Thinking of Linux? Read this first

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chiskop

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So you've heard all about this amazing OS that is free, powerful, free, pretty and free, you've got your ubuntu disc in your hand and you're ready to try it out.

Please read this first: Linux is not windows.

Linux is different, some things are easier, some are trickier and most things are different. If you're a Windows power-user, don't expect that you'll instantly be a linux power-user. The commands and conventions are all different to what you're used.

When you start you may wish linux was more like windows, more familiar. Once you're more familiar with the way that linux works, you'll wish windows worked this way.
 
MadMailMan said:
Don't really see that as a problem. :D
Click to expand...

Me either, my wife has stopped working and wanted a PC at home so she could check emails etc, took one of the old PC's out the garage installed Mandriva put the programs on that she would need connected the E220 and bam she now has a pc, the only thing I have had to show her is which programs to use for what.

Isn't that more or less what the average pc user does anyway ?
 
Windows = Communist
Linux = Democratic

Both have their perks, both have their disadvantages. Just don't insult a Linux fanboi by comparing his OS to "democratic" Zimbabwe.
 
lcbxx said:
Windows = Communist
Linux = Democratic

Both have their perks, both have their disadvantages. Just don't insult a Linux fanboi by comparing his OS to "democratic" Zimbabwe.
Click to expand...


How does Windows=communist? Its completely capitalist...

EDIT... oh wait, I think you are confusing totalitarianism or autocracy with communism
 
w1z4rd said:
How does Windows=communist? Its completely capitalist...

EDIT... oh wait, I think you are confusing totalitarianism or autocracy with communism
Click to expand...
Eh...ok, amend it as you wish - Konqueror can't even spell-check some of that!
 
Its funny that you get me thread flaming when comparing: GNOME vs KDE; or DEBIAN vs RH; or even LINUX vs BSD than you will ever get when saying Windows is inferior to LINUX...

and thats what makes it all more fun to have. Its the ultimate LEGO set. It actually offers me a choice.
 
IMO the most glaring difference between the two is that Linux although more complex in some areas fosters an atmosphere of learning by exposing the user to the nuts and bolts whilst providing top notch help (forums etc.).
Windows on the other hand provides the user with a GUI (that seldom works well/at all) and makes you pay for help.

One empowers you whilst the other keeps you in the dark and takes your money.
 
lcbxx said:
Windows = Communist
Linux = Democratic

Both have their perks, both have their disadvantages. Just don't insult a Linux fanboi by comparing his OS to "democratic" Zimbabwe.
Click to expand...

Yeah, please don't insult something that actually works to something that used to work and now doesn't :D
 
Well if you are Linux noob (like me) and a bit scared of making the switch to the big brave world of Linux, reading that article will definitely make you crap your pants.
 
Nah... if I can do it... anyone can. You can find all the help you need to make linux do what you want it to do! I am by no means a linux power user and a lot of the commands confuse the hell out of me. But it is easy to get all the guidance you need. And bit by bit Linux is getting very simple to configure and use!
 
LOL, thanks for the pep talk! I have some spare hardware ranging from P4’s to duel cores, perhaps it’s time to take the plunge. I’d like set up an Ubuntu server and workstation. I’ll start a new tread and detail my project/ask for assistance.
 
If you can't get something to work in Linux, the support is invaluable. I somehow killed my sudoers file, went onto the Ubuntu forums, and found a fix. Sometimes even if you don't find the exact fix, you find something that points you in the right direction.

"Linux isn't exactly the same as Windows."
Click to expand...

This is a feature, it should be printed on every Linux CD, in big, bold letters! :D

B
 
the article reads like one of those TeX ones trying to explain to MS users that TeX is not Word... btw, i love LaTeX.
 
LaTeX is amazing. People don't realise that about 60-80% (I don't know the figure but it's a hell of a lot) of all books and ALL scientific/mathematical journals are written in TeX. You can't "do it wrong" with LaTeX. It doesn't make mistakes, you do. It just fixes it according to protocal. Really amazing.
 
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