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Dignitary
 
Posts: 2552
Joined: 29 Aug 2006, 2:41 pm

Post 12 Jun 2011, 4:27 pm

Has anyone used this yet? I've installed it on an old pc I had laying around. I'm going to de-microsoft myself, so I'm wondering if anyone has experience with it.

What do I need to know? How can I learn the language? Pros and Cons to it?

Any information is helpful. Thanks.
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Dignitary
 
Posts: 488
Joined: 26 Sep 2006, 10:19 am

Post 13 Jun 2011, 9:40 am

I have used Ubuntu a bit, but linux quite extensively. I work as a high-end computer programmer, so have to use it in work.

The main thing that you will have to bear in mind with Ubuntu is that it has a steep!! learning curve. To install anything takes ages the first time you try, and you will end up reading a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense. But persevere and eventually you will be able to use it properly (that said, I am running Open Suse for a year now and there are still some things that I just can't figure out).

It also depends on what you want to use the pc for. The main advantage that Ubuntu has is the command line, this is very powerful and lets you do awesome things with your computer that are hidden behind shiny visualisations in Microsoft, but at the same time, everything is text based and when you start, quite confusing (think DOS, but DOS after 20 years work).

The cons to Ubuntu is that it is confusing, and it is quite possible to delete everything from your computer (well, unlink it). Windows has a lot of safety precautions built in to stop this, but also stops you from accessing the OS, so it can be inefficient at certain things (especially at compiling programs).

Ubuntu is quite similar to windows, so as a cross over it could be quite good. Open Suse has YaST, which is a one-click install interface, which I find easier than trying to install stuff from the command line (which can still be done).

Of course, if you want your computer to play games, then go for windows. Trying to get games working in Linux is a nightmare.

If you do try Ubuntu, then google is your best friend. Copy and paste the error messages you get and in general you can find a solution. If you can't find one then there are a few forums out there who specialise in helping people with problems that they have with different linux distros.
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Dignitary
 
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Joined: 29 Aug 2006, 2:41 pm

Post 16 Jun 2011, 9:45 pm

The command line is one of the main reasons I've been testing it out. I'm actually running the gnome version on an older computer. I can see why people don't like Unity.

One of my friends mentioned Mint. I think I'm going to check that one out, too. There's a lot to learn with Linux, but I'm enjoying it so far.
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Adjutant
 
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Joined: 27 Jun 2012, 7:10 am

Post 10 May 2013, 2:53 pm

Ubuntu is a great distro I run it as my primary OS on my laptop.

I guess Linux Mint is also very good...I have not tried it yet though.
Adjutant
 
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Joined: 10 May 2013, 1:14 pm

Post 10 May 2013, 2:56 pm

I like Debian!
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Adjutant
 
Posts: 186
Joined: 25 Sep 2003, 3:28 am

Post 11 May 2013, 7:35 am

At home, I personally run OS X. At work I'm currently using Fedora 17. I don't have much experience with other Linux distros. Fedora seems fairly easy to pick up and start using without many changes required. My office is split though between Gnome and KDE. My personal preference is Gnome with a modified desktop environment called Cinnamon.