The LINUX Thread!

[sirgonzo420]

This thread has been a long time coming for me.

I've been using linux daily for several years (mostly ubuntu or ubuntu variations), but I still don't know a whole hell of a lot about it.

Who else here uses it?

Which distro(s)?

Any helpful commands, tips and tricks, etc?


Perhaps after some discussion with my beloved fellow GSUSers, I will begin to get over my perpetual linux noobness. ;D

[Ares]

This thread has been a long time coming for me.

I've been using linux daily for several years (mostly ubuntu or ubuntu variations), but I still don't know a whole hell of a lot about it.

Who else here uses it?

Which distro(s)?

Any helpful commands, tips and tricks, etc?


Perhaps after some discussion with my beloved fellow GSUSers, I will begin to get over my perpetual linux noobness. ;D

I started out with Mandrake, then moved to Red Hat. Have used Ubuntu and SuSe over the years. I've stayed with Windows only because I game.

[Gaillo]

Linux "operations" ;D

http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/tech-fun/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/linux-positions.png

http://picture.funnycorner.net/funny-pictures/5522/Linux.jpg

[monty]

I have been using Linux since the mid 1990's . I started with Debian on an old 386SX with one megabyte of ram. Currently I am using Kubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04
I downloaded the original install for my first system on floppies and installed it from the floppies. It was many months before I was able to do much with my computer. But I didn't give up. Eventually I managed to get the X window installed and working. Getting a sound card to work was not an easy task. There was almost no support of drivers written for sound and video cards. I learned to do tcp/ip networking and even managed to get a wireless network card working with ndis-wrapper after about 3 days of reading and trying this and that.

Today most thing run "out of the box" compared to the early distros.

[LuckyStrike]

I'm using Arch now.

Started with Fedora, decent distro but still encountered problems. I have a friend who has used Arch for a long time and highly recommended it, I have it running on 3 machines now and am very pleased. The AUR makes it easy to find and install programs. Plus I like the thought of a rolling release.

I've used BackTrack5 which is based on nigbuntu it's good for what it is.

As far as Ubuntu goes it annoys me that Shuttleworth names a distro after what amounts to African communist nonsense, when these Africans haven't made a single technological advancement in thousands of years.

IDK if any of you listen to podcasts but Linux Outlaws is a pretty good show, although I have stopped listening myself due to an extreme backlog of other shows.

[Half Sense]

I've had it on my server for years. Currently using Debian. I do everything from the command line via SSH. I tend to be lazy so if I do something more than twice I usually hand it off to cron.

I recently gave someone an old PC with a fresh copy of Linux Mint on it. No problems reported after 4 months of use, and these folks are not computer literate at all.

[LuckyStrike]

I recently gave someone an old PC with a fresh copy of Linux Mint on it. No problems reported after 4 months of use, and these folks are not computer literate at all.


I've wondered about this concept for some time now. Having come from 10 years of Windows use it was a big adjustment for me, but I imagine someone who is starting fresh would just learn it quite easily.

For people who are power users though with limited computer knowledge it's pretty hard to get them to change.

[Hatha Sunahara]

I've been using Linux for nearly five years now. I use Kubuntu. I like it because it's free, and it does everything Windows 7 does, including updating itself, although with less spyware than Windows. I don't use command line controls. I like the WIMP GUI interface (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers). It was a bit of a struggle to develop a comparable mastery of Kubuntu that I had for Windows, but I like to believe I've won that struggle. Recently I've noticed that there are more programs you can run in Linux that were only available for windows--particularly in the graphics and multimedia areas. One thing I don't like about Linux is that it doesn't let you save documents to remote network drives. You have to save a document to a local drive, then move it to the remote network drive. Windows gives you more freedom on this feature. I use Kubuntu as my main operating system, but if I need windows, I can run it inside Virtual Box which I have installed, so I can run both operating systems simultaneously on the same screen.

I'd recommend Kubuntu to anyone who uses Windows. It's so similar you'll hardly notice much of a difference.


