has anyone used something called unetbootin? It preps the memory stick nice and easy for us non-techy guys. 1 click install apparently.
Switching from Windows to Linux
- Thread starter michelin
- Start date
Linux kicked my ass. Ubuntu was the worst, but admittingly I didn't spend enough time or look for resources to get it down. I felt a sense of freedom getting away from Windows. There was a book on Amazon that was supposed to cover completely all the Linux family of operating systems. I had the best luck with Mint, but still would occasionally hit the wall.
Oldnemisis, you have any recommendations on resources for learning? I may partition my HD and install one to give it another shot.
http://www.amazon.com/Linux-Bible-C...ie=UTF8&qid=1352601332&sr=8-17&keywords=linux
Oldnemisis, you have any recommendations on resources for learning? I may partition my HD and install one to give it another shot.
http://www.amazon.com/Linux-Bible-C...ie=UTF8&qid=1352601332&sr=8-17&keywords=linux
A great man once said that linux is free if your time has no value. To be fair, I haven't used the most up to date distributions, but I've used Ubuntu and FreeBSD (not linux kernel but similar) in the past. There's always some stupid issue like printing (yes cups) and sound card problems. Games pseudo-work through wine. Really, unless you're running some server related stuff (Apache etc.) I just don't see the point in it. Win 7 is great, so is Mac OS X. There is nothing compelling about it to me anymore. It's a great tool for learning about modern OS'es and sys administration etc.
If you value your time just use a mac and simulate the other two with vmware / boot camp so you can get all that you need. Linus torvalds, inventor & manager of linux uses a macbook air, with linux on it.
If you want to save money because you just use your computer as a facebook & MS office machine, just save your time and stick with windows. I dropped linux because it was too much of a time sink. Even if you buy software and make $10/hr, you'll still save a lot more time just buying windows outright.
Now if you want to learn how to write software, I do recommend installing linux in a virtual machine and using it. You minimize configuration bullshit that you run into all the time.
If you want to save money because you just use your computer as a facebook & MS office machine, just save your time and stick with windows. I dropped linux because it was too much of a time sink. Even if you buy software and make $10/hr, you'll still save a lot more time just buying windows outright.
Now if you want to learn how to write software, I do recommend installing linux in a virtual machine and using it. You minimize configuration bullshit that you run into all the time.
oldnemesis
Ostrich
malc said:
Well, he got it for free so this is not meaningful.
michelin
Pelican
Any books you can recommend?
That Linux bible Aliblablah mentions sounds interesting but bulky with almost 900 pages....
I'm looking for a beginners book which makes me understanding better how Linux works, including the Command line, so I can get a grasp of it when I need to.
So far Linux Mint has been very stable on my laptop, it did EVERYTHING I needed to do, and the other distros I' ve been testing (debian, ubuntu) never crashed.
For the geeks here: NVIDIA announced to update it' s drivers for Linux. Apparently Linus Torvalds' " Fuck you Nvidia!" did miracles...
That Linux bible Aliblablah mentions sounds interesting but bulky with almost 900 pages....
I'm looking for a beginners book which makes me understanding better how Linux works, including the Command line, so I can get a grasp of it when I need to.
So far Linux Mint has been very stable on my laptop, it did EVERYTHING I needed to do, and the other distros I' ve been testing (debian, ubuntu) never crashed.
For the geeks here: NVIDIA announced to update it' s drivers for Linux. Apparently Linus Torvalds' " Fuck you Nvidia!" did miracles...
Anon-A-Moose
Kingfisher
I have tried a small partition with an install of Ubuntu in the recent past. Unless you do online gaming or need to run a specific very rare application, Ubuntu is really far better a system. Openoffice and Gimp alone are free, whereas office and photoshop are expensive.
Just a helpful hint: if you're thinking about it, but not sure, Ubuntu has a flash boot version which is wonderful to try out, and it's not like you take a giant plunge when you install it. You can sacrifice ten gigs of harddrive space (a few movies) for a whole new OS, and stuff you store on the windows partition you can read and write with Ubuntu. The only use for Windows is gaming.
Just a helpful hint: if you're thinking about it, but not sure, Ubuntu has a flash boot version which is wonderful to try out, and it's not like you take a giant plunge when you install it. You can sacrifice ten gigs of harddrive space (a few movies) for a whole new OS, and stuff you store on the windows partition you can read and write with Ubuntu. The only use for Windows is gaming.
michelin
Pelican
Yes, the flash version is so great I' m thinking to take it to work and get rid of the standard Windows OS we' re stuck on 
For the Gamers here, there's good news, since Geforce will finally become Linux friendly:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20936&Itemid=47
Quote: "NVIDIA today announced the latest NVIDIA GeForce drivers -- R310 -- double the performance(1) and dramatically reduce game loading times for those gaming on the Linux operating system.....With this release, NVIDIA has managed to increase the overall gaming performance under Linux," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "
Apparently it helps to make that alpha gesture Linus T. made: stick your middle finger to your beta ennemies in order to get what you want....
