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Geek Culture / I'm debating whether to install linux again...

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 23:41
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So... A while ago, I switched from windows to ubuntu, and all I saw was an OS with a bunch of kinks as far as networking and stuff goes. I switched back to windows, then decided to try arch linux. I gained a whole new appreciation for command line stuff and linux, because you had complete control over so many options. Once I got homesick for DBPro, and spent a bunch of time trying to set up wine, however, I went back to windows. (I installed cygwin ASAP, of course)

Now I'm thinking about switching back to arch linux for good. I'm way better at C++/Java than the last time I ran linux, and I figure that I'd be forced to learn more and play less, if for every native windows app I had to fiddle with wine for hours. Plus, if programming didn't work out, I could always attempt to become a linux sysadmin (I mean, ). Also, my website is hosted on a unix apache server, so I'd have more website-management ability if I was competent with linux.

Any thoughts? I've rounded up files I don't want to lose, in case I do decide to make the switch, but it won't be for another day or so. Also, does anyone on this forum regularly use linux, or have any minor sysadmin experience?


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Interplanetary Funk
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 23:52
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I've tried this before, because of windows being the dominant OS almost all software is developed for it and can be impossible to get running on linux. Personally I'd use a dual boot config and just try my best to use linux and avoid windows as much as possible.

Get on my level
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bitJericho
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Posted: 11th Apr 2011 23:53
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I'd personally stick with ubuntu, but to each his own.

I think Linux is far superior to windows, but it's only as good as the software that runs on it, and a lot of windows software doesn't run on it

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Phaelax
DBPro Master
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 02:31
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I'm quite happy with Linux Mint, runs on my laptop and had better out-of-the-box support for my wifi card than Win7 did.

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JoelJ
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 05:09
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I've been on Linux for a few years now. Mainly Ubuntu. I can tell you that even in just the last year Ubuntu has become amazingly better than it was. I've never had issues with drivers or anything. I use Fedora at work, and I like it well enough, but I think Ubuntu 'just works' better than Fedora. I don't dual boot with any machines anymore and I never miss Windows.

I had to use Windows for a while at work and I'll tell you, Linux is hands down the best environment for programming.

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crispex
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 13:43
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I use Kubuntu, but I also have Ubuntu installed, along with Windows. I use Windows for my gaming, Kubuntu or Ubuntu for my serious work like coding sites and whatnot. Linux has vastly improved over the last 4 years. I still have my 7.04 CD for Ubuntu, and now that I look back, it wasn't that good, but it was still better than most. I'd say if not Ubuntu, make sure you use a Linux distro based off of Debian, as I consider its package management and file structure to be entirely better than any other Linux distro I've ever used.

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TheComet
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 14:26
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ubuntu's new Gnome 3 sucks balls. Since that horrible change to the user interface, I've switched to Xubuntu

TheComet

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 17:22
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Ahahah.... get this: I got arch linux installed alright, and I was going to install my nVidia drivers with pacman - arch's package manager - and figured I'd update my pacman distro at the same time. So, I set it to download/update and lo and behold, my laptop turned off. Apparently I had left the dang thing unplugged, and since my laptop drivers weren't installed yet, there was no low power warning .

Sooo, anyways, I realized that was bad, turned my laptop back on, typed in "pacman", and got the message "Error: command not found". I also happened to leave my installation CD at my friends house, and so am reinstalling windows so that I can re-download arch. >.>


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Interplanetary Funk
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 17:38
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no matter what you do, you need windows

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charger bandit
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Posted: 12th Apr 2011 17:42
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On my laptop I had Ubuntu 10.10 installed,it worked great. But since my PC broke and I'm without parts,I installed Win7. Once I get my PC running,it's back to Ubuntu.


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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:17
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So I got the whole GUI/sound/input/graphics drivers/wifi working. I'm having trouble on getting flash/java working now.

Pacman - the package manager for arch linux - has a mirrorlist. The term "mirror" here is used very lightly, because a lot of the time I try to download something from one mirror, and pacman can't find it, but when I switch to another mirror it downloads fine. >.>

Arch linux is for people who develop arch linux.

Whatever though, hopefully after I get more stuff working I'll have a lot more experience dealing with weird dependencies/version numbers

(the context my post is in: I'm trying to get java working for my browser. So I told pacman to download a relevant package, and it wasn't found. Then I switched to a different "mirror", and it found the package, but recommended a system-wide update, where it's asking me if I *really* want to update all these system critical files. I have no clue what's what... so... I don't even know xD)


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crispex
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:19
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Java must be run under Virtual Machine for Linux. Java isn't actually natively supported on Linux, contrary to popular belief.

