Free Your PC, Learn Linux, Embrace The Future

[Dabombinable]

What's your memory and page file usage on a fresh boot?

89MB memory, 34MB page file usage.

[Midnight]

And if a lot of people switch over to linux there will be just as many viruses as for windows, don't kid yourself, the OS is not safer, it is just less profitable for e-crime.

 

False.

[Midnight]

Sorry to bust your balls here but Linux isn't going to be the future of PC's any time soon unfortunately. The reason being people are familiar with windows, windows doesn't change too drastically with new versions of the OS, there isn't different "distributions" of windows (well, i mean of course xp, vista, 7, 8, and 10 (but official distro's)). The last reasoning is because, well. DirectX is far ahead of OpenGL, and I don't see linux being able to achieve the graphical optimizations of windongs any time soon.

 

There's a lot more to PCs than graphics lol, and gaming doesn't capture the majority of the PC market anyway.

 

There's nothing inherently difficult about Linux. It's just a different learning curve. Also, Ubuntu is pretty much equivalent to Windows in terms of GUI ease and usage.

[Dabombinable]

There's a lot more to PCs than graphics lol, and gaming doesn't capture the majority of the PC market anyway.

 

There's nothing inherently difficult about Linux. It's just a different learning curve. Also, Ubuntu is pretty much equivalent to Windows in terms of GUI ease and usage.

Microsoft saw Linux as a threat, so they scared devs away from OpenGL and encouraged them to use DirectX, hence why gaming on Linux didn't take off. Going back through all of my old hardware, nearly every single piece from the 90's has support for Windows, Mac OS and Linux listed, and that's not with community drivers either.

[MEC-777]

Well, picture this:

My mum wants to watch Netflix on her fresh Mint install but cannot get it to work. Maybe she even thinks about using google and she just finds a bunch of articles called about Silverlight and Pipelight.

Does that help her? No

Scenario number 2: In germany, if you make your tax declaration, there is a specific software from the government you have to use, and there is a new version every year.

What if she runs into dependency/compadibility issues while installing it? People who are not tech savvy can't just solve problems like that like we do, through googling. They will not understand what they find in Linux forums or wikis.

And if a lot of people switch over to linux there will be just as many viruses as for windows, don't kid yourself, the OS is not safer, it is just less profitable for e-crime.

Greetings

In response to the first part of this; my mother-in-law received her newly built PC with Mint pre-installed and already setup with netflix working - just like she would receive a new PC from the store with windows already pre-installed and setup. The only difference is the person who built the PC, installed and setup the OS. I knew my mother-in-law wouldn't know how to install the pipelight plugin and get netflix running, so I made sure it worked before I gave it to her.

 

On the assumption that your mum was able to install Mint on her own (that is; assuming she knew enough how to make a bootable disc or USB stick from the ISO and go through the installation process), then she should be able to follow the few simple steps to install pipelight and enable it. By comparison, if you handed your mum a windows cd and freshly built PC, would she know how to install it? Would she know how to install all the drivers? What's installing a relatively simple plugin to installing all those other things required for a fresh install of windows? It can go both ways for both OS's.

 

With regards to your 2nd point; here in Canada we also have similar software programs for doing our taxes. For those running Linux, there is an online version (from the same developers) as an alternative. 

 

I understand there are cases where windows is required for certain programs, I never denied that. There are various solutions to this and which ever solution is best will be determined by the individual user. 

[Dabombinable]

In response to the first part of this; my mother-in-law received her newly built PC with Mint pre-installed and already setup with netflix working - just like she would receive a new PC from the store with windows already pre-installed and setup. The only difference is the person who built the PC, installed and setup the OS. I knew my mother-in-law wouldn't know how to install the pipelight plugin and get netflix running, so I made sure it worked before I gave it to her.

 

On the assumption that your mum was able to install Mint on her own (that is; assuming she knew enough how to make a bootable disc or USB stick from the ISO and go through the installation process), then she should be able to follow the few simple steps to install pipelight and enable it. By comparison, if you handed your mum a windows cd and freshly built PC, would she know how to install it? Would she know how to install all the drivers? What's installing a relatively simple plugin to installing all those other things required for a fresh install of windows? It can go both ways for both OS's.

 

With regards to your 2nd point; here in Canada we also have similar software programs for doing our taxes. For those running Linux, there is an online version (from the same developers) as an alternative. 

