Someone Convince me to Use Linux

[HEV_tux]

I am currently a Windows XP User because i prefer the freedom of use, variety, and feel of the operating system over MAC OS (bleh). i understand that in a degree, Linux is essentially the best in all of these areas, so i was thinking that before i got to college i would become a linux user. I have a few questions about this.


-Is it essentialy possible to run any Windows software on Linux? no matter how much tinkering is needed?

-How similar is the arangement to windows? is their a program files/system files section, can i modify this the sameway i can with windows? arrange my desktop the same way?

-How Modifyable is Linux? windows has lots of ways that i can modify Programs for example my Video editing software Vegas. I can find user created content and easily apply it to Vegas simply by placing the donwload in the correct folder under my programs. I would imagine linux does this as well.

-Is their a command line similar to windows'? one thing i HATED about using macs at my summer job was they seem to run into dead ends all the time, their was no way to delve deeper to solve the problem.

-To sum up what i use my computer for: Video Editing, Gaming, Audio Editing, Web Browsing, and occasionally minor programing.

[techieMoe]

I am currently a Windows XP User because i prefer the freedom of use, variety, and feel of the operating system over MAC OS (bleh). i understand that in a degree, Linux is essentially the best in all of these areas, so i was thinking that before i got to college i would become a linux user. I have a few questions about this.

Congratulations. College is an excellent time for experimentation. Err... yeah, operating system experimentation I mean!

-Is it essentialy possible to run any Windows software on Linux? no matter how much tinkering is needed?

Yes (using a special go-between software), and generally a lot. To find out if you have a prayer, take a look at the WINE HQ application database here to see what other people have had success with:

WineHQ - Wine Application Database

-How similar is the arangement to windows? is their a program files/system files section, can i modify this the sameway i can with windows? arrange my desktop the same way?

Linux is significantly different from Microsoft Windows in its filesystem and structure. It's got more in common with mainframe UNIX than anything else.

You generally don't have write/delete access to system files in Linux as a regular user. This makes the system inherently more secure, but it does mean a little more work to tweak it. As far as your desktop though, regular users have free reign over everything in their /home/ directory, and that includes desktop icons and whatnot.

-How Modifyable is Linux? windows has lots of ways that i can modify Programs for example my Video editing software Vegas. I can find user created content and easily apply it to Vegas simply by placing the donwload in the correct folder under my programs. I would imagine linux does this as well.

The sky's the limit with Linux. You don't even have to use a GUI if you don't want to. Depending on how detailed the tweaking though, you're going to eventually need to learn more about programming. If you just want to install plug-ins and themes, then you're good.

-Is their a command line similar to windows'? one thing i HATED about using macs at my summer job was they seem to run into dead ends all the time, their was no way to delve deeper to solve the problem.

Oh yes, and it's quite powerful. You can run the entire OS from the command line. You can even change what command-line client you want to use. Most Linux distros use BASH (the Bourne-Again Shell) by default.

-To sum up what i use my computer for: Video Editing, Gaming, Audio Editing, Web Browsing, and occasionally minor programing.

You'll do fine for web and programming out of the box. I'm not into multimedia so I'm not sure what all is available for Linux on that front. I know software exists, I just don't know how to use it or how comprehensive it is. If you have specific questions about that I'd recommend firing off a thread in the Multimedia section.

There are tons of games available for Linux, and 99% of them are free of charge. If you're talking about A-List titles you can pick up at your local Best Buy, however, you won't find very much available. That's not to say there aren't commercial games for Linux, they're just harder to find most of the time and sometimes significantly more expensive than their Windows counterparts.

[Freston]

I wont repeat techieMoe's answer, that is better worded than I could have.

One thing I can add though is that many distro's feature a liveCD, so you can run the distro straight of the CD-ROM without changing one bit (sec) on your harddrive. A CD of course turns a lot slower than a harddrive, so you never get the speed that a full install gives... but it gives the chance to try it before you commit a chunk of disk space to it.

Don't worry, dive right in... the water is fine


And about customization, well the fact that there are ~1,000 different distro's of Linux is kinda proof of it's flexibility. Some see that as a problem, most see that as a great strength. But no two Linux boxen are alike.

Here, read this and most importantly, have fun!

[Irithori]

hi and welcome,

-Is it essentialy possible to run any Windows software on Linux? no matter how much tinkering is needed?