Hatha

[LuckyStrike]

I've been using Linux for nearly five years now. I use Kubuntu. I like it because it's free, and it does everything Windows 7 does, including updating itself, although with less spyware than Windows. I don't use command line controls. I like the WIMP GUI interface (Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers). It was a bit of a struggle to develop a comparable mastery of Kubuntu that I had for Windows, but I like to believe I've won that struggle. Recently I've noticed that there are more programs you can run in Linux that were only available for windows--particularly in the graphics and multimedia areas. One thing I don't like about Linux is that it doesn't let you save documents to remote network drives. You have to save a document to a local drive, then move it to the remote network drive. Windows gives you more freedom on this feature. I use Kubuntu as my main operating system, but if I need windows, I can run it inside Virtual Box which I have installed, so I can run both operating systems simultaneously on the same screen.

I'd recommend Kubuntu to anyone who uses Windows. It's so similar you'll hardly notice much of a difference.


Hatha

Do any of you guys that run KDE find it to be to slow?

I have a decent spec PC
AMD Quadcore
6 gigs of ram
ATI 5770

And still it runs noticably slower than anything else I've tried, windows 7, or gnome 3.

I'm running XFCE now, pretty plain but its works well.

[Hatha Sunahara]

I have an ASUS mobo with a 2.2GHz Intel DualCore Processor and just 2GB of RAM. I also have removable HDD bays, and I've run Win 7 on the computer. I have noticed the Kubuntu (KDE) is slower than Windows 7, but not by much. The browser (Firefox) uses up some major resources in Kubuntu--more so than when I run it in Win 7. Sometimes in Kubuntu the browser window freezes and turns grayish, and the whole computer doesn't respond to any input signals for a minute or so, then it recovers and works OK. Could be that I need more DRAM.

Hatha

[SLV^GLD]

I have been using Linux since the mid 1990's . I started with Debian on an old 386SX with one megabyte of ram. Currently I am using Kubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04
I downloaded the original install for my first system on floppies and installed it from the floppies. It was many months before I was able to do much with my computer. But I didn't give up. Eventually I managed to get the X window installed and working. Getting a sound card to work was not an easy task. There was almost no support of drivers written for sound and video cards. I learned to do tcp/ip networking and even managed to get a wireless network card working with ndis-wrapper after about 3 days of reading and trying this and that.

Today most thing run "out of the box" compared to the early distros.
My experience is extremely similar except that I started with Slackware in the early 90's and quickly moved to Debian in 1995. I've used many many distros purely from a curiosity standpoint but I stick with Debian as my mainstay OS. I appreciate what Ubuntu has done and is doing but prefer not to use the OS myself. I particularly enjoy the flexibility Gentoo allows for custom compiling for unique or outdated hardware. Arch, Vector and Mint are my recommendations for newcomers depending on hardware and user requirements.

[steyr_m]

I started with Redhat 6.0 in the late 90's, moved to Mandrake, and have been using SuSE since buying version 8.2 The thing I like about SuSE is YAST... and will not [I]ever use Ubuntu.

It has been a long, difficult road; failed dependency hell, ugly fonts in the beginning, don't try to configure a video card manually.... The only thing that kept me going is that it wasn't the Judaic M$ or Apple. I also dabbled with OS/2, BeOS, FreeBSD, and QNX.

[steyr_m]

As far as Ubuntu goes it annoys me that Shuttleworth names a distro after what amounts to African communist nonsense, when these Africans haven't made a single technological advancement in thousands of years.


That is why I don't use Ubuntu

[steyr_m]

Do any of you guys that run KDE find it to be to slow?

I have a decent spec PC
AMD Quadcore
6 gigs of ram
ATI 5770

And still it runs noticably slower than anything else I've tried, windows 7, or gnome 3.

I'm running XFCE now, pretty plain but its works well.

I use XFCE and like you said -- it's plain but it works. I avoid Gnome and KDE because they are resource hogs. Thinking of moving back to my old favourite-- Blackbox.

[Grog]

I use Mint on two laptops and I'm happy with it. A few quirks here and there sure, but it cost $0.00 and still has fewer issues than Vista did. I'm happy and Libre Office has menus instead of Office 2010 ribbon bar. Hate the ribbon bar... Much happier since I moved to Mint.

[Joe King]

Anyone ever used PCLinux (http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=2)?

It's pretty nice.

[steyr_m]

Anyone ever used PCLinux (http://www.pclinuxos.com/?page_id=2)?

