GeekTech
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Linux
Time to explore a new OS. This post is for Sandman and his exploration of alternatives to Microshaft's Winblows.
I know a few people who use Fedora. I have never personally experienced it before but I know that there are people who are happy with it. I have personally used Ubuntu for awhile and I liked it. The only reason why I don't use it anymore is that it didn't have support for my audio card (which was a professional studio card) and I couldn't figure out how to install packages. I'm not to that level of programming and understanding Konsol.
My top pick of a Linux distro would definitely have to be Dream Linux. This is as close to an open source Macintosh as you can get. It even has the dock with the cool effects and all that jazz. I liked it from the moment I booted from the live CD. I had issues installing it because I was doing it on ancient machines and there was hardware issues but I definitely recommend it to anyone who sort of like Mac.
In Sandman's particular situation with the fight for XP, I recommend PCLinuxOS. PCLinuxOS is Linux that is designed to look and feel just like XP, but much much less demanding with the resources. Linux Kernel + XP GUI = Your best friend.
You also said that you might go with Kubuntu. I'm not sure if you know this or not but there are three versions of "Ubuntu". There is standard "Ubuntu", there is the "Educational" version called "Edubuntu" and "Kubuntu" which is the KDE version of ubuntu instead of using GNOME. This just gives it a different GUI. From the screen shots, I recommened standard Ubuntu for a more mac feel. If you want more of a windows feel, then kubuntu is the one.
Recently, there have been two more distros added to the ubuntu project. The first is "Gobuntu" which is an operating system that has "no firmware, drivers, applications, or content included in [it] that does not include the full source or whose license does not provide the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute the body of work." So if you are an intense programmer, this is definitely the one for you.
The second is Xubuntu - an official derivative of Ubuntu using the Xfce desktop environment. It is intended for users with less-powerful computers, or those that require a highly efficient desktop environment on faster systems. Xubuntu features primarily GNOME applications. This distro is basically like a super 'lite' edition and doesn't give you all the cool stuff that you want. I don't recommend this.
I hope this gives you a more broad spectrum and helps shine some more light. These distros are only my favorites but I know that there are hundreds of them. Choosing the right one is like becoming engaged to the girl of your dreams -- it takes a lot of time and a wise decision.
I know a few people who use Fedora. I have never personally experienced it before but I know that there are people who are happy with it. I have personally used Ubuntu for awhile and I liked it. The only reason why I don't use it anymore is that it didn't have support for my audio card (which was a professional studio card) and I couldn't figure out how to install packages. I'm not to that level of programming and understanding Konsol.
My top pick of a Linux distro would definitely have to be Dream Linux. This is as close to an open source Macintosh as you can get. It even has the dock with the cool effects and all that jazz. I liked it from the moment I booted from the live CD. I had issues installing it because I was doing it on ancient machines and there was hardware issues but I definitely recommend it to anyone who sort of like Mac.
In Sandman's particular situation with the fight for XP, I recommend PCLinuxOS. PCLinuxOS is Linux that is designed to look and feel just like XP, but much much less demanding with the resources. Linux Kernel + XP GUI = Your best friend.
You also said that you might go with Kubuntu. I'm not sure if you know this or not but there are three versions of "Ubuntu". There is standard "Ubuntu", there is the "Educational" version called "Edubuntu" and "Kubuntu" which is the KDE version of ubuntu instead of using GNOME. This just gives it a different GUI. From the screen shots, I recommened standard Ubuntu for a more mac feel. If you want more of a windows feel, then kubuntu is the one.
Recently, there have been two more distros added to the ubuntu project. The first is "Gobuntu" which is an operating system that has "no firmware, drivers, applications, or content included in [it] that does not include the full source or whose license does not provide the right to use, study, modify, and redistribute the body of work." So if you are an intense programmer, this is definitely the one for you.
The second is Xubuntu - an official derivative of Ubuntu using the Xfce desktop environment. It is intended for users with less-powerful computers, or those that require a highly efficient desktop environment on faster systems. Xubuntu features primarily GNOME applications. This distro is basically like a super 'lite' edition and doesn't give you all the cool stuff that you want. I don't recommend this.
I hope this gives you a more broad spectrum and helps shine some more light. These distros are only my favorites but I know that there are hundreds of them. Choosing the right one is like becoming engaged to the girl of your dreams -- it takes a lot of time and a wise decision.
Labels: Help, OS, Programming, Software
