Is Linux/Unix worth it?

[iambored]

I'm considering converting to a Linux/Unix OS but, first I'd like to know a few things.
would it be better than windows XP sp2 with 1Gig of Ram on an outdated computer?
can it run games, word processors, etc?
can I install it on a pc myself or do I need to know all sorts of crazy computer stuff?

does anyone know? (My XP warranty expired, my hp warranty expired, and I haven't seen a real need to keep my current OS)

[robnix]

I'm considering converting to a Linux/Unix OS but, first I'd like to know a few things.
would it be better than windows XP sp2 with 1Gig of Ram on an outdated computer?
can it run games, word processors, etc?
can I install it on a pc myself or do I need to know all sorts of crazy computer stuff?

does anyone know? (My XP warranty expired, my hp warranty expired, and I haven't seen a real need to keep my current OS)

I'm going to post this article for you, it's better than anything I could write on making the switch. It's a little harsh, and tries to scare you, which I guess is a good thing. As an FYI, I use Linux as my primary desktop both at home and work. If you're still interested in trying out Linux after reading this, let me know and I'll point you to what I use. There are a few people here that can help you along the way.

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

would it be better than windows XP sp2 with 1Gig of Ram on an outdated computer?

Yes, no more viruses and spyware.

can it run games, word processors, etc?

Yes, and no. You can read Office docs, and you can save files as Office docs with Openoffice.

Games - Don't expect to run Windows games without the use of emulation software, and even then, your list is pretty short.

can I install it on a pc myself or do I need to know all sorts of crazy computer stuff?

Yes, the most popular modern Linux distributions are very easy to install and maintain. The big thing to remember is that Linux is NOT Windows, don't expect to do things the same way you're used to.

[SummaryJudgement]

Make your machine a dual-boot set-up. Install Windows on one partition of your drive and on the other partition, install Linux (Redhat is the best IMHO). Then when you boot up your box you can choose which OS to work in. That way you can have the productivity of Linux and the ability to still do Windows specific things, like play Battlefield 2142!

I don't know how to do this myself, just the theory behind it. My machine at my last job was set-up like that and it was the shizzle Although you may find yourself rebooting alot........

[iambored]

I've heard you can run an OS from a CD to try it out, then you can put it on your harddrive. Is that true, and if so how?

[robnix]

I've heard you can run an OS from a CD to try it out, then you can put it on your harddrive. Is that true, and if so how?

Ubuntu LiveCD

http://www.ubuntulinux.com

LinuxMint - A Variation of Ubuntu with a better menu and all your codecs preinstalled.

http://www.linuxmint.com/download.html

You want the Full Edition

You'll download an .iso file which you'll burn to a CD. Reboot your computer and boot to that CD.

[iambored]

I've got a CD and it works but I cannot connect to my router. (My computer uses this thing called HP wireless assistant) Does anyone know how to solve this?

[robnix]

I've got a CD and it works but I cannot connect to my router. (My computer uses this thing called HP wireless assistant) Does anyone know how to solve this?

Do you know the essid and the WPA or WEP key for your wireless network?

[tribalman]

I'm going to post this article for you, it's better than anything I could write on making the switch. It's a little harsh, and tries to scare you, which I guess is a good thing. As an FYI, I use Linux as my primary desktop both at home and work. If you're still interested in trying out Linux after reading this, let me know and I'll point you to what I use. There are a few people here that can help you along the way.

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

would it be better than windows XP sp2 with 1Gig of Ram on an outdated computer?

Yes, no more viruses and spyware.
Not true. you need to secure a unix/linux OS the same way you need to with windows
can it run games, word processors, etc?

