Linux - How long will it last. [modified]
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I'd like to do this, but: 0) I need to write code with VS2005 (or VS2008), and neither of those run under Linux/Wine. 1) I'm boycotting element 1 in all of my lists today (that, and starting my lists with 0 should really throw the VB people for a goto). 2) I have dual monitors (each requiring a different resolution), and none of the distros I've tried seems to deal with that very well. 3) I hate the shortcut keys using for editing. They're just different enough from Windows to be truly annoying, and I haven't found any way to make them right. 4) My sound card (SoundBlaster Audigy) hasn't worked in Linux for over a year.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001Dual monitors running Kubuntu and using NVidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card. Different resolutions supported. Currently one is VGA while the other is DVI. No problems whatsoever. I did have to install NVidia's proprietary driver, but that's fine with me. Who cares if that's open sourced? I don't.
I've heard more said about less.
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I really wanted to use Unbuntu. However, there was no wireless driver for my laptop. That made it pretty useless.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
i'm amazed that there isn't a driver for your laptop, is it very new? what wirless chipset is it using?
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I use them both. The nice thing about gnome is it has better power management than KDE.
John
Better power management, or a better GUI to configure power management settings? It looks like you're saying the former, but only the latter belongs at the GUI level.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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i'm amazed that there isn't a driver for your laptop, is it very new? what wirless chipset is it using?
Linux driver support for nonintel wireless adapters is still rather spotty. They haven't gotten around to reverse engineering all the various nondocumented models yet, EDIT: The reason Intel drivers are good is that Intel produces OSS drivers in house concurrently with their closed drivers.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
modified on Monday, August 4, 2008 2:51 PM
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Dual monitors running Kubuntu and using NVidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card. Different resolutions supported. Currently one is VGA while the other is DVI. No problems whatsoever. I did have to install NVidia's proprietary driver, but that's fine with me. Who cares if that's open sourced? I don't.
I've heard more said about less.
shiftedbitmonkey wrote:
Dual monitors running Kubuntu and using NVidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card. Different resolutions supported. Currently one is VGA while the other is DVI.
I'm using DVI on both on a nVidia 8800gtx with the proprietary drivers. It's been a while since I played with it, but it wasn't automatic, and I hate that. I shouldn't have to dick around with drivers - it's 2008 fer christ's sake.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
shiftedbitmonkey wrote:
Dual monitors running Kubuntu and using NVidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card. Different resolutions supported. Currently one is VGA while the other is DVI.
I'm using DVI on both on a nVidia 8800gtx with the proprietary drivers. It's been a while since I played with it, but it wasn't automatic, and I hate that. I shouldn't have to dick around with drivers - it's 2008 fer christ's sake.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001I understand what you're saying, but I also understand why its so. Ubuntu has to release with only open sourced bits. Drivers are rarely open sourced if at all. But all I had to do was use adept to grab it and install it, and whammo. It was still practically seamless. I don't recall the process being seamless on Windows. I still need to find and install the driver whether from cd/dvd or the internet. In fact, I still have to do that on my Windows box for the damn printer! But alas, its hard to argue with "it should just work".
I've heard more said about less.
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Better power management, or a better GUI to configure power management settings? It looks like you're saying the former, but only the latter belongs at the GUI level.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
Both, as far as I can see KDE (even 4.1) does not directly support hibernation or suspend. And while these are operating system level operations, gnome has services that run and support these two modes directly (respond to events like closing the lid ...) and allow you to set these up via the GUI.
John
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i'm amazed that there isn't a driver for your laptop, is it very new? what wirless chipset is it using?
I don't know because I'm at work. I'll probably try again soon.
I didn't get any requirements for the signature
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Both, as far as I can see KDE (even 4.1) does not directly support hibernation or suspend. And while these are operating system level operations, gnome has services that run and support these two modes directly (respond to events like closing the lid ...) and allow you to set these up via the GUI.
