Any Linux users here?

[clipse]

I thought I had posted this but I was in a hurry and might not have hit the 'Submit' key.

I was using Windows ME and waited to see what vista brought to the table. I was a bit dissappointed. Its more a personal preference but I decided that I wanted to stray from Microsoft. I had almost decided to go to Mac/Apple untill I found Ubuntu. I didn't realize Linux had become so devoleped. I've been using Ubuntu 7.04 for about a month and couldn't be happier. My next project is setting up a file/email server.

Anyone else use Linux? If so, what Distobution do you use?

clipse

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[huntthehunter]

I don't currently have a Linux box up, gave mine to the pastor to take on mission to Mexico.

I last ran SUSE 10, really liked it.

[teknoid]

I used to run Linux, but when that box expired I never found the time to build another. I ran SuSe 7.2 on it, and was a programmer at the time (Perl, C, C++, Asp, Awk, CGI, ad nauseum).

I ran a web server on it that was up for 755 days (non-stop). CPU died, or it probably would still be running. Try that with Windoze!

It wasn't as user friendly back then, and hardware was always an issue (drivers). One day, I'll build another. I think I have enough spare parts laying around.

[Redneck Repairs]

I have a suse 9.0 box that is a server , I do need to devote a bit of time to really learn it rather than get mad and call a local bud who is a nix guru tho lol .

[azagthoth]

Nope

[azagthoth@smurf ~]$ uname -s -r
Linux 2.6.21-1.3228.fc7

[MattInFla]

I did for a bit, but now I have all the webserver toys installed on my mac (Apache, MySQL, PHP, etc), so I can do my development on the same machine I use for everything use.

Matt

[huntthehunter]

SUSE 10 was as user friendly as I've seen. Both setup and admin.

[cmidkiff]

I've got machines at home running Ubuntu, Debian, OSX, and Solaris. My wife's laptop is the _only_ machine in the house that I can't get rid of MS on. She'd be fine with Linux if she'd try it, but is unwilling to give it a chance.

My 15 year old daughter started a few years back with Suse on her machine (she saved the money, bought the parts, and assembled it herself, at the age of 12). She just had to run some game or another that was windows only, and bought a copy of XP for it. Ran that for about a year until getting tired of the game, and wanted to go back to Linux. She's now running Ubuntu.

Ubuntu for sure, is ready for the masses. Debian is my favorite, but then again, I'm a professional geek... I wouldn't recommend it to your average computer user.

[raysheen]

redhat

[kd5nrh]

Xubuntu on this one, before that was PCLinuxOS. Plain Ubuntu on the laptop. Since I'm always looking for excuses to try another distro, any time something goes screwy, I tend to switch and not go back for a while.

I also keep a Slax pocketCD around as a diagnostic for any PC that may-or-may-not have a hardware issue.

[packinnova]

Redhat, Debian, Knoppix (slimmed down linux).... Stick with linux. How often do you need to reboot Exactly...Linux...once every few years....Windoze...once every 15-20 minutes ...although I say this typing from a windoze based laptop....dum dadumdum dummm.

[SelfDefense]

OK, I'll come to the defense of Windows.

1) It is everywhere. Beta was better in quality than VHS but VHS easily won the battle for market dominance.

2) It has the vast majority of software written for it. This software is relatively easy to use and uses file formats that most can recognize (see 1)

3) It easy to install plug and play hardware (most of the time)

4) It supports the best software development environment on the market. (Visual C++ 6.0, .net is crap)

5) I continue to hear that it reboots or is unstable. I don't know what sftware people use but my main work computer has bee up for over six months without rebooting. I am running XP Professional. Sure, Windows 95 might generate a blue screen of death now and then. Upgrade!

6) The user interface is easy to use and intuitive.

7) It is supported (to an extent)

Linux is unsupported (the free stuff.) It is difficult to install hardware. One almost needs to be a computer expert to use it. If you like command lie processing than you probably like to wrte with a chisel on stone. Linux is the 1980s revisited. If you want to use 'an engneering' operating system by a SUN machine running Solaris or an SGI running IRIX. Then you can really feel like you are a throwback.

