Should I bother with Linux?

VoucherMan

EchoLocation wrote: »

however, before I even start asking the many questions I have... should I even bother with Linux? Is curiosity a good enough reason? I won't be ditching Windows, so is it really worth bothering with a second OS?

A bit late joining but as someone who once tried Ubuntu then abandoned it as I preferred the home comforts of Windows 7 I would say try it. I installed it as the main (only) OS on one machine. I also ran it from a USB stick to use on others.

You'll get that many opinions on here but ultimately you'll never know unless you try it. I can't remember exactly why I ditched it. I think it may have been MS office which I prefer to Open Office. There's too many slight variations in layout of formulas. Plus I've got it so I want to get my moneys worth.

Hopefully there will be a better version of Windows around before I have to upgrade but if not I'd be willing enough to switch back to Linux.

nortong

I tried Linux Mint about five years ago on a dual-boot partitioned drive as I got fed up with Win XP (still by far the 'best' Windows os).

I found xp so slow to boot up, security as watertight as a sieve, compatible software at rip-off prices. As I work from home I was desperate to find a better alternative and get away from the Bill Gates monopoly.

Initially getting used to Mint took time. However, I never regretted trying Linux - I am not particularly computer savvy - they bore me witless. Understanding and implementing Mint caused me no headaches.

My computer now has one operating system, Mint Isadora. I dumped Windows 4 years ago. I bought a new laptop with no os installed, I installed Mint from a disc which cost £3.00. It does everything xp did but better! My laptop boots up in 55seconds, no need for antivirus and I update it automatically with no fuss.

I do emphasise, it does take a week or two to get used to - different mindset - but I personally never regret the change.

Oh, I have no beard, hate sandals as I get cold feet, wire rimmed glasses?...not on your Nellie.

GetRealBabe

Hi

Just installed Linux Mint 16. Having fun using the terminal. Early days but haven't noticed that it's much faster than Mint 15.

John_Gray

Are there any Linux distros where you don't have to do a complete reinstall every time a new version comes out? Something like Windows Service Packs?

Mankysteve

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.

Lol I must say that's pretty much me. It's a bit stereotypical I run unbunto on my pc as I needed a IS and it's free.

If you want to have play go for it, it doesn't sound like you need Linux but if you want somethingto play with there no problem with that, ignore people who take the Michael out of people who enjoy messing around with computers it's just another hobby.

ThemeOne

John_Gray wrote: »

Are there any Linux distros where you don't have to do a complete reinstall every time a new version comes out? Something like Windows Service Packs?

You can certainly upgrade Debian from one version to the next without a re-install (in fact I thought you could in all distros), but it's a subject of debate whether it's a good idea to do so.

I've done it a couple of times, and it seemed fine.

bluesnake

Linux is here in a big way - apparently. One Dell engineer told me in Hosing Datacentres which he visits over 50% of the servers there are Linux. Why would and should industry pay for reliable servers when they can get it for free?

My laptop came with windows, and I use windows at work. However for a trial I ran Linux Mint on my other laptop that I sometimes use, and have to say it is surprisingly excellent. Although I do have a spare windows 7 pro licence, I ended up keeping linux on that laptop because it was so good. If you are not a gamer and use you PC for the basics (and a fair bit of advanced stuff too), then Linux could be a way to go for a good 90+% of people. I only had to buy one sandal, but still much cheaper than MS licensing cost

Since this is a moneys saving site, some versions of Linux, like Mint are polished, free with no thought police licensing issues "is it a legitimate, or are you a pirate" stigma issue, no nags, no metro, no starter, home, premium, professional, ultimate, enterprise, media centre, web, small business edition, standard, advanced server, and data centre milk the cash cow editions, often all of the same product, but they did have to spend extra time and more code to put in these limitations and restrictions, making windows even larger in size, slower processing. Also Linux attracts few viruses.

