Thinking of Linux

[Guest andyizcool]

I know a minority of people use Linux but I was just looking for some help. I'm thinking of switching from Windows XP to Linux unsure of which distro. Is Linux more secure than Windows XP? I'm use to FireFox for web browsing and GAIM for instant messenging because I know Linux uses a lot of open source software. I also downloaded OpenOffice and realised it's almost exactly like MS Office that costs ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã300. My only concern if I switch to Linux is connecting to my wireless network and maybe being able to play some games in the future. So does anyone have any personal opinions on Linux distros? Has anyone else switched from Windows to Linux and what have they noticed?

[jammy316]

All I know about Linux us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linux is not as used as much as Windows, there are less virus' that Linux can be effected by. I don't use Linux but I know a few who do and they love it over Windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There should likely be suitable drivers and be able to use your wireless connection and some games shouldn't be that much of a worry, depends what you play.

[DaN]

I recently switched to linux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im using MEPIS http://www.mepis.org

 

 

 

you can acually run it from the CD without installing if you choose to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Im new to Linux so im not much help but I reccoment you contact people you know who are using linux and get advice from them.

[Guest andyizcool]

I don't use Linux but I know a few who do and they love it over Windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There should likely be suitable drivers and be able to use your wireless connection and some games shouldn't be that much of a worry, depends what you play.

 

 

 

Sounds promising.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DaN I looked at some screenshots from Mepis and it looks kind of like Mac OS, nice finishes and such. Since you switched to Linux recently anything you noticed different while using it? I might try and get a Linux to boot off a CD so I can see what one's like before switching to it. Thanks for your help since I know it's hard to find anyone who uses Linux.

[craigevil]

I dumped Windows on my dekstop and laptop last year and I have not missed it once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you play a lot of windows based games you will have issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headover to linuxquestions.org if you have any questions or problems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once you get the hang of it, you will find Linux is actually much easier to use than windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No viruses, no spyware. Tons of Open Source Software. My homepage has a good getting started page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good Luck!

[mr1337]

If you play a lot of windows based games you will have issues.

How do you have issues if you play a lot of windows based games? A lot of big game developers don't develop games for Linux. Half Life 2, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, etc. aren't actively deployed on Linux. I still fail to see what the "problem" is with playing Windows based games. There is, of course, Wine, and for games, WineX, but still, they do not provide 100% compatibility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now back on the subject. Don't get me wrong by my above comments, I LOVE Linux. There's just so much more you can do as far as server applications and development. I would reccommend Red Hat or Gentoo. Check out http://www.distrowatch.com/ for all the different distributions.

[xxvatarxx]

How do you have issues if you play a lot of windows based games? A lot of big game developers don't develop games for Linux. Half Life 2, Counter Strike, Call of Duty, etc. aren't actively deployed on Linux

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Different cross-over softwares work better for different games from different developers. Certain software pieces are more effective with different game engines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Its well worth switching but you should do some research first :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just another suggestion

[Guest andyizcool]

Thanks for all your help everyone and those Linux Question Forums look like they'll be very useful too. The only game I play so far is Runescape and that's Java web based as we all know so it should work fine on Linux anyway. I was thinking of maybe games in the future but I'm not sure since I'm use to PS2 RPGs. I assume you would still use some AntiVirus and AntiSpyware software just to be secure? As for the distro I was thinking of Gentoo because those screenshots look good for some of the themes. Anymore advice is welcomed. :)

[Hannibal]

Most of the relevant things have been said. Keep in mind that it will be hard/impossible to run most of your windows games (like Half-Life, Age of Empires, you name them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for your wireless card and other hardware, it's wise to do some research about how compatible they are (ie, whether there are Linux drivers available for them).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good idea is trying a Live CD, as mentioned, so you can leave your pc intact and just try it out once (or a few times). Most major distributions offer some form of Live CD. Knoppix is probably the most popular Linux Live CD around, it is a modified version of Debian/GNU Linux.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When you really want to replace windows with Linux, you're probably best off using a distribution that's easy to install. That rules out Slackware and Gentoo. Examples of what you could use are Fedora Core 4, Debian, Ubuntu, SuSE, Red Hat (if you're willing to pay), or Mandrake / Mandriva.

