Mr. Yuck - 24 September 2008 06:48 PM

That post reminded me of the last time I bought a computer. I started a thread over at ParadoxOT asking for setup advice and I was quickly bewildered into microsoftism. The thread went on for weeks and there was zero agreement among the many opinions.

But that’s the WONDERFUL thing about computers, especially Linux computers… there are SO many ways of doing it!

Mr. Yuck - 23 September 2008 10:44 PM

Joined today to tell us that. Nice chap.

Gotta start somewhere.  Hi :)

Steve, you’re right and sometimes Linux users do suffer from “too much choice,” especially when they get together to discuss those choices.  Sometimes there really is a best solution to a problem; other times “best” is totally subjective and you’ll see users devolve into slobbering maniacs trying to defend their way. 

What’s the best window manager?  Whichever one you like best.  End of discussion, no matter what others may tell you.  I use KDE and don’t like Gnome and the only concrete reason I can give for this is that KDE offers finer-grained customization than Gnome.  Some people like full-blown WM/DEs like KDE and Gnome.  Others like minimal environs like Blackbox and IceWM, maybe because they don’t like big fancy desktops or their system resources are limited.  They’re also all moving targets—KDE 3.5 is awesome, but KDE4 still needs a lot of work to reach its potential.

Distro choice is another fun subject to get into with zealots.  I have no intention of getting into it here. :) I prefer Debian because I like to build from scratch, but Ubuntu, LinuxMint and openSUSE are all excellent “ready rolled” desktop distros.  And I do understand that Windows has its place.  For me it just happens to be the garbage bin. 

Of course, try being a Linux gamer.  That’s kind of like being a blind sniper.

mightyteegar - 01 October 2008 09:43 AM

Of course, try being a Linux gamer.  That’s kind of like being a blind sniper.

That’s why WINE, DosBox and the various console emulators rock my laptop. You suffer a bit in performance, I guess, but being a fan of classic and retro games, I’m rarely at a loss for something to do during my downtime.

I thank WINE every night for allowing me to play Baldur’s Gate II again.  It’d probably be better for my sleep patterns if it crashed every so often so I’ll get frustrated and stop playing.

I went to check out deals on Dells yesterday for my neighbor and was floored to see all the home-use desktops they have with Ubuntu installed instead of Windows.  I know Dell has flirted with Linux in the past (their enterprise servers offer RedHat support), but never have I seen it to this extent.  I think it’s great!

While I’m not an Ubuntu fan (I prefer Fedora for home, RH Enterprise at work), I admire everything the project has done to deliver Linux to the masses.

I got my new NC License plate the other day.  If you see a RAV4 about town with a tag saying, “GO LINUX”, honk or give me the finger!

Things ARE moving, Will. I’ve been a fan of Unix/Linux since 1988 when I set up my first Xenix system (which still works, by the way). I started using Red Hat for my servers in 1996 and used it up to 2004 when the year fees they wanted to charge got to be too much. Then I switched servers to both White Box and Centos ( true open source versions of Red Hat and which still run on several of my servers.

But early this year, I put 8.04 (Hardy) Ubuntu on one of my servers. It worked great! I recently just moved two of my workstations from Microsoft Vista (which is LOUSY, we do our serious work on XP and Linux) to Unbuntu 8.10 (Intrepid) desktop. Well, they are both desktops and servers. I am using Firefox on a Unbuntu desktop right now to type this posting (see http://briley.nuoj.com for a phpinfo listing).

There are many THOUSANDS of free programs for the Ubuntu desktop and even a Windows emulator (WINE) for those windows programs you just gotta use.

For 20 years, there has been much talk that Unix and now Linux would supplant Windows. But ... now… finally… I’m beginning to see signs of it.

My experience with WINE has been a mix of success and failure.  However, I’m a big fan of VMWare.  VMWare and VirtualBox, along with Live CD and bootable USB technology, have assisted in the spreading of alternate operating systems, which has helped open people’s eyes that this is not a Windows world (or a Mac world, for that matter).

Has anyone here messed with the other versions of Ubuntu? I installed UbuntuEEE (which uses a some elements of Ubuntu NetbookRemix) on my Asus EEE, and pretty much hated it until I turned off all the NetbookRemix stuff. I’ve also messed around with XUbuntu (the one for older, slower machines) and have been thinking about giving Kubuntu a try (which uses KDE).

Any thoughts?

Also: I’m still planning on building a proper Linux-ready desktop, and I’ll probably go with Ubuntu 8.4 unless I can find a compelling reason to go with another flavor. Thus far, no one has really provided me with one, other than for some fairly technical uses that don’t really apply to what I do, which is mostly browser-based. But maybe I’m missing something?

I had sex tonight. None of you people did.

Jason Bugg - 12 November 2008 10:12 PM

I had sex tonight. None of you people did.

I wouldn’t count on that.

Oh I counted right on top of that.

Jason Bugg - 13 November 2008 01:08 PM

Oh I counted right on top of that.

Snap! It’s like I said don’t go there, but you went there anyway. (Waiting for Bugg to turn “going there” into an innuendo in 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...)

I just converted my computer to DOS.

SWERVE

Jason Bugg - 13 November 2008 01:24 PM

I just converted my computer to DOS.

SWERVE

DOS is good. I played “Pool of Radiance” for the 286 the other day in DOSBox ... on UBUNTU!

and...................SCENE!