Windows Linux or Mac?
POSTED BY: Haze
UPDATED: Saturday, April 8, 2006 06:42
VIEWED: 42858
PAGE 12 of 20
Quote:
Originally posted by STDOUBT:
[B]@Sneaker98
Learn the ways of your SunOS young padawan for
"Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly."
~Henry Spencer
I'll have time eventually, but not just yet. When juggling classes and work, miscellaneous knowledge isn't really priority :-\
"I do the job... and then I get paid. Go run your little world."
-Malcolm Reynolds
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Quote:
Originally posted by Haze:
Here’s a question. If I where to go with Linux what version would you recommend?
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Who do you suppose is in there?
Depends on what you are looking for. If you want one that just works, go with PCLinuxOS. If you don't mind some tweking, go with Ubuntu or Xandros. I'm currently building a dirtibution of Linux myself, and I'm using PCLinuxOS as my benchmark for out of the box usability.
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Child One: "Republicans aren't real."
Child Two: "Full well they are!"
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tiger:
I've been watching this thread with great interest. I'm no expert in operating systems, but I've been curious for a while about experimenting with something new, strictly from a user's perspective.
Unfortunately, in this thread one guy says "A" and the next guy says "B". Maybe it would shed some light on the subject if you have a more specific, real-world example, namely me. Should I try Linux or a Mac?
My current system:
Windows XP sp2
1 gb RAM
200 gb storage
2.4 mhz Pentium 4
dual monitors
Normal usage:
Firefox & I.E.
Email with Thunderbird
Graphic/web design with Dreamweaver, Photoshop/Illustrator, Flash
Hauppaugge TV tuner with Beyond TV to watch TV on one monitor while working or surfing on the other
Bittorrents
DVDs/music with Windows Media or VLC
Microsoft Office
DVD burning with Nero
Do you think I'd get along alright with Linux or a Mac? Would it be worth the trouble of switching and relearning?
I've come up with what *might* be some suitable replacements for your software under Linux:
Normal usage:
Firefox & I.E.
You can still use Firefox. Run IE under the wine program for Linux
Email with Thunderbird
You can still use Thunderbird
Graphic/web design with Dreamweaver, Photoshop/Illustrator, Flash
These can be a little tricky. They all appear to run using the wine program listed above. Check the link below.
Hauppaugge TV tuner with Beyond TV to watch TV on one monitor while working or surfing on the other
For this, use tvtime. It has no recording features, but viewing works fine with tuners that can watch channels below 125.
Bittorrents
Azureus is the program for bit torrents. Requires java.
DVDs/music with Windows Media or VLC
You have your pick here. Xine, mplayer, kaffeine, and many others will work.
Microsoft Office
OpenOffice.org 2.0 fits the bill nicely
DVD burning with Nero
You can use either K3b (recommended) or NeroLinux. Try K3b though. Works VERY well.
Links:
Wine
http://frankscorner.org/
http://winehq.org
OpenOffice
http://openoffice.org
I STRONGLY suggest using PCLinuxOS to run all of this. Super stable, and very user friendly. You can download a LiveCD version that you can load on your computer that does not require you to load it on to your hard drive.
http://www.pclinuxos.com/
I hope all this helps.
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Child One: "Republicans aren't real."
Child Two: "Full well they are!"
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Quote:
Originally posted by STDOUBT:
@Sigmanunki
I just love ./
Isn't it just the bestest though:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/06/03/23/1717259.shtml
LOL!
Quote:
Originally posted by STDOUBT:
@All
This thread would not be complete without:
http://www.ubergeek.tv/article.php?pid=54
Oh my... that's just the most beautiful thing ever
----
"We're in a giant car heading into a brick wall at 100 miles/hr and everybody's arguing about where they want to sit."
-David Suzuki
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EVERYWORLDSPINNIN,
Thanks a lot for that list, it was VERY helpful.
I took your advice and spent most of the evening trying to download, burn, and boot from the live cd with no luck. Constant problems.
So I took a break and looked into what might be required to get working the other stuff I need. The 'fix' to get my dual monitors running was 2 pages of some kind of code I'd have no idea what to do with. All the software for my TV tuner card doesn't record at all and some say they don't even play live TV (which seems very odd - I mean, what's the point?). I'd have to trade in my wireless mouse and keyboard.
It seems like Linux requires a whole lot of knowledge that most people, even a pretty experienced computer user like me, just don't have and probably don't have the time to learn.
Maybe Linux is fun to play with, but I really can't see the advantage of fewer viruses and (supposed) more stability, if I can't even get the thing to start.
Am I missing something?
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Tiger,
What type of hardware are you running? If you could, post your system specs such as the type of video card you have and TV Tuner type (I know you said Haupage, but is it a PVR-250 or WinTVGo or something)etc. I'll see what I can dig up for you if you are still interested.
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Child One: "Republicans aren't real."
Child Two: "Full well they are!"
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Quote:Video - nvida geforce5500
Originally posted by everyworldspinnin:
Tiger,
What type of hardware are you running? If you could, post your system specs such as the type of video card you have and TV Tuner type (I know you said Haupage, but is it a PVR-250 or WinTVGo or something)etc. I'll see what I can dig up for you if you are still interested.
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Child One: "Republicans aren't real."
Child Two: "Full well they are!"
