Linux users: What do you use?

[hihihiflcl81pig]

First off, please do NOT use this thread for Vista/XP/Apple/anything bashing. Keep it friendly, and see that there is good in everything.

I was just surfing through these the forums, and I see that there are some Linux users, what I really want to know is:

1. What OS are you using? (Dual-boot? with what?)
2. Why do you use that(these) OS(s)?
3. What advantages/disadvantages does it have?
4. Related websites?
5. What should an OS consist of?

I'll start off this thread.
1. Arch Linux, and Gentoo dual boot with GRUB.

2. I use both of these OSs since they were made for speed. Arch Linux is a pre-optimized, light weight, binary based OS, so it has a fast install speed, and is very snappy all around. Gentoo is a source-based system (You compile everything for your hardware), that takes a long time to install, but it is worth is for the speed.

3. I see no disadvantages for Arch besides that there are a few packages that are not in the repos. Gentoo has two: You really need a fast CPU, or a lot of time on your hands since you have to compile everything, and there are a lot of bugs with Gentoo.

4. www.archlinux.org
www.gentoo.org

5. To me an operating system should have as few layers as possible, allowing a bonding between the user and the base of the machine. As for the GUI, it should be minialistic, and should not try to make it's self present, the user should feel like it is the "Right" way for the UI to work.

A few extra notes: I enjoy GNOME, KDE, OpenBox, and XFCE. They all have their advantages, and disadvantages. The thing is I do lean towards OpenBox, and XFCE since of their minimalism.

[Nosh]

on my desktop computer i use Ubuntu, it's the OS thats worked best for me so far, but when i get bored install stuff to try it out, i have all my stuff backed up on a USB hard drive so i can install a new OS i won't lose it (and yes i know that you can partition the drive so that the OS is in a separate partition from your documents and you won't lose a thing if you change the OS, I've just been too lazy so far)

as for my School-issued laptop i use a puppy linux boot disk. the school has windows XP installed, that operating system combined with the way they set it up does not suit my needs in a few ways. they aren't powerful computers so they aren't too fast. several features are disabled (including right-clicking... yea, dumb i know) and the sound drivers were deleted so we wouldn't listen to music. and we're restricted from installing programs. Puppy linux on the other hand is very small, saves your settings to a file, loads completely to RAM so you can remove the boot disk and use the disk drive, it has sound (of course) and its FAST!!!

puppy also offers several versions or "puplets" including different programs and features like wine, you can find almost anything you need in a puplet, or you can remaster the disk and make your own puplet with your own feature set... basically it just made my school laptop more useful for me.

www.ubuntu.com
http://www.puppylinux.org/

[mrbob1000]

1. Ubuntu and Vista
2. I use Ubuntu for everything and i had vista laying around and so i wanted to have something to run windows applications on that didnt work in WINE.
3. Free for life, great support, highly customizable.
4. www.ubuntu.com
5. High preformance, easy to use, look nice.

[Boydean]

I have been trying to get into Linux for awhile. But after the past month with the release of Fedora 10, I made the dive and did it. So far I like it, hopefully in the next month I will be able use it in a night sitting without using my macbook. Although I like Fedora 10, I might consider replacing it with Ubuntu. If anyone has thoughts about whether I should stay with Fedora or dump it and go for Ubuntu please say.

[Lowfategg]

1. Laptop: Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop: Windows XP SP3
2. Laptop: Because it works, and its easy to setup. Desktop: Because I need a windows box and I like to play games.
3. Laptop: Adv. Apt-get is the most awesome thing in the world. It just works. Dis. Barely any. Most of the problems I did have are fixed. Biggest draw back is not having MS Office (yes I know it works in wine). Desktop: Adv. Its still running barely. Dis. It completely waste the power of my quad-core.
4. www.ubuntu.com
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Intrepid
5. It should be gnome or KDE (I like gnome). Really I do like the windows interface.

On the Fedora switch, I went over to Ubuntu around version 6, never looked back. I like it, it really all depends on you.

[whitetiger0990]

1. What OS are you using? (Dual-boot? with what?)
Windows on the terminal, ubuntu on the server I ssh into constantly.

2. Why do you use that(these) OS(s)?
I don't own own the end computers I use, one day, but for now I control the servers in the basement and the network. I use ubuntu because its what worked for me. I liked gentoo but my hardware is too old for the compiling (and if you use precompiled binaries on gentoo you might as well not use gentoo).

