1. Sillraaia

    Sillraaia New Member

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    Anyone use Linux?

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Sillraaia, Nov 2, 2009.

    If so, what version / distro? I have kind of wanted to change from windows for a while, and think I am finally ready, but not sure which to get.
    I kind of need something small, my hdd on my laptop is only 2G.

    I am assuming I could get a bare bones system and then just add the programs I want to it, kind of like windows, right?

    Also - Is the coding different, for the different versions? I mean, if I get one version, would I then be limited to modules / packages released by those people only, or would I be open to use any modules/packages from different types of linux as well?

    If I get a(ny) version of linux, could I download a fully featured version of Mozilla from the Mozilla website and have it work? (Or Openoffice, or whatever) or do I need specialized versions of those programs made specifically for my version of linux?

    Sorry for the extended post, more questions came up than I had anticipated.
    Thanks.
     
  2. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    WARNING: ANY posts that attempt to stir up the Linux vs Windows vs Mac debate WILL BE DELETED, and MAY RESULT IN AN INFRACTION.
     
  3. Sillraaia

    Sillraaia New Member

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    Eep! Scary red text! Did I do something wrong? /cringe
     
  4. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

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    No, you didn't. Some people just have very strong feelings about the OS they use, so advanced warning is called for in threads like this.

    I've never used Linux, but I've heard mixed things about it. Personally, I've never had any problems with my PCs, but then, I don't use the computer for much, so that could be why...
     
  5. Little Miss Edi

    Little Miss Edi New Member

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    I use Linux on my netbook. It came with it. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head which version it is though. I've found that with a little digging you can get most things to work on Linux (skype, itunes etc) But I'm cheating and have a friend who does cybernets help me. It isn't nearly as straight forward as one of the more main stream systems but then it may just be a case of what you're used to. When it comes to downloading simple (like a spreadsheet or a desktop publisher or something) it's really simple to download them straight from Linux or openoffice, it's just harder to find them once they're on there ¬_¬

    Guess that actually isn't all that helpful - sorry. Hope someone who's a bit more tech savy can help you out.
     
  6. RobT

    RobT Active Member

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    Your hard disk may be to small at 2Gb. I think a minimal fedora install is 3Gb with at least 5.5Gb recommended for the swap, /boot and /root partitions.

    That aside, you've got fedora, Ubuntu, Red Hat, SUSE some distributions you can pay for support etc . . . so its really a matter of preference. If you're really none the wiser try fedora, you can download a bootable CD image so you can try the look and feel of the different desktops before you installed.

    There can be differences in packages between distributions so where possible you should download for the relevant distribution although there are a lot of software packages written to run on any Linux. Software packages can be in the form .rpm, .deb, .bin, .tar and either zipped, gzipped or bzipped depending on how they're distributed and therefore the tools to install can be different such as yum, yast, rpm, apt, dpkg or tar / unzip and install.

    I believe firefox is down as a "linux" download and I'm not aware of any differences between linux distributions.
     
  7. Sillraaia

    Sillraaia New Member

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    That is some of my questions answered, thanks. I think I will try Slax, and hope I 1) can understand it, and 2) have the room for what I need. It's not like I need a lot - just a browser, a text editor (I have come to prefer open office), and an IM program.

    I'm just having some freaky kind of problem with Windows atm, it is running me out of hdd space for no reason. And no, up-to-date anti-virus says I'm clean. I think it's a mozilla thing... somehow.

    So figured a re-format was the easiest option for now, and a change of pace might be fun. Something different, anyways, assuming I can get it to work for me. :) Thanks
     
  8. thirdwind

    thirdwind Member Contest Administrator Reviewer Contributor

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    My friend uses Ubuntu and swears by it. From what I hear, it's supposed to be really good. And another bonus is that it's free.
     
  9. Deme

    Deme New Member

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    I've used many distros of linux including: Ubuntu, Mandriva, and Redhat... Of course with my limited computer knowledge, I wasn't even able to get the internet up and running *sighs*.. I'll stick with Windows for the time being... :)
     
  10. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    Most Linux distributions use rpm package distributions. 2GB is pretty limiting, so you might not be able to use a more feature-rich distribution like SuSE (which I happen to like on my Linux units).
     

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