Why would I switch to Linux?

dulpit

Hey, i was gonna post this in the Unix board, but i don't want just people using linux to answer me...

What i am wondering is if someone can give me a decent reason as to why i would switch to linux... Currently i have a new laptop, with Windows Vista Ultimate on it, i find it great, but i always hear people say, no, Linux is way better, windows sucks, etc.

Is it? For the average home user who mainly uses it for music, videos, internet, downloading, etc. is there any benefit? Or do some use it just to get away from the great evil that is microsoft? I've used linux a bit in college (novell) and it's grand, looks ok, although there's nothing that makes me go "wow, i must have that..."

Thanks...

Khannie

Who moved this to the windows forum?

Anyway.....

dulpit wrote: »

Is it? For the average home user who mainly uses it for music, videos, internet, downloading, etc. is there any benefit?

In short....No.

I'm a linux user (I can't honestly remember the last time I used windows for anything). It has a lot of advantages over windows....and here's the caveat.....once you get over the learning hump.

edit: There are some advantages....
--> All your software comes from a trusted source (e.g. ubuntu, gentoo model) or from source code
--> Virus? What now?
--> Malware? What now?
--> Firewall? no thanks
--> It's generally faster because you don't have to go scanning for viruses...worry that the software you're installing is riddled....etc.
--> It's my experience that linux is actually ahead of the curve in terms of features recently v's windows. 3D desktop etc.

Overall though...windows (XP and 2K in particular for being generally lightweight) is a decent piece of kit at this stage. Also, one major disadvantage is that most games are Direct3D based these days. UT3, Quake 4, etc. run natively in linux and CS:S runs through wine, but it's still catching up.

Capt'n Midnight

It depends on what you use your PC for, many applications run on both Windows / Linux. Firefox / Opera and OpenOffice, acrobat reader, VLC . You can even run IE6 on linux ( IE 7 is still beta )

You'd need windows if you hardware doesn't have Linux drivers yet. But you can check this on the internet before you buy. Also not having to pay for a copy of windows means you could spend a bit more on compatible hardware. Thankfully the days of Winmodems are over.

You'd need windows if you need to run certain applications, a vm might be an option here. Or have a dual boot for games.

Linux is more secure than windows, mostly due to design. The FUD about it being a small sector of the market is just that. MAC users probably spend more on technology than the average PC user so would be a more lucrative target also their OS is not based on Linux, but they just don't get the same level of malware either. Vista is better for security than previous versions but still early days. XP/2K have had patches that stop an attacker taking control of you machine released just about every second month.

The learning curve can be higher for Linux, mainly because there are less people you can ask for help. Everyone knows someone who is a windows expert.

Wireless setup with WPA is a little fiddly in Linux but judging by the number of posts here on wireless disconnects, Vista isn't seamless either. And speaking of Vista the fancy 3D interface is completely wiped by Beryl / Compiz Fusion running on a four year old PC with on board graphics.



Really it's a question of what you want to do with the computer.

PogMoThoin

This is the reason why. Read my comments further down thread.

Gadgetman496

Well, if you setup Ubuntu with Beryl you will definitely get the WOW! factor (Eye Candy wise) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3p8IBNNd88

But to answer your original question, Why?

I saw this somewhere on Boards, (a Sig I think)

Because "Linux is better at doing what Windows was designed to do".


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dulpit

Why was this moved to windows? I had in computers so i'd get opinions from lots, not just users of a specific o.s. who frequent these sub forums...

Anyway, thanks Khannie, yours is pretty much the most honest & correct post (i think at least) For me there is no point switching, the few games i do have won't run, and also i do software development in college, while java would be fine, i wouldn't be able to use any .net stuff...

I suppose i probably could dual boot, but at the moment i only have a small hard drive (120gb) which is fairly full already, maybe when i get a desktop or something...

Stephen

I have 2 machines. My desktop PC runs Vista Home Premium and its main purpose in life is to play games/multimedia stuff and browse the web. My laptop is 2 and a half years old and runs Ubuntu 7.10 and spends most of its time downloading stuff and web browsing. No games. Ubuntu fits the bill for the laptop perfectly for what I need, whereas its totally inadequate for the games, hence Vista on the desktop. I like Windows and I got a free licence from TechNet so the cost of it never came into the equation. Its nice that they've finally got WPA2 configuration working in a sane fashion on Ubuntu now too

Khannie

dulpit wrote: »

i wouldn't be able to use any .net stuff...

Be careful of getting stuck with MS proprietary technology for life (not a joke). The thing that swung me my last job was my cross platform c++ experience and linux experience.

I could easily migrate into using .net if necessary (having 7 years cross platform c++ experience) but the same could not be said if I had 7 years of .net specific experience. Worth bearing in mind.

dulpit

Khannie wrote: »

Be careful of getting stuck with MS proprietary technology for life (not a joke). The thing that swung me my last job was my cross platform c++ experience and linux experience.

I could easily migrate into using .net if necessary (having 7 years cross platform c++ experience) but the same could not be said if I had 7 years of .net specific experience. Worth bearing in mind.

Don't worry, I do Java too...

ethernet

dulpit wrote: »

... i wouldn't be able to use any .net stuff ...

(cough) Have a look at Mono. Hardly identical to .NET but it is a powerful development platform.