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To Linux lovers. . . how was the transition and why does it suit you?

  • 24-12-2008 03:37AM
    #1
    Tom-eg
    Closed Accounts Posts: 69 ✭✭


    I have been experimenting with a few distro's lately and really think its a great alternative. I'm still getting used to it and won't be leaving windows just yet but I could possibly see myself doing so at some stage in the future.

    My question is to any Linux lovers. Here's a few things i have been wondering. . .

    Did it take long to get used to??
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    Any distro's you would advise against?

    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?

    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux. Thanks :D


Comments

  • #2
    ethernet
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 3,523 ✭✭✭ethernet


    Did it take long to get used to??
    Nope. Favoured the GUI side of things at first but soon ended up finding need to use the terminal more often.
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    Big time. Firefox, OpenOffice, GIMP and more on Windows (or a Mac!) is a great way of easing the transition or making working on multiple platforms much easier.
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    Programming, DTP, word processing, music. Wasn't hard finding replacements: check out osalt.org for good suggestions. There are more cross-platform applications in these areas too: Eclipse, Netbeans, Scribus, OO.org, Songbird, Jajuk, VLC and many more.
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    Getting my head around root (this way long before sudo came into the picture). Trying to remember when I needed root access having been used to Windows. Had some hardware incompatibility at first as my motherboard was newer than the kernel at the time.
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    Best to try lots yourself. Live CDs are great for this. Like openSUSE, Mandriva and Fedora. Intend to make a crack at those source-based ones such as Slackware or Gentoo some time though. There's not much between many. Main differentiating factors would be slightly different themes and default visual interfaces, aiming at different types of users (enterprise versus typical end-user) and so on.
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself? Any distro's you would advise against?
    Grand. Don't use any security programs. Common sense is the best protection! Install No Script in Firefox, make sure you're behind a firewall (your router) or install a software-based on as well.
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    It's best and easist to use your distro's package manager. The package you're looking for might not have the same name across all distros. You can try and find an RPM or Debian package and install this or, failing this, you can get the software's source code (where possible) and compile and install it. This can be tricky as this usually require extra software to be installed that is required by the software you're trying to install (dependencies).
    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux. Thanks :D
    Give it a go. You've nothing to lose. There's a great community, bashing of other distros and software and development is very much active. :)


  • #3
    Naikon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,564 ✭✭✭Naikon


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did it take long to get used to??
    I started off with Freebsd, but then moved to linux because the community is
    a bit more active(Sorry BSD people:pac:) I still respect BSD variants because of
    there focus on stability over superfluous junk.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    Yes, I like the idea of openness with availability of source code, and the stability
    of most long running open source projects like CIFS, Apache, Perl are pleasing over most crap
    you find on a windows box these days.

    Perl for me is an especially useful learning exercise.
    It took some time, and I am not over the hill by a long stretch, but the GNU/Linux trail is worth the time investment.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    Programming/Scripting, Light gaming(Quake ect), Sysadmin stuff, and almost anything releated to Linux:pac:
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    The whole idea of maintaining a system that meets your needs, and not some
    corporate monolithic entity.

    CLI work was tough at first, but now I will take a bash prompt over a GUI any day of the week.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    Slackware, because of the barebones no fluff approach. The system scripts are arranged in a nice simple logical manner.
    The distro is a generic Linux distro as very little patching is done to sources of Programs,Kernel ect which makes my tinkerning a little easier to deal with than say Red Hat/Fedora.

    Tom-eg wrote: »
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    I just use iptables as a firewall with my own custom script for specific port blockings/No Masquerading ect. Works well and consumes a lot less memory than
    bloatware from Symantec.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Any distro's you would advise against?
    Not really, most fill their niche quite well.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    Don't really understand this, but I just get the source and configure it to my needs, then use src2pkg to build, and pkgtool to install and track.
    More time consuming, but allows buidling of apps without X11/Gnome dependencies for instance .
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux. Thanks :D
    Hopefully we can wean more people off the Microsoft brigade, and prove to regular users with distros like Mandriva, that Linux can benefit everyone.


  • #4
    duffman85
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 339 ✭✭duffman85


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did it take long to get used to??
    The interface (Gnome/KDE/xfce etc) being different, the way the filesystem is laid out, root/sudo and the command line. This and trying to get wireless/graphics cards etc to work took a little while to get used to and I'm still not too sure but the filesystem.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??

    Not really - I've been using firefox for the last few years and used gimp,inkscape and openoffice in windows as Adobe/MS equivalents cost too much or have more features than I needed.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    Web browsing,Office tasks,photo editing - I'm using the same programs on linux apart from editing raw image files.
    There are quite a few RAW editors for linux and I'm still trying them out.

