Common Reasons People Leave Linux
- Thread starter Rob Williams
- Start date
Glider
Coastermaker
Kougar said:
Well, look at it this way... if you boot up with an Ubuntu Live CD on a current machine, everything should be working, from the WiFi to the network to the Bluetooth to the webcam to whatever else. There will be no 3D acceleration, but as long as you have a monitor with a sensible EDID, it will automatically set itself to the display's native resolution. Windows can't compare to an OOBE like this.
Note that the reason Ubuntu doesn't automatically set the graphics acceleration up is because both ATI and NVIDIA offer proprietary drivers... and Ubuntu only uses open-sourced drivers by default. After installing, you'd simply open up the Package Manager and change to "All Available Applications", and that would open up the ability to download/install the graphics driver.
Distros like Sabayon don't care as much about OSS, so even booting from the Live DVD will offer up full 3D acceleration.
Kougar said:
No tinkering... it just worked. It wasn't the default card, that's about it (the onboard has priority, obviously). I was impressed by just how easy it was to set it as default though, and it made me realize just how lacking my current Linux is. I won't get into how I swap audio card priority, but it's not fun. Ubuntu made it easy. I'm not quite sure whether that's actually an Ubuntu feature or a GNOME feature though... I gotta find that out.
Edit: It is indeed a GNOME feature, to some extent. Ubuntu offers specific audio card choices though, mine just offers ALSA and ESD, whatever that is. +1 for Ubuntu's configuration I guess.
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Well, booting a Live CD is as out of the box as it gets
True. But the last time I did this (Knoppix) it wasn't full functionality out of the box.
And I had a hell of a time trying to get a simple program to function (folding@home) off a USB key because it was a diskless system. I eventually got it half-working, but gave up as it was to much hassle.I downloaded the latest Ubuntu version, I'll have to burn it and give it a try after I'm done overclock testing this new system. This new system is a simple pleasure to use and I'm enjoying it to much to pick a single OC and leave well enough alone. No problems whatsoever despite my clocking the bleep out of it.
Whoa, what the heck? I didn't know you picked up an i7 man... grats! That's a freaking unbelievable overclock... I can't even get mine close to that, much less stable!
As for Knoppix, that's not a great beginner distro. You wouldn't have had the issue with something like Fedora or OpenSUSE.
As for Knoppix, that's not a great beginner distro. You wouldn't have had the issue with something like Fedora or OpenSUSE.
Brett Thomas
Senior Editor
Knoppix definitely isn't a great beginner distro. But just for a usability perspective, ummm...
When's the last time that you put in a Windows CD and got to test drive the entire, working OS? Or had XP running off a USB key?
Maybe I'm missing something, but I have difficulty with this. One of my best friends is a Computer Engineer, and he and I go round and round about it (As I use only OSX and Linux, and he uses only Windows). He starts off with "Well, it's missing basic functionality" and when I reply where those assumptions are either out-of-date or just plain wrong, he starts picking on some obscure functionality that took him time to set up in Windows that he thinks should "just work" in Linux.
It's as if the OS cannot be as competent, but different - it has to either offer every possible solution, or it's worthless.
Not meaning to have a go at you, Kougar, but if you read through your posts with this thought in mind you'll catch it even in your own (more intelligent) ramblings. Most things in Ubuntu and Mint are completely ready-to-use right out of the box, not even any drivers required.
Before you can even USE Windows, you have to go through a full install, then run the motherboard CD (which may or may not be handy) to install chipset drivers just to get your networking up in order to download: sound drivers, graphics drivers, updates, power management, RAID drivers, SB/NB utilities...
And THEN...
Winamp (or whatever you fancy), VLC to play more than like 2 formats of movies, codecs for everything, quicktime, a decent web browser, flash, adobe reader ...
before you can even use the system for BASIC web browsing and media.
Whereas on Linux Mint (an Ubuntu derivative), you...
burn a live CD, put in disc drive, boot. The end.
So...Which is lacking functionality and user simplicity? *scratching of head...*
When's the last time that you put in a Windows CD and got to test drive the entire, working OS? Or had XP running off a USB key?
Maybe I'm missing something, but I have difficulty with this. One of my best friends is a Computer Engineer, and he and I go round and round about it (As I use only OSX and Linux, and he uses only Windows). He starts off with "Well, it's missing basic functionality" and when I reply where those assumptions are either out-of-date or just plain wrong, he starts picking on some obscure functionality that took him time to set up in Windows that he thinks should "just work" in Linux.
It's as if the OS cannot be as competent, but different - it has to either offer every possible solution, or it's worthless.
Not meaning to have a go at you, Kougar, but if you read through your posts with this thought in mind you'll catch it even in your own (more intelligent) ramblings. Most things in Ubuntu and Mint are completely ready-to-use right out of the box, not even any drivers required.
Before you can even USE Windows, you have to go through a full install, then run the motherboard CD (which may or may not be handy) to install chipset drivers just to get your networking up in order to download: sound drivers, graphics drivers, updates, power management, RAID drivers, SB/NB utilities...
And THEN...
Winamp (or whatever you fancy), VLC to play more than like 2 formats of movies, codecs for everything, quicktime, a decent web browser, flash, adobe reader ...
before you can even use the system for BASIC web browsing and media.
