Just started using Linux properly - its pretty good!

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limboy777

limboy777

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Hi chaps

Ive had a play with Linux in the past and wasnt always impressed. The first time I used Linux was about 8 years ago (Red Hat) and I didnt think much.

Ive tried Ubuntu and it seems to use a lot of resources.

Yesterday I tried Lubuntu which is a cut down version and its pretty good. It runs very fast and Youtube videos on a crap desktop I tested it on work nice and smooth (previous windows versions didnt cut the mustard).

The Lubuntu Software Centre is pretty good. Ive not figured out how to work games like Baldurs gate which are available there yet but so far Im impressed.

Im wondering if you chaps use Linux and which version you use?
 
I dabble with Linux Mint now and again.

I find it hard to update Linux, especially Firefox and FlashPlayer.
 
Hi,

I've had several distros of Suse Linux and OpenSuse and like them very much. I also tried Kubuntu about 2 years ago and that too is nice to use. Open Solaris was very quick, sadly no longer supported or updated I believe. Linux has come a long way in the past 5 years. I still get confused when it asks where I want to install LILO or grub and it then doesn't boot after a restart. :)

I mainly used linux for keeping my hand in with Posix and shell scripting in case I had to go back into an IT role, Yuk! :lol: Recently I downloaded Opensuse 32bit onto my old DELL 8200 so I could get an old OKI OL400ex printer working. I might end up using the DELL as a Linux cnc machine if I can get it working fast enough.

A guy on one of the engineering forums I frequent says he uses Ubuntu in a virtual session within Windows, something by Oracle provides the virtual environment.
 
Ed.D said:
A guy on one of the engineering forums I frequent says he uses Ubuntu in a virtual session within Windows, something by Oracle provides the virtual environment.
Click to expand...

That would be Virtualbox.
 
There is a distro called Commodore OS Vision which I cant seem to get hold of as a direct download. It has Amiga emulators. Im trying to find it and put a wanted thread. Something I noticed about Linux is that each one is very different in how it performs.

Some are really cut down but dont have a professional feel whereas others are trying to compete with Windows for resource usage.
 
I have dabbled with linux but struggle to make that final jump from windows to a full install.

Just a few niggles that I need to get past, but im getting closer as windows drives me nuts sometimes lol
 
I tried many different distros of Linux over the years and currently run CentOS on my dedicated servers, including this Amibay server. It's based on Fedora and Red Hat code base so is very mature and stable, although not intended as a home desktop OS really.

I first used Linux properly with Fedora and really enjoyed it, although I remember having to mess around with drivers for days to get the graphics card working properly.

Since then I've tried quite a few different ones out. Ubuntu is good for a home user OS as their repository and upgrades are fairly straight forward and the OS is slick and polished.

Fedora has more series underpinnings and a lot more available out of the box, especially server related. It's a great free distro utilising the same code base as the Commercial Red Hat, but due to this can be a lot more complicated than some.

Mint OS is a good one for beginners as they have made it as much like Windows as possible, making the transition as easy as possible to get started.

I did used to run a dedicated Linux box at home on my network, but don't need to these days as I also just run different distros in virtual machines using Virtualbox.
 
My home PC is always running several different versions of Linux. I started with it back in '96 using Yggdrasil and Slackware Linux. The 5.1 release of Redhat came with "Redneck" as an installation language option (which made perfect sense to me). From there it was several years of SuSE (presumably German for "Somebody und Somebody Else"). Lately it's been Mint that I've been using. I'm pretty happy with it.

At the moment the only thing not working on my desktop is Windows...
 
Personally my favourite OS is Windows 7 but the version of linux im using on an old computer (Lubuntu) runs really fast in comparison. Im using the linux computer for web browsing/internet/films and eventually it will sit in my dining room.
 
I have been using Linux since 2000 or so and I completely removed any Microsoft OS from my computers in 2005.
As a computer scientist and, more precisely, as a Linux System Administrator I can't say if Linux is a simple OS or not since it is for me quite straightforward.

I never tried to convince people to use Linux but my wife has been using Linux for years and she never had a problem. She's very happy with her new (budget) laptop running UbuntuMate and her (pretty old) Desktop running Debian Testing. :)

Since I mostly use Red Hat systems at work, after a lot of years I switched "distro" on my Desktop from Debian to CentOS. Even if I miss, sometimes, "aptitude" and deb packages I feel comfortable with "yum" and rpm packages and occasionally I compile particular software I need. On my laptop I use Fedora.