Yes, and no. You can read Office docs, and you can save files as Office docs with Openoffice.
yes and yes

Games - Don't expect to run Windows games without the use of emulation software, and even then, your list is pretty short.
http://www.transgaming.com/products/cedega/
http://games.cedega.com/gamesdb/ not short at all.

can I install it on a pc myself or do I need to know all sorts of crazy computer stuff?
]
Yes, the most popular modern Linux distributions are very easy to install and maintain. The big thing to remember is that Linux is NOT Windows, don't expect to do things the same way you're used to.
correct.

also, seeing as how you said you cannot connect to your router and it uses HP's software, am i correct in my assumption that it is an HP/Compaq laptop? am i correct in assuming you put linux on it? there is a problem were the drivers for the card for some reason do not work under Linux. I was going to put linux on my laptop also but once i found this out i decided to continue dealing with XP home. this was a few months ago and i haven't checked to see if this is still true.

[grEnAlEins]

As a Linux noob, I vote yes. I like that everything--well almost everything--is open source, which means free of charge. There is also no real need for any anti-malware from what I'm told. There is a learning curve though. It is tough to get wireless going on some laptops, and can be even tougher to get WPA support (my only real issue).

It won't play alot of games, but I have an XP SP2 machine for that sort of thing.

Overall I like the distros that I've tried. Ubuntu is the one I use most, but I have also used Mepis and Knoppix. I heare that SUSE and Fedora are nice, but I have not tried them at all.

As someone above stated, you can make a "Live CD" or even a "Live USB" version of some distros so that you can try it out for a bit first.

Good luck to you.

[robnix]

Not true. you need to secure a unix/linux OS the same way you need to with windows

Not exactly, the lack of any need for AV and Antispyware software alone makes it a different process.

http://www.transgaming.com/products/cedega/
http://games.cedega.com/gamesdb/ not short at all.

Look more closely at that list. Only two of the games are supported and are guaranteed to run under Cedega. I can personally vouch that GRAW2 and C&C 3 are not functional.

[Dark Side]

Use Wine, it's a windows emulator for Linux.

[iambored]

so it's a driver error that prevents me from using Linux-based OS to connect to my router? Does this mean I need to get a new wireless card? (Sorry for all the questions, but I don't have money to waste on having tech-support do this stuff for me)

[robnix]

so it's a driver error that prevents me from using Linux-based OS to connect to my router? Does this mean I need to get a new wireless card? (Sorry for all the questions, but I don't have money to waste on having tech-support do this stuff for me)

If you know what card it is, I would highly recommend going over to http://www.ubuntuforums.org and checking there. It's kind of like the AO for Ubuntu users.

[thecavemankevin]

Oh great Linux gurus:

I recently started a new position with University of Richmond where i am in charge of building images from many different labs/classrooms and so on.

Problem: one of the science labs uses a dual boot system. Xp and Redhat 4 (enterprise edition i think). Now i don't know squat about linux yet. I really look forward to working with it soon, but right now i just need to get this lab up and running for the start of school in T-minus two weeks. It uses GNU Grub for a boot loader on a single multi-partitioned drive.


We use ghost to clone our systems and i've been have trouble. I can image up the NTFS windows part., but the Linux partitions keep failing. I've tried locally to another drive, ghostcast, both by partitions and by full drives and they always fail when getting to the linux part.

I was hoping to simply ghost up the windows part, update it on a bench machine, then ghost it back down over the windows part and be down with it. however when doing this, ghosting up is fine, but once ghosting down to the bench machine i run into trouble. I get a GNU Grub command line system at boot and don't know wtf to do from there.

Unfortunately the only person that knew how this was set up was my predecessors and she didn't leave any documentation. All i have are four .iso files labeled redhat in our ghost image directory.

Right now i think i'll have to update the individual computers windows systems manually later this week as i'm running out of time and do not have time to properly research this.

any ideas/suggestions from those that know far more than i?

[robnix]

Here's what I'm guessing.

The version of ghost that you're using can't deal well with the Linux partitions. To work around this, what the previous admin did was this:

Installed Windows.
Installed Redhat.
Updated everything.
Ran Ghost over the Windows partition.
The used the Kickstart Utility to make a custom install floppy and CDrom install set for the redhat partition.

To reimage the computers, she ran Ghost first to reinstall windows, then ran the Kickstart installation set that was made to install Redhat, and Grub.

I hope this made sense.