Linux

[sirjayjayec123]

Place to discuss all things linux

[sirjayjayec123]

Sure ill start with some pro's of this situation

Linux is free

open source

constant updates

the last two open up many more benefits, such as increased security, performance and that it creates an environment that anyone can develop for unlike windows 8 which is a closed platform that requires certification.

[IdeaStormer]

I use Linux everyday but still think there's a place for all the OS's that exist and even for some of the outdated OS's no longer supported. Variety is best and no one OS can do everything for everyone, yet. Also, not all Linux distros are free so you need to list out which Free Linux versions you are talking about (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, etc.)

I was super surprised Linus choose a Windows OS for his file server, he could of used ZFS with that beefy machine he used, I fear what will happen with his NTFS filesystem in the long run. We need to make a TechTip video for him to learn some Linux.

[zephiK]

Can't. The average joe is very reliant when it comes to Windows and its access of ease. Yeah Linux has improved in access of ease lately, but still. You can't expect them to switch to a new platform over night. The consumer base for Windows is too large to ignore it.

[sirjayjayec123]

I'm changing this into just a general Linux discussion thread.

[Draex]

Not having much linux development experience you can take my opinion with a grain of salt but I still feel one of the biggest things holding linux back (BSD as well) is the Xserver, well it happens to still work fairly well I feel Linux as desktop os would be far better served by something like DirectFB replacing it completely.

That said there are FAR more efficient operating system designs then either Windows or Linux. Monolithic kernels are just blah imo. Well not a true micro-kernel BeOS and Haiku OS are about the closest modern examples of truly efficient OS with any kind of user adoption.

[Loser777]

In the last year I have been in the process of migrating my entire workflow to GNU/Linux, to the extent where I will only use Windows for games/proprietary applications where I *absolutely* do not have a working alternative.

Here's how I've doing it:

• Become excessively devoted to doing things in the shell (bash, zsh, etc.) This means doing all of the trivial things that people normally do in graphical interfaces (file management, installing software...) in a shell
  
• Train myself to use a popular text editor: vim, emacs (I belong to the cult of vi)
  
• Attempt to optimize my workflow in any way possible--using a tiling window manager and a terminal multiplexer are good examples
  
• Ditched MS Office and switched to LaTeX for all my documents (in my opinion this looks much much much better than what I was writing before and equations/bibliographies become much much easier)--goes hand in hand with learning a text editor and optimizing my workflow
  
• Taking a CS class that emphasizes GNU/Linux system literacy: e.g. shell scripting, software revision management, and patching/backporting patches to name a few topics
  
• Finding opportunities to learn about new tools/programs and being excited to learn their uses: a recent example would be using rsync to synchronize backups
  

At this point doing any kind of work in Windows has become an annoyance because I am so much slower. In my view the only reason why GNU/Linux is considered difficult is that people have been taught to use the proprietary jungle of Windows/Microsoft Programs for most of their lives. Windows is only "easier" because they've been using only Windows machines in school and at home from a very early age.

[MartyniP]

I saw this.

[MartyniP]

Linux? pfft Windows all the way!

Shut up' date=' let the users decide![/quote']

Thats rather unlike Apple! lol

[BustinJustin]

As soon as Steam is fully compatible with Linux; as in ALL games WILL work as well as on Windows, I will switch to Linux full time. Now, I have a vm for basically learning purposes.

[jakemp]

Any more, people just need a browser 99% of the time. I switched my dad to ubuntu, and he's fully functional with it. Well, as soon as he can do his taxes in the browser, he'll be all set.

Also, steam being able to run on linux does not mean all windows steam games will. The games are just sold with Steam, they do not run on top of it, and a great deal of work has to be done to switch/remove the OS dependencies.

[orangecat]

Linux is shit but Linus is cool but seriously Linux is balls yes its free and is open source but it can't do anything I tried ubuntu and all I could figure out in 3 hours is that my nvidia drivers didn't work well at all and I could play Minecraft.

[12skyline21]

i registered only because of you Kilobytez95...

if you don't know how linux works that doesnt mean its shit.... its like saying you're shit because you can't walk on water... seriously such comments aren't really necesary.

is it so ***** hard to say I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE IT YET or just say its shit -.-

[w1n5t0n]

GNU/Linux as the distros should properly be called are some of the best designed family of OSes on the planet, they probably run your phone, they do run this server as well as the servers of amazon, google, and facebook, in fact most web servers run GNU/Linux and so do most smartphones. That being said Linux is simply a kernel and has nothing to do with the fact that nvidia's driver team don't care about GNU/Linux. Tho most people would not run GNU/Linux on their desktop i do choose to, for me running GNU/Linux is not only a philosophical thing, it is also a way to squeeze a bit more performance out of my machine, and it keeps my mind lubricated since im constantly on the command line, and i constantly have to read up on the arguments to commands for more effective use.

That all being said, Kilobytez95, i am going to have to respectfully disagree with you.

[MoeBrowne]

I totally agree w1n5tron, also as a side note NVidia has a huge number of stable Linux drivers and beta ones in development. They recently released the GeForce R310 beta driver that claims to double the performance with a 600 series GPU. I am using a 500 series and noticed a marked improvement in performance.

Steam beta is also available for Ubuntu 12.04, currently more than 50 games are supported and the number is growing all the time.