A few questions about Linux from a Linux illiterate

[JohnC1989]

Never used Linux before and have just sent off for a Linux operating system disc for a new computer. I have a few questions i am unsure of.


I am building a computer from scratch. I don't want to use Windows as my operating system. Its over priced and simply doesn't give value for my money in my opinion.


I intend to use this new computer for creating moving imagery, making podcasts, editing music files and using tools such as photoshop. On top of basic things such as; internet, email, word processing and performing standards tasks using office packages such as open office.

Is Linux more than capable of performing all these tasks?

My other question is to do with networks. Ideally I want to have my Windows XP desktop and my Linux desktop on the same network sharing a printer and internet access. Is it possible to do this? If it is possible to have both on the same network will I have any major issues in setting up a network?


What major differences between Windows and Linux have you found ?

Thanks

[techieMoe]

I intend to use this new computer for creating moving imagery, making podcasts, editing music files and using tools such as photoshop. On top of basic things such as; internet, email, word processing and performing standards tasks using office packages such as open office.

Is Linux more than capable of performing all these tasks?

Photoshop will not run natively on Linux. Let's nip that in the bud right there. There are ways to run it using translation software (WINE) but they're neither exceptionally stable nor exceptionally easy.

Your best bet for both image editing and animations is probably to learn the Linux-native program GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).

OpenOffice is native in Linux, so no worries there. It usually comes pre-installed on Linux distributions such as Ubuntu and Fedora.

My other question is to do with networks. Ideally I want to have my Windows XP desktop and my Linux desktop on the same network sharing a printer and internet access. Is it possible to do this? If it is possible to have both on the same network will I have any major issues in setting up a network?

The nice thing about networks and TCP/IP is that they're pretty operating system agnostic. The protocols that all computers use to connect to each other and the Internet are pretty much identical, so you won't have any issues plugging a Linux box and a Windows box into the same router.

If you're attempting to share drives or files on drives between the computers, some configuration will be necessary since Windows doesn't understand some of the native Linux filesystems. It's doable, just a little more work.

What major differences between Windows and Linux have you found ?

Wow. That's a BROAD question with many answers. I prefer to link to this article from our new user welcome thread:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...explained.html

There's more articles here:

http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/lin...ead-first.html

[PerlCoder]

Never used Linux before and have just sent off for a Linux operating system disc for a new computer. I have a few questions i am unsure of.


I am building a computer from scratch. I don't want to use Windows as my operating system. Its over priced and simply doesn't give value for my money in my opinion.

Welcome to Linux.

I intend to use this new computer for creating moving imagery, making podcasts, editing music files and using tools such as photoshop. On top of basic things such as; internet, email, word processing and performing standards tasks using office packages such as open office.

Is Linux more than capable of performing all these tasks?

Definitely: I do most of these things myself.

As far as using Photoshop, or any other program designed for Windows, that's not something you get out of the box. You would have to try to run them in a compatibility layer like Wine, which doesn't always work. It's best to try to find alternatives that were designed for Linux, such as Krita and Karbon14: The KOffice Project

My other question is to do with networks. Ideally I want to have my Windows XP desktop and my Linux desktop on the same network sharing a printer and internet access. Is it possible to do this? If it is possible to have both on the same network will I have any major issues in setting up a network?

Doesn't make a difference, as long as you set up you network correctly. Each computer needs to have its own distinct ip address, but on the same subnet as each other and your modem.

If you have a set up like most people do, you can just plug each computer into the back of your modem (or a network switch connected to your modem) and Linux and Windows will automatically detect the connection through DHCP.

If the time comes to set that up, and you have problems, start up another thread here in the forums, indicating exactly what you are trying to do and what problems you are having.

What major differences between Windows and Linux have you found ?

Thanks

The biggest thing you'll need to adjust to is the FOSS environment. Unlike Windows, in Linux you almost never go to the store and buy a piece of software. Instead, the software is mostly free, and is stored in online repositories maintained by your Linux distribution. The easiest way to get this software is through your Linux distribution's package manager.

You can find free software for Linux to meet almost any need you might have. But if your needs are very specialized, it may take a little longer to find the software.

If you need games or office applications and don't know what to look for, post a new thread at the forums and we'll give you suggestions.

[jmadero]

One more thing that I'd like to add on top of what the other two have said. When you build your own system you can run into some problems with Linux, I've seen this several times, the most recent being my ex roomate.

The problem is a lot of people go for the cheaper deals, Linux tends to find the problems that XP might ignore (because vendors only care that it works on Windows, so if there is a hardware problem that doesn't show up in Windows than they really don't care). The one my ex roomate experienced was the RAID Controller on his motherboard was horrible, it worked with Vista but Ubuntu would snag on it, it's a known problem, documented everywhere, but the company wouldn't do anything for him because they said it works for Vista. So basically, if you're building your own system, you might want to search parts online (major parts I mean, such as motherboard, graphics card and audio card) to make sure they work well in Linux. I can say from experience that Nvidia has relatively solid Linux history, for sound cards you can check out alsa-project and motherboards....I'm not too sure about.

Hope that helps a bit. One last thing...you never need to send out for a linux cd, they are free to download, easy to burn. Usually when you send out for them they send stickers or something which is fun (I had a few Ubuntu stickers on my laptop), but in general, you'll probably be testing a few distributions before you find the one that suits your needs so sending out to 5 different places isn't necessary, just go to their home pages and download the isos

[Bemk]

I just want to say one more thing. If you are still afraid that Linux doesn't fit into your network, stop worrying. Linux is very often used for server taks.

I my self have a Linux server and I have to say it is very very very stable. Lucky for you there are standards designed to ensure comminucation between several computers goes well. This protocol is called TCP/IP.

Hope you understand now that Linux won't give any problems with your network printer.