3. What advantages/disadvantages does it have?
I use web-based things for email and everything, only need PuTTY and I can live. =) The disadvantage is that I can't install whatever I want on the computers (well, I can... but I have to be more careful not to mess them up).

4. Related websites?
http://microsoft.com
http://ubuntu.com
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secure_Shell

5. What should an OS consist of?
A web browser and ssh client. Optionally some sort of graphics and the ability to use a mouse. I could live entirely CLI. I should see how long I could go entirely CLI... I don't have a good way to view images =P I'm thinking image->ascii art.. I'll play with that later.

[synth3tk]

1. What OS are you using? (Dual-boot? with what?)
Windows XP and Ubuntu 8.10

2. Why do you use that(these) OS(s)?
Ubuntu, because I love the ease-of-use of it. Some people scold me for not going hardcore and building my own kernel from scratch. To that I say, "to each, his own"...

Windows, because there are two purposes that Linux has not truly mastered yet: Gaming (think TF2, BF2, COD) and video editing (Sony Vegas, Adobe Final Cut). And I just found out that Steam will be making native Linux games soon, including some back-catalogs (TF2 FTW!!!)

3. What advantages/disadvantages does it have?
Advantages? Easy to install, use, upgrade, yadda yadda. Very newbie-friendly.

Disadvantages? I'm not sure, but I know some are there.

4. Related websites?
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/

5. What should an OS consist of?
According to HP, bloatware. No, really, it should have solid support, a good developer backing (programs, security, etc), and most important of all, faithful, loyal fans to defend it.

[hihihiflcl81pig]

Today I went to a Speech and Debate meet, (Yes, I'm even nerdier than just being involved with FRC) and there was a kid during break time who started up Ubuntu. Of course I had to run over and give him a high five.

On the note of Ubuntu, there are a few things that I can point out that I see are wonderful, and not so much.

First off, Ubuntu is a wonderful distribution because it allows people the choice to their operating system. Before You had an Apple computer, or a Windows computer. Most people hadn't even heard of Linux. Then Ubuntu came along, and from it other distributions have evolved with the same mentality, like Mint. It also has one of the greatest communities that will solve almost any problem presented to them.

The only bad thing that Ubuntu does is force core packages (Firefox, F-Spot, fileroller, other small programs), and there are few optimizations for your architecture. But even through these two disadvantages, Ubuntu is still really fast and clean.

[mrbob1000]

Originally Posted by Lowfategg

1. Laptop: Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop: Windows XP SP3
2. Laptop: Because it works, and its easy to setup. Desktop: Because I need a windows box and I like to play games.
3. Laptop: Adv. Apt-get is the most awesome thing in the world. It just works. Dis. Barely any. Most of the problems I did have are fixed. Biggest draw back is not having MS Office (yes I know it works in wine). Desktop: Adv. Its still running barely. Dis. It completely waste the power of my quad-core.
4. www.ubuntu.com
http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Intrepid
5. It should be gnome or KDE (I like gnome). Really I do like the windows interface.

On the Fedora switch, I went over to Ubuntu around version 6, never looked back. I like it, it really all depends on you.

There is a thing called... win-get...
http://windows-get.sourceforge.net/
i still prefer linux.

[Michael Hill]

1. What OS are you using? (Dual-boot? with what?)
Desktop: Triple Boot XP x64, Vista x64, Ubuntu
Laptop: Ubuntu
Server: Ubuntu

2. Why do you use that(these) OS(s)?
I use Windows on my desktop for gaming.
I use Ubuntu on everything else because it's fairly reliable, easy and fast to update and install software cleanly.

3. What advantages/disadvantages does it have?
See #2. The disadvantage of Ubuntu on my laptop is that my laptop is a tablet. So getting my Wacom digitizer was fun. Also, Purdue's wireless network kinda sucks. They know there's a connection problem when trying to connect with a Linux computer, but they don't know why. You might connect to it 1 in say...500 times.
Also, advantage: it will do what you tell it to.
Disadvantage: it will do what you tell it to.
What you tell it to do and what you want are not always the same, and you can easy suffer the consequences with Linux.

4. Related websites?
already posted.

5. What should an OS consist of?
An OS should be reliable and not crash when you need it not to (lol @ Windows with this one). However, there should be a rather easy way to fix human error (Linux sucks at times). The OS should support a wide variety of hardware and without DRM (cough Apple). There, I think I bashed most OSes on that one.