It's pretty nice.

It advertises itself as a LiveCD, I generally stay away from them unless I want to use Backtrack [why use a LiveCD when I can just install?] It's probably based on Knoppix since it uses APT. I'll stick to backtrack or Knoppix....

[steyr_m]

I use Mint on two laptops and I'm happy with it. A few quirks here and there sure, but it cost $0.00 and still has fewer issues than Vista did. I'm happy and Libre Office has menus instead of Office 2010 ribbon bar. Hate the ribbon bar... Much happier since I moved to Mint.

I dunno Mint is based on Nigbuntu [thanks LuckyStrike for the proper nomenclature]. I'll pass...

[Joe King]

It advertises itself as a LiveCD, I generally stay away from them unless I want to use Backtrack [why use a LiveCD when I can just install?] It's probably based on Knoppix since it uses APT. I'll stick to backtrack or Knoppix....It's either/or.
It can be installed same as any other distro and was originally based on Mandriva, but is now independant
.
After you get it installed and set up just the way you like it, then you make your own CD so that next time you install, it is already configured just the way you like it.

PCLinuxOS has a script called mylivecd, which allows the user to take a ‘snapshot’ of their current hard drive installation (all settings, applications, documents, etc.) and compress it into an ISO CD/DVD image. This allows easy backup of a user’s data and also makes it easy to create your own custom live CD/DVD.

[Grog]

Upgraded to the newest Mint release today and was not impressed. Slower than the last release.

Toying with the latest Fedora > Gnome release and I'm kind of shocked that I like it. I didn't like the Ubuntu > Gnome 3 implementation. Much better in Fedora. Once I get the standards installed, I'll work on my Wine crud. (that's always a fun time.) LOL

Basically, Fedora 15 looks promising so far. I like the responsiveness of the system. I run a minimal load on my machine and want speed for browsing and libre office. (consider my use to be a jacked up net-book at home.)

[Bigjon]

Do you guys who run Linux use an anti_virus program?

[Grog]

I normally don't run one on my Windows box, and certainly don't run any on my Linux box. I have 0 concern about viruses. If you are careful, you won't get viruses, even in Windows.

Here is a link. Explains it better than I can.

http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/8261-note-to-new-linux-users-no-antivirus-needed

[steyr_m]

Do you guys who run Linux use an anti_virus program?

No, I just check for rootkits every now and then, but only if I'm running a distro more than one year +. I like upgrading often, so I don't do it much.

I have my /home on it's own partition, so it's rather painless.

[LuckyStrike]

Do you guys who run Linux use an anti_virus program?

lol

[steyr_m]

Instead of making a new thread, I thought I'd post in here.

Anyone have any experience converting DVD's [or iso images of them] to mp4? I'm trying to use VLC, and have tried several "how to" pages; but to no avail.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I've even tried ffmpeg and that was a bust too.

[Dogman]

http://www.vso-software.fr/upload/box/convertxtodvd/v4/X2D-box-boxsmall.gif (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/) ConvertXtoDVD (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/)

[steyr_m]

http://www.vso-software.fr/upload/box/convertxtodvd/v4/X2D-box-boxsmall.gif (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/) ConvertXtoDVD (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/)

I'm looking for a Linux solution [I do not have a PC with windows on it] I think that's for Window$ OS. But thanks anyways....

[Bigjon]

lol

One of the responses to the link Grog provided, says laugh, but be wary.

Size is everything in the malware world
written by Paul Nanouk, February 15, 2010
We all will have to admit that the main reason that Linux/UNIX world is not the target of much malware, viri, trojans, etc is not that Linux is so wonderfully secure that it could never happen; it is merely the situation that Linux is not a large enough of a target (YET, you have me on record) to encourage virus writers to spend much time on it. Remember the MAC was saying the same thing until they started growing in market share, and then all of the sudden they became the target of more and more writers.

Linux, while it is harder to distribute a virus/malware piece due to its open source nature, is the primary desktop platform for most virus writers since they know the small number of V/M/RK out there for UNIX/Linux distros. However, as Linux grows in popularity, and more useful/personal information is stored on Linux desktops, it will also become the target of writers and developers of malware.