John
Bleh. I've been considering getting one of the new 10" EEE's in a month or two. I'm not really interested in the dumbed down OS they're preinstalled with, and I've always preferred KDE to gnome.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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With all the talk of Linux recently, I've been feeling the urge to try it out. A friend recently offloaded an old computer on me, so I dug out the 80gb hard drive, whipped( :laugh: ) wiped off the dust coating, and set about on my Linux adventure. I partitioned it into 2 equal bits. 1 half I formatted NTFS and copied all my docs and general stuff onto. The other half I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on. I then removed my original hard drive to make it harder for me to give up and go back to windows. So hows it gone so far? Installation was straight forward. partitioning and formatting was done automatically via the "use all available space" option. All hardware was detected no probs. I did have to allow an 'non-free' driver from Nvidia for my graphics card to get it above 800x600. It prompted me to do whole bunch of auto updates after the first boot (which didn't even require a reboot! - Ubuntu 1, Windows 0). Internet just worked, FF3 was installed by default. Installed my standard bunch of FF addons, all seemed to work fine. Was nice to get instant access to all my Google bookmarks. I've already been using OpenOffice for the last 2 years or so as my primary word/spreadsheet app, so that was nice and familiar, and I know my way around GIMP, so that's fine. Installed a Linux version of KeyPass no problem to get to my password database. I still don't quite get the Linux file system. When installing KeyPass (from a pre compiled Ubuntu package) there was no prompt for installation location, and it just appeared on the "start" menu. Easy, but Where did it put the files? Where are the usual "custom" installation options I've come to expect for windows installations. The Linux stance on firewalls seems rather confused. Some people are saying Ubuntu doesn't come with one. Others are saying, it doesn't need one (apparently because all incoming packets are just ignored by default, so unless you start opening up stuff, then you don't need a firewall). And others are saying Linux has something called "iptables" which is your basic firewall blocking rules and stuff. I don't have a virus checker on it yet either. No real problems so far. There's a lot I haven't tried yet though. CD/DVD burning will be a critical issue. DVD watching/MP3 playing as well will be important. My USB stick needs to work (as well as my USB mp3 player, PSP, camera and memory stick reader). So... Now taking bets. How long will I stick with Linux this time? My record is around 3 weeks. (I gave up last time due to difficulty get
But... how do you dare? You have not make the real question... you should have asked/said something like: "This is the time, now Linux will become the real OS everybody will use, this is the year all the mortals will understand it and all of them will become Linux users!"... OK, time to go to sleep now...
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Luke Lovegrove wrote:
I'd say try to stick it out as long as you can.
I think the fact I can VM back into windows for occasional stuff will be what makes it stick this time. I don't think I'd go to Linux at work, I like Vs2008, WPF, and general .net stuff too much at the mo. But I don't do a lot of coding at home, so Linux should be a fine general use desktop OS. Maybe I'll learn python & WxWidgets for some cross platform coding :cool:.
Luke Lovegrove wrote:
Solaris
That was the standard at uni (3 years ago). But the had the worst, ugliest plainest desktop that I didn't really get a feel for it.
Luke Lovegrove wrote:
USB MP3 player, PSP, camera and memory stick reader
They all just connect as USB storage devices in windows, with no drivers, so I'm hopeful that they are quite standard, just like a USB stick.
Luke Lovegrove wrote:
Keep us updated how you go with your Linux install, I'm interested to know how you go, given you have had a at least some experience with it in the past.
Yeah, I'll LoLog about it from time to time. (LoLog - Lounge logging - like blogging, only here)
Simon
Simon Stevens wrote:
I don't think I'd go to Linux at work
Too true. I don't think Linux and the window managers are ready for the enterprise side of things yet, and still have some way to go. Having said that though, the benchmark for this sort of thing really is Windows & Mac I think.
Simon Stevens wrote:
I like Vs2008, WPF, and general .net stuff too much
And especially if you want to make a living. As much as the Linux fanboys would hate to admit it, it can be a lot more difficult to make a living as developer if you only develop for Linux/Unix. You might earn more than most devs who do only Windows, but let's face it, there are more Windows dev jobs out there than anything else.
Simon Stevens wrote:
That was the standard at uni
I'm not surprised. For me, Sun is the major Unix player these days. Although, when I went through uni, the standard for me then was DEC equipment. I'd hate to be the sysadmin for the Unix network at that uni, given everything was DEC, and well, now they don't exist, meaning all the hardware will have to be replaced. I must admit, Tru64 Unix had some pretty good stuff in it. I'm especially fascinated by the Advanced File System (AdvFS).
Simon Stevens wrote:
so I'm hopeful that they are quite standard, just like a USB stick.
Hopefully. Worst case they'll probably been seen with not being able to do any more than that.
Simon Stevens wrote:
Yeah, I'll LoLog about it from time to time.
