Anyone used Linux?

[grumpydaddy]

Being the cautious type who knows little and risks less I would like to give it a try (one of the GUI versions)...

I'm fishing for comments or experiences that might guide me in this venture

[fuflo]

well it's always good to backup first, but it's not that risky these days to just go on and do it.
the obvious choice would be ubuntu for you as a starter. other user friendly distros are OpenSUSE or Mandriva. although i keep away from them...

ubuntu installation is pain free and almost all defaults work fine. it resizes some your partitions to make a new one for ubuntu and installs it.

the experience is similar to windows but it's different at the same time. you'll have to be prepared to get used to slightly different stuff. generally it's all fine, but i'm talking from my perspective, where i like to customize my os as much as i can ( i can't be bothered with ubuntu in this field )

[fuflo]

Unless your experienced with DOS commands I would skip it, it is not that easy to use in my opinion there is no clicking icons ect everything is a command line. But if you are curious then don't worry installation very simple stuff like windows.

huh?! what are you talking about.. ever heard of gnome or kde?

[4hams]

Unless your experienced with DOS commands I would skip it, it is not that easy to use in my opinion there is no clicking icons ect everything is a command line. But if you are curious then don't worry installation very simple stuff like windows.

That was my experience also but i have not used Linux since 2000.

However my understanding is the the versions available now days are GUI based and far easier for the begginner.

I have a buddy who plays with it and i will try to get a link to a site he recommended to me.

[4hams]

This link may help you out? http://jmjlinux.110mb.com/ tell him 4hams from Georgeg4's Message Board sent you.

[grumpydaddy]

That first link, from what I've read so far, is providing the info I've been searching for....thanks 4hams

[xApemanx]

I rocked out on ubutu "jaunty jackalope" for 2 months earlier this year, was very fun, solid. best part is after install everything worked except my x-fi .I had to do a bunch of things to get my x-fi gamer to work then afterward it was on-par with onboard soundquality. I ended up switching back once I started getting back into gaming.

I just used Ubuntu for basic things like websurfing , watching vids ,listenin to music and burning cd's . also strongly suggest having a linux disk in your computer repair kit because you can boot straight from cd with full Harddrive access

[4hams]

That first link, from what I've read so far, is providing the info I've been searching for....thanks 4hams

Your welcome and I hope it gets you headed in the right direction!

[4hams]

Being the cautious type who knows little and risks less I would like to give it a try (one of the GUI versions)...

I'm fishing for comments or experiences that might guide me in this venture

So how is it going with the Linux journey?

[sokas]

I made a try long time ago, with mandriva linux 10.3 and it was something else than cool and easy. Nothing worked, lots of problems with installed computer components, so my try were very short but i got then strong feeling that its not for me. But now i want to try again, because i heard that when you install it, then you need install the programs inside the linux or something. Someone correct me if im wrong. I have no experience of linux so its all new to me. Im not haxor or curious but just so tired to Winblows and that continious nagging. Want operating system what works and not waste time to fix it.

[xApemanx]

I made a try long time ago, with mandriva linux 10.3 and it was something else than cool and easy. Nothing worked, lots of problems with installed computer components, so my try were very short but i got then strong feeling that its not for me. But now i want to try again, because i heard that when you install it, then you need install the programs inside the linux or something. Someone correct me if im wrong. I have no experience of linux so its all new to me. Im not haxor or curious but just so tired to Winblows and that continious nagging. Want operating system what works and not waste time to fix it.

try Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, its a good solid version. or even Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

I've heard many people having problems with mandriva 10.3.

[Applejack]

I'd say that you need to know your intentions with wanting to use Linux from the start, otherwise it can be very, very frustrating. I've used CentOS 4.x for the past seven years but only at work as our product is built on it. We don't have a GUI running on it though, it's a secure platform, specifically custom built that way and it does what it's supposed to very reliably. Which I'd say is the main aspect with it, it's very good at doing what you want, and only what you want, if you know how to do it.

The 'buntu distributions are probably the easiest to get going and you have a choice of desktop environments such as KDE/Gnome. I recommend those as the best to 'play' with and they're more likely to support any non-mainstream components than the other distros. It will take a lot of effort to get things so that you're comfortable and expect to learn how to compile things and spend most of your time on Google trying to get what was simple on Windows to work (and stick a hundred Post-it notes on your monitor saying 'it's probably a permissions thing'). If you can survive the frustrations of the learning curve, it's quite rewarding, but I'd say that's because you've spent so much time to get it like the Windows environment you were using anyway.

If you prefer using the command line to do things in Windows and can work with batch files, then you'll have a blast with Linux, although Cygwin on your Windows box can come very close to being the same.

A word of warning if you're going to use it as a 'server in the corner', they can be just as unsecure or worse than Windows, but a lot more secure once configured correctly.

Just my two inf...

[grumpydaddy]

To date the mind is willing but the MB is weak....I've yet to get the MB to post (I got no video) so til I resolve this, maybe with a new board The whole venture is going nowhere.

[Applejack]

It can sense your intentions

[Brian511]

I use Ubuntu every day, except for gaming. Everything's free and customizable, and you can mount only partitions you use, saving a bit of resources. It's much more stable than Windows, too. An old Dell I turned into a linux box has been running solid for 5 weeks without a reboot.

[gooeyballzz]

I use Ubuntu every day, except for gaming. Everything's free and customizable, and you can mount only partitions you use, saving a bit of resources. It's much more stable than Windows, too. An old Dell I turned into a linux box has been running solid for 5 weeks without a reboot.

Try knoppix, it is a live CD so you boot from the CD and nothing gets installed on your H/D.


That way you can test and move forward with a full install if you like it.

Or another option is vmware workstation, install a Linux into a vmware machine and no big deal all.

Or if you have extra hardware around install an ESXi server that even better because its free
Always tons of options.