The GNU/Linux thread

[Dr_Grip]

Being fed up with many aspects of my Hackintosh experiment, i did the only sane thing and migrated to debian testing (for now, if i get bored, i'll switch to unstable in a heartbeat).

So i figured it was time our tech forum got it's own GNU/Linux thread. Fire away!

 

[narf]

That is all.

 

[Psirus]

I am currently on Ubuntu 10.10, with Fluxbox as WM. But I intend to switch to Wheezy as well, once the exams are over. Interested how it's going to be.

 

[argatoga]

Being fed up with many aspects of my Hackintosh experiment, i did the only sane thing and migrated to debian testing (for now, if i get bored, i'll switch to unstable in a heartbeat).

So i figured it was time our tech forum got it's own GNU/Linux thread. Fire away!

Wouldn't Ubuntu be a better choice?

F.Y.I, at one point in my life I used Debian testing for a year or two.

 

[Psirus]

If you want an Apple clone, then yes, feel free to use Ubuntu :? . If you want to use "proper" Linux, use something else. I'm mildly annoyed by Canonical playing Apple-Copycat, hence the upcoming switch to Debian.

 

[Jens]

I run ubuntu on an old laptop and I'm very pleased with it, makes computing on that machine decent whilst it was very very very slow with Windows XP.

 

[cdbob]

The best way to run linux is through vbox, that way you get the great support of windows while still having the ability to use linux/osx.

 

[argatoga]

If you want an Apple clone, then yes, feel free to use Ubuntu :? . If you want to use "proper" Linux, use something else. I'm mildly annoyed by Canonical playing Apple-Copycat, hence the upcoming switch to Debian.

A "proper" Linux?

 

[killpanda]

I run Gentoo on my old 12" PowerBook, mainly in text mode. Sadly the support for it is quite crappy because of the nvidia chipset that's inside, so no sleep, no accelerated graphics, etc. But at least the wifi's working fine, which is more than enough for me to be happy with it

 

[argatoga]

I went to Gentoo after Debian and despite the compiling I think it is a better distribution (you do need to know/be willing to learn how to configure and fix things).

I eventually became annoyed with the extra maintenance involved with Linux and moved to Mac OS X on my desktop/laptop and FreeBSD on my server.

 

[chaos386]

A "proper" Linux?

Lotta people don't like Ubuntu, but that's the whole point of Linux/BSD: you run whatever the heck you want and can tweak it to your heart's content. The different distros are pretty much just different starting points, and people choose whichever is closest to what they want from their OS.

Personally, I've been using Ubuntu as my main OS since 2005. In 2006 I reinstalled so I could switch from 64-bit to 32-bit (next desktop will be 64-bit again), but since then I've just been upgrading every six months. I didn't even reinstall when I changed my mobo/CPU/GPU all at once. As such, I always get a chuckle out of Windows guys saying they have to periodically reinstall their OS every couple years or so.

 

[ESPNSTI]

Waaayyy back when I played around with Red Hat and at the time I concluded it wasn't ready for prime time for what I needed it for. (Recompile the kernel to get sound? Say what? :?)
Since then I've played around with Ubuntu on my PS3, which was a much, much better experience.
Also I have a QNAP device that runs some sort of Linux version.

On desktops I still prefer Windows though, it works fine as long as you don't fill it full of junk programs such as browser tool bars or wallpaper changers or stuff like that. (Then again I've always been able to "manage" Windows, I never had any problems with Windows ME or Vista for example.)
My only real gripes with it is the whole registry concept. (That and applications messing with system directories).
If they implemented a system where the registry data was kept in the program data / user data folders for each application (decentralized registry storage, but linked to enable global referencing), things would work much better.

I like Linux because I'm not that familiar with it and it's fun to tinker around with, but so far I don't see much of a reason to switch to it for what I mostly use it for. (Games and video).

 

[Psirus]

A "proper" Linux?

What I meant was mainly a distribution that stays true to the open source principles, because thats what Linux is about, for me anyways. Ubuntu seems to have a "sloppy" attitude towards open-source, the main focus is with user-friendliness and mass-compatibility. Thats great for getting started in Linux, but not if you're running Linux because of the spirit behind it.

 

[Galantti]

after my 2 tb drives come, i'll install ubuntu and debian in virtualbox inside windows7ultimate

 

[Dr_Grip]

Wouldn't Ubuntu be a better choice?