For me this has been a one way ticket: once away from Windows, never going back...
For the Gamers here, there's good news, since Geforce will finally become Linux friendly:
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20936&Itemid=47
Quote: "NVIDIA today announced the latest NVIDIA GeForce drivers -- R310 -- double the performance(1) and dramatically reduce game loading times for those gaming on the Linux operating system.....With this release, NVIDIA has managed to increase the overall gaming performance under Linux," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "
Apparently it helps to make that alpha gesture Linus T. made: stick your middle finger to your beta ennemies in order to get what you want....
For me this has been a one way ticket: once away from Windows, never going back...
I'm currently in the opposite of this process, switching from Linux to Windows. I honestly gave Linux (Mint, Zorin and Arch) a chance, but there are just too many things about it that just don't belong in 21st century and keep killing my enthusiasm.
To be precise, it's not so much the OS - there have been no crashes, I've only had some driver problems - the thing flows smoothly and is easy to customize (or find another version already customized to my preferences). The problem is with Linux applications, both native and ported. Literally everything on it suffers from bizzare problems that just can't be fixed because, unlike Windows, Linux programs all work by being a graphical interface for the same package. If there's no functionality that you want in your respective package, you're screwed. For example:
- LibreOffice insists on spell-checking and correcting everything to english, no matter how hard I try to select another language, turn off the functionality or make it not filter some words (like "i" to "I"). This is after following official instructions from its forum, which conclude with "you know, there are still some bugs". Well fuck you.
- LibreOffice randomly forgets formatting, even in its native ODS format. Pies have to be rebuilt and comments repositioned every time a file is opened.
- The "common sense" options "extract to folder", "extract here" and "extract to folder here" are missing from all archiver tools that I've tried. There is only one at a time, and if you don't like it you're screwed.
- There is no web filter worth a damn. You can get one reasonably precise one where you have to - I shit you not - manually open its config file and enter instructions for it in PERL. Graphical interface seems to be totally unknown to developers. The default web filter, "Domain blocker", deletes all of the addresses you have blocked if you close it with X instead of close. I wish I was joking. Imagine Photoshop deleting your settings just because you closed it with the button that you're supposed to.
- Speaking of graphics, Pinta is a good program but insists on choosing a file type rather than file name when you try to save something, so you have to manually select the name field instead of just typing it like in any normal program.
- Gedit (equivalent of notepad) randomly refuses to open certain files, claiming it can't recognize format. This happens across all languages and signs, and sometimes even with the same files. Open something at 13:00? Fine. Come back at 13:02? Not recognized.
- Dropbox version for Linux lacks the standard explorer interface at the top (like one would expect from a window) and instead forces you to click through multiple menus to reach close, minimize and similar options, as if you were in Windows 95.
- PrintScreen automatically saves the screenshot to your pictures folder instead of just putting it in your memory.
- Wine is great, but far from a solution for everything. Forget about running any modern stuff, like games released before 2012, and often about running very old stuff either (backward compatibility seems even worse than in Windows).
And so on and so on...
None of these issues are critical, but they're things that one shouldn't have to deal with in the 21st century. It's not even for lack of detail or trying. It's just that most of these things seem to be designed in a very alien way that doesn't resonate at all with what users actually do. Until Linux developers - and by that I mainly mean program developers, not OS - get on board with the needs of the user, it will continue to languish in its 1% market share.
Pretty much the only thing I can say in favor of Linux is that it's free and that it's free from the famous NSA backdoor. Other than that... sorry. I just can't work with this shit anymore.
To be precise, it's not so much the OS - there have been no crashes, I've only had some driver problems - the thing flows smoothly and is easy to customize (or find another version already customized to my preferences). The problem is with Linux applications, both native and ported. Literally everything on it suffers from bizzare problems that just can't be fixed because, unlike Windows, Linux programs all work by being a graphical interface for the same package. If there's no functionality that you want in your respective package, you're screwed. For example:
- LibreOffice insists on spell-checking and correcting everything to english, no matter how hard I try to select another language, turn off the functionality or make it not filter some words (like "i" to "I"). This is after following official instructions from its forum, which conclude with "you know, there are still some bugs". Well fuck you.
- LibreOffice randomly forgets formatting, even in its native ODS format. Pies have to be rebuilt and comments repositioned every time a file is opened.
- The "common sense" options "extract to folder", "extract here" and "extract to folder here" are missing from all archiver tools that I've tried. There is only one at a time, and if you don't like it you're screwed.
- There is no web filter worth a damn. You can get one reasonably precise one where you have to - I shit you not - manually open its config file and enter instructions for it in PERL. Graphical interface seems to be totally unknown to developers. The default web filter, "Domain blocker", deletes all of the addresses you have blocked if you close it with X instead of close. I wish I was joking. Imagine Photoshop deleting your settings just because you closed it with the button that you're supposed to.
- Speaking of graphics, Pinta is a good program but insists on choosing a file type rather than file name when you try to save something, so you have to manually select the name field instead of just typing it like in any normal program.