Follow the well-publicized security protocols for using Linux and you should be just fine. LIke anything else, violate them at your own peril, assume you are totally secure, and you will go down in flames. I have seen it over and over in my 30+ years of operating system ethical hacking and security consulting.

IMHO, only,
Paul Nanouk

[Bigjon]

I have tried linux several times, but always got tired of it, because something I wanted to do could not be done and I had to use Windows to get the job done.

I first tried it in the early 90's, right after it first came out. It has been a very long time since I last tried it.

Anyhow I'm thinking about doing it again. I have a desktop with 2 SSD's and a 2 TB raid 10. One of the SSD's is just sitting there doing nothing and I should probably put linux on it.

In my real life job, I always said "if it's working for gods sake leave it alone", but in my retired life I say "what fun is a working computer, if it's working take it apart and find out why".

I fixed computers for a living and my first computer was 40 feet long 7 feet high and 5 feet deep, with 32 K of 48 bit words.

[LuckyStrike]

Instead of making a new thread, I thought I'd post in here.

Anyone have any experience converting DVD's [or iso images of them] to mp4? I'm trying to use VLC, and have tried several "how to" pages; but to no avail.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I've even tried ffmpeg and that was a bust too.

http://handbrake.fr/

[steyr_m]

I have a desktop with 2 SSD's and a 2 TB raid 10. One of the SSD's is just sitting there doing nothing and I should probably put linux on it.



Linux has definitely changed since you tried it. It's changed immensely since I began [late 90's]

I don't understand SSD's on desktops. Laptops, yes, but not there. Why?

[steyr_m]

http://handbrake.fr/

Hmmm I only see Nig-buntu or Fedora packages. Hope the .rpm works on SuSE.

[Bigjon]

Linux has definitely changed since you tried it. It's changed immensely since I began [late 90's]

I don't understand SSD's on desktops. Laptops, yes, but not there. Why?

It is faster, than a standard HD.

I have Win 7 and programs loaded on the SSD and all the user files and application data on the raid.

I'm curious why you think it is better to use an SSD on a laptop?

edit
After thinking about it, I think I have the answer, power saving and shock proof and faster and expensive.

[steyr_m]

It is faster, than a standard HD.

I have Win 7 and programs loaded on the SSD and all the user files and application data on the raid.

I'm curious why you think it is better to use an SSD on a laptop?

edit
After thinking about it, I think I have the answer, power saving and shock proof and faster and expensive.

Yes, you are right about why I think SSD's are better for a laptop.

I'm not a big follower of the "latest and greatest" in tech that much faster. I still have and use regularly a 166 Mhz machine] I thought SSD's have fast read times, but slower write times than regular platters. I also know they are much more expensive.

Isn't it easier to retrieve erased data on an SSD than a regular HDD?

[LuckyStrike]

After thinking about it, I think I have the answer, power saving and shock proof and faster and expensive.

Pretty much the main reasons, size is another, in laptops too the higher price of the SSD isn't quite as bad compared to the 2.5 HDD, but compared to the 3.5" HDD, SSD's aren't even in the same league.

If money wasn't an object I'd like to get an SSD, but there is no way I can justify the cost.

[Grog]

I don't understand SSD's on desktops. Laptops, yes, but not there. Why?

Speed. Quick boot and app/data loading. Noticeable difference on machine with and without the SSD. Personally, I'm not Ok with the current cost and size limitations vs. the speed. Bring the size in the TB range and then I'll move.

[Bigjon]

Speed. Quick boot and app/data loading. Noticeable difference on machine with and without the SSD. Personally, I'm not Ok with the current cost and size limitations vs. the speed. Bring the size in the TB range and then I'll move.

I first bought a 32 GB SSD to use for this, but before I got the job done I got a deal on a 64 GB SSD, so that's why I have two SSD's. They both were relatively cheap. My system now boots in a fraction of the time it used to. I can't really say I have noticed a big difference in application speeds, but I don't run games and most of my apps are waiting on my input and are not of the number crunching variety.

It seems to me that Linux should be a natural for SSD's with your ability to break out all the parts of the operating system and user files and load them where they will give the best bang for the buck.

