Linux/ubutu---VANITY

na ^ | dec 25 2010 | charles

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

I have medicom which says (I think )that I have to use windows os

Aye...therein lies the rub.

I would love to be Linux exclusive at home but my work protocols require that I use Win XP or Win7 to run my company's VPN applications. Your applications like Medicom may be similar.

[rambo316]

Wow. This is amazing, I have a question regarding Linux that you or somebody might know how to fix. Our friend’s computer has been infected with a virus. One of those that promised a anti virus but instead destroyed his Windows. He had a family member, a while back, seperate his machine between Windows and Linux; don’t know why but he did. Do one of you techies knowledge of how to fix Windows through Linux?

Have a great Sunday.

[TChris]

Stability...

Windows 7 is very stable. There won't be any advantage for Linux there.

...speed...

Have you compared the two, apples to apples? I would be very surprised if there is any significant speed difference between them in real-world, home use.

...options on browsers (not integral in OS).

??? There are more different web browsers available for Windows than for any other O/S. Can you name any significant browser that is available only for Linux?

If you don't want to use IE, then don't. You're not forced to run it.

For most things there are really great apps freely downloadable. Now, that sounds like "cheap", but what open source really means is less complexity. If you don't have to worry about licensing processes, software is just simpler and generally more stable. Win/Win without Windows.

Same thing here. What open-source apps are you looking for that are only available for Linux?

You seem to have bought the generic litany of supposed advantages of Linux over Windows, but many of them are just not applicable any more.

The differences you list, for example, really aren't differences today. They were certainly differences in the Windows 95 era.

The two significant advantages Linux holds over Windows are these: It's free; Windows may either be effectively "free", in that you pay for it when you buy a PC, or it costs around $100 if it didn't. Second, it's still somewhat more secure, though realistically Windows is pretty good now too. With security software -- which can be obtained for free, even from Microsoft -- it's very good.

Here are a couple of advantages Windows has over the xNIX world:

1. Device support - Because Windows is by far the most commonly used O/S, any given computer peripheral you might find will probably have at LEAST a Windows driver. Not so for Linux, as the discussion about wireless networking illustrated.

2. Application selection - For the same reasons, if there is software written, it is more likely to be written for Windows than for any other system. For any given software category, there will be more choices that run on Windows than any other platform.

So, there may be some philosophical/pseudo-religious reasons to hate/avoid/detest/fear Microsoft and Windows, but as a practical matter you will probably spend more in time, frustration and effort to make a Linux machine do what you want/need than you will save in the cost of Windows.

Both Linux and Windows are quite good today. One will require you to spend more time in the guts of it than the other. How much is your time and patience worth?

[goldstategop]

You may need to use an Ethernet cable to download the wireless driver for your PC. Once downloaded, you activate and reboot. Then you’re good to go in Ubuntu.

It takes a lot of work setting up third party repositories. Ubuntu Updates.com has a list of them and you need Medibuntu for third party codecs like dvd playback and WIN 32 codecs.

Ubuntu’s Mac OSX-like interface is visually stunning.

[Texas Fossil]

I have repaired and built PC’s for many years. I lived in apps (spreadsheets, CAD and publishing programs) for years.

Built my first PC in 1982.

If it has wires or traces in it, I have worked on it (or something like it).

Have been using Linux for over 10 years and like it very much.

I never said I was a MicroSoft hater. Never implied I was. I even own several computers with various MS OS’s. Some very old ones.

My respect for Linux apps increased greatly in my last job. I created a 3,000 distributor catalog for a hardware wholesaler and maintained their web images. When I took over that position there was no method to repeat these sequencing of items in the catalog sections and no method of extending the “representative image” for an item catagory. I developed a method of using PDFTK to open the previous work, editing the .pdf for some proportional spacing notation and used GREP to create an item to image table to extend the “representative” image. I did something similar to recover the item sequencing. Used that same method of creating the item to page reference data for the system.

When I began using this process with a Linux box and then transferred the data to a Windows PC. Later I installed GNU tools to do that job.

I needed both systems to do the job....

That said, I do not “trust” MicroSoft’s motives for doing things. They have “caused” most of the weakness in Windows OS’s because of things related to developer licensing. (the “registery” thing) And things like “direct X” and “active X”.

Linux is not for everyone, but is certainly a good alternative for many. It depends on what you want to do with a PC.