Often, at work, I have to use Windows clients, in the past XP, now 7 or 8. In my opinion, technically speaking, they aren't so bad, but I always feel that they are made thinking that the user is "dumb" and that they have to protect them from themselves... :thumbsdown: not to speech about viruses malwares and so on... what a pain to be a Microsoft OS user! :Doh:
 
Late 90s, Slackware, then Debian and since around 2004, Gentoo and still compiling. :)
 
Oh gosh, I'm guessing around 1996? ish? Nope - 1998 is what Debian releases tell me. That's when Hamm was released. So many flavors since. I use RedHat at work, and usually Arch at home, although right now I think the only thing with linux on it are the raspberry pis (I had to get windows 7 on my desktop for whenever Fallout 4 gets released).

I always tell people to stick to one flavor of package management at first (and a distro with that flavor you like), either rpm or apt. It doesn't really matter. CentOS/Fedora are perfectly fine, as are Ubuntu/Debian/Mint. Then learn the command line. After that, you should be good to go. There are always little things that might get you, usually all around driver support for wifi or other hardware that was stingy about drivers. Unless you're a FOSS nut, don't sweat installing binary blobs, or non-free software. It will just make the experience easier.

Then, once you're a hardcore Stallman disciple, you can migrate over to gentoo or slackware or linux from scratch, hand vet all the source code, compile your user space, and grow a wicked neck beard! :D
 
My friend was really into Linux (he was a sysadmin for a while) and he tried to convert me to Linux. I can't remember what version of Red Hat I started on, but I remember 5.1 (with the red neck option :)). I also remember the grief involved in getting a system working and keeping it that way. x11config was my nemesis, I would trawl through its 100s of options and usually end up with a borked X11.

I do remember one glorious moment when I had X, enlightenment (with the geigeresque theme) and esound all working.

Anyway, then Mac OS X came along and it combined the good parts of Linux (well, Unix) and that Apple ease of use and I never looked at Linux again. I even converted my Linux sysadmin friend to a Mac user. :D
 
The need to compile and also be very hands on with the OS is what will keep home users away from Linux. For those of us that enjoy tinkering it's what entices people to play around with it and have fun.
 
Harrison said:
The need to compile and also be very hands on with the OS is what will keep home users away from Linux. For those of us that enjoy tinkering it's what entices people to play around with it and have fun.
Click to expand...

I understand your point of view but I assure you that for the 99% of users there is no need to compile anything anymore.
But, for example, last week I really appreciated the fact that I am able to compile some sources when I came across this interesting thread on eab... ;)
 
Last edited:
I use SuSE 13.2 as does the wife too. I've never needed to compile anything on either machine. The install is faster and smoother than a windows installation, no searching for driver CDs etc. Adding new software requires a simple search and then ticking the package you want from the package manager.
I've used Linux since the mid 90's, back then it really was an experiment and a chore getting things to work. Printer setup was a nightmare and anything connected to a USB port took a degree in computer science to get working. However, those days a far in the past and modern Linux dists are a whole different world. If you are judging Linux from experiences you had back then, then you really should take a look at what it is today.

Bryce.
 
Last edited:
liviux76 said:
Harrison said:
The need to compile and also be very hands on with the OS is what will keep home users away from Linux. For those of us that enjoy tinkering it's what entices people to play around with it and have fun.
Click to expand...

I understand your point of view but I assure you that for the 99% of users there is no need to compile anything anymore.
But, for example, last week I really appreciated the fact that I am able to compile some sources when I came across this interesting thread on eab... ;)
Click to expand...

Agreed, I can't recall the last time that I compiled anything for Linux. But I stopped being adventurous with it years ago, and simply use it for my home OS these days.

By comparison, I finally moved up to a Dell I5 and after using the installation disk for the base installation, it was an additional 5 hours of installing drivers and such. In all fairness, I was downgrading from Win8 to Win7, but it still made for a long night.
 
Once the kernel was compiled it was all smooth sailing with apt. You could actually get a setup running in a normal LUG meeting. The poor Slackware people had to get there a couple hours early.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk
 
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