The [Main] 'Why did YOU choose Linux?' Thread

I am tired of trying to keep windows xp, 2k from crashing during intense(4hr+) gameplay. I am tired of Windows not utilizing the power my overclocked setup has. Im sooo tired of rebooting, and reformating, and reactivating and reloading winXp because winXP has a bad hair day, for no reason. I want something stable, powerful, tweakable which can play any WIndow based game.

Im a little worried though, i havent seen anything good about playing eq2 on linux. mayby im not looking in the correct place. PM me PLEASE if you find info to the countrary.

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Originally Posted by FhaeTon

Sorry to the Win faithful no pun intended but I have read enough to know that I don't want to get into security issues and reinstalling every 6 months, after all I'm in a MacOSX TiGer environment and I forgot what a crash feels like. I know I will have my initial problems and supernatural learning curve but I think it will be worth it after reading the post. Thx for your testamonials I am convinced I wanna use Linux as my first OS outside of Mac.

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Well, then you will be glad to hear that Linux and OSX nicely play together. I am a Linux user for three years now on my desktop system, but last December I bought a 12" powerbook. I like Linux better because I can configure it exactly the way I want so it fits my workflow, but OSX is nicer in terms of eye candy and the ability to run proprietary applications more easily.

As you are a newbie to Linux I suggest you pick an easy distribution first like SuSE, Mandriva or Ubuntu. Have a look here in iso-confused to get an impression on why people like various distributions. And yes, there are also distributions that can be installed on the powerpc - just in case you wanna dual boot Linux/OSX on your G5. ;)

I started using windows in 91 thats Windows 3.0 and man i loved it, of course it was pirated...
Well I got turned onto linux 1 year ago and I havn't looked back except to download Borg XP for freinds and family who dont want to try linux.....

Instead of downloading pirated software and install it for them, you'd better educate them.

I chose Linux because I dont want to help Microsoft spy on the world, but really its far more interesting than windows,

My reason was simple.
I got pissed when I heard that XP needed an actication key. I am not a tree huger by no means, but at the same time I dont want to be treated like a puppy by corporate cigar smoking s***heads.

unfortunatley I think micrsoft is going to control the world because there are to many innocent people out there who trust big corporations, I just love linux for its freedom of expression,its freedom of choice of distros, no such choice with windows,its the latest or go without.

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Originally Posted by Tone39

unfortunatley I think micrsoft is going to control the world

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I don't think so. Earlier, people believed IBM is going to control the world, but Microsoft blew them away and IBM hardly managed to survive.

Today, people believe Microsoft is going to control the world, but with Google we already have a new competitior at the horizon - and Redmond is really afraid of Google, just look at their latest encounters in courts.

Running a Linux distribution is a good way of saying No to Microsoft. However, one day there will be the point when we have to think better again about what search engine we should use. Until then I'm happily counting down the days for Microsoft. :D

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Originally Posted by Parcival

...and Redmond is really afraid of Google, just look at their latest encounters in courts...

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What do you mean?

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...ogle_microsoft

First time for me here also - hi :)

By boss kept buying Linux distros back in 1998 so I tried them and liked them. Eventually I installed Mandrake 7 and I've been using Mandrake, Fedora and Suse ever since. I have setup an older machine for my parents for net access but the latest distros are too much for it so I am going to try ZenWalk.

Linux is very powerful with the command line. Scripting is great fun and the apps now I think are better than Windows proprietary except that I use Dreamweaver via Crossover Office.

Hi, good to have you here with us. :)

i dont cuss enough.. linux gives me an excuss to open up alittle

been playing with it for years ??? (red hat 5.1) but have never had much luck with it.

still trying

Hi all, newbie here.

I use Suse 9.3 on my second PC (PIII-1400) I love the look and feel of it and to be honest am sick of Windows security issues. I don't think XP is a bad OS but it suffers from the fact it is in over 95% of the world PC's, if you where a crook or just wanted to annoy people wouldn't you target Windows users?