[steyr_m]

Come to think about it [with this discussion on SSD's], I'm planning on making a car PC and booting to a USB stick. Would that be about the same as as an SSD? It may be a bit slower, but a cheaper way to do it.

[Bigjon]

Come to think about it [with this discussion on SSD's], I'm planning on making a car PC and booting to a USB stick. Would that be about the same as as an SSD? It may be a bit slower, but a cheaper way to do it.

It would have to be USB3 and I think it would be expensive.

http://www.denali.com/wordpress/index.php/dmr/2010/02/02/ssd-interfaces-and-performance-effects


IDC’s Research Director John Rydning and Micron’s Director of SSD Marketing Justin Sykes tackled the merging abilities of fast enterprise-class SSDs and evolving disk interface standards, particularly SATA 6G (also called SATA 6.0) and USB 3.0, while speaking on a panel about the technology of storage during the Storage Visions 2010 conference held early this year in Las Vegas. Rydning spoke first and he compared and contrasted two new external disk-interface standards, namely USB 3.0 and eSATA 6.0. These standard disk interfaces improve on their predecessors. USB 3.0 maximum data rates are 3.2 to 4.8 Gbps versus USB 2.0’s 480 Mbps—a 6.7x to 10x boost in theoretical I/O performance. SATA 6.0 and eSATA 6.0 essentially double the theoretical maximum data rate of SATA 3.0 and eSATA 3.0 from 3 Gbps to 6 GBps. Consequently the new SATA 6.0 and eSATA 6.0 interfaces are theoretically faster than the new USB 3.0 interface just as SATA 3.0 and eSATA 3.0 are faster than USB 2.0.

The SATA and USB standards seem to be in lock step with respect to adoption rates according to Rydning. He showed comparison graphs that forecast increasing adoption rates for both SATA/eSATA 6.0 and USB 3.0, with some minor amount of adoption in 2010 and about 50% market penetration for each interface by the year 2012.

To aid this transition, laptop makers have started to build eSATA interface ports into laptops. This is not a particularly difficult feat because most motherboard chipsets include several SATA ports so implementing an eSATA port for such a machine is a matter of adding an eSATA connector to the laptop motherboard. For desktop and enterprise-class server systems, adding an eSATA port requires little more than a SATA extension cable that connects the motherboard SATA connector to an eSATA connector mounted on a metal expansion-card bracket or a case bulkhead because SATA ports are plentiful on most desktop and server motherboards. Rydning also pointed out that officially, eSATA connectors supply no power to the external SATA drive but connector manufacturers have developed an “unofficial” hybrid eSATA/USB 2.0 connector that allows a properly designed cable to tap into the co-located USB port’s 5V power while simultaneously coupling the eSATA disk-interface signals to the external drive.

Sykes’ panel presentation corroborated Rydning’s and provided some important test data to reinforce some of Rydning’s points and to make new ones. First, Sykes presented a historical chart showing the uneven throughput progress for SCSI and ATA disk interfaces as they evolved into the SAS (serial attached SCSI) and SATA (serial ATA) interfaces.

[steyr_m]

It would have to be USB3 and I think it would be expensive.


I don't think it has to be USB3. I run Backtrack4 on my laptop occasionally and I'm happy with the results.

[Bigjon]

I don't think it has to be USB3. I run Backtrack4 on my laptop occasionally and I'm happy with the results.

I should have qualified what I wrote as, if you want to get similar speed as an SSD, you need USB3. USB2 is 1/6 as fast.

[Grog]

I would also think, untested though, that SSD would be less susceptible to vibration issues in a mobile machine where a HDD could have physical crash from jarring. Just a guess.

[steyr_m]

I would also think, untested though, that SSD would be less susceptible to vibration issues in a mobile machine where a HDD could have physical crash from jarring. Just a guess.

Yeah, that's why I'm going to use a USB stick as my drive. I'm also using an older Mini-ITX MB and think it doesn't have bootable USB support. So... I may also be using a floppy to boot my USB Stick.

[steyr_m]

I should have qualified what I wrote as if you want to get similar speed as an SSD you need USB3. USB2 is 1/6 as fast.

OK, I appreciate the response...

