stuff. I had a blast when I first started using Linux.

 

Mint is quite nice yes.

I stopped using Linux Mint when I realized I can just use the Ubuntu minimal installer and apt-get install any desktop environment I wanted (XFCE, openbox, and gnome-shell are my favorites).

Plus with the minimal install you are left with core packages and nothing else. I can custom tailor appearance, file manager, applications, compositor, or whatever. No extra junk to clean up from the standard Ubuntu/Unity installer.

[Guest skibby]

[Guest HokusPoker]

what's the actual point of this os ? what advantages does it have compared to a proper, pirated win7 ?

 

the main thing people are talking about in ubuntu threads are compatibility issues compared to windows which is kinda lol.

 

There are tons of advantages most of which I don't even remember/notice anymore since I use Windows only at work (and once a year perhaps for one of my rather old games that doesn't run on Wine which doesn't happen often (and on Windows, the performance usually goes DOWN compared to running it on Wine)). There's the thing that all your packages are kept up to date by ONE infrastructure rather than noisy custom built update agents prompting you ten times a day asking you to update Java, HP printer drivers, antivirus software etc. …

Only if you're used to that you don't realize how incredibly stupid this is.

The same applies to OS updates themselves. When I log off a Windows machine and get that "1/39 updates, please wait, don't turn off your computer", depending on my mood, I will laugh, cry or just kill it with a hard reboot.

On Linux systems you have in incredible amount of different options for the same task. This can be overwhelming if your distribution didn't do a good job offering you one, but it can be fantastic if you're using something and wondering if there is a better way to do that.

 

After years of using a properly setup Linux machine, I spend most of my time on a Windows machine either in anger or shaking my head and mumbling "And people PAY FOR THIS?!". Windows is such an inferior system and the only thing that keeps people there is the lock-in (which _is_ there when it comes to bleeding edge drivers and some software, but the situation is changing rapidly).

 

I'm not saying everybody should switch to a Linux based distribution, it's not right for everybody if you're used to Windows (this is in no way meant depreciatory. Like some people don't want to spend time figuring out a different operating system, I don't want to spend my time on things others deem important). Stay with Windows if you're happy with it (it would be stupid not to), but as with everything you'll soon realize with Linux and one of its many environments: there are several ways to do things and Windows chose the bad way in many cases. You just have to change your perspective and be open to a different system (just like you'd have to if you changed from Linux to Windows).

 

Oh, and just install a few distros and environments (I like KDE, it's very customisable) in a virtual machine until you find one that feels 'right' for you. In the first months it's important that you feel comfortable. After a year or two you may feel you could do better, and that's when you change.

[eugene]

well, those are really poor reasons. i am perfectly capable of configuring windows update and the update preferences of other programs/drivers for my convenience, and it is done in pretty much no time. if this is the first thing of the "ton of advantages" that pooped into your mind..

[Guest]

I think it's choosing freedom over convenience.

[eugene]

I think it's choosing freedom over convenience.

which is which ?

[Guest fiznuthian]

I think I just like linux better once familiar with it. My tastes..

[Guest skibby]

all in all, it depends what you intend to use your machine for.

 

i havent had much success editing video or making music on linux, although the capabilities are improving little by little.

 

also, a side note,

 

thread maaaybe should, mentally, be switched to "linux" instead of ubuntu, since ubuntu is only one of a thousand 'brand names'

[MadameChaos]

A friend at work specifically referenced Ubuntu. All this feedback is very useful though.

[Guest]

all in all, it depends what you intend to use your machine for.

 

yea dunno... imo it's good as a headless low-power computer running a purpose-cut linux thing for specific stuff, like a mediacenter/usenet-leecher/art-installation/server/etc.../etc.... to be accessed via CLI interface... THIS is where linux is good at.... but as a general-purpose machine? nah, for most people not, except if you're a haxx0r or something.

[Guest fiznuthian]

Here's my Xubuntu install:

[youtubehd]2C_pkuPxEWo[/youtubehd]

[Guest fiznuthian]

Here's another example. I show off Windows 7 running in VMWare about halfway through.
It's full screened on a workspace so you'll see the entire OS shift for a moment.

 

[youtubehd]VEDSF8HUn_0[/youtubehd]

[manmower]

 

Linux Mint is the hot stuff for user-friendly Linux these days. It's basically Ubuntu with a few ease-of-use tweaks and a more familiar, Windows-esque desktop environment.

 

I'm no tech wiz but I myself have been using it for about 2 years now, coming from Ubuntu for 2 years before that.

I highly recommend the "Cinnamon" edition.

 

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

 

In fact, I'm downloading a pre-release edition of Mint 16 right now!

Seconded.

 

Why? Because you will regret installing Ubuntu due to the Unity interface, and possibly the fact that everything you search for on your own computer gets sent to Ubuntu for marketing reasons, etc.

