To Linux or not to Linux?

[deacsoft]

I'm on the verge of purchasing a new computer set-up (the whole works). I've heard a ton of good things about linux, but I know nothing about operating it. I'm wondering if it would be worth my time to learn about it. I'm a sharp guy and pick up new things quickly, but I'm slightly limited as to free time currently. So I ask... is linux worth it? And what can you tell me about it?

[seahawktd]

stick with windows. Linux is better suited for servers and stuff like that.

[obeythekitten]

[ QUOTE ]
stick with windows. Linux is better suited for servers and stuff like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, awesome ignorance.

personally i would get one of the MANY linux distros that wont write anything to your HD and can be booted straight from a cd to get a good feel for it before jumping into making the switch

[imported_Chuck Weinstock]

I've no experience with the Linux desktop software, so
perhaps I shouldn't answer this question. But my answer
is that "it depends". It doesn't depend so much in your
ability to pick things up as it does on your computer
background I think. If your prior experience with computers
is pretty much limited to Windows, Linux may prove too big
a leap (but, again, I have no experience with the desktop
software for Linux.)

I use a Mac personally, and I love the fact that I can run
most Unix software on a platform that is significantly
more user friendly than the unixes I grew up on.

Chuck

[illunious]

For a poker system? Hell no.

[Mars357]

I work for the company that owns SuSE.

I LOVE Linux but before you jump into it, there are several things you should consider. First and foremost, software. What software do you use and is there a good Linux based alternative? A prime example is Poker software. Where do you play? To my knowledge, there are only a couple of sites that offer browser based playing (pokerroom is one and I can't recall the other) and none that offer any kind of Linux client.

The distro of SuSE 9.2 Pro has a TON of great software with it and with a little tweaking, you can do anything with it that you can do with Windows...

I agree with the suggestion that you get one of the CD based versions that you can boot off of and play with it a little before you make a decision.

Another option is to get a big hard drive and only use half of it for your Windows install. You could then install SuSE (or what ever distrio you choose) to the free space and have yoruself a dual boot machine...both are good ways to get some exposure to Linux without leaving yourself hanging...

There are also things you can do with utilities like VMWare that allow you to run a virtual Windows box (and Windows apps) inside of Linux....

My .02

[gila]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
stick with windows. Linux is better suited for servers and stuff like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, awesome ignorance.


[/ QUOTE ]

You should try writing something nice about once per day, it may brighten your world. All I ever see is crap spewing forth from your posts.

[Dead]

Chuck,

Are you the Chuck Weinstock from Carnegie Mellon?

Thanks,
Dead

[Dangergirl]

[ QUOTE ]
I work for the company that owns SuSE.

I LOVE Linux but before you jump into it, there are several things you should consider. First and foremost, software. What software do you use and is there a good Linux based alternative? A prime example is Poker software. Where do you play? To my knowledge, there are only a couple of sites that offer browser based playing (pokerroom is one and I can't recall the other) and none that offer any kind of Linux client.

The distro of SuSE 9.2 Pro has a TON of great software with it and with a little tweaking, you can do anything with it that you can do with Windows...

I agree with the suggestion that you get one of the CD based versions that you can boot off of and play with it a little before you make a decision.

Another option is to get a big hard drive and only use half of it for your Windows install. You could then install SuSE (or what ever distrio you choose) to the free space and have yoruself a dual boot machine...both are good ways to get some exposure to Linux without leaving yourself hanging...

There are also things you can do with utilities like VMWare that allow you to run a virtual Windows box (and Windows apps) inside of Linux....

My .02

[/ QUOTE ]

This is excellent advice, especially if this is going to be a poker pc. I'm not sure if certain applications like Poker Tracker will run on a Linux machine.

If you wanted to play around with Linux a bit then I would take this advice and partition your hard drive so that you can dual boot. Vmware is also another great recommendation.

[Dead]

I recommend Mandrake as a good beginner's distro.

[Terry]

Knoppix is a GNU/Linux distribution that boots and runs completely from cd. (http://www.knoppix.net/)

[MelchyBeau]

Do yourself a favor and don't switch over to only linux. It is a tough, but wonderful operating system. Go ahead and dual boot your machine. run Windows XP and Linux. If you do any sort of gaming, Linux will give you major headaches trying to get games to run.

Oh yeah, don't pay for the distro, just download it and burn it to CDs.

I'm partial to slackware myself, but seeing as you are new to the Linux world, I would suggest using Mandrake. It is much easier to use than slackware.

Hope this helped,

Melch

[eastbay]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm on the verge of purchasing a new computer set-up (the whole works). I've heard a ton of good things about linux, but I know nothing about operating it. I'm wondering if it would be worth my time to learn about it. I'm a sharp guy and pick up new things quickly, but I'm slightly limited as to free time currently. So I ask... is linux worth it? And what can you tell me about it?

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely not if you want to play poker on this machine. My suggestion is to do a standard wintel box for your new machine, and if you want to play with linux, install it on your old machine.

eastbay

[seahawktd]

Gila,

You know I've never insulted one person on here before. Maybe it brightens your day when you insult people. No worries though..

[gila]

You may want to re-read my reply, I thought I was defending you, but maybe I am wrong.

[imported_Jim C]

I have been a UNIX/linux system administrator as part of my job responsibilities (on and off) for about 15 years. I run several UNIX and linux machines for small companies for some side income. I have also done some Windows sysadmin, network engineering, etc. My GF and I both have a Windows XP machine as my "main" home machine, and several UNIX and linux machines.

