I've done a Linux test but still need advice

[Dan_Grr]

Hi folks, first time here. I've done the Linux Distribution Chooser test and it's pretty neat but could use some more options to reveal more of my needs and personality. So thats why I would be most appreciated by any insight you might want to give me.

I have downloaded Suse Linux 10 more than a year ago but I never got around to install it. Why? Prochrastination and the fact that it doesn't have Photoshop (ok it has GIMP I'll give you that).

Now, after all this time, I decided I might get rid of the Windows environment, because I've heard of Wine and the better and enhanced CodeWeavers software that allows Windows apps to run on Linux. So this is the right time I guess. But I don't know exactly wich should I choose.

Im a designer with prepress/web and graphic background. I also like to draw and I will be doing digital painting on the PC. My PC is around 2 and half years old and thats probably why Suse Linux didn't showed up as a main good option for the test I been through (although I think it does - Pentium IV 2.8 ATI Radeon 9600 256, 80 GB hardrive and 768 RAM).

So here are my results:

[netstrider]

I'd go for Ubuntu there...it's pretty neat and it's what I've been using for a few months now.

Strange, I just took that test for the first time and it came out pretty accurate, pointing:
Debian
Ubuntu
Fedora

I happen to like all three of them very much.

[Cabhan]

The first thing I am going to tell you is that you should not expect to use Linux because you want to use Windows applications. If you want to use Windows applications, use Windows. If you need one particular Windows program, you might still consider a dual-boot, but you may be able to get it running satisfactorily with Wine or Crossover Office.

In regards to the GIMP, if the features you need are in the GIMP, you might try GIMPshop, which is the GIMP with a Photoshop-esque layout and interface.


Anyway, in regards to distributions, SuSE should run fine on that box. I ran SuSE 9.2 on a box with 2.6 GHz, 256 MB RAM, and a GeForce 4 with no problems. Of the distros that your test shows, I'd recommend Ubuntu, both because you have no prior Linux experience, and it is a fairly good distro.

[ddavid123]

Yes, I agree Ubuntu is a good free distro, but my favorite is Linspire! If money is an issue, Linspire is actively developing a free version of the OS Freespire. The first stable version did not have all of the hardware support that most distros have, but 2.0 which will be released in a few months will have excellent hardware support.

I have used Mandrake, Ubuntu/Kubuntu, Puppy Linux, DSL, Linspire/Freespire, and Xandros! Of them all, I found that Linspire/Freespire is more intuitive and welcoming than the rest, as well as being easier to use for the new Linux user! While Linspire/Freespire is designed to emulate the look and feel of Windows, It still is as powerful and usable for power users!

I have been using Linux for just over a year, and have learned much! If you have an open mind and are willing to learn, Linux should be a good experience! Now after saying this, there are a few things that Linux can't do. First, it can't run Windows programs without other programs like wine or Cedega. Even with these programs, not all Windows programs will always work, so check the application database to be sure it works! Second, Linux can not get viruses like Windows does! Linux's file and process permissions stop all viruses and malicious software from even executing because in order to infect the whole system, it needs to have "root" permissions, or at least write and execute permissions of the whole filesystem. And third, not every piece of hardware is supported! Linux's hardware support is primarily a responsibility if the kernel developers and some OEM's. The fact that Linux is not owned by any one company means that it is not centrally funded and maintained. But, you can go to google and find Linux friendly hardware!

If you are in search of computers that run your favorite Linux distro, your best bet is to purchase PC's that are built and configured for your distro. My favorite Linux system builder is Gigastrand at www.gigastrand.com and Koobox at www.koobox.com!

If you run into problems using Linux, just remember you had similar problems learning Windows I bet! Also, if you can not figure it out, don't despair, you can always get help here at the Linux forums!

[devils casper]

dont start a new 'distro war' again. almost all Linux Distros including Linspire, Ubuntu or OpenSuSe are free and best bet is.. 'try yourself and find out what suites you'.






Casper

[ddavid123]

I wasn't trying to start a distro flame war, sorry! I simply was stating my opinion based on my past experience with other distros. All I meant to convey is to try as many distros as possible and then make a decision as to which is the best for you.

As for me, you know my personal favorite distro, but I think I should be able to express my opinion without starting a flame war. If I had wanted to start one, I would have said that Linspire is the best and everything else is crap! But I did no such thing.