The fact is that the Pentium chips are the state of the art and they are specifically designed to run Windows efficiently. Yes, you can run Linux but it does not take advantage of the internals of the Pentium as Windows does.

I think, like Bush Derangement Syndrome, hate of Microsoft and Windows is more emotional than logical.

[sojourner]

Slack for a consulting gig. Redhat currently at work. Debian and now kubuntu for home servers. Troubleshoot and set up services, write small utility shell programs for most linux's. Most of my work is writing enterprise Java, C++, PERl, PHP, MySQL, Oracle and the oddball maintenance of a sed or awk script.

Still m$ on my laptop w/ cygwin tools and dual boot to ubuntu. When I update to a new laptop w/ dual core, I will install xen and linux and then xp in another domain so I can still do the oddball m$ programming that I sometimes am tasked with.

OSX looks real nice. I'd like to get my wife an OSX. Then just run ubuntu w/ xen on my laptop.

If running linux means more to you than just saying you are not running m$ and you have some technical knowledge, then by all means try it out. Don't expect to be mollycoddled by the OS or others running linux. Also, if you are peeved about the DRM crap that is on windows and you want your freedom, run linux. However, it is not for everybody.

Windows has an immediate very shallow learning curve. Point and click and walk through the wizards, then call support. However, you never really know or feel confident that you really understand windows. And if you are in software, you are constantly learning m$'s latest and not so greatest development environment and API's. And paying for it every step of the way. Keep your credit card out.

*NIX and the Linux variant has a very steep initial learning curve. However, once you get past it, you have all the resources of the OS at your disposal and can figure out anything with the open source code and the way the OS is designed.

SelfDefense - Not trying to be disagreeable, but it sounds like you are not speaking from a position of knowledge on the linux system and supporting software. Whatever floats your boat. I do know that I am not limited by some external entity when running linux. When running windows, I am limited by m$, drm, closed source, and constantly changing API's. After taking a close look at what Vista does w/ DRM, I will never install that on my machines. Also, the amount of free software available for linux distros is staggering.

[SelfDefense]

SelfDefense - Not trying to be disagreeable, but it sounds like you are not speaking from a position of knowledge on the linux system and supporting software. Whatever floats your boat. I do know that I am not limited by some external entity when running linux. When running windows, I am limited by m$, drm, closed source, and constantly changing API's. After taking a close look at what Vista does w/ DRM, I will never install that on my machines. Also, the amount of free software available for linux distros is staggering.

You are correct. I am not a linux guru. In fact, I am not a computer guy at all. I work primarily on embedded systems (VxWorks is the best operating system ever created! Try using real time linux and you'll quickly be a believer in WindRiver)

I only wanted to play devil's advocate because Microsoft is often slammed by people that don't really know why they hate it (except for the money they spend on personal software.) For a regular user there is no reason to prefer Linux to Windows. (Konquerer is truly a joke, no?) In a business environment there is every reason to prefer Windows. Microsoft Office nd the related junk is invaluable and copied very poorly under Linux. Worse, is a heterogeneous compute environment (such as I have in one of my labs) with a network consisting of both Red Hat and Windows XP. It is an admin's nightmare.

Most people play games, access the internet, use email and download digital pictures. Why would they need or want to be computer experts? Wouldn't their time be better spent at the range?

[kd5nrh]

In a business environment there is every reason to prefer Windows.

Yeah, how else can you emulate a VT120?

Seriously; I recently left a company that had just upgraded to WinXP one every one of the inventory machines, which were setup to boot, open the VT120 emulator and log in, and shut down when it was logged out. They paid a fortune for this functionality and the 1+GHz machines to run it on. I could've (and have) done the same with 386s and Slackware for about $50 including the monitor. Now that Slax and DamnSmall Linux are around, it would be even easier.

As a bonus, they paid $8k each for the wireless inventory boxes on the forklifts that did essentially the same thing. Laptops capable of running Slax are commonly under $150, and wireless adapters are $40. Add a surplus CueCat, and I could duplicate their functionality completely...right down to the billions of pieces all over the floor every time one's cheaply made mounts failed. I was told it wouldn't work because laptops weren't durable enough, yet no one could document a single incidence of one of these things surviving any kind of shock whatsoever.