Find the answer to your Linux question:
Results 1 to 7 of 7
I got this new laptop a few days ago. Since it's new and I was a little worried about hardware being compatible with Linux I shrank Vista's partition down to ...
  1. 10-15-2007 #1
    Dark_Stang
    Dark_Stang is offline
    Linux User Dark_Stang's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Around St. Louis
    Posts
    284

    How I spend my time. Linux vs. Windows

    I got this new laptop a few days ago. Since it's new and I was a little worried about hardware being compatible with Linux I shrank Vista's partition down to 40 gigs and decided to keep it just in case. And because I kept it, I went through setting it up and getting it ready in the rare case that, I might have to use it. After doing that I setup Linux... and I was amazed at how different the experiences I had were.

    On Windows I spent about an hour just going through all the setup crap. Ridiculous. After that I had to get all the software I needed downloaded and installed. AVG Free, Spyware Blaster, and Ad-Aware were top priorities. I remember how horrible the malware was with windows so these were on top priority. After that I had to download and install open office, firefox, and a few other things. Finally after that's all said and done I had to get rid of all the crap on it that I didn't want. After this was finally over, I spent the next four hours wandering the internet while I waited for the restore disks to finish being created.

    All in all... a very unpleasant experience for windows. It came with no useful software, but it did come with a bunch of crap I don't want. The majority of my time was dedicated to security and software.

    On Linux (i used ubuntu 7.10 rc) I went through the installation process. That took me roughly 45 minutes after it was all said and done. Then I rebooted, plugged in my network cable, installed the driver for the nvidia card, and tried to use native drivers for my wifi card... wifi card was a no go so I used ndiswrapper. Reconfigure x.org and I was ready to go. Total time spent? I'd say about 2 hours. And guess what, it comes with everything I need to use. And everything I want to use is just a few clicks away.

    In two hours I had a secure system that was ready for everything I had to throw at it. Windows has been sitting dormant on my hard drive since I put the Ubuntu disk in the drive. My goal is to never use windows again.
    Two levels higher than a newb.
    (I can search google)
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  2. 10-15-2007 #2
    cayalee
    cayalee is offline
    Linux User cayalee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    england
    Posts
    389
    good luck mate, post back here should you need any help!
    You know, aliens are going to come to earth in 50 years and kill the hell out of us for DDoSing their networks with this SETI crap
    registered linux user #388463
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  3. 10-15-2007 #3
    bidi
    bidi is offline
    Linux Enthusiast
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    The Hot Humid South
    Posts
    602
    Quote Originally Posted by Dark_Stang View Post
    My goal is to never use windows again.
    Already there! I gotta say, the feeling is great. I initially did it to prove to myself that I didn't need anything from Windows, and it worked out pretty well. With Gnash now being decently stable, I have nothing but 100% free software on my laptop, not to mention I never actually installed/setup Windows on this one. Besides a few WMV files, there's nothing I can't do.
    "Today you are freer than ever to do what you want, provided you can pay for it!" --Bad Religion
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  4. 10-15-2007 #4
    Jonathan183
    Jonathan183 is offline
    Linux Guru Jonathan183's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,940

    Talking

    Guys - I appreciate the sentiment and I spend almost all of my home PC time on SUSE Linux rather than Windows. I still have a scanner that only works with windows . Much as it pains me to say this ... the reality for most people will be a requirement to dual boot !
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  5. 10-16-2007 #5
    Dark_Stang
    Dark_Stang is offline
    Linux User Dark_Stang's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Around St. Louis
    Posts
    284
    Quote Originally Posted by Jonathan183 View Post
    Guys - I appreciate the sentiment and I spend almost all of my home PC time on SUSE Linux rather than Windows. I still have a scanner that only works with windows . Much as it pains me to say this ... the reality for most people will be a requirement to dual boot !
    Why not just use an HP?
    Two levels higher than a newb.
    (I can search google)
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  6. 10-16-2007 #6
    Jonathan183
    Jonathan183 is offline
    Linux Guru Jonathan183's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    2,940

    Wink

    Quote Originally Posted by Dark_Stang View Post
    Why not just use an HP?
    Next time I need to buy a scanner I will do more digging to make sure it has a Linux driver available. The point is I have the hardware now - it works with Windows but not Linux. Winmodems are another example where support can be an issue. Hardware support is improving all the time but I think the reality is many of us are stuck with dual boot for a while yet.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
  7. 10-17-2007 #7
    Filipet
    Filipet is offline
    Just Joined! Filipet's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Posts
    70
    Winmodems exist because some modem makers were lazy.
    Reply With Quote Reply With Quote
« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Forum Rules