 

I understand there are cases where windows is required for certain programs, I never denied that. There are various solutions to this and which ever solution is best will be determined by the individual user. 

A solution to not being able to find Linux versions of a Windows program: use a virtual machine to run Windows inside Linux.

[Midnight]

A solution to not being able to find Linux versions of a Windows program: use a virtual machine to run Windows inside Linux.

 

Or vice versa. Windows as host for gaming, Linux as guest for web browsing, writing, software development, etc. At least that's what I do.

 

I don't install Linux on my computers because I don't need full access and control over my hardware using Linux. The only reason I install Windows is because of games, and that's pretty much it.

[MiracleMan]

False.

Back that up with an argument and we can talk, what are you, 12?

It is a known fact that linux based operating systems have on average significantly more vulnerabilites than windows. And if there are vulnerabilitys (and there alwaysy are) people will exploit them if they see profit, the linux kernel is not some magic piece of maleware proof code.

[MEC-777]

Um, there's easily just as much malware for linux as there is for windows.

 

You're wrong again on point 2 again.

 

I lol'd because;

Do you want full control over your OS and hardware?

Do you want to delete important OS files on accident?

 

Do you want a free OS?

i mean, i didn't pay for windows and i'm sure none of my friends did either.

 

Do you want to learn more about how your computer works, how to control and access it's full potential?

?!?!?!?!?!? like you can't do that on windows while running a VM.

 

No. There is simply nowhere near as much malware for Linux as there is for windows. 

 

As for the efficiency of how Linux runs and operates vs. windows, I suggest you go do some research on that.  

 

Why would you not want control of your OS and hardware?

 

Deleting important OS files by accident can happen just as easily in windows. 

 

That's great for you if you didn't pay for windows. Not everyone has the means to acquire a free copy of windows, legally. 

 

I don't get why you have an issue with this last point. All I was trying to say is that using Linux can be a great learning opportunity. That's all. 

[MEC-777]

What's the OS your running? Because under Windows XP (I know its old-but it beats any Linux distro with a GUI when it comes to running on old hardware-even Lubuntu) after a fresh install no more than 90MB of RAM is used. And even with antivirus and the system utilities (soundcard utility, nvidia desktop manager etc), its using less than 512MB. The downside of XP however is that only my Diamond video cards don't require drivers to be installed, under Lubuntu everything is ready to go, with no driver or software installation needed at all for the standard office tasks (word, internet etc).

 

My HTPC is running the windows 10 technical preview (wanted to try it and it's free ). 

 

I'm currently running Lubuntu on an old core 2 duo machine with 1GB ram and it works really well. Leaves plenty of ram on the table for other programs etc. and only uses about 170mb at idle.  

 

Have to partially agree with @Opcode - ram usage isn't really an indication of performance. But the more ram used by the OS itself, the less there is available for other programs and applications. I first tried running Mint on that same core 2 duo machine, but it ran pretty slow because there just wasn't enough ram available and it had to start digging into the swap once you opened a few tabs in Firefox.

[Midnight]

Back that up with an argument and we can talk, what are you, 12?

It is a known fact that linux based operating systems have on average significantly more vulnerabilites than windows. And if there are vulnerabilitys (and there alwaysy are) people will exploit them if they see profit, the linux kernel is not some magic piece of maleware proof code.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_operating_systems

 

Lol, you want facts? Take a look at server OS usage, idiot. Unix variants are the majority. Also in terms of profit, wouldn't it make a LOT more sense to target servers, which has personal information of thousands, if not millions or billions, of people? With that in mind, if Linux is indeed less secure, then why would people use for servers, rather than Windows?

 

Your argument is invalid. Good day.

[MiracleMan]

No need to be insulting, but let me tell you one thing, attacking a server and spreading maleware are 2 completely different things, please educate yourself before you write gibberish like that.

[Midnight]

No need to be insulting, but let me tell you one thing, attacking a server and spreading maleware are 2 completely different things, please educate yourself before you write gibberish like that.

 

Yeah, you're right. There's no need to be insulting by calling me 12 or whatever.

 

Those two may be different, but there is a thin line between them. Regardless, you are exploiting vulnerabilities when you are doing those two anyway, so my argument still stands and yours does not.

 

So why don't you educate yourself before telling other people to do that.

[MiracleMan]

I just guessed your age because you are not able to keep a proper discussion.

