Your thoughts on Linux

[locosway]

Well, I've been using Linux at home for 10 years now. Because of my playing with Linux early on I've held several nice paying jobs supporting the Linux OS. I must say, I'm very fond of the Linux OS as a whole and have converted a few family members over to it.

So, what do you think of Linux?

[thevic]

been awhile since i used linux, but i loved suse

[johnthomas]

Years ago I tried it, didn't like it. My computer life started with windows. Kind of like an evil sister, gives you problems, does things you don't like, but hey, she is still your sister. Thru the years and different windows programs it has been a love hate relationship.

[maverickmage]

I used to use Slackware and Gentoo (lol I was a stickler for punishment). But in the end reverted back to Windows because of 1 reason.

I want to play games. It was too much of a hassle to dual boot also since it required me to reboot everytime I wanted to play some games for a bit.

[mousegun]

Run Linux on an SSH accessible workstation and two servers (NAS, VPN, proxy, etc.) in the garage and via liveUSB device on my notebook. Two of the kids have run Linux on their desktops, and run it occasionally now from liveUSB devices. The proxy/NAS servers support a hybrid network (fast ethernet wired, WIFI) with five Windows clients, two Win/Linux clients.

Only reason we're not 100% Linux is requirements of school or law practice. Windows is mainly a legacy issue now.

Present dominant distro is PCLinuxOS. Have used Gentoo, Knoppix and SuSE.

Think I like it?

[7x57]

What's Microsoft? Sounds like a social disease.

7x57

[locosway]

What's Microsoft? Sounds like a social disease.

7x57

It's a form of ED

[locosway]

I used to use Slackware and Gentoo (lol I was a stickler for punishment). But in the end reverted back to Windows because of 1 reason.

I want to play games. It was too much of a hassle to dual boot also since it required me to reboot everytime I wanted to play some games for a bit.

Look into Wine and Cedega.

[nick]

I work with various Linux/UNIX distros, various Windows versions, Solaris, Mac OS X, etc. For all the promise (and that promise has been around for decades now), there're still different roles for different operating systems. I'm not likely to have Linux on my personal workstation anytime soon (haven't found one that would work for me), but I usually have a Linux or BSD VM running for work and for those things I can't do with Windows.

As for the cost of Microsoft software, it's not an issue for me, as I'm a Microsoft registered partner, so I get most of their software (more than I use, anyway) for $300/year with the Action Pack.

Mac OS X never really grew on me. I was quite excited when it was first introduced (a UNIX with a nice GUI and decent enough developer community), but the "UNIX" part turned out to be quite limited and locked down.

As for the Windows vs. Linux debate, people will likely use whatever they use at work. "Converting" them is likely to be counterproductive, if what they use at work doesn't match what they use at home. They probably won't thank you for it, and that's what zealots do, anyway

[leelaw]

I installed Ubuntu 10.04 on my netbook and it runs very well. I will not go back to Windows 7 on my netbook. Then again, I would not install a Linux distribution as a primary OS on my desktop.

I've dabbled with various Linux distributions since Redhat 4.7, but the latest Ubuntu versions really seem like a home-run, at least for my application.

[Satex]

I use Linux on all our servers but one. Use Windows on personal computers.

[tacticalcity]

None of the programs I need are available for it, and the knockoff versions that are just don't get the job done. So while it is a nice OS, its just not very practical. In a pure office enviorment, where word processing, email and the net are all you need, its a great affordable alternative. If you need specific applications...not so much. As far as servers go, its nice provided you are not planning on taking advantage of Windows Domain type security. Given a choice I would want to impliment it at our office, and manage the user access to resources more closely. Sadly, I've been overruled.

I do keep a Knoppix disc handy just for the heck of it. Fun learning tool.

[fd15k]

Linux is good in theory - direct democracy. I prefer a republic - FreeBSD.

[subrosa]

...in a way Linux pays for my guns, so how can I not like it? (Linux/Unix sysadmin )

[Grumpyoldretiredcop]

You forgot an option...

"Fun and fast, but sometimes frustrating."

I dual-boot on my work laptop because some of my required software doesn't like Linux so well. Same reason, I don't have it on my home desktop.