No more Microsoft Windows; it's GNU/Linux for me

[JDay]

Not in this case. It's a USB thumb drive which only gets plugged in during the backup session. A relatively permanently attached USB hard disk, then yes, that's when I'd call for a cron job.

You could also configure a udev rule to run the script when that drive is plugged in.

http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html

[dmax11]

just depends on your needs, really. Linux works fine for a lot of people.

let me know when you have Skyrim, EVE, and DCS A10-C working and I'll meet you over in Linux land.

you play eve? never thought i'd find a another cal gunner that did lol

on a side note eve runs really well through wine at least last time i tried it. its still gold certified on wine so i bet it still does run good, i've been on 7 for awhile now due to other games (mainly BF3)

on topic linux is a great desktop os these days mainly thanks to debian/ubuntu i only run 7 on my rig due to gaming, all the other machines in my house are linux. (ubuntu for the general purpose machine and cent os for my file server)

[Cowboy T]

You could also configure a udev rule to run the script when that drive is plugged in.

http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html

Hey, pretty keen, I didn't know about that. Thanks! It shows yet again the under-the-hood power of GNU/Linux. For my Dad's purpose, the shell script does a fine job, so we'll stick with that for him. However, I may use this udev bag o' tricks later on for some other situations for which I see it being pretty handy.

[Cowboy T]

on topic linux is a great desktop os these days mainly thanks to debian/ubuntu i only run 7 on my rig due to gaming, all the other machines in my house are linux. (ubuntu for the general purpose machine and cent os for my file server)

Gotta agree. Ubuntu (just a more user-friendly Debian) has made the desktop much easier for n00bs to use, and I think they've done a good job of it. We need that. My video editing machine runs Ubuntu. My file server is actually a K12LTSP/K12Linux box, which is CentOS-based.

Pure "Pwnage-Avoidance"! :-)

[Nyanman]

Windows on my game/main use computer.
Fedora and BackTrack dual boot on my experimenting with computer.
On my (very) old Dell laptop I run DragonFly BSD after trying Haiku and finding it to be basically an older version of windows with some appearance changes and a new name.

[Flogger23m]

I like Windows 7 64bit. No significant issues with it yet.

I'll pass on Windows 8. It looks great for tablets but I use a desktop.

[stilly]

What things are the Linux/GNU good for? More specifically, WHAT EXACT things, or if there are a lot of things, How strong is that platform when it comes to movie editing and multimedia production? IE, vid capping, stringing together movies, playing with audio and video, trimming off multimedia files, dvd authoring, etc. Is all of that free or does one need to purchase software?

I am about to put my multimedia system together again. I just found it actually and now I have a few more boxes to move and then I can have a look at start the wipe of the C: and reinstall the OS. (which might be Windows 7 64 instead of windows xp pro 32.)

[tonyxcom]

Windows 8 was a little frustrating the first few days but there aren't any changes you can't overcome with a little time.

I think Metro is certainly a waste of time on a desktop and I am sure MS will introduce an option in the very near future to disable or at least nueter it based on user and manufacturer feedback. Besides, it hasn't even been released yet.

I work in IT supporting Windows environments. I also frequently use Adobe applications for hobbies that I have turned into income and that is what has dictated what platforms I use personally. I do the majority of my web and photo work on a Windows (now Win8) desktop simply because I like the file management better in Windows than OS X. I have an Apple laptop that I use for everyday stuff like email and web browsing and some light work. It runs VmWare so when I need Windows I have it.

For email and calendar and contacts management I have used MS Exchange in some flavor the past several years. I currently have my personal email hosted at Office365. I haven't found any other solution that works as well as Exchange on both Windows/OS X and any of the many smartphones I have used (currently iPhone).

I've side-barred many a different Linux distro over the years and always come to the same conclusion, while the OS may be great in many regards, the ****ty copycat applications always leave a lot to be desired.

I do however have 2 VPS's for hosting client sites and they run CentOS and managed by WHM/cPanel. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Of the 3 major platforms MS, Apple and Linux - just about anyone can find a version or flavor to work on their current (or in the case of the86d, un-current) hardware. I think OS choice is less important these days. It's the applications you use that ultimately allow you to get what you need out of a computer. Some can get this from Linux, some cannot. Hell, for some, a smartphone or tablet is all they need.

It's about the right tool for the job.

Any argument beyond that is just fanboy fodder.

[NSR500]

What things are the Linux/GNU good for? More specifically, WHAT EXACT things, or if there are a lot of things, How strong is that platform when it comes to movie editing and multimedia production? IE, vid capping, stringing together movies, playing with audio and video, trimming off multimedia files, dvd authoring, etc. Is all of that free or does one need to purchase software?

I am about to put my multimedia system together again. I just found it actually and now I have a few more boxes to move and then I can have a look at start the wipe of the C: and reinstall the OS. (which might be Windows 7 64 instead of windows xp pro 32.)