The US Government and Kaspersky (the leaders in IT security, but you probably know that since you are obviously an expert) both released  reports (the Kaspersky one is a little old but it gets the point across) on operating system vulnerabilitys. You should probably take a look at them.

And no, the line between a focused attack of a certain network/server/infrastructure and infecting a ad banner on a website or whatever is _not_ thin.

I am by no means an expert in IT security, but to say that linux based operating systems are just magically safer than other ones is just ignorant.

 

But I end this conversation now and i really hope that your knowledge in the field you work in is not as half assed as in it security.

Have a nice day.

[WolfDeville]

faissaloo, on 06 Mar 2015 - 02:57 AM, said:faissaloo, on 06 Mar 2015 - 02:57 AM, said:faissaloo, on 06 Mar 2015 - 02:57 AM, said:

Because it's open and free!

So? Currently, it's only good for tasks other than gaming. But I think that will drastically change in the future, until then I'm sticking with Windows.

 

Linux has way too much hype imo...

[Dabombinable]

So? Currently, it's only good for tasks other than gaming. But I think that will drastically change in the future, until then I'm sticking with Windows.

 

Linux has way too much hype imo...

Right..... do you see in your face adds for it the way you do with Microsoft?

[Midnight]

I just guessed your age because you are not able to keep a proper discussion.

The US Government and Kaspersky (the leaders in IT security, but you probably know that since you are obviously an expert) both released  reports (the Kaspersky one is a little old but it gets the point across) on operating system vulnerabilitys. You should probably take a look at them.

And no, the line between a focused attack of a certain network/server/infrastructure and infecting a ad banner on a website or whatever is _not_ thin.

I am by no means an expert in IT security, but to say that linux based operating systems are just magically safer than other ones is just ignorant.

 

But I end this conversation now and i really hope that your knowledge in the field you work in is not as half assed as in it security.

Have a nice day.

 

Source? Because I know I did for mine and I'm interested to take a look.

 

I was more attacking your argument about the positive correlation of popularity and malware and the incentive of profit, which they are definitely false. There may be just as much malware for Linux as Windows. The difference is that we know quite a bit for Windows and not so much for Linux. Plus, servers are a much better target for profit than PCs and majority of them use Unix variants.

 

I know that every software has vulnerabilities that can be exploited and Linux is no exception. However, Linux is safer in a way by how it is developed and how software for it is released, unlike Windows.

 

I never said I was an expert in computer security. I was just pointing out your false claims.

 

Have a nice day.

[Midnight]

Linux has way too much hype imo...

 

IMO Windows has way too much hype, and it has been for the last 30 years...

[Opcode]

Have to partially agree with @Opcode - ram usage isn't really an indication of performance. But the more ram used by the OS itself, the less there is available for other programs and applications. I first tried running Mint on that same core 2 duo machine, but it ran pretty slow because there just wasn't enough ram available and it had to start digging into the swap once you opened a few tabs in Firefox.

That's where Linux is actually quite superior to Windows is in memory management. Linux doesn't necessarily like to use swap unless it needs to which means everything stays in physical memory which is multiple times faster than storage. Once ram gets low the operating system starts pushing software into swap. Which means most of your software should run at the peak of its performance from the hardware capabilities until you simply run out of ram. Tho I wouldn't use a heavy distribution like Mint on older machines. I would instead try their Mint XFCE edition.

[Dabombinable]

That's where Linux is actually quite superior to Windows is in memory management. Linux doesn't necessarily like to use swap unless it needs to which means everything stays in physical memory which is multiple times faster than storage. Once ram gets low the operating system starts pushing software into swap. Which means most of your software should run at the peak of its performance from the hardware capabilities until you simply run out of ram. Tho I wouldn't use a heavy distribution like Mint on older machines. I would instead try their Mint XFCE edition.

Lubuntu seems to work well too, it runs on all of my computers with no extra drivers needed (though my GTX 970 is an absolute bitch to get working under Linux-and even then its never 100% sorted).

[WolfDeville]

Dabobminable, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:43 PM, said:Dabobminable, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:43 PM, said:Dabobminable, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:43 PM, said:

Right..... do you see in your face adds for it the way you do with Microsoft?

It's the user base that constantly shove it in other people's face because they think they are somehow better for using it....

 

Midnight, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:49 PM, said:Midnight, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:49 PM, said:Midnight, on 07 Mar 2015 - 2:49 PM, said:

IMO Windows has way too much hype, and it has been for the last 30 years...