Secondly, my 60 year old mother want to buy her first PC. I'm going to set it up with Suse. For digital camera, web, email and WP it is perfect and I won't suffer due to it getting viruses and spyware etc.

Rod

I was always a reluctant Windows user. I don't think I've really loved Windows since 1990-91 with version 3.0 (yes, not 3.1) when I experienced the joy of getting Trumpet Winsock working for free internet access (1200 baud!) through my university shell account. After that, the novelty really wore off and I was annoyed with its problems and limitations. OS/2 and Mac OS helped me get by until I started experimenting with Linux in `98 (Red Hat 5.0 - "Hurricane"). They were (more) stable and fun to use.

I tried Linux because it was free, worked on my 486, was easy to install (by ftp), and it was growing and progressing so quickly. It was an exciting time.

I use Linux full time at home and at work (as a dektop) because it is incredibly stable, has great software written by brilliant and creative people, has a choice of GUIs that proprietary OS's could only wish for, and... it's still free. It's fun to use and I like the fact that I still have a lot to learn about it. The fact that the limitations are mostly what I know and have tried with it, and not what it can do, makes me admire it greatly. How many operating systems can you say that about?

- T.

I chose linux because:

1. If it's free, it's me.
2. Compilers, compilers, compilers for everybody.
3. Lack of virus, spyware, malware, worms, billgates.
4. Did I say free?
5. Customizability, lower operational overhead.
6. Didn't need latest and greatest to operate (still have RH6 running on a 486DX2).
7. Oh, it's free.

It's a short list, but nonetheless valid.

What's Linux?

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Originally Posted by supaphat

What's Linux?

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Linux is a kernel distributed under an 'open-source' liscense and is available at no charge. Operating systems which use this kernel are called (Linux) 'distributions.'

There are hundreds of distributions out there. Some are there to play around with, others serve a more useful purpose. RedHat is by far the most established company. Some of the most populare distributions are RedHat Linux, Fedora Core, Debian, Ubuntu, SuSE Linux, and Mandrake Linux.

Good luck in choosing one...

...because I wanted to learn *nix. I first tried FreeBSD but I found it somewhat difficult for a noob fresh off the GUI so I went with RH 8 instead and steadily weened myself off of relying off GNOME/KDE as I became accustomed to bash/sh/tcsh. Now I use GNU/Linux *BSD and Solaris.

Linux: If I have a problem, I fix it.
Build my own boxes.

OS X: Don't have problems.
Expensive hardware.

Windows: If I have a problem, I learn to live with it.

1. a secuirty OS
2. server OS
3. open source
4. *NIX like system minus the kernel.(unix has history)
5. relaible
6. the only real OS to use.

:rolleyes: I'm guessing my reasons for "trying" to use Linux are rather unique. I started in the computer business when they were made with vacuum tubes and we programmed them with patch cords (yep, I'm a really old dude :eek: ). When Unix rolled around in the late 60's and early 70's, the closest most of us got to a hands-on experience was on a remote timeshare terminal, buying our compute time by the millisecond. When Intel first came out with the 4004 microprocessor, I built my first microcomputer (this is what we called them before IBM coined the term "PC"). I wrote my own OS (actually a RTOS since this was in the days when HDD's were the size of washing machines and us common mortals were using punched tape or audio cassettes for "mass storage" (the first Winchester HDD I owned was a whopping 5MB capacity!).

Well enough of all that... As many if not most of us old timers did, we ended up traveling down the Microsoft road simply because that's where the jobs and cheap hardware were. I've had a strong dislike for Microsoft since the very beginning (remember what happened to Dr. DOS), but was trapped. Many times I've considered switching to the Mac, but at this stage of life it would just be too expensive to buy the hardware and replace my app's.

Which brings me to back to the original question... "Why Linux"? Well... quite simply: 1) It isn't Microsoft, 2) It takes me full circle back to my Unix roots, and 3) It's virtually free to experiment with.

*blushes, ashamed* for the 1337ness, windows has too many restrictions. Linux is a bit hard to work, but more fun to get creative with :)

I built up a puter and decided to put linux on it. I just wanted to try something else as i was sick of babysitting my windows 2k box.

