Linux??? Is it the way to go?

[Nyroca]

Got another question! I would like to know everybodys opinion on Linux! I already asked a cople of people about it but i want to hear everybodys. Is it better than windows? What is the diference? Is it EASYIER to use? Where can i get it? I've notice everybody loves it. Tell me why. I'm very curious. Thanks

[bludgeon]

Um, there have been quite a few psosts about this, but No, it's not easier, the learning curve is a bit steeper. . .why??, you have more access to the system, you can change whatever you like, since most distors will include the source code to everything. Where do you get it. . .you can get it from ftp sites, do a google search, or buy a copy from a site, they're usually really cheap if you don't want any books to help you with it. . .if your curious, get a copy, install it and start to play with it. GL.

[IchNiSan]

Lots of people like linux for lots of different reasons. It's free(as in beer, you can download it, and as in speech). You can get real down and dirty, and change code to do what you need it to do(free as in speech, open source license). There are tons of quality open source apps out there. It will replace a windows file/print server without any licensing cost. Run a great webserver.

I could go on and on. There are so many reasons why people love it, and prefer it to MS, though some of those reasons are probably more a dislike of MS, than a real love for linux, IMHO.

To answer some of your other questions, no, it is not Easier than microsoft. Although, if you needed to set up a machine which is secure, and only had access to certain apps, like an email machine, or a kiosk, linux would be my choice. For most "users" linux would be hard, although there have been lots of advances in the gui, and all the applications. Real basic users, who only know how to read email, type documents, and print, could probably live just fine on a preset linux machine(after you show them exactly what to do). More advanced basic users, who typically try more different things(a little knowledge is a dangerous thing), would probably have a hard time.

You can get it at most computer stores, even Staples if you wanted. Buy a distro from Redhat or Suse, or one of several others. That is the easiest way, as you have everything you need on a CD, plus some install support probably.

If you are an adventurous spirit, download it from

www.redhat.com
www.debian.org
www.slackware.org

This is free, except for long download times, though be warned, this is nowhere near as easy as buying a packaged distro, at least the debian and slackware downloads are not.

[anonymityX]

Linux is the way to go!
If you really want to know how operating systems work go for linux.
And its always good to choose an alternitive to windows just to see Mr Gates go down the pan...
see http://www.****windows.com for details....

-aX

[tyger_claw]

To go with what IchNiSan said

You can get it at most computer stores, even Staples if you wanted. Buy a distro from Redhat or Suse, or one of several others. That is the easiest way, as you have everything you need on a CD, plus some install support probably.

It's best to drop 40$ on a distro because you get the OS on CD, you might also get; a sourcecode CD, a Linux version of a game (ie: Myth II, Quake, UT...), other softwares (ie: Corel Linux comes with WordPerfect, Mandrake comes with Gimp...), and you get a Manual!

This is best when wanting to learn a Linux since most Distros give nice, thick books to explain "how-to". Then once you've done the book, you can move to the web communities for learning more and more....

-----

Is Linux easier? Had you learnt it first, sure... migrating from Windows to Linux, HELL NO!
It's a learning curve mainly due to file hierchy and commands....
(ie: Windows has .exe to know it's an executable, Linux has x in -xrw--w to know)

Is it better? Depends on what?

Security? Not really.... see, while Windows has Huge holes (when discovered) Linux security is easier to discover due to the source code being available. Now I could go on about this, but it basically falls down to how good of a user/admin you are for security....

Controlability? Yeah.... You can customize the Linux distro in and out. You can modify the Kernel, Shell, XWindowing, etc..... right at the core, the code! No installing software for it!

Stability? Yeah.... If it crashes, it's easier to fix then Windows. If Windows suffers a bad enough of a blow (like registry corruption) you'll probably have to reinstall the OS, while Linux you just boot into a "debug" mode and use utilities to fix the problem.....

Cost? Duh.... It's free, softwares free (some better then Windows apps (ie: Photoshop vs. Gimp)) just find it, download it and tada!

There are many reasons, and many here will give many different reasons why...
It basically boils down to what you think....

[Nyroca]

Thank you for your opinions. I think i will play with it a little and see what i like. I will be going from windows to linux but oh well. Life's a b*tch. Thank you all again.