[beefsteak]

My LINUX Ubuntu story. Don't try to uninstall Ubuntu by using the "uninstall protocol" provided in the Ubuntu folder. On my machine, it triggered something that immediately started pegging out my CPU at 100% for hours at a time. Took a $100 bill and a trip to the "certified tech" people to get that miserable thing totally out of my machine. And no, it was not a self-install gone awry! A system administrator for a major private West Coast school for rich kids is the one who installed it in my machine trying to impress this old man. Grrrr!

It was frustrating to "task manager" and watch the tug o'war processes flip between the two op sys on my laptop when CPU=100%.

Dumbest thing I've ever done! Well, if NOT the dumbest, certainly is right up there!!! I should never have let that young S/A anywhere close to my laptop.


beefsteak

[steyr_m]

My LINUX Ubuntu story. Don't try to uninstall Ubuntu by using the "uninstall protocol" provided in the Ubuntu folder. On my machine, it triggered something that immediately started pegging out my CPU at 100% for hours at a time. Took a $100 bill and a trip to the "certified tech" people to get that miserable thing totally out of my machine. And no, it was not a self-install gone awry! A system administrator for a major private West Coast school for rich kids is the one who installed it in my machine trying to impress this old man. Grrrr!

It was frustrating to "task manager" and watch the tug o'war processes flip between the two op sys on my laptop when CPU=100%.

Dumbest thing I've ever done! Well, if NOT the dumbest, certainly is right up there!!! I should never have let that young S/A anywhere close to my laptop.


beefsteak

Sorry to hear about your Linux experience.

If I hear someone talking about dabbling with it, I usually tell them to install on an old machine and play with it until they know it fairly well and then maybe dual boot with their main rig.

Second, Nig-buntu does not equal Linux. There are other choices -- literally thousands..... back when I started, it was only six.

[beefsteak]

Steyr-M,
Thanks for your response.

It WAS an experienced--LINUX programmer who prefers Ubuntu for newbies Installer. Did you miss the part about him being the System Admin of many years, with the hands' on tech responsibilities--who did the gratutious install? And yes, he made it a dual boot. And and and.....

Your condolences are accepted.

Didn't change my UNINSTALL experience 1 iota which I have related here in a cautionary post. Let a PAID 3rd Party Certified Tech pro do the uninstall of any dual system. The Young lad hotshot who installed Ubuntu on my machine even had managed to do his install without a partition EVEN SHOWING. I didn't know one could hide partitioning either. I just know that using one of the links for checking on partitions that I found here on GS, I couldn't even determine there was a partition to be STILL BE REMOVED after I clicked the uninstall function in Program Files. No partition was visible to the partition search link posted here on GS. This lack of confirmable partitioning is part of what led to my failure to "uninstall" using the proscribed process in the Ubuntu folder!

Dual system installs are NOT for the faint hearted. And unfortunately, the "romatic connection between him and my youngest daughter was acrimoniously interrupted, so he couldn't be tasked with UN-installing, leaving me on my own.

Father in law's to be, beware is my takeaway, as well as Linux sucks.


beefsteak

[Joe King]

And yes, he made it a dual boot. And and and.....
Just curious, but in your previous post you said...
It was frustrating to "task manager" and watch the tug o'war processes flip between the two op sys on my laptop when CPU=100%....which makes it sound as though you had two operating systems running concurrently.

If it's dual boot, how do you end up with a task manager showing two OS's having a "tug o'war" over system resources?

[steyr_m]

It WAS an experienced--LINUX programmer who prefers Ubuntu for newbies Installer. Did you miss the part about him being the System Admin of many years, with the hands' on tech responsibilities--who did the gratutious install? And yes, he made it a dual boot. And and and.....


I got that part; but that doesn't make you an experienced person in Linux. I said the part about putting it on an old machine for your experience.

I don't pay anyone to work on my machines. I'd rather do it myself....

Well, it may suck for you; I happen to love it. I will say that it was a long road...

Again, too bad it didn't work out ofr you.

[Grog]

Not really Linux but a good deal. Fry's is moving out USB 2.0 stuff to make room for 3.0 products. I purchased a 3TB external USB drive for $109, marked down from $169.00 Using that as my backup drive. Not the fastest thing on the planet but it gives me enough space to back up all the computers in the house.