I've been happy happy happy. Linux is great, i love freedom to choose and configure.

No more registry editing, no more cryptic/idiotic error messages, no more force fed UI and lousy memory management!

I choose Linux after my last windows crash. I swore if I had reinstall windows that I would install Linux instead. I am just a newbie but I already love it. On a side note I am taking classes to get the A+ certification so I can fix althose windows boxes.

Frog

Because I wanted to learn more about computers. and after the windows ı'm looking another os,more professional than so I choose the linux

Because Linux is better than Windows... Now i use FreeBSD, thinking of going back to Linux as kernel 2.6 is said to be stable as FreeBSD and because of its popularity.

Once upon time, when I was a wee lad, I knew this rich guy that was a "programmer". At the time, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I wanted to be rich because you can't get the girls if you aren't rich. Then I learned from this rich "programmer" that being a "programmer" isn't a genetic or mental defect. In fact anyone could learn to be a programmer, but they'd need a "compiler". Then I read somewhere that this "Linux" thing was giving away free compilers called "gcc". And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, I'm trying just trying to figure out step 2.

1. Become a programmer
2. ???
3. Profit!

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Originally Posted by voidinit

Once upon time, when I was a wee lad, I knew this rich guy that was a "programmer". At the time, I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I wanted to be rich because you can't get the girls if you aren't rich. Then I learned from this rich "programmer" that being a "programmer" isn't a genetic or mental defect. In fact anyone could learn to be a programmer, but they'd need a "compiler". Then I read somewhere that this "Linux" thing was giving away free compilers called "gcc". And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, I'm trying just trying to figure out step 2.

1. Become a programmer
2. ???
3. Profit!

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lol I Program in Windows and I am poor. :(

Open Source, Modular, Dependable, Stable, Secure, Customizable, Efficient,

Linux is pure good will, and an excelent example of what humanity is capable of when dollar signs aren't a factor.

'Nuff said.

I'm ashamed that I didn't convert to linux earlier than I actually did. I used to think that linux was only for those with esoteric knowledge of mainframes and advanced programming. And so I stuck with windows, although I was unhappy with the biblical proportioned plague of viruses, malware, spyware, crashes, reboots and so on ad infinitum.

I like so much about linux there just isn't space to say it all. I love the control it gives me over problem solving and learning as much as I like, the only limits are myself and not the software. Also the spirit of open source and of the community as a whole makes me realize that there are people out there with the desire to help others.

Currently using a newbie friendly SUSE 9.2

Hi,
my boy is a practicing astronomer. I'm a retired teacher, now teaching in a j/c whereat I use powerpoint and do a newsletter where I use a scanner.

My boy is a power Linux user, mostly science stuff, and uses a Mac for personal stuff and Linux on it for the science stuff..

He kept saying I ought to try out Linux but I kept pointing out that, as of about a year ago...that Linux wasn't "stable" enough....it HAS to work each and every time I get on the machine....it took "setup time" which is time that I don't have to spend...and it didn't have three key things, for me;

a) scanner support
b) a "publisher" type thing that was more than just something that you could put a border around the page
c) a "powerpoint" type program...

I'd tried several distros and they just didn't cut it in one or more ways...

Wellllllllll then I found out I could assemble computers and donate them(from dollar parts) and sometimes "mod" them...for kids and retired folks and Hispanics...(I do ESL also)...

And all of a sudden I needed a Linux to install.....I went through a BUNCH....and settled on Xandros.....only to fnd out later that......IT JUST WORKED.....I'm using the presentation now for my lectures, the OO, you all know this...duuuhh...is really a publisher light.....

BUT.....no scanner....however, BROTHER to the rescue...buying a Brother MFC 420CN scanner/printer etc. last month made me Windoze freeeee!

and....also, I had been involved with Castle Cops for a while(was almost a responder, but had to quit due to finances(two jobs!)...and was sick and tired of malware and Norton anti-do nothing...