If you have to ask such basic things it's best that you stay with MAC and MSFT.

[meaty-btz]

just depends on your needs, really. Linux works fine for a lot of people.

let me know when you have Skyrim, EVE, and DCS A10-C working and I'll meet you over in Linux land.

Since this thread got resurected I wanted to resurect this quote.

Hi, I ran Skyrim, EVE-Online, but not DCS A10-C on Linux. I also ran L4D, L4D2, Half-Life 2, Everquest 2, Magicka, and more on Linux through Wine.

As with everything, it works, with some gotchas and some configuration work needed in each case. Performance of all the games are superior on Windows 7 to being run with the DX-OGL wrapper, which is logical. Pure OGL games run better, which is to be expected.

Each of the above games often would work better, have better frame rate, no-artifacts on only a particular build of Wine, so the use of multiple wine prefixes was needed.

I don't play games really, any more, let alone MMOs, so I don't have them installed any longer. I have too much to do to spend energy and effort in a digital universe of grinding. If I want entertainment, I want to be entertained not work for it.

As with all things, some of the games required gymnastics to make operable, some would brake on patching of wine, requiring regression, some would break on MS Library updates, some would break on game updates. Most asuredly not for the faint of heart or the average dolt user who is the same as the average dolt driver who gets in car and turns brain off, rather logs on turns brain off.."Can u make our ship go? We need things, things to make us stronger." That describes about 90% of computer users.. The Wadi. Alternativly monkies with a spaceship. All they do is swing on things and fling their crap everywhere, then crash the ship.

[stilly]

For those that want to stick with Microsoft, hey, it's your computer, your choice. I was simply describing *my* choice, and some of the reasons for that choice. If you want to run Mac OS, go for it. If you want to run eComStation or OpenBSD, go for it. My choice simply happens to be GNU/Linux, and mostly Ubuntu. It works for me.

One major reason for that choice is the same reason that I'm pro-gun. GNU/Linux gives me the freedom to do what I want with my computer, instead of what Microsoft and Apple tell me that they *allow* me to do with my computer. To me, this is a pro-liberty position. So I had to learn something about GNU/Linux. So what? At work, I had to (re)learn how to use Microsoft Windows with both Vista and Windows 7 came out.

My desktop will very likely not be "pwn3d" again for a very, very long time. And it now does what I want it to do. I like it. :-)

Do you see the problems you created by asking that? You need to leave now and never come back.


LoL. There is a lot of good info floating around though. Imma hafta load up windows 8 now just to have a look, I was happy migrating my media pc to a win7 now that it is no longer supported by microsoft. oh wait what is that? It is still supported. damn, Okay then I will stick with XP pro 64 until they stop... :\

[stilly]

If you have to ask such basic things it's best that you stay with MAC and MSFT.

Well then if you do not know, surely there is someone else that does.

What was I thinking by coming here and jumping in? I thought that people actually knew what they were talking about.

[meaty-btz]

To answer Stilly:
Yes, linux is surprisingly good at Multimedia Authoring. In fact, it is damn pro. Even more so, we just got a top of the line A/V system worth about 150K which includes broadcasting capability for 200 channels and IP-TV, robotic cameras, and a ton of other things.. oh yeah, all the encoders and hardware run Linux.

If by multimedia authoring: Garage Band, then no.

While linux has desktop level software packages that work and work well they are no where as "easy" no "straight-forward" as any modern Adobe Product or Mac.

For Audio work, linux takes the cake in a studio running Jack and Rack. Like all professional tools they are complex and powerful but take a lot of knowledge to run. You can do almost any kind of editing in the command line with just FFMPEG, cutting, audio, trans-coding, scaling. You just really need to know wtf you are doing.

If you are an average desktop user, get a Mac or run Windows and pay Adobe.

[stilly]

That is what I was looking for. I would like the ability to cut up videos and sync audio to video, make presentations and put together videos after trimming off the ends but it sounds like I might need to play around a bit and do a bit more reading in order to play with linux and be efficient at it. I am not into making music yet but I imagine that I would have to go the way of all samples and playing with tracks and cuts, no biggie, right now I need to get videos trimmed up and posted and then make them into a playable dvd with menu and all. Most of the videos are digital files but I am tasked with capping a vhs tape or two to make the first two.

Thanks, I should stick with windows for right now.

[meaty-btz]

Probably a good choice for most people. Despite Canonical's attempts to make "desktop user" interface and system, Linux remains the operating system that does not try and think for you. It will do just about anything you could ever ask it to do, but you will need to know how to tell it to do it.

A user/developer tells Linux what to do.
A user is told by windows how he will do what he wants to do.

My work desktop is Linux, my home desktop is Linux, my work laptop is Linux, my wife's desktop and EEEPC are Linux. I would never tell any of my "end users" to use Linux. They are like the Wadi (retards) or Monkeys with a Space Ship.