Whereas on Linux Mint (an Ubuntu derivative), you...
burn a live CD, put in disc drive, boot. The end.
So...Which is lacking functionality and user simplicity? *scratching of head...*
Brett Thomas
Senior Editor
Just as a small addition. I am going to ask that people who want to open fire on the "accessibility of linux" PLEASE try something. You won't be disappointed.
Click Here or click here instead, say "Save", do whatever you need to burn it to CD, and reboot your computer.
Please. Seriously. It'll cost you, what, $0.35? I think you'll be surprised. It won't harm a thing, won't eat your Windows computer, won't put a hex on your cat or break your dishwasher or steal your wallet.
I promise.
Click Here or click here instead, say "Save", do whatever you need to burn it to CD, and reboot your computer.
Please. Seriously.
It'll cost you, what, $0.35? I think you'll be surprised. It won't harm a thing, won't eat your Windows computer, won't put a hex on your cat or break your dishwasher or steal your wallet. I promise.
Alright, I just had to add this, because once again, Linux saved the day.
My goal? To copy my entire FLAC collection to the benchmarking computer, so I could convert the entire collection to MP3 for alternate storage (portable MP3 player). Simple enough, at least it should be. I first copied the music to an external hard drive on my main PC, and then plugged it into the benchmarking PC, running Vista, to copy it to a drive there.
No matter what I did, it would not copy. I tried copy and pasting, drag and dropping... but no go. I tried this after multiple reboots, and for whatever reason, it would not do a thing. I even left it sitting for thirty minutes, just in case the prompt really did take that long, but again, no cigar. Just for the record, yes, this was an NTFS drive, and I even formatted it with Vista before I copied the folder over to it.
Solution? I booted up with Ubuntu 9.04, loaded up both drives in the file manager, copy / pasted... now I'm just waiting for the process to finish. Sure, I'm dealing with a 200GB folder here... but Vista did nothing with it. Ubuntu was copying the folder almost instantly.
Reminds me of the time that I needed to use my main PC (again, Linux) to transfer a folder from my XP machine to my Vista machine, since neither Windows rig could see the other, haha!
Just to be clear, I'm not looking for reasons to boast Linux in this thread... these things just keep happening. I should also note that I could actually use 2560x1600 after booting up with the Linux CD. Can't do that with Windows... at least not with Vista.
My goal? To copy my entire FLAC collection to the benchmarking computer, so I could convert the entire collection to MP3 for alternate storage (portable MP3 player). Simple enough, at least it should be. I first copied the music to an external hard drive on my main PC, and then plugged it into the benchmarking PC, running Vista, to copy it to a drive there.
No matter what I did, it would not copy. I tried copy and pasting, drag and dropping... but no go. I tried this after multiple reboots, and for whatever reason, it would not do a thing. I even left it sitting for thirty minutes, just in case the prompt really did take that long, but again, no cigar. Just for the record, yes, this was an NTFS drive, and I even formatted it with Vista before I copied the folder over to it.
Solution? I booted up with Ubuntu 9.04, loaded up both drives in the file manager, copy / pasted... now I'm just waiting for the process to finish. Sure, I'm dealing with a 200GB folder here... but Vista did nothing with it. Ubuntu was copying the folder almost instantly.
Reminds me of the time that I needed to use my main PC (again, Linux) to transfer a folder from my XP machine to my Vista machine, since neither Windows rig could see the other, haha!
Just to be clear, I'm not looking for reasons to boast Linux in this thread... these things just keep happening. I should also note that I could actually use 2560x1600 after booting up with the Linux CD. Can't do that with Windows... at least not with Vista.
Nope you should be Cool & the Gang with that setup. No ATI to worry about and no RAID so it should work no problem.
Merlin
The Tech Wizard
And....the restricted drivers come along on that same disk?
No, those are found through the repository. You could see if this guide helps:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-install-nvidia-drivers-in-ubuntu-feisty-or-later-versions.html
If not, go find the Add/Remove or use Synaptic, making sure to enable the "All Programs". I can't really tell you without booting up, but it should be kind of easy to find.
Brett Thomas
Senior Editor
Merlin, how did you get on with it? I hope it was as easy as it should have been - but whether yes or no, tell us!
Merlin
The Tech Wizard
LOL...with two machines running all the time and both have 1000 watt PSU's, I have to shut one down to try it out, most likely this Friday, my day off.Merlin, how did you get on with it? I hope it was as easy as it should have been - but whether yes or no, tell us!
I'll shut this one down and connect the one for LinuxMint.
This one is the 9450 quad, my main machine for internet and paying bills, the i7 920 water cooled is the gaming and entertainment machine, I'll leave it alone as it is.
But Friday is a good day for this project
Merlin
What does the power supply have to do with anything? Haha. Let us know how you make out regardless, and if you run into any problems, let us know (starting a new thread wouldn't be a bad idea though).
Merlin
The Tech Wizard
Ha......both systems are on one circuit, maybe I need to do some rewiring, change out the circuit breaker panel for more amps and more circuits.
Merlin
The Tech Wizard
Tell it to the circuit, a 12 amp circuit will only support my two systems, I've tried it already, no matter what the draw is on a 1000 watt PSU, I have other devices on the circuit as well. It all adds up fast