The number one thing to consider when getting a new computer is:

What am I going to use the computer for?

In my experience, it is absolutely critical that you ask yourself this question. Write down *everything* you want to use the computer for. Be totally honest with yourself about your actual computer use. Once you have the list completed, prioritize it and estimate what % of the time you will spend on each activity. THIS is what should drive your computer and operating system selection. It is totally appropriate to have an item on your list like "learn more about computers" or "learn how to run UNIX". Just write it down and assign a priority and % of usage to it.

I personally despise Windows, yet my everyday desktop computer is a Windows computer. That's because many of the tasks on my "everyday" list require software that is Windows only. It is true that you can get quite a bit of Windows software running on linux (using something called wine), but it is a huge hassle and usually doesn't work nearly as well as it does on Windows. Since you're on this forum, I'm assuming you play some online poker. If that's the case, and its important to you, for all practical purposes you're going to need a Windows machine. In my case, besides the obvious poker, there are a few games I enjoy playing that require Windows.

That's really the issue in a nutshell. Most proprietary software (such as the Party Poker client, poker tracker, etc.) will only run correctly on Windows. Much of a linux users life is spent hunting around for "open source" software that will perform the same functions as common Windows software. The advantage is that it's free, but it usually isn't 100% equivalent and sometimes just not available (pokertracker & party poker, for instance). In addition, many web sites have been written in such a way that they only display correctly in MS Internet Explorer. This is an abomination, but its true.

Someone else in this thread mentioned a "dual boot" machine, where you can select whether you want to load Windows or something else at boot time. There are a couple of issues with this approach:

1. You can't use both at the same time
2. It can be fussy to get set up correctly

One thing you may want to consider if you are purchasing a new computer is to use the new one for Windows, and keep your old machine for linux or unix.

One of the reasons this is a good idea is that linux/unix is so much more efficient that Windows. That means that (for most tasks) you will find your OLD machine running linux is much faster and more responsive that your NEW machine running Windows!

You can put your old machine in a corner and let it run, since you rarely need to reboot linux, and it will always be available for you to use. For example, my linux machine has been running for 240 days since its last boot.

You can purchase a small device called a "KVM" (Keyboard Video Mouse) switch and use the same keyboard, monitor and mouse for both machines. At the push of a button, you switch to the other computer.

You may find that you like linux better for things like email, web browsing, etc., so you may end up with another keyboard and monitor on your desk and your "main" machine will be the linux machine, with your Windows machine used only for games and poker.

It really depends on what you want to use the computer for, but I think most people will end up needing a Windows machine, unfortunately.

FWIW,
Jim

[seahawktd]

whoops, had a brainfart there lol. my mistake

[imported_Chuck Weinstock]

[ QUOTE ]
Chuck,

Are you the Chuck Weinstock from Carnegie Mellon?



[/ QUOTE ]

Yep.

[deacsoft]

[ QUOTE ]
You can put your old machine in a corner and let it run, since you rarely need to reboot linux, and it will always be available for you to use. For example, my linux machine has been running for 240 days since its last boot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Am I correct to assume that there is no way to network a computer running only Windows to a computer running only Linux?

[Mars357]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can put your old machine in a corner and let it run, since you rarely need to reboot linux, and it will always be available for you to use. For example, my linux machine has been running for 240 days since its last boot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Am I correct to assume that there is no way to network a computer running only Windows to a computer running only Linux?

[/ QUOTE ]

you CAN network a Linux box with a Windows box. Every Linux distrio I've ever messed with included Samba which is a protocol that allows Linux boxes to communicate with Windows boxes.

I just installed SuSE 9.2 on a laptop and it found all of the Windows machines in the house (3 of them) with very little configuration. I basically just told it the workgroup name and viola!

[deacsoft]

I never thanked you all for the great replies I recieved in this thread. You provided me with a ton of great information. I think I've decided to to go with what some of you suggested and use my older machine to play with/learn Linux. I will stick with Windows on my new set-up since I am used to it and do play a crazy amount of on-line poker. Thank you, all! /images/graemlins/smile.gif

Cheers'

deacsoft

[imported_Jim C]

You're welcome. I think you are making the right decision.

You should be aware of the Linux Documentation Project (http://www.linuxdoc.org).

If you *really* want to learn, you can track down the "linux from scratch" page, which has you building your own linux machine from the source code.

Also, you may want the UNIX System Administration Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0130206016/qid=1109026843/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-3348787-0924160?v=glance&s=books&n=507846). This is not a cheap book, but it is the very best on the subject.

Finally, consider learning on a UNIX, rather than a linux. I like OpenBSD (http://www.openbsd.org) but FreeBSD is another good choice. You'll have the most software options with linux, though. If you don't want to "roll your own" the first time, I think I would pick Debian, but they're all about the same.

FWIW,

Jim

[dokomoy]

Obeythekitten's suggestion on using a non permanent version to mess around with first is a good one. The most common cd-bootable distro is Knoppix (http://www.knoppix.net/). All you need to do is download the iso, burn it and reboot your computer. If you enjoy it you may want to dual boot windows and linux because there are some things that are just a heck of a lot easier on a windows machine(most notably gaming). I never tried running under any of the poker clients under whine(a windows emulator) so that may or may not be a problem as well.

With that said I prefer linux to windows for almost all my day to day stuff(Word proccessing, internet browsing etc).