    Programming/web development
    I used to do a little bit of programming in Visual C# .Net /Asp .NET using MS Visual Studio Express Edition. I now use Monodevelop and Bluefish. I haven't tried asp .net in linux yet.

    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    Syncing my nokia phone -still looking for a way to do it. I tried a program called Wammu,but it doesn't recognise my Nokia E51 properly. I have a dual boot system with Windows, so I use the Nokia software in Windows.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    Currently, my favourite distro is Linux Mint - I've previously tried Ubuntu/Kubuntu,Fedora,Mandriva,PCLinuxOS either on my PC or on a virtual machine.
    Trying them out as a LiveCD or install them on a virtual machine like VirtualBox is the best way. It'll be different for everyone.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    Great,I'm behind a router with a firewall built in to it so I'm happy enough security wise. Also, Linux will not let you install anything or modify system files/settings without entering the root/superuser password.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Any distro's you would advise against?
    I wouldn't advise against any but as said above I wouldn't try starting off with Slackware/Gentoo as the learning curve will be steep.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?

    I posted an explanation of this here previously.


  • #5
    velocirafter
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 279 ✭✭velocirafter


    Did it take long to get used to??
    i got used to it really quickly, although i did know some of the command line stuff from college but there is really no need to go into the command line if you dont want to
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    before i moved i realised that 90% of the software i was using was open source, that was one of the main reasons i switched. I like how you can change so many different things to set everything up the way you like it, i'm not a very good programmer so i have no interest looking at source code or making changes at that level.
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    I'm using it for music, movies, general internetting, i've even done a bit of video editing using avidemux. Specialist software like video editing and graphic design programs aren't as good with linux but for general stuff most of the software is as good or better.
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    The wireless didnt work but with newer versions it works straight away, i ended up installing the windows drivers in WINE, that was the handiest way around it, took 5 minutes to solve. i had to get the codecs for all the proprietary file formats (mp3,dvd,mpeg) that takes 2 minutes. I also had a lot of trouble with flash and java because i was using 64bit firefox, i've ended up just using 32bit but its exactly the same.
    You can actually google anything you want to know and there is an answer somewhere, thats how i learned the terminal commands. after copying and pasting commands so many times you start to remember and understand what they actually do.

    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    I'm using ubuntu at the moment, thats apparently the most user friendly although i think linux mint could have overtaken it. Ubuntu has a great community at the Ubuntu Forums and they can solve pretty much any problem you have. The community is one of the main reasons i like ubuntu so much and why i am reluctant to change, incase they cant live up to the high standards set by the ubuntu community.
    Also a little known fact that i only found out recently myself is that there is a place in dublin where you can bring your ubuntu computer for support if you cant figure out a problem http://www.ubuntu-ie.org/node/12
    Linux Mint is built on ubuntu but they've added better hardware support and alot of codecs and proprietary stuff comes preinstalled in it. I should say at this point i haven't actually tried Mint but this is what i read.
    Most of the linux distros can be booted from the cd so you can try them out from the cd and if you like the look of them you can go ahead and install which is an incredibly handy. At the moment i'm switching between 7.10 on my harddrive and 8.04/8.10 live cd's to see which one i want to upgrade to
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    no security issues, i dont have any anti-virus software. 99% of viruses are written for windows, you can get anti-virus software though
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    most software that you download has some sort of package file(drm, rpm) that you can just run like a .exe in windows. Otherwise there is usually instructions somewhere to install the program...just google it and you'll get a good answer somewhere


    Any windows programs that you need to run can be run in WINE. Alot of stuff wont work in WINE or wont work perfectly and if this is an issue you can set up a virtual machine which will allow you the full windows operating system inside a window on your desktop. If you have a dual boot between windows and linux, when you are booted into linux you can run the windows os as a virtual machine and visa versa, its pretty easy to set up aswell.


  • #6
    samhail
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,699 ✭✭✭samhail


    get used to ? you mean none of ye other guys got out of your momma belly and bitch slapped the doctors for not using a *nix flavor on the heart monitors.


