Lindsay

At last! I made the switch from Windows to Linux. It's something I've been thinking about for almost a year. I chose the Ubuntu Linux distribution. Simply, because they have such a great community forum which I can turn to for help.

Ubuntu can be downloaded and burnt to a CD. It's a 'live' CD, which means you can boot your computer from it WITHOUT installing to the hard drive. This is so you can use it for checking compatibility with your hardware and decide if you like it. It also doubles as a means of starting your pc should it ever go wrong.

Fortunately, I've been using Firefox and Thunderbird in WIndows, so I was able to tranfer all settings, bookmarks, and emails to the Linux installation quite easily. I had to install an nVidia video driver to be able to use my LCD tv as a monitor and get the correct resolution. My digital camera (Kodak C643) also worked with little tweaking. My scanner (Epson Perfection 1250) also worked. My printer (Lexmark Z33) did not. I'll just get another printer with Linux support. I'm using a router for connecting to the internet but Ubuntu does support dial-up modems. My computer is a Dell Dimension 4500 and seems to be quite happy with Linux running on it. Suspend (Standby in Windows) and hibernate don't work, but apparently that is true for all distributions of Linux from what I can gather. And I don't see that as a problem at all.

Of course, there are pro's and con's to using Linux, but that's no different to Windows. But consider this:
Linux is FREE. And all the other software you'll ever need (CD burning/ DVD playback, word processing, etc) is also free.
Linux is as easy to use as Windows. The only tricky stuff you'll come across will be stuff like installing new drivers, etc. The sort of things that only get done once in a blue moon.
Linux is Unix based. This is the same as your ISP uses on their servers.
Linux is more stable than Windows.
Linux is more secure than Windows.
You don't get trouble with viruses and spyware.

I know precious little about Linux or Unix (compared to my enormous wealth of information I have about Windows). Yet, it took me 2 days to back-up my data (I have a 2nd hard drive), install Linux, configure it, and install any drivers (only 1 in my case).

I have ditched all Windows software (apart from the recovery CD's that came with my computer). From now on, I will only be using Linux for my computing needs. I'm going to spend some time learning more about Linux and Unix. Then, perhaps, I can help others that want to learn or wish to make the switch.

Who needs Windows and Gates? Long live Linux!

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Lindsay

Elegant

I tried to install Aurox (a Polish distribution) some years ago, but I had some problems with making a new partition. I think I should try again, perhaps I'll choose Red Hat. What do you use- GUI, or console?

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If you never enter the closet, you won't have any difficulty coming out of it!

nicjasno

I made the switch in june last year. I haven't looked back ever since. Linux is such a great operating system, it's infinitely costumizable, everything can be set up exactly to your likings, it has features and security windows doesn't have (talking about vista). A nrmal person who doesn't need to use a windows specific program (most of those are job related) or isn't a heavy gamer (for that i recomend a console anyway), should take the plunge and switch. After a few days it'll become second nature and you'll be enjoying a world free of viruses, troyans and other garbage, on top of a system that has all the goodies and stability you need.

If i may, i'll attach a few screenshots later on to show you how good linux can be to the user.

And yes, Ubuntu/Kubuntu is the distribution i recommend.

And as the saying goes, In a world without walls and fences, who needs windows and gates?

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www.nicjasno.com

Nigel

yep.

welcome.

been using linux for ages.

now on the 64bit Suse10.1

nothing else needed, I will say this though, I found Ubuntu difficult to install everything on.

I will explain more via PM if interested.

BTW, are you on the linux counter yet?

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Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you were supposed to act a certain way, but when you got there, you didn't know if you could go through with it?

asdf174

Linux is my fav. OS. Love anything open source really. My only major compliant about it is that if you don't know what your doing, it is a pain in the butt to configure.

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It's all good. ~Arron.

Nigel

yeh, thats why I went with Suse

search google for 'adding installation sources to yast' and you can install almost everything.

that is why I have stuck with suse and have, as yet not had to run a command.

result!

Nigel

BTW, 2 years without the PC crashing, that has to be a good sign.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you were supposed to act a certain way, but when you got there, you didn't know if you could go through with it?

Lindsay

I tried a few different ones myself - RedHat, Mandriva, Suse, but kept going back to Ubuntu. I use a GUI. I never liked using a console unless I needed to configure something. I want to continue using my computer in the same way I did with Windows, more or less. And I can't see me going back to Windows neither.

If you're thinking of having another go, I would go with Nigel's choice and try Suse. It's much better for the novice. Personally, I wanted something more of a challenge, although Ubuntu installed without any problems at all.

I'm going to document any solutions I encounter on my friends web-site to help others who use Ubuntu.

Um, Nigel - What is the linux counter?

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Lindsay

Nigel

http://counter.li.org/

add your names please.

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Have you ever been in a situation where you knew you were supposed to act a certain way, but when you got there, you didn't know if you could go through with it?

jmc

Thought about it - tried it - and love it! My favorite distro is still Slackware but I have tried Red Hat, TurboLinux, Suse and now I am playing with an Ubuntu installation. In each case there are more similarities than differences. I even built a distro from scratch -- see http://www.linuxfromscratch.org if you want more details.

I find Linux to be more challenging to set up and configure -- you have to know some rather intimate details about your specific hardware. But once you get it up it is stable as a rock and it does not have that annoying "self-modifying" behavior that a certain commercial OS has.

I find modems to be the biggest challenge with Linux, because of the proprietary driver issue. Video cards are next. (Most of my Linux boxes are laptops, desktops are easier to custom-configure with Linux-friendly hardware.)

I like the flexibility that Linux offers -- you can use the GUI where it works for you and use the command console where it is more appropriate. If you are into programming -- either seriously or just playing around -- a Linux box with the development package installed makes a wonderful platform to tinker with code.

Yup, I'm registered on the counter.

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Have a happy time!

asdf174

Thats cool. I was using Gentoo. I liked it because you could a command and then the program name and it would download it install and config for you automaticlly.

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It's all good. ~Arron.