No.
With the help of wine, you can get *some* and surprisingly many windows programs to run.
In various degrees of usefullnes and tinkering.
For details on specific apps, look here
WineHQ - Wine Application Database

But windows apps are surely not developed and tested by their programmers to run on wine.

-How similar is the arangement to windows? is their a program files/system files section, can i modify this the sameway i can with windows? arrange my desktop the same way?

It is different.
And cleaner, imho:
(very) rough:
- All binaries are in a bin directory
- all libraries in a lib directory
- all manual pages in their man directories
- etc
For details, look here:
Filesystem Hierarchy Standard

As a user of both worlds:
It is much easier to transfer a user in unix than it is on windows.
This boils down to a mere filecopy of your homedirectory.
All your configs, environment,data is there.

There is no single desktop.
You have a variety to choose from, with gnome and kde being the most famous.
And all can be tweaked to your liking.

-How Modifyable is Linux? windows has lots of ways that i can modify Programs for example my Video editing software Vegas. I can find user created content and easily apply it to Vegas simply by placing the donwload in the correct folder under my programs. I would imagine linux does this as well.

- How modyfiable is linux the kernel?
All of it, the source is open for you to do whatever you like
- Linux, as in operating system?
Same as above.
- Applications for linux?
I have almost no experience with video software, but I can imagine there is a community around them.

-Is their a command line similar to windows'? one thing i HATED about using macs at my summer job was they seem to run into dead ends all the time, their was no way to delve deeper to solve the problem.

This is there linux, or unix in general for that matter, truly shines.
Given some knowledge, you can drill down as deep as you dare to go.
ip packet inspection, tracing programm execution and system calls,
finding performance bottlenecks,.. you name it.

But the best part is, you get the tools and the manuals to *do* something, after you found the problem.
Anything in the system can be tweaked to your need/liking.

I happen to care for some hundreds of servers for a bigger site.
Both windows and various unix.
Whenever there is a non-standard problem (as in *daily* ) I feel more comfortable to rely on the mature, rock-stable unix toolbox.

-To sum up what i use my computer for: Video Editing, Gaming, Audio Editing, Web Browsing, and occasionally minor programing.

Video Editing: As I said, not my field of expertise. But can obviously be done:
blender.org - Movies
Gaming: Windows games, especially new ones, are not worth the trouble to setup imho.
But there are some native ones.
Audio Editing: You probably want to try audacity
Web browsing: sure
Programming: Anything you want and more. perl, python, C, php, java, etc


May I suggest to read this:
Linux is NOT Windows
and then that:
Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide


Have fun



P.S.:
I need to type faster, techie moe was quicker

[jayd512]

First off, Welcome to LinuxForums!
Now to the meat of the matter!

-Is it essentialy possible to run any Windows software on Linux? no matter how much tinkering is needed?

This was answered above. But I would like to add that I can run Diablo 2 perfectly in Wine, but not StarCraft. Good luck on it.

-How similar is the arangement to windows? is their a program files/system files section, can i modify this the sameway i can with windows? arrange my desktop the same way?

You can arrange your looks and feel in a HUGE amount of different fashions! Far more customizable than anything I've seen in Windows or Mac.

-How Modifyable is Linux?

See above

-Is their a command line similar to windows'? one thing i HATED about using macs at my summer job was they seem to run into dead ends all the time, their was no way to delve deeper to solve the problem.

Similar would be an over simplification. The command line in Linux is far more robust than anything you will find in the Windows world. In fact, it's almost identical to the powerful CLI that is found on a Mac... UNIX based, either way.

[Dapper Dan]

But I would like to add that I can run Diablo 2 perfectly in Wine, but not StarCraft.

Hi Jay! What problems are you encountering with StarCraft? It's been running really well for me under wine for a a long time now.

@ HEV_tux. Another plus with using Linux... chicks really dig guys that can crack a terminal and compile programs from source...

[jayd512]

Howdy Dan!

Actually, some things run perfectly for me in Fedora, but not in Mint or CRUX.
Some things work the other way around.
For StarCraft, though, I can get the installer to complete. But can't launch the game. No errors, no message. Just a closing of the Wine applet. Haven't dug into dmesg yet.

@ HEV_tux. Another plus with using Linux... chicks really dig guys that can crack a terminal and compile programs from source...

LOL!