Should I bother with Linux?

ThemeOne

I would say only look at Linux if you want to learn about computing. If you're up for that, you will learn a lot and, incidentally it'll most likely make you understand Windows a lot better too. But if you just want a system that works without you having to think, Linux probably isn't for you.

The other thing to bear in mind is that many of the applications you're used to using in Windows won't work in Linux. There are Linux versions of most web browsers (apart from IE, of course), there is Java for Linux, and also Flash Player and Adobe Reader, though I understand Adobe will no longer bring out new Linux versions of these products.

But there's no Microsoft Office, no iTunes to name but two. There are applications that do similar things which do run on Linux, but they may feel very different and not do *exactly* the same job.

You will almost definitely run into situations where something you were used to doing on Windows "doesn't work" on Linux. I've found 99% of time you can make it work, but that's where the learning process comes in.

On a more upbeat note, you really don't need any anti-virus with Linux, system updates are much quicker and snappier, and without the irritation of having to "restart your computer" each time. Linux is almost endlessly configurable in a way that Windows simply isn't. You can make Linux look like pretty much anything you want - if you can learn how to. A linux install can be very small - my current Debian installation is 3Gb for example, or they can be bloated, like the current out-of-the-box Ubuntu (so I've heard).

It's also useful to appreciate the different backgrounds of Windows and Linux. Windows was originally developed for stand-alone computers with no networking, whereas the background to Linux is the Unix system which comes from the world of huge computers accessed by multiple users via terminals. If you do try Linux it's useful to keep that in mind as it'll explain many of the differences of approach and much of the different terminology you'll encounter.

Your learning experience with Linux will be assisted by a huge online community - with some very helpful people in it (OK and some idiots as well - a bit like MSE probably!).

I hope that helps you in your decision.

parcival

I run 4 machines - 2 with Windows, 1 with Ubuntu and 1 with Linux Mint.

The Ubuntu / Linux machines are old and underpowered but they fly along faster than the Windows machines. The software updating mechanism is far better and the machines don't degrade performance over time like Windows.

Open Office is great and generally the Linux OS is not full of bloatware.

I love it and am a great sandals lover.....

EchoLocation

ThemeOne wrote: »

I would say only look at Linux if you want to learn about computing. If you're up for that, you will learn a lot and, incidentally it'll most likely make you understand Windows a lot better too. But if you just want a system that works without you having to think, Linux probably isn't for you.

I'm not interested in the development or server side of Linux, just something a little different to Windows. I'm happy to learn and be able to customize and more importantly understand things, but I don't want to have to fiddle and enter commands for anything to work. I guess I just want essentially a Windows type UI but maybe safer, slicker, more options and freedom. Perhaps I'll give a Mint Live DVD a try.

Is there a distro specfically for security and privacy?

ThemeOne

EchoLocation wrote: »

Is there a distro specfically for security and privacy?

I can't think of one specifically, but they're all relatively secure. Mint seems very popular these days, so give the live CD a go - it would be interesting to hear your impressions.

prowla

ThemeOne wrote: »

I would say only look at Linux if you want to learn about computing. If you're up for that, you will learn a lot and, incidentally it'll most likely make you understand Windows a lot better too. But if you just want a system that works without you having to think, Linux probably isn't for you.

Hmmm - I wouldn't necessarily agree with that in its entirety.

I would suggest that using any OS, be it Windows (whateverversion), Mac OS X, or Linux (or the various tablet OSes) requires you to learn something about how to use it, and each will seem slightly strange if you are used to another.

If you gave a person Ubuntu from day 1, they could live entirely in the GUI and would find Windows an uphill task if you tried to swap over.

Of course, if you want to get under the bonnet then Linux lets you do that. And the very same OS can run on your personal PC or on a beast of a server hidden away in a computer room.

ThemeOne

That's certainly what distros like Ubuntu claim, but my memory of using it, which admittedly is now some years ago, was that I was quickly thrown into the command line and editing configuration files in order to get fairly ordinary things working e.g. scanners, changing screen resolution etc. I recall installing Ubuntu on some computers only to get no display at all and that was certainly a learning experience!

Things have improved since those days, but I still find that Linux only works out-of-the-box on very standard equipment. Present it with stuff that's a bit old, or a bit unusual and you can still have a problem. That's not to say life with Windows or the Mac is 100% problem-free (and let's face it, no system can reasonably be expected to support every bit of hardware ever made) but you do not generally have to resort to editing text files in order to fix them.

Ximian

EchoLocation wrote: »

Is there a distro specfically for security and privacy?

There are a few, mostly Live DVD's/CD's:

One of the more popular secure distributions is
Tails: https://tails.boum.org/

Whonix: https://www.whonix.org/wiki/Main_Page

Ipredia: http://www.ipredia.org/os/download

Liberte Linux: http://dee.su/liberte

John_Gray

I_have_spoken wrote: »

Not unless you have a beard, wear sandals, drink copies amounts of home-brew ale and find T-shirts with "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" absolutely hilarious.

That must be an old T-shirt.
New ones support IPv6 and would read:
There's no place like ::1

S0litaire

May as well chuck in my 2p's worth...

I'd go for Ubuntu, I Think it's the easiest to set up and their is a LOT of support around for it if you get stuck.

I've currently got the latest Ubuntu as a media server (It sit's under the TV and I forget about it most of the time till I want to watch something.) Also I use it for general browsing and checking emails (I'm using it right now on my 42 inch TV)

But it all depends on what you do with your Pc day to day.
If it's general surfing and office work then you'll have no problems (Libre/Open Office is a great replacement for Microsoft Office)

iTunes won't work. Their is no Linux version of iTunes so if you're into Music and have an iPhone or iPad then stick with a Mac or Windows for now Till Apple see the light ^_~ lol

If I want to play games I've a ridiculously over powered PC with Win7 for playing games on Steam.

prowla

ThemeOne wrote: »

That's certainly what distros like Ubuntu claim, but my memory of using it, which admittedly is now some years ago, was that I was quickly thrown into the command line and editing configuration files in order to get fairly ordinary things working e.g. scanners, changing screen resolution etc. I recall installing Ubuntu on some computers only to get no display at all and that was certainly a learning experience!

Things have improved since those days, but I still find that Linux only works out-of-the-box on very standard equipment. Present it with stuff that's a bit old, or a bit unusual and you can still have a problem. That's not to say life with Windows or the Mac is 100% problem-free (and let's face it, no system can reasonably be expected to support every bit of hardware ever made) but you do not generally have to resort to editing text files in order to fix them.

I run it in VMware VMs, on a Dell 755 SFF, and on one or two old-spec laptops (eg. a Thinkpad X41); the only issue is whether the system has a good enough graphics card to support the "3D" option in the user interface (which translates to resizable icons in the launcher and some zoomy effects as far as I can tell), but we're not talking hi-end graphics.

I don't recall having to get into the command line, but really doing a few actions in a text window is not a lot different to having to do some registry changes in Windows 8 (eg. to set border width), and actually Windows is going all PowerShell anyway. It's largely a matter of perception.