Cool... I look forward to hearing about your experiences there. I'm always curious how complete newbies or those with a small amount of experience go with Linux, whether good or bad.
------------------------ Luke Lovegrove ------------------------
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Luke Lovegrove wrote:
I'm looking into installing Solaris 10 x86
OMG!! Run for the hills! Seriously if you're doing server stuff, then Solaris has some nice features, if you're wanting to do desktop stuff, then forget it, it's just a GNOME desktop with some extra java crap thrown on top. In terms of polish, the polish comes with things like a MUCH more sophisticated file system (check out ZFS), management tools (dtrace) and other server oriented tech.
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:) I really mainly want to see what it is really. I've never gotten to play with a Solaris box before, so I'm just more curious than anything else I guess. I did get to play with an AS/400 system recently, which was an interesting experience. Play is about all I did... I was like a duck out of water... had absolutely no idea what I was doing!!
------------------------ Luke Lovegrove ------------------------
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Simon Stevens wrote:
I don't think I'd go to Linux at work
Too true. I don't think Linux and the window managers are ready for the enterprise side of things yet, and still have some way to go. Having said that though, the benchmark for this sort of thing really is Windows & Mac I think.
Simon Stevens wrote:
I like Vs2008, WPF, and general .net stuff too much
And especially if you want to make a living. As much as the Linux fanboys would hate to admit it, it can be a lot more difficult to make a living as developer if you only develop for Linux/Unix. You might earn more than most devs who do only Windows, but let's face it, there are more Windows dev jobs out there than anything else.
Simon Stevens wrote:
That was the standard at uni
I'm not surprised. For me, Sun is the major Unix player these days. Although, when I went through uni, the standard for me then was DEC equipment. I'd hate to be the sysadmin for the Unix network at that uni, given everything was DEC, and well, now they don't exist, meaning all the hardware will have to be replaced. I must admit, Tru64 Unix had some pretty good stuff in it. I'm especially fascinated by the Advanced File System (AdvFS).
Simon Stevens wrote:
so I'm hopeful that they are quite standard, just like a USB stick.
Hopefully. Worst case they'll probably been seen with not being able to do any more than that.
Simon Stevens wrote:
Yeah, I'll LoLog about it from time to time.
Cool... I look forward to hearing about your experiences there. I'm always curious how complete newbies or those with a small amount of experience go with Linux, whether good or bad.
------------------------ Luke Lovegrove ------------------------
Luke Lovegrove wrote:
when I went through uni, the standard for me then was DEC equipment. I'd hate to be the sysadmin for the Unix network at that uni, given everything was DEC, and well, now they don't exist, meaning all the hardware will have to be replaced.
My uni had 1 lab of around 50 DEC machines that got replaced during my first year. I walked by one day and they had them all stacked up by the door to the server rooms. I asked what they were doing with them and was told they were just being scrapped. So I asked if I could take a few. They charged me £1 per unit (apparently because they had to have an auditable trail for the disposal of the units, and they only way they could get that was with a disposal contract, or by selling them). I took 3. Carried them the mile walk home! (Got stopped by the police who thought I had stolen them :laugh: :laugh: Had to show the receipt to prove they were mine!). Wiped them and installed an OS (Think it was FreeBSD). Used 1 as a networked file server for a while. Had a unix obsessed friend who helped me get a lot of the bits set up. Ditched them when I left uni because of lack of space.
Simon
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Luke Lovegrove wrote:
when I went through uni, the standard for me then was DEC equipment. I'd hate to be the sysadmin for the Unix network at that uni, given everything was DEC, and well, now they don't exist, meaning all the hardware will have to be replaced.
My uni had 1 lab of around 50 DEC machines that got replaced during my first year. I walked by one day and they had them all stacked up by the door to the server rooms. I asked what they were doing with them and was told they were just being scrapped. So I asked if I could take a few. They charged me £1 per unit (apparently because they had to have an auditable trail for the disposal of the units, and they only way they could get that was with a disposal contract, or by selling them). I took 3. Carried them the mile walk home! (Got stopped by the police who thought I had stolen them :laugh: :laugh: Had to show the receipt to prove they were mine!). Wiped them and installed an OS (Think it was FreeBSD). Used 1 as a networked file server for a while. Had a unix obsessed friend who helped me get a lot of the bits set up. Ditched them when I left uni because of lack of space.
Simon
Cool, I would have done the same thing!!
------------------------ Luke Lovegrove ------------------------