OS Wars ........again
- Thread starter Tofu007
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foothead
Omnicide now.
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Linux really is the most customizable.
Then you can distribute it after. Thats the beauty of it.
Then you can distribute it after. Thats the beauty of it.
GibsonSGKing
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OK, so somehow foothead has convinced me to try linux out again, seeing that I have some more common hardware now. So what would be the best distribution option for me to get?
Joel~
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This is where users need to join together and create pressure on developers of the applications that you want to use on Linux but can't. If you can prove to, for example, Adobe that there is a large enough market, there's every chance they will create a Linux version of Photoshop. But it requires that to be demonstrated.
The latest version of either Ubuntu (9.04) or Mint (7) is always a safe bet.
GibsonSGKing
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This is where users need to join together and create pressure on developers of the applications that you want to use on Linux but can't. If you can prove to, for example, Adobe that there is a large enough market, there's every chance they will create a Linux version of Photoshop. But it requires that to be demonstrated.
The latest version of either Ubuntu (9.04) or Mint (7) is always a safe bet.
I've already used Ubuntu, and generally liked it for surfing the web and simple things like that, but like I said previously, drivers were a pain to find and install, and I couldn't get any help on the forums. What's Mint like?
Joel~
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It's an Ubuntu derivative, but it comes with various multimedia codecs pre-installed for proprietary formats. What was the last version of Ubuntu you tried? Driver support is a lot better now. I've installed it on old and new machines and had no issues.
Ubuntu and Suse are amongst the two that are easiest and quickest to get running. With the exception of LFS, Gentoo is by far the most customisable and the most efficient / fastest when you've got it up and running. It's also the biggest pain until you have!
A few years back Ubuntu / Suse were getting there but nowhere near ready, and Gentoo was, well pretty much the same as it is now apart from it didn't have a graphical installer. And by that I mean you had to manually copy / compile all your bits that you needed over from the cd or various mirrors. It was great fun, but anyway then they gave it a graphical install and I'm drifting off topic with too much nostalgia...
But to put it simply, Gentoo used to be easily worth the hassle, because I'd probably spend just as long scratching my head over what Ubuntu hadn't got working properly. But now on most machines I can get Ubuntu fully up and running in a couple of hours tops, but Gentoo still takes just as long. The result? Nowadays I'll start with Ubuntu and strip it down rather than start with Gentoo and build it up.
Of course, if you've got loads of time on your hands or you're super geeky and revel in the times of setting up Gentoo by hand, or you just want the fastest, least bloated OS for your hardware then Gentoo is still the way to go. I'd still use it for any server builds or anywhere where it was important I got all the efficiency out of a box that I could. But for the most part nowadays, I'd be lazy and choose something like Ubuntu to do the hard bits for me.
A few years back Ubuntu / Suse were getting there but nowhere near ready, and Gentoo was, well pretty much the same as it is now apart from it didn't have a graphical installer. And by that I mean you had to manually copy / compile all your bits that you needed over from the cd or various mirrors. It was great fun, but anyway then they gave it a graphical install and I'm drifting off topic with too much nostalgia...
But to put it simply, Gentoo used to be easily worth the hassle, because I'd probably spend just as long scratching my head over what Ubuntu hadn't got working properly. But now on most machines I can get Ubuntu fully up and running in a couple of hours tops, but Gentoo still takes just as long. The result? Nowadays I'll start with Ubuntu and strip it down rather than start with Gentoo and build it up.
Of course, if you've got loads of time on your hands or you're super geeky and revel in the times of setting up Gentoo by hand, or you just want the fastest, least bloated OS for your hardware then Gentoo is still the way to go. I'd still use it for any server builds or anywhere where it was important I got all the efficiency out of a box that I could. But for the most part nowadays, I'd be lazy and choose something like Ubuntu to do the hard bits for me.
Joel~
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Why not do what I do and start with a minimal Ubuntu install and build it up instead of trying to strip it back? It's much, much easier.
It's just my preferred way of doing things really - I can get a working system in a matter of minutes, and then take my time rebuilding the kernel / uninstalling what I don't want to when I get time.
If I had a while spare on the trot that's the approach I'd probably take though, thanks for the heads up