My girlfriend uses Ubuntu on her laptop. I've used debian sid for five or six years before switching to Apple and liked it better than i do like Ubuntu, so it was logical to go back to debian. As i'm now at a stage of my life where i can't live with "They've broken the X server, ok, so i'll live without a GUI for a few days until they've fixed it" any longer, sid was not a possible choice anymore, though.

 

[argatoga]

What I meant was mainly a distribution that stays true to the open source principles, because thats what Linux is about, for me anyways. Ubuntu seems to have a "sloppy" attitude towards open-source, the main focus is with user-friendliness and mass-compatibility. Thats great for getting started in Linux, but not if you're running Linux because of the spirit behind it.

God damn hippy, shave you're beard!

//The Photo above is in fact from Stallman's website.

My girlfriend uses Ubuntu on her laptop. I've used debian sid for five or six years before switching to Apple and liked it better than i do like Ubuntu, so it was logical to go back to debian. As i'm now at a stage of my life where i can't live with "They've broken the X server, ok, so i'll live without a GUI for a few days until they've fixed it" any longer, sid was not a possible choice anymore, though.

I've used Ubuntu and preferred it over Debian as it worked better out of the box (and underneath they are the same thing).

 

[Dr_Grip]

I've used Ubuntu and preferred it over Debian as it worked better out of the box (and underneath they are the same thing).

I have never been out in the desert to shoot guns with RMS (some friends of mine have, though) so for me freedom is less about free-as-in-speech vs. free-as-in-beer as freedom's about customizability and freedom of choice: I want to chose my software packages, my window manager, my kernel version, heck, i want to be root. It is a UNIX flavour. I am the sysop. I want to be root.

There was a story on slashdot the other day about 74% of Ubuntu being unmodified debian packages, 18% being modified debian packages and only 7% being not debian related.
What this statistics does not tell is how many debian packages are not available for ubunutu out of the box and how many stupid modifications one can make without touching 75% of the source packages. The worst of them being disabling the root account, but there are more places where ubuntu is almost as condescending as Win7 or OS X in "knowing best what's best for the user". Maybe i don't want what they think it's best for them even if they are right. Maybe i want what i'm used too, even if it's WindowMaker and Mail.app (both of which are available unter Ubuntu, but many parts of Ubuntu rely on you being on Gnome/KDE more than they should).

 

[argatoga]

You can always reenable root.

But yes Debian is more biased towards tinkering. I've gotten lazy and I don't tinker as much as I used to.

 

[mpicco]

What I meant was mainly a distribution that stays true to the open source principles, because thats what Linux is about, for me anyways. Ubuntu seems to have a "sloppy" attitude towards open-source, the main focus is with user-friendliness and mass-compatibility. Thats great for getting started in Linux, but not if you're running Linux because of the spirit behind it.

I don't think running linux means that you should be a computer nerd who knows what a mount point is, how to compile your own kernel, or having to be a software detective to find out why your new hardware is almost working but not THAT one button.
Is there closed source programs in Ubuntu? Or by spirit you mean something like having to debug a program for 3 hours before it starts working with certain hardware configuration?
Cos I've had my share of problems with Ubuntu and had to look for answers in forums and help desks, often having to edit files and other things and I really don't see what you're talking about.

Couple of weeks ago I swapped my mobo, cpu and ram. Windows XP went nutty for like 3 restarts and almost made me format it. Ubuntu booted up no problem. I just cannot see how anyone can find this an inconvenience.
If what you all mean by "real" linux is problem solving and tinkering why not write a script that deletes 150 random files from your computer, then do a reboot, and then making a game out of finding out which files are missing and why is X not starting...

 

[McRae]

I installed Ubuntu 10.10 yesterday just for fun, after having watched a review on TV. Being the owner of both a Windows desktop and a Mac laptop already I became familiar with the basics of Ubuntu right away. And I quite like it. First of all the interface is very much like the Mac OSX, which is a good thing. Secondly, the Belkin wireless adapter I'm using connected me to the internet instantly. On Windows I have to initially install a driver. The third thing being the fact that Ubuntu seems to be quite well secured "out of the box" against malware and virus.

So despite some compatibility issues I'm very satisfied with it. It's FREE for gods sake!