New to Linux

[Durbs]

Linux. Only free if your time is worthless.

Thats quite true IMO.

Unless you have a need for Linux i.e. its going to help you out in future contracts i personally couldn't find anything about it worth sticking with and certainly wouldn't fancy using it as daily working platform (shudder).

If you just fancy dabbling with a new OS and want a play with something different then Mac OS is a million times more welcoming and capable.

I've really tried to like Linux, i'd love to like it but i've tried a number of different distro's over the years in an attempt to see what everyone raves about but every time i've just come away with the impression that it works but is basically sh1t. Was the other way round with Mac, thought i'd hate it but actually really liked it.

Most recently was a couple of days ago when i dug out my eee PC which i'd imaged back to Linux from XP a while back in an obvious fit of madness. It works but by the end of the session i was ready to chuck the thing out of the window. Want to create a new text doc, why cant i right click --> New --> Text Doc. Want to update Firefox? Why do i have to type in a string of unmemorable commands - what wrong with a feckin' file to double click on???? Wheres 'My Computer' and why wont the Linux equivalent show me the external storage or SD card thats plugged into the thing even though it can actually access them via some wierd name its chosen for them involving things like root/usr.

Didn't get any of this when trying out OSX even though its in the same league of the unknown so to answer the OP, if its just a plaything, get a Mac Mini. Until Apache can run .NET i cant see the point of Linux.

[chicane]

Until Apache can run .NET i cant see the point of Linux.

Here you go:

http://mono-project.com/ASP.NET

[Durbs]

Here you go:

http://mono-project.com/ASP.NET

Does it work though? Or is it like the old classic asp Chilisoft stuff that worked up to the point when you tried to run anything complicated.

Cant read the site as unhelpfully they've put dark text on a dark background and most of it is invisible in clientco's IE6.

[chicane]

Does it work though?

Should work fine, subject to minor code changes to take into account the differences between the two platforms (file path naming conventions etc) and as long as the app isn't dependent upon MS-exclusive things like COM objects.

In reality, your mileage is likely to vary depending upon the Linux distribution in use. That's the thing with Linux, it's never as simple as "application x works on Linux" or "application y doesn't work on Linux" because different distributions put varying amounts of effort into packaging the various applications available.

[Durbs]

Should work fine, subject to minor code changes to take into account the differences between the two platforms (file path naming conventions etc) and as long as the app isn't dependent upon MS-exclusive things like COM objects.

In reality, your mileage is likely to vary depending upon the Linux distribution in use. That's the thing with Linux, it's never as simple as "application x works on Linux" or "application y doesn't work on Linux" because different distributions put varying amounts of effort into packaging the various applications available.

I may have a play with that then.

As a web server, cant fault the OS but thats the way i see Linux, it fulfils "a" role well. Web server, great, NAS controller, great, desktop OS and productivity platform? Nah.

Another thing that really puts me off is what the OP has stated - which distro? There's millions and as you say, app X will work great on one but not another. This'll be the OS's downfall i reckon.

[TheRefactornator]

...your mileage is likely to vary...

Nice one. I often see this comment in firmware development forums where proper geeks are hacking with open source tools and hardware they shouldn't be hacking and as a collective they're helping each other in their struggle to make progress. Don't get me wrong some clever guys are doing this sort of thing and it's where innovations are made but it's definitely not my interest.

When developing software I like to actually get results, so to me "your mileage is likely to vary" means - something you attempt to code won't work for some inexplicable reason and you will end up wishing you hadn't bothered. Of course if you're the determined type to happily hack into the underlying technology and OS with little or no documentation to find the root cause, this could be right up your street.

[lilelvis2000]

I don't use Linux as a desktop environment. I can't as all my client's want stuff in MS Office. Very difficult if the platform doesn't support MS Office!
But Linux is superb as a NAS, DNS, Web proxy,RAID, LDAP and even doesn't do a decent job of Domain Controller.

GIMP is nice though. I do like Firefox. CentOS is a superb server platform, Ubuntu is the best desktop equal to Fedora.

Interestingly, some of the best document management systems are Open Source (Alfreso, Knowldege Tree being two superb examples). So there is good stuff out there. Wouldn't write it off.

Must say I've never had a problem using Synaptic to update software.

[Bunk]

GIMP is nice though.

I've tried using GIMP (and GIMPshop) a few times and every time I ended up wanting to murder whoever designed it.

[lilelvis2000]

I've tried using GIMP (and GIMPshop) a few times and every time I ended up wanting to murder whoever designed it.

Latest version much improved.

[expat]

Linux. Only free if your time is worthless.

True. Same is true for Windows: £180 from Amazon, but only if your time is worthless.


I did my research, mostly practical, and finally got a Mac; with great misgivings because I do not buy in to branding and hype. It is a new experience after Windows, but in short it does answer the real requirement, which I had never quite put in so many words until I saw it: I spend almost all my screen time actually doing what I want, and almost none making the damn thing work.


GIMP is an outstanding effort by the developers, and quite workable in latest versions. Also, interesting to see a complex app implemented without MDI. But in the end I have 2 reservations about it:
1. the interface looks like 5 different apps running at the same time. That doesn't suit my thinking: when I am editing an image, the Tools or Layers windows are part of that app, not different windows.
2. it still doesn't work on 16-bit or at least 12-bit images, and if you're coming from film then you really need that. Even on all-digital processing you should be in 12-bit at least.

Photoshop does those and more, and its interface is tuned for professional work, and doesn't waste any screen space. The full product is costly, but you don't need its professional image-creation capabilities (if you do, you're not reading this for info).

So I have ordered Photoshop Elements from Amazon for £50. (For purely photographic manipulation of digital photographs I use Lightzone)