 

You probably really don't want to use Ubuntu for this and other reasons.

 

But linux is basically like OSX but free updates for life, and more and more software to get done what you need.

 

Try it, it's really fun and theres lots to learn about how your computer works n stuff. I had a blast when I first started using Linux.

 

Any reason why you guys aren't recommending the Mint Debian Edition over the standard (Ubuntu-based) one? I'm ditching Xubuntu again as soon as this project I need it for is over. I've done Arch and a Debian net install in the past but I'm kind of looking for something that has a desktop out of the box right now and was eyeing that one specifically.

 

It would be my first time trying Cinnamon, curious about that one. The future of GTK doesn't look very bright though. I'd love to see a lighter but full-featured Qt environment, something that is to KDE what Xfce is to Gnome. It looked like it was happening for a while but it turned out to be just another stillborn project.

[Guest Atom Dowry Firth]

Thanks for the advice guys, I just need to speed my PC up so I can run editing programmes more smoothly. Right now the render takes forever.

 

If you just want to speed up your PC there are a few things you can do with Windows to optimise performance. Might be an idea to give those a try before doing things like partitioning your hard disk and dual booting a second operating system.

 

Turn off all the flashy visual effects, defrag your HD. Uninstall resource heavy programs that run in the background if you don't use them or can do without them. Get more RAM if you can. If you're using your PC as a media workstation consider permanently disconnecting it from the internet and getting rid of internet security software, browsers etc and using another device for internetting (if you're not doing that already).

 

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/optimize-windows-better-performance#optimize-windows-better-performance=windows-7

 

http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-ways-to-speed-up-windows-7/

[Guest HokusPoker]

well, those are really poor reasons. i am perfectly capable of configuring windows update and the update preferences of other programs/drivers for my convenience, and it is done in pretty much no time. if this is the first thing of the "ton of advantages" that pooped into your mind..

There is no way you can configure your Windows updates to be as convenient as my Linux

[Guest HokusPoker]

Don't know why my post was submitted in the midst of writing it and I don't know why I cannot edit it anymore, but here's what I wanted to say:

 

​

well, those are really poor reasons. i am perfectly capable of configuring windows update and the update preferences of other programs/drivers for my convenience, and it is done in pretty much no time. if this is the first thing of the "ton of advantages" that pooped into your mind..

There is no way you can configure your Windows updates to be as convenient as my Linux updates, simply because it isn't possible. One command or one click, whatever you prefer, and your system is up to date. ALL components, operating system, applications, anything.

And as I said, I don't even know anymore what I'd be missing if I used Windows on a regular basis again, I just wanted to give the opinion of somebody who doesn't use Windows anymore. Instead of "Why Linux?" the question is to me "Why Windows?" and it's very hard for me to come up with a few good reasons. The fact that this kind of perspective change is possible does say a lot.

Anyway it's completely useless to compare 'Linux' to Windows because nobody is able to use 'Linux' per se. We're talking about Windows vs. a ton of not only Linux distributions, but desktop environments, applications etc.

[eugene]

Don't know why my post was submitted in the midst of writing it and I don't know why I cannot edit it anymore, but here's what I wanted to say:

 

​

well, those are really poor reasons. i am perfectly capable of configuring windows update and the update preferences of other programs/drivers for my convenience, and it is done in pretty much no time. if this is the first thing of the "ton of advantages" that pooped into your mind..

There is no way you can configure your Windows updates to be as convenient as my Linux updates, simply because it isn't possible. One command or one click, whatever you prefer, and your system is up to date. ALL components, operating system, applications, anything.

it's got nothing to do with os really, there are some windows programs that allow this kind of silent updating, some don't. windows does not limit such functions.

[Guest HokusPoker]

I'm not talking about specific applications allowing silent updates for their own files. I'm talking about an integral part of the OS keeping track of ALL applications at once, having an eye on their status and updating ALL of them whenever you choose to (or automatically). Of course this also means that you can install your software from these central software management systems (a mobile platform OS would call this an 'App Store'). I've never seen or heard of anything similar to that for Windows, but I may be wrong. It's definitely not an integral part of your Windows installation, I know that because I have to go to a browser's website to download it. With every Linux distribution I've ever used, I don't have to. I use one line or one click and download the application by its name. I don't have to know what website to get it from, what version, where to download it, where to install it. Just 'pacman -S firefox' and it's on my machine, will be updated in the future etc.

[eugene]

well it's still a software matter at the core, not really os. the programs are written that way that they're integrated with with os update system, similar to internet explorer, office and other microsoft programs that are updated through windows update. i don't know whose fault is it that such things are not incorporated by default in windows, but it never seemed like an issue to me, especially with more contemporary stuff that can be configured to auto update. this is definitely not a reason to switch to a poorly compatible os anyway.