Another common misconception: Games like Minecraft run better on Linux. Wrong. I have yet to find a game I truly enjoyed that works on Linux. Linux was not made for games.

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:26 Edited at: 13th Apr 2011 06:27
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Quote: "Java must be run under Virtual Machine for Linux. Java isn't actually natively supported on Linux, contrary to popular belief.
"

All java applications have to be run under a virtual machine...

[edit] and so the issue would be "the java virtual machine isn't installed natively with my linux distribution"


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crispex
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:30
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Yes, but there are a LOT of people who have issues obtaining it for Linux. I know it's a pain, because Sun doesn't exactly make it as easy for Linux as for Windows. It doesn't run them particularly faster.

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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:33
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But... compared to issues with wifi or graphics drivers, it's a small bump.

...Well, maybe I'm saying that prematurely, seeing as how I haven't got java installed yet, but I think that's a repository/my lack of knowledge issue.

...However I do remember playing minecraft on arch linux last time it was installed.


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:33
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Install BSD! BSD is the ultimate unix OS! from what i heard its better than any linux distro!

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 06:53
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Quote: "Install BSD! BSD is the ultimate unix OS! from what i heard its better than any linux distro!
"

too late xD

aaand it looks like it's not arch linux's fault. Apparently somewhere in the man-pages, it says to choose an up to date mirror. To figure out what mirrors are up to date, and which aren't, you need to go to the website. Soo... I tried checking if the mirrors I was using (the ones in a file that came with the installation of the OS) were up to daye... and they weren't even listed >.>

So now I'm installing upgrades to the package manager from a source, which I'm not sure is reliable.
:\


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PAGAN_old
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 07:07
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its a stereotype that lunux users think they are so cool and nerdy and hardcore and alternative compared to all mac and windows users. Well apperentley in the eyed of BSD users, linux users are complete noobs who think they are cool and stuff but they are really just dumb 12 year olds with computers lol.

sorry not to offend anyone, i recentley got introduced to the whole BSD culture and thats what ive been told. Dont worry they havent converted me yet

dont hate people who rip you off,cheat and get away with it, learn from them
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Neuro Fuzzy
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Posted: 13th Apr 2011 21:06 Edited at: 13th Apr 2011 21:09
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Does anyone know of any good linux books? I guess not necessarily linux, but just for a general unix-like OS.

Mostly because there's stuff I keep learning about/seeing, like piping input to a text file (>/>>[/b]), regular expressions, aaand then the weird stuff like a forkbomb b]()[/b]{b]|:&};:. It's hard to figure out what's going on, and it seems like there will be a ton of useful features I skip over, that could simplify a task I'm trying to do. (Current questions I have are: what does a | mean? how does a forkbomb work? why haven't I learned regex yet?!)

[edit]
apparently this command finds all IPs in a file. I really need a book or a good source of documentation O_O



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Interplanetary Funk
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Posted: 14th Apr 2011 00:08
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I'm pretty sure | is a bitwise/logical "or".

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crispex
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Posted: 14th Apr 2011 00:31
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Quote: "Install BSD! BSD is the ultimate unix OS! from what i heard its better than any linux distro!"


It's alright, it's very clean I'll give credit to that. Apple's OSX is based off of BSD.

However, there are very few applications for FreeBSD (as opposed to Linux, that is).

I just now realized I've had a typo in my signature for the past 3 years.
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JoelJ
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Posted: 16th Apr 2011 19:51
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Quote: "Yes, but there are a LOT of people who have issues obtaining it for Linux. I know it's a pain, because Sun doesn't exactly make it as easy for Linux as for Windows. It doesn't run them particularly faster."

That's completely wrong. Java runs great on Linux. You can download packages for the major Linux distros from Oracle's website. All major distros have java in their main repositories. You just have to know what you're doing. Some distros make it easier than others.


Quote: "I'm pretty sure | is a bitwise/logical "or"."

Not from the terminal (in both windows and Linux it does the same thing) it's called the "pipe" and it takes the output from the command on the left and 'pipes' it into the program on the right. A common use is with 'more'. If a program outputs a lot of text (like a log) and you want an easier way to view it you do:


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