And rightfully so.

 

 

Can someone please list 10 things that Linux can do that Window's 8.1 can't.

[madcow]

I think a big part of security of Linux servers comes from being able to remove nearly everything from the system except the bare essentials needed to run your applications. You can pick all of your packages and even remove kernel features. A simpler system with fewer services will likely have fewer exploits.

[Opcode]

Can someone please list 10 things that Linux can do that Window's 8.1 can't.

1. Linux not only automatically updates the system but also the software installed plus without frequent reboots.
2. Linux has robust hardware support baked into the kernel so whatever you plug in tends to work right away.
3. You can partition certain aspects of the operating system such as your root directory that can be retained for an unlimited amount of re-installs while preserving your data.
4. You can't boot a fully operational Windows 8.1 system from a USB drive (you can with enterprise but still the flexibility is not there).
5. Linux doesn't need reboots, defragmentation or other daily/weekly tasks to keep the machine running at peak performance.
6. Linux has a synaptic package manager which really speaks for itself.
7. Almost every software you install on Linux you can obtain the source code for.
8. You can choose from different window managers and desktop environments.
9. You can run a secure machine without the need for annoying and resource intensive antivirus engines.
10. You can run a full operating system and obtain software without breaking the law.
11. You can customize nearly every aspect of the operating system to your liking.

Now bask in the glory that is my Linux desktop.

 

[Dabombinable]

 

1. Linux not only automatically updates the system but also the software installed plus without frequent reboots.
2. Linux has robust hardware support baked into the kernel so whatever you plug in tends to work right away.
3. You can partition certain aspects of the operating system such as your root directory that can be retained for an unlimited amount of re-installs while preserving your data.
4. You can't boot a fully operational Windows 8.1 system from a USB drive (you can with enterprise but still the flexibility is not there).
5. Linux doesn't need reboots, defragmentation or other daily/weekly tasks to keep the machine running at peak performance.
6. Linux has a synaptic package manager which really speaks for itself.
7. Almost every software you install on Linux you can obtain the source code for.
8. You can choose from different window managers and desktop environments.
9. You can run a secure machine without the need for annoying and resource intensive antivirus engines.
10. You can run a full operating system and obtain software without breaking the law.
11. You can customize nearly every aspect of the operating system to your liking.

Now bask in the glory that is my Linux desktop.

 

-snip-

When I was trying out linux on my rig, I actually had a few family members ask me why their computers didn't have the same background. Unfortunately for them, all of their computers are MS Windows.

Edit: Pretty much the only reason I'm not using a Linux distro is because all of the Windows only games I have in steam. Which pisses me off as I can't do what I want with what I bought.

[WolfDeville]

Opcode, on 07 Mar 2015 - 7:45 PM, said:Opcode, on 07 Mar 2015 - 7:45 PM, said:

 

1. Linux not only automatically updates the system but also the software installed plus without frequent reboots.
2. Linux has robust hardware support baked into the kernel so whatever you plug in tends to work right away.
3. You can partition certain aspects of the operating system such as your root directory that can be retained for an unlimited amount of re-installs while preserving your data.
4. You can't boot a fully operational Windows 8.1 system from a USB drive (you can with enterprise but still the flexibility is not there).
5. Linux doesn't need reboots, defragmentation or other daily/weekly tasks to keep the machine running at peak performance.
6. Linux has a synaptic package manager which really speaks for itself.
7. Almost every software you install on Linux you can obtain the source code for.
8. You can choose from different window managers and desktop environments.
9. You can run a secure machine without the need for annoying and resource intensive antivirus engines.
10. You can run a full operating system and obtain software without breaking the law.
11. You can customize nearly every aspect of the operating system to your liking.

Now bask in the glory that is my Linux desktop.

 

 

 

 

Point 1: Windows does install updates automatically (optional), not all of them require a reboot.

Point 2: Windows 8.1 works with any hardware without manually installing drivers

Point 5: Neither does Windows? I've never had to defragment a hard drive since Windows XP.

Point 7: Well that really depends on the developer choosing to share the code, is it not?

Point 9: Windows Defender has a very small footprint and comes preinstalled with Windows 8.1 and that, bundled with common sense is all you need.

Point 10: Uhm.... Do I really have to point it out?

 

That leaves you with 5 reasons which I'm sure someone that is more educated on this topic than me could answer to.