enorbet2

Just because Windows 7 is coming out soon and from all the press it may actually not suck as bad as Vista, is no reason to put off giving Linux a spin. If anything the reasons continue to grow way beyond the fact that "upgrade" from XP especially has some difficulties not the least of which will likely be a One Hundred Dollar price tag (well.. plus the cost of One Care, Anti Virus etc) and I'm not saying Linux is only worthwhile because it is cheap/free. Cool things are in the works.

Linux Magazine has had a couple of interesting articles lately such has how the economy has pulled in ever more businesses into Open Source for two reasons - low cost and the fact that it works and if it doesn;t it's easy and legal to fix/customize it. They are so enamored of it they are talking about funding.... giving back (like a stimulus) for the OSS community. That's pretty cool in itself but I was more excited by this:

Debian is preparing an system that can operate on either the Linux kernel or the BSD kernel. This may not sound all that exciting but serious stuff is happening in the "closer to Unix" crowd and this step toward convergence and/or even multiple kernel types on one system bodes well for the future, especially for the masses that find so many distros confusing, but more importantly a greater availability of usable, Open Source software. Linux is not only not going away any time soon, it is growing rapidly which means whether your concerns that keep you from the challenge are drivers or gaming, those situations and others (such as they actually are) are going to improve more quickly. Spread the word - even if you just need to fix windows from outside the system and use a bootable CD or thumbdrive - Linux is worth learning.

RyanRacer48

This may have been pointed out but i'm not readin 100 pages.

If you want to try Linux and dont want to deal w/ dual booting or anything like that do what I do!

I do run linux excluslively on my server but on my rig i just run it in VMware.

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DuckYy

from my experience with linux, it was fun to use in the beginning with the whole "hacking" thing but got old very fast. i used two different verision: knoppix and backtrack 3. both could be run off a cd but i installed backtrack 3 onto my computer. took 3days to finally install and dual boot with xp but i removed a few months ago. setting up permissions, finding drivers, researching took way too long and was boring. i only use it to crack wep/wpa now. i didnt find it faster than xp but it did look cooler with all the commands running on the screen on startup and the KDE desktop was cool although i can do that on xp too. overrall, i wouldnt recommend using it on a daily bases unless you use ubuntu i guess. never tried ubuntu although i have it downloaded. linux has different versions and not all them use the same commands so what might work in one will sometimes not work in another.

likes: KDE environment, "hacking" capabilties, makes you look like a genuis if you use it in front of other people

dislikes: researching and setting up linux

evermooingcow

I have a Linux vs Windows argument with a friend all the time.

I've come to the conclusion that if you agree with the Windows design concept of providing a preconfigured package out of the box so that users "can spend time doing something more important" then Windows is probably a good choice for you.

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dual != duel

error10

You used a customized Linux distribution designed for a single set of tasks, and expected it to perform well for other things for which it wasn't designed? Be realistic, please. You wouldn't dry your wet shoes with a toaster.

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DuckYy

yes, one of them was designed for with a set tasks in mind but its LINUX, meaning its customizable. and i tried customizing it which was a pain in the ass. i tried using it for basic stuff such as video playback but couldnt get it to work. i used it for word documentation and that was fine. besides simple stuff like that, i play games and you cant do that with linux. i still use linux from time to time and shown other people to linux. its a good OS but just not for me. just trying to give my opinion thats all

error10

I wouldn't try playing videos or games on Backtrack either. That's like putting your wet shoes in the microwave. You may find a different distribution works better for what you want to do.

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DuckYy

^lol. you and your wet shoes. you think they would dry if someone put them in there? back to linux, any recommendation then? i dont do much on the computer besides surfing the internet, media, office, and games. i tried installing bt3 with vlc but could never get that thing to work. also, i was looking for a linux version of powerpoint before i decided to just stop using linux.

lattyware

OpenOffice.org Impress. It's in most major linux distros.

Oh, and use a package manager to install stuff, if you do, it'll work fine.

And the distro to use is Ubuntu, as always, if you are new and unsure.

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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." --Evelyn Beatrice Hall

enorbet2

Hacking isn't specific to breaking into networks. Hacking is making the most of a little in a creative way. Overclocking is a hack. The term GNU, from Richard Stallman's GNU Linux, is an acronym hack since it is a self replicating progression like two mirrors facing each other. Specifically Linux was originally built by hackers for hackers exactly because virtually all aspects, right down to the kernel, are open to anything from slight mod, to adaptive scripting to complete rewrites.

<snip>

Anyone really concerned with security of any kind views the setting of permissions as an essential privilege not a chore. Windows, especially with Vista and carried on with Windows 7, reluctantly gives this privilege on a limited basis with one hand and takes it away with the other, using a broad, sweeping security level setting complete with a disclaimer (and a laughable firewall) you must accept relieving them of any responsibility and opening the door to sell you other "tools" like Registry "fixers" and the "One Care" service. If all you can think of interesting or useful to do is crack wireless security such tools exist for windows. Even "nmap" and the awesome "Nessus" are now available for windows, albeit many years after they first came out, free, for Linux. Finding drivers, or researching what hardware is supported first before buying, is a small price to pay for such power and no nonsense security.



Instead of writing bloated code that constantly requires users to replace their hardware, Linux is designed to be scaleable which is why Linux can not only run an entire OpSys from a lousy 1.4MB floppy (eg: Freesco) but operates embedded in virtually every cell phone and tiny appliance on the planet. A cell phone running Vista would require a backpack. However just because it can run small doesn't mean it can "go Big". It just requires and allows a little tweaking not possible in windows of any flavor.

You are certainly welcome to express your opinion, Ducky, but I might suggest that it is a bit revealing how valuable that opinion is when you recommend something of which you have essentially zero experience. Why not go ahead and install it and actually discover how friendly it is to windows migrators, even if only to CD or better, thumbdrive? Instead of two weeks, try using it for everything but gaming for two months, visiting some forums. some IRC rooms, some HowTo's, or even reading a book to find out what you're really missing? Coming from Windows which is designed to keep you weak, nobody really has a clue just what is possible in Linux any more than driving a car with an automatic transmission qualifies one to fly an F-18. The "manual" may seem boring at first but the payoff is AMAZING!

I'm not certain exactly to what you are referring here Ducky but it is dangerous to let this just sit so I need to clarify. There are extremely few commands that do not, or can not, exist in all distros of Linux. The main exception are package management commands which are basically only of 4 varieties (Debian, RedHat, Gentoo, and Slackware) which comprise less than one percent (0.01) of all commands. OTOH some distros allow the choice during install of command environment (all do, ultimately, since any of them can be installed) but almost all default to BASH which is essentially the same for any distro. So basically it is not true that commands vary in Linux for most users, or at least, have to vary.

<snip>

Anyone who just wants to "look like a genius" and fake out their friends might as well just stick with Windows and download a custom boot screen and desktop (or even just a KDE desktop background) and do what they consider "more important things" since as Thomas Edison pointed out "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration".

That said, since it still takes a lot of "perspiration" to properly overclock (although a lot less than it used to) I can't quite imagine that someone like Ducky is totally adverse to a little work as long as he is aware the payoff will actually be worth it. As someone who started out totally ignorant of Linux's power payoff back in 1998 with Mandrake, tried at least a dozen distros, and settled on Slackware updating through each version from v7 through v12.1, and who uses Linux for over 90% of time/work, I can say I had no idea just how big the payoff would be and I can't possibly count all the times I have done something and said to myself "I fscking LOVE Linux!" Simply put, if you like owning your computer, it is way more than just worth the investment.

Respectfully
Jimmy