And, that's how I came to linux....that's my story....and I'm stickin' to it! :)

ain't xandros great!
woodsmoke

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Originally Posted by gehidore

[offtopic]


IMO the best free or even non free anti viri for win is AVG from grisoft.
[/offtopic]

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Now, guy, that is just tricksey as Smeagol used to say....I'm actually a biologist and thought...well there's a term that looked like it might be real or might be a "twist" so I googled "stomatopod" and what did I get? What "looked" like a site about glowing brine shrimp and a "popup" for Firefox?

Now, I'm writing this in Firefox, but jumped out to use MYIE2 that I also keep on this machine, because it is dedicated as a Windoze for an online second job I have....

Annnnnddddd......when I go there using Firefox....no popup!

I'm going to tell one of my students that has to dual boot his laptop with Windoze and Fedora Core 3 at the j/c(whereat I teach) to take a look there when he's in Windoze....he's in a digital art class that uses Windoze..and is taking "certification" clases for Fedora or one of those.......he, he, he, he.... ;)

Veerrrryyyyyy tricksey!


ain't Xandros great
woodsmoke

Linux chose me. I had to start supporting it at work. The more I learned about it, the more I loved using it. Right now I have dropped Windows2000 completely, and its supposed to be our "Corporate Standard". I figure if any big company would switch to a linux distro it would 1) save them a load of money 2) make them a lot more productive 3) prevent any kind of BS we get with M$ (viruses, trojans, spyware, etc.).

The only reason I'm still using Windows @ home, is cause of the games... those damn games.. :p

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Originally Posted by r0ck

The only reason I'm still using Windows @ home, is cause of the games... those damn games.. :p

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Doom3, Quake4, and America's Army all run natively on Linux. What more do you need :D

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Originally Posted by Parcival

I don't think so. Earlier, people believed IBM is going to control the world, but Microsoft blew them away and IBM hardly managed to survive.

Today, people believe Microsoft is going to control the world, but with Google we already have a new competitior at the horizon - and Redmond is really afraid of Google, just look at their latest encounters in courts.

Running a Linux distribution is a good way of saying No to Microsoft. However, one day there will be the point when we have to think better again about what search engine we should use. Until then I'm happily counting down the days for Microsoft. :D

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Google has been starting to show a lot of similar tendencies to Microsoft lately (eg gmail message hoarding and Google Desktop nosey-parkering) so I have moved to Teoma. I notice much more appropriate results and no results hijacking at all.

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Originally Posted by je_fro

Doom3, Quake4, and America's Army all run natively on Linux. What more do you need :D

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Battlefield 2 ? :D

I'm sick of it. Every time I want to do something in linux, THERE IS A WAY! I might have to learn a few things, but there is a way. With Winblows, there is no way. The **** is useless. My friend just got a 802.11G wireless card installed the drivers and card. Now, the only networks he can see are ones that broadcast their ESSID. I can get him on our network or neighbours network so long as the ESSID is being broadcast. As soon as I stop broadcasting the ESSID, the POS Winblows loses the connection and will not manualy pick up the ESSID when you enter it manually. The `Wizzard' requires that you use WEP or WPA, which I don't 'cause:

1) I'm too lazy
2) The **** is cracked anyway, so if anyone truely wants to get in they can, unless I spend some time everyday to play with my wireless...F that! Then again, they might get lucky and have it cracked in 6 minutes. I have the number of DHCP users limited to the number of PCs I have, which all run 24/7. Also, the remote managment is set to off so they have to have a hardwire connection to configure the router. Not only that but some dude down the road has an ESSID of `NETGEAR' on a completely open network.

Yeah I should encrypt the network, and I'll get around to it sometime...eventually.

Correction, the POS windows box will detect the network (when it feels like it) but WILL NOT acquire an IP.

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Originally Posted by je_fro

Doom3, Quake4, and America's Army all run natively on Linux. What more do you need :D

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Alice, Steam (runs with wine (or at least it used to)), Fear, Prey, Hellgate: London

Last two haven't been released yet, but I'm buying both as soon as they hit shelves.

damit!! i chose linux because it was the only cd's that would boot up the night i was building this cracker box!!!