[Grog]

And I'm much happier in Fedora 15. Using rdesktop now to control my Windows servers, for SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio. rdesktop solved my 'it won't work in Wine' issues. I'm just keeping all of my Windows only apps on our big box here at the house. Laptops are all Linux.

I'm probably happier with Fedora 15 than I have been with any previous OS. Very well behaved so far and pretty simple learning curve.

[beefsteak]

Just curious, but in your previous post you said......which makes it sound as though you had two operating systems running concurrently.

If it's dual boot, how do you end up with a task manager showing two OS's having a "tug o'war" over system resources?

Exactly my point, Joe.

Doing the point and click Ubuntu install resulted in me having 2 op sys working at the same time. That's why it cost me a $100 bill to get it uninstalled the "right way" by a techie. As a user only and not a programmer, I was always taught to use the program itself's uninstall method for removal of a program I no longer want.

Evidently this LINUX Ubuntu is "the exception to that rule." Clicking the Linux based "uninstall command" in the programs folder when LL installed it, resulted in it becoming uncontrollable and fighting for system resources, thus pegging my CPU at 100% post my effort to correctly uninstall and get my original Win op sys back as a solo sys.

[MNeagle]

Differences Between PC & Mac Users (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/09/differences-between-pc-mac-users/)


http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/09/differences-between-pc-mac-users/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBigPicture+%28The+Big+Pict ure%29

[steyr_m]

Exactly my point, Joe.

Doing the point and click Ubuntu install resulted in me having 2 op sys working at the same time. That's why it cost me a $100 bill to get it uninstalled the "right way" by a techie. As a user only and not a programmer, I was always taught to use the program itself's uninstall method for removal of a program I no longer want.

Evidently this LINUX Ubuntu is "the exception to that rule." Clicking the Linux based "uninstall command" in the programs folder when LL installed it, resulted in it becoming uncontrollable and fighting for system resources, thus pegging my CPU at 100% post my effort to correctly uninstall and get my original Win op sys back as a solo sys.

OK, that makes sense. To me, a "dual boot system" allows you to switch between OS's during boot time. I had dual boot systems when I had windows on my machines. I ran either linux or windows, not both. I've played with the type systems JK and you are talking about and it didn't work either, [I think it was vmware]

[Half Sense]

beefsteak, what you had was not really Linux. It was WUBI, which attempts to install Ubuntu Linux as a Windows program.

In a proper dual-boot system, each OS has its own partition and they cannot run at the same time. Removing Linux in that case involves wiping or deleting the partition.

As for the SSDs, I have had one for almost 2 years and I love it. 30GB SSD contains the OS and all my programs. It boots very fast and programs load instantly. It's also silent, which is nice.

[steyr_m]

As for the SSDs, I have had one for almost 2 years and I love it. 30GB SSD contains the OS and all my programs. It boots very fast and programs load instantly. It's also silent, which is nice.

I have a laptop and will probably put a SSD in it in a couple years [when prices go down] . All that sounds good, but I'd rather put my $$$ on Silver than replace a working HDD.

[steyr_m]

beefsteak, what you had was not really Linux. It was WUBI, which attempts to install Ubuntu Linux as a Windows program.

In a proper dual-boot system, each OS has its own partition and they cannot run at the same time. Removing Linux in that case involves wiping or deleting the partition.

As for the SSDs, I have had one for almost 2 years and I love it. 30GB SSD contains the OS and all my programs. It boots very fast and programs load instantly. It's also silent, which is nice.

I've been given a lap-top with a SSD in it. I will agree. Yes, it is quieter. Yes, it has longer battery life. I do not find it that much faster, if there is a speed difference -- I do not notice anything compared to my HDD lap-top. The clincher is price still. It's nice; but not that nice.

[Book]

Wait until the price goes down and reliability goes up before spending THIS (http://www.newegg.com/Store/Category.aspx?Category=119&Tid=11689&name=SSD) kinda money.

If all you do is surf the net Linux is ok.

Read these TALES OF WOE (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=333) at the Ubuntu forum. It still isn't ready for prime time after all those version updates.

I currently dual boot XP Pro/7 Ultimate from this source (https://thepiratebay.org/browse/301) with no problems. My total os/software cost is $0.

:-* sorry to badmouth linux but it still blows