Is Ubuntu worth trying?

[Hyydrah]

I heard about how Ubuntu was secretly distributing information about you in conjunction with Amazon or something, is it true? Are there any sort of privacy issues with it? And what kind of compatibility issues should I expect to face?

[extremescouter]

Do you have a reason to try it? I havent heard those issues, but they may exist. I think it could be a cool side project just to learn more about coding and how terminal works and such, but I wouldn't use it as my main operating system. 

[alpenwasser]

I haven't done extensive reading on this, so there may be something buried somewhere, but

what I know is that they integrated an Amazon search into the HUD interface or whatever

it's called.

So basically when you search for something you will get Amazon search results included in

your search (you can disable it though I think). As far as I'm aware they're not sending

your personal data to them, or at least I haven't seen anything definitive regarding that.

Alternatively, I can suggest Linux Mint. Also very easy to use and doesn't come with that

baggage.

[Godlygamer23]

I heard about how Ubuntu was secretly distributing information about you in conjunction with Amazon or something, is it true? Are there any sort of privacy issues with it? And what kind of compatibility issues should I expect to face?

Yes. By default it does send information to Amazon when you use the search functionality, but it can be removed so that doesn't happen. (and no crazy stuff you need to do to get rid of it) I currently use Ubuntu and love it.

[needmorewood]

well you cant run games or Microsoft applications on stock Ubuntu. only steam linux games can be run
it is a nice os though if you have a purpose to use it

[Godlygamer23]

So basically when you search for something you will get Amazon search results included in

your search (you can disable it though I think). 

Yes you can. It's a component that can be removed through Ubuntu Software Center.

[Godlygamer23]

well you cant run games or Microsoft applications on stock Ubuntu. only steam linux games can be run

it is a nice os though if you have a purpose to use it

Actually, you can use Wine to install and run Windows applications.

[Hyydrah]

Yes you can. It's a component that can be removed through Ubuntu Software Center.

That's great, the article I read made it sound like they were denying that they even did it and didn't even mention anything about how you could disable it using the native software.

[Hyydrah]

Actually, you can use Wine to install and run Windows applications.

I'm not familiar with that, how well does it work? I plan on installing Arma 3 (Steam) and motherboard software which seems to only be offered for Windows.

[Godlygamer23]

I'm not familiar with that, how well does it work? I plan on installing Arma 3 (Steam) and motherboard software which seems to only be offered for Windows.

When you download Wine and install it,  it allows you to search for an exe file to install the Windows application(from disc or a file on your desktop). It interfaces with Ubuntu, and can be used to run applications like Foxit Reader very easily(I've done it too). I'm not sure how well it runs games, but it ran Foxit Reader quite well. To make sure you'll like Ubuntu, I would run it in a VM for a bit, so you can get used to it.

[alpenwasser]

Wine is a compatibility layer allowing you to run certain Windows applications on Linux or

other UNIX-like O/S's. Not everything works though (Photoshop or MS Office for example, at

least last time I checked).

It works quite well these days, but it's still a bit of hit and miss when it comes to games.

Here's a list of software that has been verified to work.

[needmorewood]

Actually, you can use Wine to install and run Windows applications.

i did say stock....

didnt want to confuse OP

[Godlygamer23]

i did say stock....

didnt want to confuse OP

Yes you did. However, it's to be expected that you can't. AFAIK, Microsoft doesn't develop their applications for Linux.

[fuji]

Ubuntu is alright but there's more to linux than just Ubuntu.  Download the "Live CD" and try it out.  You may like it, you may not.  It will run off the CD/DVD and allow you to try it out before you install it.

 

Hardware compatibility is just fine.  These days the linux kernel can run most anything you throw at it.  I recommend an Nvidia card as I personally have had better success with Nvidia drivers than ATI's.  That's not to say ATI drivers are bad, I know plenty of people who use ATI cards just fine, but I personally have never had a problem with Nvidia.  Software compatibility is okay for applications, but don't expect to be gaming much on it.  Outside of Steam's linux games, not much else will run and that which does, will require a whole lot of tinkering in Wine.  For web services, you can't watch Netflix in your browser on Linux, because Netflix uses Microsoft Silverlight.  Flash works, Chrome, Firefox and Opera are available for browsers.

 

Wine is great if you have time to tinker with it.  It is very hit and miss, and you have to have different configs for different applications.  The package "winetricks" makes it a bit easier, unless you have time to tinker, I wouldn't expect to run many windows games or applications not listed on Wine's compatibility page.

[urworstnit3m3r]

There is also PlayonLinux, which is part of Wine and is more geared for games, i have personally tried  black ops. it ran it but not very well. This was over a year ago so it's possible that it runs better now.