[synth3tk]

Originally Posted by mrbob1000

There is a thing called... win-get...
http://windows-get.sourceforge.net/
i still prefer linux.

Interesting. I'll have to try it sometime...

[whlspacedude]

1) Ubuntu 8.10 and Windows XP sp2
---a. Windows is installed on a nvraid RAID 0 (fakeraid/softwareraid)
---b. Boot Loader (winGrub) is installed to a third hard drive.
------i) Drive 3 has boot.ini and autoexec for windows and allows boot into RAID
------ii) Drive 3 also boots into Ubuntu Hard drive (chain boot loading).
---c. Ubuntu is installed to a second Hard drive and boots with grub.
2) Windows for Inventor and gaming Ubuntu for everything else
3) Advantages of Linux
---1. OPEN SOURCE (if you don't like it... Change it!)
---2. Excellent user interface selection.
---3. Codecs are readily available
---4. OS requires little processor headroom
---5. Plays Roller Coaster Tycoon!!!!! (in WINE)

4) www.Ubuntu.com , gna.org

5) See advantages of Linux

[mrbob1000]

Originally Posted by Michael Hill

1. What OS are you using? (Dual-boot? with what?)
Desktop: Triple Boot XP x64, Vista x64, Ubuntu
Laptop: Ubuntu
Server: Ubuntu

2. Why do you use that(these) OS(s)?
I use Windows on my desktop for gaming.
I use Ubuntu on everything else because it's fairly reliable, easy and fast to update and install software cleanly.

3. What advantages/disadvantages does it have?
See #2. The disadvantage of Ubuntu on my laptop is that my laptop is a tablet. So getting my Wacom digitizer was fun. Also, Purdue's wireless network kinda sucks. They know there's a connection problem when trying to connect with a Linux computer, but they don't know why. You might connect to it 1 in say...500 times.
Also, advantage: it will do what you tell it to.
Disadvantage: it will do what you tell it to.
What you tell it to do and what you want are not always the same, and you can easy suffer the consequences with Linux.

4. Related websites?
already posted.

5. What should an OS consist of?
An OS should be reliable and not crash when you need it not to (lol @ Windows with this one). However, there should be a rather easy way to fix human error (Linux sucks at times). The OS should support a wide variety of hardware and without DRM (cough Apple). There, I think I bashed most OSes on that one.

I had that problem some time back, it turned out my wireless card stunk and so did the drivers. look for a new wireless card and you will be ok.

[keen101]

1. I use Ubuntu Linux. It was the one i was introduced to first.

I tried out the kubuntu version because someone said it was closer to a familiar windows environment. Personally i hated the KDE interface, and have since preferred GNOME.

2. I use it because i'm tired of servicing my windows machines. No viruses, and everything is organized in a way that's understandable. I also like the helpful community, which is not unlike the chief delphi community in some way's.

3. umm.... well, that is really up to opinion. I have a few quirks with GNOME here and there, and a few other various things i don't like. Advantages... well opinion again. No viruses, clean packagement, open source software, more intuitive feel to it.

4. http://ubuntuforums.org/ https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LoCoTeams

5.An OS should be reliable and not crash when you need it not to. However, there should be a rather easy way to fix human error, or at least a way to fix it without having to reinstall it.

[GUI]

1. Ubuntu 8.10 on the desktop, Windows XP on the family laptop, and FreeBSD on the old laptop.

2.I use Ubuntu for basic computing (web, im, word processing etc.). I use XP for Inventor and because I'm not allowed to put anything else on that computer. I was messing with Free BSD because I was bored and felt like learning about stuff.

3. Ubuntu is easy to install and use, and quick. There is great community supprt. However, it seems to follow the trend for more "powerful" (slower, for me at least) media applications, and Gnome seems a little bloated.

XP supports almost all popular applications, and is relatively fast. It is rather confusing to cnfigure for me, and is too susceptible to malware and viruses.

I can't really comment on FreeBSD, I've only messed with it a little. I'll report back in the event i get motivated to do something though.

4. None that haven't been posted, I was looking at some useful Free BSD tutorials, I'll link to it if I find it again...

5. I think an OS should be simple (both graphically and functionally, secure, and standardized (I've tried several other linux distros, and they all had no problem using my /home partition).