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Learning to use Linux
From the looks of it, there's some experienced Linux users around here, so hopefully I can get some answers to the following:
1. What's a good way to learn how to use a Linux OS? Any tips/guides?
2. Advantages/disadvantages of Linux versus Windows or Mac OS?
3. I've been a long-time user of Windows XP and I guess would call myself fairly experienced with the OS. How much different will it be?
4. What are some good distros to start experimenting with? I know for Linux, usually the case is "whichever suits your needs", but I want something nice and easy to start with. Are there more "advanced" distros that I could gradually move up?
1. What's a good way to learn how to use a Linux OS? Any tips/guides?
2. Advantages/disadvantages of Linux versus Windows or Mac OS?
3. I've been a long-time user of Windows XP and I guess would call myself fairly experienced with the OS. How much different will it be?
4. What are some good distros to start experimenting with? I know for Linux, usually the case is "whichever suits your needs", but I want something nice and easy to start with. Are there more "advanced" distros that I could gradually move up?
Comments
2. Advantages: Everything's free! You can do some cool things on Linux that you can't on other systems. You can download and install or update almost any type of program with a few clicks or commands.
Disadvantages: Linux is not well supported in general. If stuff doesn't work, it'll be your problem and not the software company's problem. You won't be able to call up customer service and complain. You'll just have to fix it yourself, or see if someone else has found the solution already and posted it online. Also, there are practically no new games that run on Linux.
3. You'll still be able to use it. It will probably take a few days to get used to the directory structure and the configuration options. The command line is very powerful in comparison to Windows and a lot more complicated.
4. Try Ubuntu first. A lot of older Linux people will tell you to install something like Slackware or Gentoo, which require you to do a lot of configuration work yourself. These people tend to have an elitist attitude about Linux. "If you can't administer your computer from the command line you don't deserve to be using Linux", or "Ubuntu is Linux for idiots". Personally, I think they're just masochistic. Why spend more time configuring stuff than you need to? Yes, you will learn a bit by doing it, but you'll probably spend way too much time on each task, screw something up, and get frustrated. Besides, the average user shouldn't need to worry about what's going on under the hood. Ubuntu takes care of most things for you, and any additional configuration is relatively easy. Besides, if you want to learn the details later, Ubuntu won't stop you from messing with the config files yourself.
(Note: I started with Slackware for a year before experimenting with many, many other distros. Been using linux for ~6 years)
2. Advantages: ull be doing a whole lot less reboots then in windows (related to updates)
u can do a whole lot more customization, also if there is a cool feature in some other OSs someones prob ported it over to linux :P and they got their own cool things
oh and u can also run windows apps inside linux ;)
Disadvantages, like stated u can run into problems trying to get stuff to work, it can be a pain sometimes when u wanna compile someone elses shit that dosnt quite work etc.
finding drivers is also a bitch and a half, and there are other lil quirks when it comes to codecs that u can run into.
all in all there prob is a solution to everything u will need on linux it just might take some time to find it
i started using ubuntu back in 2006 and i really liked it, but i found it slowed down my productivity quite a bit using it on my laptop so now i only use it for server related stuff, also taking cmpt300 and 471 taught me a bit more about the inner workings of it
3. umm ya using it is not bad
4. ubuntu is prob a good starting point
Disadvantages: Not as easy if you are used to other OSes, lack of games if that's what you're into, etc... See #1. It can be a huge learning curve, or it can be somewhat intuitive if you are just a "regular" user who surfs, uses Open Office, etc. Some distributions make this very easy now. I started using linux in 1996, and things were very different back then. Possibly the easiest for someone who is mainly used to GUI tools and just wants to be a casual user is Ubuntu. It's based on Debian, but they've basically automated everything with nice GUIs.
Possibly the most advanced and customizable is Slackware. You will find very few people running it, it's purely a "geek's" distro, really. It's what I run, but I am not your typical user. I still use mainly command-line tools only on it.
If you want to learn the inner workings of unix-style servers, install something like Slackware or Debian, and don't even fire up X. Learn to do everything from the command line.
If you just want to use it as a desktop, and you don't want a huge learning curve, Ubuntu may be best for you.
Phil
Disadvantage: steep learning curve, may not be able to use all the programs that you can use on windows (for this problem, look for something called "Wine" which will allow you to run some windows programs), lack of driver support. Its not much different once you get all your hardware working. I barely use command line at all anymore. As suggested, you can try Ubuntu. There's a new one called Mint that is based on Ubuntu and may help you transition easier. Also, lots of the useful programs are already installed (Gnome-Do, compiz, etc..).