Switching to ubuntu

[Lynchmeister]

http://www.linux.com/whatislinux/114354 - that should give you a good starting point and explains it better than I could.

A very brief eplaination: a free, from the ground up, UNIX work alike invented by Linus Torvalds which subscribes to "open source" philosophy. Check wikipedia for linux, unix, and linus torvalds for more info.

Thanks guys! Now off to see what this is all about...

 

[Treedoc]

The only thing that stops me from making the swap to Linux is compatability issues, for instance: when I last checked, either my printer or my scanner, (can't remember which), just didn't have a Linux driver option. What to do? Any good solutions anybody??
John.

 

[RichGem]

The only thing that stops me from making the swap to Linux is compatability issues, for instance: when I last checked, either my printer or my scanner, (can't remember which), just didn't have a Linux driver option. What to do? Any good solutions anybody??
John.

You definitely have to look before you leap when it comes to *some* hardware. But, compatibility is improving rapidly and there are often workarounds to be had if you're willing to look (and tinker) enough. Chances are, it was your scanner that gave you problems. I think most major printers are well supported these days (altho some inkjets are still a problem and some ultra new ones). Some USB WiFi are also problems, but workarounds exist.

EDIT: This is another reason why the "live CD" is a good option... make sure everything works before you commit.

 

[Smedley]

Thanks for the Wubi link! Time to see what all the Ubuntu fuss is about.

 

[kaptain_zero]

I don't often chime in on this forum but linux is a favorite of mine. Do not discount PClinuxOS.... it is an excellent distribution of linux which supports a large portion of hardware and is very friendly towards those escaping the clutches of Microsoft and Apple, both which try to control the user by sticking to proprietary solutions. About the only thing I have not yet discovered is a direct solution to is my tax software (Canada) in PClinusOS or any linux flavor for that matter. I do have a workaround as there are online tax software companies that will let me do things online. Other than that, everything else I have found a way to do in PClinuxOS. I still keep checking other "distros" to see if there is anything better, but so far I've found PClinuxOS to reign supreme in working, right out of the box. They also have an excellent forum and the update system they use is not only intuitive but all the packages are actually tested to work rather than offering thousands of software choices that nobody has downloaded and actually used to see if it works!

By the way, Apple/mac is actually BSD and runs on Intel based hardware... there is no need to buy a new computer to get Apple reliability, just if you want to get their proprietary applications.

There are lots of distributions of linux, bsd etc. out there ...... numbered in the hundreds. An excellent place to start is www.distrowatch.com where you'll get the latest headlines on what products are available and which ones are hot.

Regards

Kaptain "What's on your hd?" Zero

 

[jamacdon]

I use Linux at work, installed Ubuntu at home, but will be purchasing an iMac 24" next go-around (soon, I hope). For me, I don't want to take the time to go through an install, or build another machine; I'd rather get down to using it for what I use it for: iPod/iTunes, photos, videos, web and gaming. While not a huge gamer, I want to run HL2, Ep.2 just to finish the storyline and I can't do that on Linux.

I know, I know, I could put XP/Vista on a partition alongside a flavor of Linux and do the same as an iMac.