- Gedit (equivalent of notepad) randomly refuses to open certain files, claiming it can't recognize format. This happens across all languages and signs, and sometimes even with the same files. Open something at 13:00? Fine. Come back at 13:02? Not recognized.
- Dropbox version for Linux lacks the standard explorer interface at the top (like one would expect from a window) and instead forces you to click through multiple menus to reach close, minimize and similar options, as if you were in Windows 95.
- PrintScreen automatically saves the screenshot to your pictures folder instead of just putting it in your memory.
- Wine is great, but far from a solution for everything. Forget about running any modern stuff, like games released before 2012, and often about running very old stuff either (backward compatibility seems even worse than in Windows).
And so on and so on...
None of these issues are critical, but they're things that one shouldn't have to deal with in the 21st century. It's not even for lack of detail or trying. It's just that most of these things seem to be designed in a very alien way that doesn't resonate at all with what users actually do. Until Linux developers - and by that I mainly mean program developers, not OS - get on board with the needs of the user, it will continue to languish in its 1% market share.
Pretty much the only thing I can say in favor of Linux is that it's free and that it's free from the famous NSA backdoor. Other than that... sorry. I just can't work with this shit anymore.
Upping an old thread, but putting Ubuntu on one of my laptops tonight.
WIA
WIA
Thread bump.
If I want to get up to par on Linux from a job perspective to bump my resume a bit, what is the best way? Shall I load one onto some vms and go from there and if so, what flavour? Also, what's the most straightforward BS free documentation out there that I can use to go step by step through it?
Appreciated.
If I want to get up to par on Linux from a job perspective to bump my resume a bit, what is the best way? Shall I load one onto some vms and go from there and if so, what flavour? Also, what's the most straightforward BS free documentation out there that I can use to go step by step through it?
Appreciated.
I think most popular Linux flavors are Ubuntu, Debian, and RedHat. Have you ever worked with Linux or done any kind of sys admin stuff? I think the trend with modern Linux distro's is to make them more Windows like in the sense that you don't have to screw around with the internals too much and all of the hardware works.
Not sure what your current level is, but why don't you just buy Linux for Dummies if you have no knowledge whatsoever and get Linux in a Nutshell (O'Reilly Media). The O'Reilly books are very well regarded as sources for all kinds of Linux/Unix related things, including programming.
For the true experience, it's good to have a dedicated computer to install it on instead of a VM, but I think your idea of using a VM to start with is a good one.
Not sure what your current level is, but why don't you just buy Linux for Dummies if you have no knowledge whatsoever and get Linux in a Nutshell (O'Reilly Media). The O'Reilly books are very well regarded as sources for all kinds of Linux/Unix related things, including programming.
For the true experience, it's good to have a dedicated computer to install it on instead of a VM, but I think your idea of using a VM to start with is a good one.
Linux will never stick around as long as you have to use the terminal, sudos and apt gets to install stuff that in windows just takes 2 clicks. I tried it several times and always come back to windows.
invictusiii
Robin
Wreckingball said:
That's kind of an ignorant statement. Linux has been around for over 20 years. Nerds will still use it. Manufacturers will still put it in their devices. It's a solid OS with an excellent price-point(free). Android IS Linux. I think distros like Ubuntu have done quite a bit to bring Linux to mainstream consumers. You can install Ubuntu and do what you need to without touching a command line because there are graphical tools to accomplish most things now. It just turns out that the command line is loads more efficient and all the advice given on the forums out there is from nerds who love the command line.
invictusiii said:
You know exactly what I meant.
Android is easy to use and quite straightforward to use. Linux distros on your PC are not. Think what you want, but don't sugar coat it. You're preaching to the choir here.
Give me something easy and intuitive as android for the PC and I will gladly use.
It's ok to throw it on an old beater you have laying around. Good enough to use for web surfing and a file server.
As far as free software ...I get anything Windows or Mac from BitTorrent.
I like Backtrack Linux. It does all the same shit but has a bunch of included utilities to crack wifi passwords. I have Windows 8 on my Asus laptop with Windows 7, MAC OSX 10.8 and Backtrack as virtual machines in VMWARE Workstation.
As far as free software ...I get anything Windows or Mac from BitTorrent.
I like Backtrack Linux. It does all the same shit but has a bunch of included utilities to crack wifi passwords. I have Windows 8 on my Asus laptop with Windows 7, MAC OSX 10.8 and Backtrack as virtual machines in VMWARE Workstation.
Linux on the desktop isn't great IMO, but the poster asked about learning it for purposes of getting a job. Linux on servers in the enterprise is indeed quite popular. That's all command-line then. You can google around to find the most popular server architectures, but I'd say it's probably Redhat and maybe Debian.
Then learn the popular server programs that would run on it, like Apache, Sendmail, Postfix, MySQL, Postgres, and app servers (Jetty, Tomcat, etc).
Then learn the popular server programs that would run on it, like Apache, Sendmail, Postfix, MySQL, Postgres, and app servers (Jetty, Tomcat, etc).