There are sometimes a server and a workstation edition of Linux, but unlike MS who may modify how many open connections you can have, or how many users can concurrently attach, how many vms you can run and if you are allowed to attach to a domain, how many servers can attach. With Linux the workstation DVD, come with things like word processing and gimp, and video players etc on the dvd. The sever version may not come with with gimp, but includes PHP, MYSQL, Apache among others. Whatever version you use, the basic components are the same and you can always add the other modules form the server, or workstation side with impunity.

I 've used heavily every version of MS OS windows bar vista and ME, and to be honest XP was good, stable and reliable, and so are the other versions, but beside faster usb support and SSD coming into fruition and a few cosmetic changes like metro, but what real world benefits has one gained in useage, or really given you extra usable features that you need? What forces one to keep chasing and buying constant upgrades to 7, 8, 8.1 for no tangible value? At least in Linux there is no license stuck to the bottom of your pc to to wear away, no getting your pc back from being repaired to find that it only now works for 30 days and also that now you need to purchase it again.

John_Gray wrote: »

Are there any Linux distros where you don't have to do a complete reinstall every time a new version comes out? Something like Windows Service Packs?

Mint (I was on v15 and moved to v16 and had to paste in 2 lines to update. The update process was over a very slow wifi connection, so was a good 2-ish hours possibly 5 - I lost count, expected multiple reboots and inconsistencies, but was very smooth as homebrew Elderberry wine, no multiple reboots, and no failures, kept existing settings and no adverts of extra features or enhancements, or "Welcome to ...", just poodled along and worked and no drama.

bluesnake

EchoLocation wrote: »

.....dual-boot .

...sheer amount of choice is a bit overwhelming.

...open-source it's likely to offer better privacy(?).

Don't dual boot, start off with a live cd. If you want to get more involved then put it onto a VirtualBox to save disk space and avoid trouble with boot configs. Then later decide if you want to commit to Linux.
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http://distrowatch.com/ offers a list. I would recommend you try the popular ones. Some of the others are good, but fulfil niche markets.
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For privacy, it is a very different story: Bootable cd/dvd is the way to go. Tails would be the highest recommended distro. Liberte Linux second, but make sure java is disabled. Configure these to go through a non uk/usa vpn provider like http://torrentfreak.com/vpn-services-that-take-your-anonymity-seriously-2013-edition-130302/

You still probably have to carefully pick an email service like https://privatdemail.net/en/ as it is free, but anyone from http://prxbx.com/email/ should be ok.

Also you have to be smart and be aware of all your associations and message content like sending emails to buddies saying "Hi, it's EchoLocation, and here is my new private email address [EMAIL="echoPrivate@secret.com"]echoPrivate@secret.com[/EMAIL]" to your current buddies on regular mail.



“If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find something in them to hang him.” - Cardinal Richelieu

prowla

bluesnake wrote: »

Linux is here in a big way - apparently. One Dell engineer told me in Hosing Datacentres which he visits over 50% of the servers there are Linux. Why would and should industry pay for reliable servers when they can get it for free?

I work for a hosting/data centre company, supporting UNIX and Linux systems; though the OS is free, it is usual to purchase vendor support.

The data centre Linux servers are typically Red Hat, SuSE and Oracle Linux (which is really a rip-off of Red hat with the logos changed and a few tweaks). The OS instances are mostly on virtual machines (VMware VMs), though there may be physical machines to meet specific requirements (eg. a 12 CPU cores, 36 GB RAM server).

But those Linuxes above are not really good end-user desktop environments (indeed we usually access them from the command line, rather than a GUI), and I wouldn't recommend them.

I use Ubuntu daily as my desktop windowed environment, and I also use Windows 7 (and 8 ) because I need Microsoft Office. I may be using either of those on physical or virtual machines, depending upon where I am.

henm2

John_Gray wrote: »

Are there any Linux distros where you don't have to do a complete reinstall every time a new version comes out? Something like Windows Service Packs?

Try Solydk http://solydxk.com/homeedition/solydk/
It is based on Linux Mint Debian edition and has the advantage, compared with other linux distros, of not needing to be completely reinstalled each time a new version comes out. There is a good review of it on http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/solydk-review.html