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  • #7
    boidey
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 161 ✭✭boidey


    Did it take long to get used to??
    It would have taken less time to get used to had I never spent years using ms windows. Not meaning to sound obtuse but the 1st thing I had to learn was to stop using MS windas as a reference point.
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it?
    No and yes it was worth it. (VLC, Firefox Picassa................)
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    Bit of everything really. Ripping audio and video, some HTML stuff, web browsing, remote access.
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    Getting fully functioning wireless was a headache but using ndiswrapper and WICD resolved that problem. I used to have a usb skype handset that worked fine under windows but did jacksh*t in linux. If you use skype and want to switch to linux, then my advice would be to either buy a phone that does not need a PC to work or else get a standalone phone
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you?
    I'm using ubuntu 8.10 atm. My only criticism was regarding the network manager applet. It was pants. I run puppy on an old laptop and I got a P3 with xubuntu which is running zoneminder.
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    I have an old pc running smoothwall which is the firewall for my home LAN. I don't do virii, scare or malware.
    Any distro's you would advise against?
    Horse for courses, I could say that I have a dislike for slakware but that would just be my opinion. It about what works for you.
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    Most desktop based distros have an add remove slash setup program utility .
    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux
    . It will the little things that cause the biggest problems. Things like printers and wireless networking. And if still have have to run ms windows applications then WINE is your man for the job


  • #8
    Kinetic^
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,224 ✭✭✭✭Kinetic^


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did it take long to get used to??

    Getting used to the terminal took me a while as I'd used windows ui for several years but I try use it for as much as I can now.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??

    Not really. There's alternatives for everything.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?

    Browsing, word processing, media storage and other general stuff. Nothing too taxing on me or the PC. ;)
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?

    I tried earlier in the year to get it working on and old PC and it kept booting into low graphics mode. I reckon it was my lack of knowledge and the **** PC rather then linux tbh.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??

    I've been using ubuntu now for about 2 months. I put ubuntu-eee on to my Asus EEE 1000 and it was a lot easier to manage then the xandros distro they had on there. I've now got Ubuntu on my desktop in my home and in my parents as they'd have similar usage to me.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?

    I've no anti virus but do have a firewall on my router.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Any distro's you would advise against?

    The xandros distro that comes pre-installed with the EEE, not great imo.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?

    For installing stuff I try my best to get it through apt-get.

    Try this
    aptitude search <program name>

    If it recognises the name it will bring up a list of programs that will match the name. Try simple stuff like VLC or Thunderbird and it will bring up the exact name you use to install program using
    sudo apt-get install <program name>

    I'm still learning and will always google something as the answer is usually out there. I found out a few things from this site and also had help from friends who have been using for quite some time. As I don't game anymore it's perfect for what I need my PC for and is a lot better then Vista Ultimate which I was using before.


  • #9
    Orion
    Closed Accounts Posts: 12,807 ✭✭✭✭Orion


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did it take long to get used to??
    Not really. I'd played with a shell account before and I'm very comfortable with the cli anyway. Took a little bit of getting used to where things are in the menus but that's about it. My other half is not a computer whiz by any means and she took to it like a duck to water as well.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    Didn't phase me in the slightest. I was already using OpenOffice, Firefox, GIMP in Windows (and still do on my work Windows pc). I find them superior to the MS alternatives with the exception of GIMP/Photoshop - I can't say which is better of those two - I only use the basic functions anyway. I haven't quite got the hang of OO Database yet but I never got the hang of Access either anyway :D
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    Browsing, gaming, media storage/streaming, office applications. Like I said I was using most of these anyway.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    World of Warcraft in WINE took a bit of trial and error to get working properly. And I couldn't get my Zen Vision working in Amarok but then I discovered Gnomad2 and it's been plain sailing since. Twinview (dual-screen setup) took some work to get right but that was in Feisty - in Ibex it was a piece of piss.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    I use Ubuntu. I tried and didn't like PCLinuxOS, Kubuntu (don't like KDE), Suse and LinuxMint. LinuxMint is good in that the media codecs are all installed but it's easy to install them in Ubuntu anyway - I don't like the Mint interface at all though. Try them all. You can always use VMWare or VirtualBox to install them and test them out - or use the LiveCDs. It's all about personal preference which is one major thing I like about Linux. I also use MythBuntu on my HTPC and Ubuntu on my laptop.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    Security is excellent. I use nothing really. My router has a good firewall and I have no AV installed. NoScript in FF is essential but mainly is just common sense to keep yourself safe. I do have the SSH port open on my router and recently noticed a brute-force attack on my box over SSH. So I turned off password authentication and set up a key exchange login instead - sorted.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Any distro's you would advise against?
    None. Try them out. As other posters have said avoid the source based ones. I haven't gone down that route myself. I'm no expert in Linux at all when it comes to building from source. All distros have good and bad points. It's down to which one suits you.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    Always use the distros package manager. Nearly everything is there. If it's not in a repo then you can download the .deb or .rpm (depending on distro). If in a Debian distro and there is no .deb for the software you want you can always use alien for a .rpm installation. But it's rare you'll need it.
    Tom-eg wrote: »
    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux. Thanks :D
    There's very very little you will need that is not available in open source for Linux somewhere. For the odd occasional app there is always WINE. For gaming some games just won't run - an example is UT3. TBH I'm prepared to sacrifice games that won't support Linux and if there's any game that I want to play that I can't then I will forgo it and mail the software house explaining why. UT3 for Linux is still in development but at least they're working on it. Eve has a native client now. WoW actively work with the Wine community (despite them releasing Wrath of a Lich King on a DVD that is not readable in Linux! - how they managed that I don't know). Other gaming houses are waking up to the fact that Linux is on the ascendant with gamers.
    One other point - check your hardware. Particularly external devices. Some printers/scanner will just not work due to lack of support. Personally I have an Epson multi-device which is fine but I've heard bad things about Lexmark (for example). Also ATI video support is pants. They say they are supporting Linux now but it's still pants. An example is MythTV. If you use the open source driver watching video is like watching a slide show. But if you switch to the ATI proprietary driver then MythTV is corrupted. So go with NVidia - I have never had a problem with an NVidia card in Linux.


