what the fuck is linux

Gee i guess I never really addressed the question at the start of this thread at all now did I.

Don't bother with Linux on a desktop PC, it makes great web servers (mail HTTP etc) but it is a worthless desktop OS just purely because getting it to do anything simply is not possible.

and any of you linux geeks out there who disagree you know in the back of your mind that BSD/Linux / any Unix based OS for the Intel platform is far to clunky for it's own good and nobody has yet to come up with a decent enough windows replacement to convience the unwashed and undereducated masses.

and while you can play games under linux again it's not so easy as to just install the damn thing and go, and when the games don't run right what do you do?

stick with windows, Linux is just not worth the hassle.

mac os x + x11 = gaim + bitchx +

[Edited on Feb 02, 2004 by koosh]

Linux is obscenly easy to use. Installing it isn't so easy.

Is you become a Platonist does that mean that you couldn't still be a pragmatist?

I haven't got so much a problems with Microsoft. Using Linux to me is a matter of lifestyle. Read into that as much as you like...I guarantee it's not enough.

battlefield what?

Well, I guess if you wanted to learn about how computers work it would be a good use of that time. I've learned a lot from running a linux box.

MisterJesus:Clunky??? Wortheless???

WHAT PLANET ARE YOU FROM!?!?!?!??!?!

On my system Linux runs WAAAAAAAAAY faster than Windows and does hullva more. Getting it to do more than the basic things Windows does isn't always simple and I prefer it that way. It's more fun .

That said I end up using Windows more. One word: Office.

Linux has a hard time keeping up with Microsoft Office and it's WAY too huge a standard gap to ignore.

If it didn't exist I wouldn't be running Windows at all. Anything Windows can do Madrake does better.

[Edited on Feb 02, 2004 by clit_tease]

ah, beautiful and smart. i think i'm in

we have 2 computers, one is mine one is my boyfriends
the boyfriend has linux and i use windows
and i never touch the boyfriends machine.
i guess thats what linux is good for
keeping your girlfriend off your computer.

i just feel dumb when i sit there and try to figure it out.

Debian ho???

I think I'm in love.

you don't need X11 to run either gaim, or bitchx, any more than you need fink to install a lot of things. (i know you didn't mention fink, but the same goes for fink in this case)

behold: http://macosx.forked.net/

second what Olivia said: if you want linux (and you're a n00b), get a mac. i know a lot of hardcore linux users who've all bought macs in the last 2-3 years, purely because OS X is now one of the best linux distros you can get. and that's their words, not mine.

hahaha, that's awesome.

my brother has had SuSe on one of his machines for about 3 years now. i've been using Mac OS X for the same period. ever xmas, i go and stay with him. i crank up his linux machine and i'm all over it, more each year. meanwhile, he just sits there and tries to keep up with what i'm doing. just like you mentioned.

If you are curious aobut Linux but are hesitant to go through bucketloads of installation crap, and if you have some connection where downloading, oh, 700 megs is feasible, then you should try a Linux Live cd.

It works like this:

You download a giant file.

You burn it to a CD.

You stick the cd in your cdrom drive, and reboot.

Whammo, you're running Linux from a CD, and it doesn't touch your hard drive.

Then you can see what you think, and whether geeking around installing it is for you.

< ( read more here )

I'd suggest knoppix which is a nice linux live cd.

I also like tomsrtbt which is a rescue system on floppy. I've used it a few times and been very glad it's there.

I agree with Olivia, for a desktop machine suitable for general users I'd recommend a mac. I'd get a mac if I ever had the money to buy a machine. I'd happily lose windows.

The only advantage to Linux is you are allowed to smirk condescendingly at the poor misguided plebians around you.

"only"???

heheh.

< ( bow plebes! )

I am using the crunchbang stratler alpha right now and it's running everything stable out of the box with no modifications whatsoever. (http://crunchbanglinux.org) Comes with all the codecs and flash plugins etc. that you will ever need built in since it's a british distro. Runs way faster than Windows does on this laptop, uses less battery power, the cpu and hard drives have a lower temperature. I even have windows 7 installed inside virtualbox so i can run MS office and visual studio for school. Virtual box is 100% functional and stable and took no extra configuration whatsoever, just ran the wizard and installed win7 and it was good to go. Even though I can run MS Word inside linux just fine i use open office for most of my school work and save my work in word 2007 format and no one can tell the difference. Windows is a great operating system for people who like to spend money making their hardware break faster while making their information insecure and paying someone to do it. Why someone would use windows over a user friendly distro like ubuntu when there are so many people all over the forums helping with every minute tech support issue is beyond me.

nevermind