 

 

 

Personally, I'm a Debian fan. Both Debian and Ubuntu (and I think Mandrake and Mandriva too) use apt. APT is a way of packaging applications, and it basically means that you can tell your OS: I want to install software package x (just giving it the name), and it will automatically find the appropriate stuff to download, download it, install it, and in some cases keep it updated for you. This is good because you don't have to find everything you need to get it installed, you won't be told to look for the appropriate version of supporting drivers (for Windows, comparable examples are GDI, DirectX and OpenGL software which you sometimes need to install before running certain games) and you don't have to worry about what version of the software to use. All this is taken care of by the operating system, though, as with anything Linux, everything is configurable (so should you prefer to do things yourself, go right ahead).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Hat and fedora use a comparable packaging system called rpm. I don't have any experience with using rpm myself, but in many cases people claim apt is better. That's just hearsay, of course, so don't take my word for it :).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't use that wireless network for your internet and you don't pay for your internet on a per-minute or per-mb-downloaded basis, you are probably best off doing a network install. Most distributions provide these kinds of installs - they're usually small .iso files which you download and burn to a cd (typically they're smaller than 150MB). This then installs a /very/ basic Linux install, and allows you to then download and install other components you like (such as a graphical interface like you're used to on windows, your webbrowser, your office package (eg OO.org), your games (NeverBall, TuxRacer, what have you) and anything else you may want. This way you only download what you really need, instead of downloading (multiple) cd/dvd(s) which have lots of stuff you won't be installing anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you do use that wireless network for your internet, you probably do want a normal cd, as you won't be guaranteed to have drivers for your wireless card on a normal network install cd. If you can find drivers beforehand, it's probably wise to copy all of those files onto a separate cdrom, if not having wireless leaves you without internet access (because that means you'll have to download them somewhere else, and copy them to your own disk, see if it works, try again, and again, until you finally get internet in order - which can be very annoying, trust me, I've done it once :) )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'd also advise you to search this board for linux-related topics. There have been several over the last months, and any advice you can find is probably going to be useful :)

[____]

Word of advice, if you are using a SATA drive as your prime hdd to install linux on you better have the conrollers for it. I'm not 100% sure if FD4 can pick up SATA drives or not (I know Core 3 had a lot of problems) but you might want to be wary of that.

[Guest andyizcool]

I'd also advise you to search this board for linux-related topics. There have been several over the last months, and any advice you can find is probably going to be useful :)

 

 

 

I've been doing some of that and I'll be doing more of it because I really want to get some points of view. ;) Thanks for all your networking help, I'll make a backup of the files for my wireless adapter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Word of advice, if you are using a SATA drive as your prime hdd to install linux on you better have the conrollers for it. I'm not 100% sure if FD4 can pick up SATA drives or not (I know Core 3 had a lot of problems) but you might want to be wary of that.

 

 

 

I'm pretty sure I've got a crappy IDE Hard Drive and things so no need to worry about that. :)

[Hannibal]

 

I'd also advise you to search this board for linux-related topics. There have been several over the last months, and any advice you can find is probably going to be useful :)

 

 

 

I've been doing some of that and I'll be doing more of it because I really want to get some points of view. ;) Thanks for all your networking help, I'll make a backup of the files for my wireless adapter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, Windows will probably use different drivers from what Linux wants (typically, you'd have to install the drivers as a module for your kernel). So if you planned on backing up the files windows currently uses, that's probably not a lot of help.

[Olgath]

I use Mandrake, now known as Mandriva. Everybody I talk to now raves about Ubuntu Linux.