  • #10
    An Fear Aniar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭An Fear Aniar


    Macros42 wrote: »
    So go with NVidia - I have never had a problem with an NVidia card in Linux.

    +1

    I've had no problems at all with my nvidia card.

    I found the switchover easy too. With Ubuntu 8.10 my internet, both wired and wireless just works out of the box.

    I'm not a big gamer but one really great game I play at the moment is Nexuiz which is an online multiplayer shootfest like Quake.

    I only use my laptop at home for web browsing, email and games so Linux provides me with everything I need.


    .


  • #11
    shaner
    Closed Accounts Posts: 66 ✭✭shaner


    Wasn't so much a "move to" linux as walking a different path when I first came across it. Started out installing redhat 5.1. It couldn't have been more different to any windows I was used to.

    Learned a lot just from the install alone. Ran it on a Pentium II 266 with an 8Mb graphics card so no graphical install for me. Then used Slackware 8 and a number of other distros.

    Found the ILUG list on http://www.linux.ie a great help. Google too.

    After a few years of not using linux went back to ubuntu (in the last year or so) and found it dramatically different to the linux I was used to. Way more graphical ways of doing things I was used to doing in the command line using vi. Much easier to transition to linux now than it was back then IMO.

    But that's just my 2c...


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  • #12
    astaro81
    Closed Accounts Posts: 10 ✭astaro81


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    I have been experimenting with a few distro's lately and really think its a great alternative. I'm still getting used to it and won't be leaving windows just yet but I could possibly see myself doing so at some stage in the future.

    My question is to any Linux lovers. Here's a few things i have been wondering. . .

    Did it take long to get used to??
    Not really, I used linux a few years ago when there wasn't that many distros around, and when XWindows was still very new. I recently installed the new Ubuntu on my laptop, and I have to admit, I was blown away.
    Did the move over to other software programs phase you and in the end was it worth it??
    Yeah I suppose using things like firefox etc slowly eased me into moving my OS to Linux [/quote]
    What line of work do you use your computer for and was it hard finding replacement software?
    I a network Administrator mostly, so most of my tools are on the command line already. Linux supports Remote Desktop for the Windows servers I administer. My next task will be to get my games running on Linux. I'm looking forward to it.
    What were the main things you found difficult changing over and how did you get around them?
    There are a few programs that only run on windows, so getting them to run under linux using Wine can be a bit tricky
    What is your favourite distro and any advice on finding the one that suits you??
    I love the new ubuntu. Try out a few distros using their live CDs, it's the easiest way to see if something will work for you, and on your machine.
    How is Linux's security? Do you use any programs to protect yourself?
    I don't have any software installed on my machine to protect myself. Most virusses out there are aimed at windows. So I just use common sense, and the small firewall that came with my router.

    any distro's you would advise against?
    not really
    Also aside from going into adept to install software how else can you install it cause I have found stuff online but when I type them into adept it doesn't have them?
    I mostly use the command line to install what i need to. I feel more comfy with it.
    Anything else that you would like to add. I would love to hear constructive feedback on getting up and running with Linux. Thanks :D
    Well, the one thing I love my Ubuntu for is it trippled the battery life i get out of my laptop, compared to windows Vista


  • #13
    An Fear Aniar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,377 ✭✭✭An Fear Aniar


    Tom-eg wrote: »
    I have been experimenting with a few distro's lately and really think its a great alternative. I'm still getting used to it and won't be leaving windows just yet but I could possibly see myself doing so at some stage in the future.

    It doesn't have to be either/or.

    You can dual boot on the same machine/laptop or whatever. I dual-booted for about 6 months before I wnet Ubuntu full-time.

    .


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