why linux?

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mekender
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why linux?

Post by mekender »

ok so i just read Chris's article

http://anarchangel.blogspot.com/2009/03 ... x-day.html

and my question is why linux?

what can linux do that my Vista x64 box cannot?

i can surf the internet.
i can download from newsgroups
i have zero problems with viruses or spyware because i take simple precautions
i can play games with few problems and i run DX10 as well
i can view and edit photos with ease
i have a VM ware box running XP that i use to log into my company VPN
i stream webcams so that my parents and in-laws can see their grandkids

now, my understanding is that i could do every one of those things with Linux with the exception of gaming, for that i believe i would have to install WINE...

so my question is... why would i install an OS that will require more configuration, and be harder to game with?

everyone always champions Linux, but i cannot understand what it is that makes things so damn superior... only thing i can see is an increased headache for no real results...
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Draven
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Re: why linux?

Post by Draven »

Can Vista be trusted to run a real-time critical application?

Would you want Vista running at the core of the vital statistics monitors hooked into a life support machine?

Or running your ATM?
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

CByrneIV wrote:You are joking right?

Or trolling?

Because otherwise, man, you really don't know enough about computers to have this discussion.
neither... see this is what i mean... there is this holier than thou attitude that somehow Linux is superior... but i and 98% of the rest of the computer world gets along just damn fine without it thank you very much...

i am not a systems engineer or programmer... though i can do the basics of both... if i need to do graphics i get along just fine with adobe... if i need databasing, i have no problems with Oracle or SQL, both run just fine on Windows... the MS visual studio works just fine for programming... every linux install ive tried (at least 4 different distros) was headache after headache to get installed... sorry but that makes me not want to deal with it...

i never said that Linux didnt have its place... hell, im currently staring through the glass at a server room that has multiple Linux boxes in it... of course there are many many more windows servers in there too...

but every time you get into a discussion with computer guys, there is always one guy in the room that sticks his nose up in the air and says "i run linux"... well whoopde fucking doo... the answer you always get when you say "oh, why is that?" is very similar to the one you gave me above... obviously us mere mortals are too stupid to understand...

those guys are worse than Mac fanboys... at least most of the Mac fans are either too damn stupid to know anything more than the on button, or they are graphic artists that have spent the last 4 to 10 years being trained on a Mac...

i would have expected that as long as i have been here and as many posts as i have, that i wouldn't be insulted for asking a fair question... i suppose not... :roll:

so again i ask, why would i install an OS that required more configuration and made it harder to game on my home computer?
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

Draven wrote:Can Vista be trusted to run a real-time critical application?

Would you want Vista running at the core of the vital statistics monitors hooked into a life support machine?

Or running your ATM?
am i doing things like that from home?

are you?

ok then...
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Draven
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Re: why linux?

Post by Draven »

Actually, I am running real-time critical applications from home on linux-based systems....
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

Draven wrote:Actually, I am running real-time critical applications from home on linux-based systems....
ok so you are running things that are above and beyond the average person's usage... which is fine and dandy, several of the servers i am working with as we speak are doing the same thing, and they work just fine on Windows... albeit it isnt vista, but either 2000 or 2003 server... but still...

some of the programming and DB dabbling i do is above and beyond the average user too, but i get along just fine with Linux...
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Draven
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Re: why linux?

Post by Draven »

Several of the servers you are using to post this are too...

Besides, you don't really need Linux... or Vista. Or XP. Windows 98 was perfectly serviceable.
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

Draven wrote:Several of the servers you are using to post this are too...

Besides, you don't really need Linux... or Vista. Or XP. Windows 98 was perfectly serviceable.
true, but one of the things i mentioned above was that i play games that use DirectX 10... the video card i am using i paid extra for so that i could do that...

in order to use DX10 in Linux, i would have to emulate a windows environment in Wine... not very efficient.


As for system stability... i am currently working on a ticket for an IBM HS20 running Windows 2003 (the ticket is for a full HDD) that has an uptime of at least the 8716 hours (1 year)
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

Draven wrote:Actually, I am running real-time critical applications from home on linux-based systems....

Oh and one more thing to add to that thought... are you running a dedicated T1 at home with backups consisting of dialup, satellite and VPN?

or are you running your apps on a cable modem?

i have a cable modem at home... my loss of stability isnt my OS it is the cable line...
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
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mekender
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Re: why linux?

Post by mekender »

CByrneIV wrote:
mekender wrote: neither... see this is what i mean... there is this holier than thou attitude that somehow Linux is superior... but i and 98% of the rest of the computer world gets along just damn fine without it thank you very much...
Holier than though my ass. If you know enough about computers to understand what my answer would be, you know enough to KNOW what my answer would be.

As I happen to know you work in IT, I know that you DO know what my answer would be.

So you're just asking the question to stir shit up.

Which is fine; but be straightforward about it.
wasnt trying to stir anything up... as i said before, i have installed several distros of linux on my home machine over the years... for the most part my reaction was "meh"... i never have seen the point of running it on home PC's...

you even talk about the headaches in your article...
When I first tried to install this revision of this distribution a few months ago, I had problems with the sound and video drivers, and the wireless networking drivers (a not uncommon issue with laptops).

Just in that few months, dozens or hundreds of developers worked on those drivers and applications supporting my sound, video, and networking hardware; and once I finished installing and patching three days ago, all those problems were simply solved.
a few months??? I would be pissed if a windows install didnt work on almost all hardware right out of the box, either that or the drivers would be available with ease... i wrote the damn training manual for Vista for a major cable ISP, and with only about 3 exceptions, every USB device that our entire nationwide ISP used (cable modems, wireless adapters and routers) worked on release day... $50 says that vista would have installed just fine on the laptop you are using on the day it was released, with perhaps the wireless card as the exception...

and no one has yet to show me how the headaches of the install process would be worth the 2 to 5% performance gain i might see if i got everything working properly... if processors, ram and hard drives were super expensive i might care about that performance... but when i can get 500gig drives for $70, 8gigs of ram for $100 and a C2D that could launch the space shuttle for well under $200... what the hell do i care about that slight increase?

as i said above... is there a place for linux... yeah, sure there is... and that has been proven for a very long time...

but i just cannot understand the need for it on a home PC...
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
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