TV - Hauppaugge PVR250
Sound - some cheap Creative SoundBlaster, I think
I'm sure I downloaded the correct PCLinuxOS version for the video card, not that it mattered. I never got past 'press F1 to retry boot' at start up. It's possible I misunderstood the stuff for the TV card, there was a lot of info I didn't understand.
A big concern for me are the dual monitors. I MUST HAVE DUAL MONITORS..... once you've had two for a while it is physically impossible to work on one again. It's like trading in your Tivo for a VCR, or your Hummer for a rusty tricycle, get it :-)
I appreciate any help you can give. I'd really LIKE to try a Windows alternative, even it's just so I can argue from experience in threads like this...
Just had a thought - how easy is it to get the DSL and printer up and running? DVD player and burner? I hope that stuff takes care of itself.
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Heya Tiger,
Quote:
It seems like Linux requires a whole lot of knowledge that most people, even a pretty experienced computer user like me, just don't have and probably don't have the time to learn.
Maybe Linux is fun to play with, but I really can't see the advantage of fewer viruses and (supposed) more stability, if I can't even get the thing to start.
Am I missing something?
You certainly are.
Linux does take alot of time to learn. Even the "easy" distros can give you fyts when you want/need to tweak something.
But it sounds like you're just having problems with your CD burner?
When I started out in computing, it took me a long time to "learn" Windows and beat it into submission. It wasn't worth the grief.
The weeping and gnashing of teeth I went through learning how to admin a Linux workstation however was well worth the pain. I'd never go back. Won't even switch to Mac -don't need it. Already got a real OS (plus it's cheaper!)
Sounds like you have some expensive HW there -I recommend you give Linux the good old "college try" before you chuck it and buy Apple HW.
Once you learn how to manage a Linux box, the freedom and control you find are simply unmatched.
If you're really interested, I recommend this:
Since you're a self-described "experienced computer user", have a look at the well-established distros. Slackware/Fedora/Debian.
These newcomers like PCLinuxOS and Ubuntu, while worthy projects, are variations on variations of a theme. Slack, Fedora* and Debian are highly mature and reliable. These 3 are really the precursors of all distros. *(actually Fedora is the testing ground for Red Hat's beta. RH is for business now & costs money, so Fedora is the free version of RH).
I don't do dual-monitor or TV (yet) but Hauppage is definately Linux-friendly, and getting two video cards working under Linux is old-hat.
Have a look at MythTV. If you can get MythTV running on Fedora (for example), you'll be recording/playing back all kinds of TV. I've seen it done!
While I do recommend older/established distros, sometimes upstarts do better at certain things. For example:
http://www.elivecd.org/gb/Download/0.4.2/
There is no distro I've seen with better HW auto-detection than elive (it's Debian-based live CD with an option to install).
elive is very much worth the d/l.
Good Luck to ya
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All great info STDOUBT, thanks.
Maybe you could elaborate on the "freedom and control" you mention is such a plus with Linux. What do you mean exactly? What freedom do I have and what can I control with Linux over Windows? That's one of the big questions I've always had about Linux.
Quote:A dvd burner actually. A new one. That's ok, right? To burn the image to a DVD then boot from the DVD drive? The impression I got from PCLinuxOS FAQ is that it's actually better.
But it sounds like you're just having problems with your CD burner?
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Quote:
Originally posted by Tiger:
A dvd burner actually. A new one. That's ok, right? To burn the image to a DVD then boot from the DVD drive? The impression I got from PCLinuxOS FAQ is that it's actually better.
Well, if it's a combo drive I'd use a CD-R if the .iso is CD-sized. There shouldn't be a problem either way though. Avoid re-writable disks though.
what kind of errors are you seeing, and where/when are you seeing them?
Freedom and control. Hmm. Well, keep in mind that Linux is only 'the kernel' not the OS. All the *stuff* in the kernel is basically HW-related.
The OS that is built up around the kernel is made up of a base-system (which varies per distro), and then on top of that you have userland software.
You can change, add or remove any userland software. You can alter much of the base-system. You can completely reconfigure (and recompile) the kernel to match your unique HW.
You can run a userland made up of just the software you want. For example, a bare-bones Debian install weighs in at about 120MB. That's kernel, base-system, and minimal command-line userland. Add to that a window manager, and a web browser and you have a modern, secure OS in 250MB of HD space.
On the flip-side, install a full-blown Fedora, and you have more apps than you will ever use. Plus CD/DVD burner apps, Graphics editor, Office suite, Email/groupware, server apps, development apps, and dozens of games. There literally thousands of userland software packages for Linux systems that come for free with no strings attatched.
Basically, if there's anything in your Linux system you don't like you can change it.
Another great advantage is this:
No company can say to you "buy *yadda* if you want to keep using *blah-blah*" or "if you install Y, or tweak X, you'll void your support contract" or "you have to upgrade your blank or you can't access the whatzit" -pfft.
With Linux you are 'on your own', and it's a PITA to get a grip on but the Freedom is worth it.
If you have hi-speed check out http://www.linuxreality.com/
I haven't heard the shows myself but it's had good reviews.
EDIT: Almost forgot to mention: no "even though you paid our corporation $100+, this OS will self-destruct in 29 days unless you upload the specs of your base-station to our Borg cube's master cylinder-all your base are belong to ZZzztTT!-error detected! send error report!ZZzZtT!" LOL
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