Some people, no mater the distro you use, will tell you that their distro is better for whatever reason, and that is a shame! Pretty much all distros are the same except for the Desktop Environment, choice of pre-installed applications, and package manager. All distros are good for the intended user it is developed for.

For newbies, Linspire, Xandros, and Ubuntu rank the top in my opinion! For intermediate, Suse, Mandriva, and Debian come to mind. For power users, Slackware, Gentoo, and Linux From Scratch I think are appropriate. For SOHO and cooperate uses, Suse, and Mandriva, but the king is Red Hat.

There is a distro for every user. I am not a newbie of sorts, but I still prefer the ease of use of Linspire over any of the ones I have used to date. Just call me lazy because I want everything to work out of the box! LOL

If the moderators believe that my opinions are causing tensions and creating a flame war, understand that is not my intention, and that you may delete my post if this escalates further.

P.S. I do not know how to remove the "angry" icon, sorry!

[Dan_Grr]

Oh, very nice info, I didn't know there was computer specially built for Linux.

Being a designer, Im not so sure if it will be a good choice. I couldn't work only on Photoshop (GIMP), there a couple of other windows apps I would also be needing.

[ddavid123]

Oh, very nice info, I didn't know there was computer specially built for Linux.

Being a designer, Im not so sure if it will be a good choice. I couldn't work only on Photoshop (GIMP), there a couple of other windows apps I would also be needing.

What are the Windows applications that you need? Perhaps you can run them with Wine or Cross Over. I have found that Cross over supports and successfully runs all of the Microsoft office suite and a host of other programs. It can even install and execute unsupported Windows applications to a greater or lesser degree of reliability depending on the application.

Ideally, I would suggest using only open source software, but there are a few Windows applications that have no open source equivalent. You can always dual-boot Windows and Linux and have the best of both worlds, but I found that I can live quite easily without Windows for cost savings and security reasons just for starters!

It is true that there is a moderate learning curve while learning Linux. But this is mostly due to the fact that you have to unlearn a few things about computing with Windows to learn computing with Linux. First, you have to unlearn to working with your computer as Administrator. Linux enables you to perform most computing tasks while logged in as user. User has limited permissions, which means that while logged in as user, you do not have permissions to write to files that are system files or other user files! It also means you can not execute programs that need root permissions to do so. Because of this, no virus or any malicious software can cause harm to the system. The only harm it could possibly do is to corrupt, infect, or possibly delete YOUR files in your home directory! That is why it is always smart to always login as regular user, not root or administrator! Even though this is an extremely rare event, always back up your user files just in case this happens! Then login as root, delete your user directory, and recreate it and restore your backed up files!

Second, Linux has a different filesystem than Windows! Windows breaks the filesystem into many different filesystems. Windows uses drive letters to denote devices. Floppy drives are either A: or B:. The first hard drive is C:, and cdroms are D: E: etc. And the contents of each drive are a self contained filesystem, separate from the others. But with Linux, all of the devices are in the samee filesystem as everything else in the system! Linux treats devices as files, and access the it just like a file! The main directory is "/" called the root directory. This is no relation to the "root" user. The floppy drive is at /dev/fd, and the first floppy drive is /dev/fd0. The hard drive is /dev/hda, and the first drive is /dev/hda0.

I hope this helps even a little bit. If you need any help or want to ask more questions, come back here or PM me and we can discuss this further!

[Dan_Grr]

I appreciate the advice you're giving me. So the devices are treated as files in Linux eh? What happens if I accidently delete one of those? Does Linux has some kind of auto-search in the net for auto installation of hardware? Thats whats also bugging me.

About the apps, I would be needing, not all the time, but occasionally, Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, and probably a HTML&CSS editor like Dreamweaver, or more text like, like WeBuilder 2006. I'd also have to know if my future Wacom would be recognized in Linux environment.

[ddavid123]

You can not accidentally delete the system or device files when logged in as regular user (limited permissions). When logged in as user, you can try to delete these files, but an error message pops up saying that you do not have the permissions to delete the file! However, while logged in as root(God of the system so to speak), you can delete critical system and device files, so it is not wise to do so unless absolutely necessary.

Some of the programs that you listed works fairly well in Linux with Crossover! Photoshop is one example of an application that is known to work well with Crossover in Linux. Linux has a web page creator called NVU. It is hailed by many as the best web page creator for Linux!

I have no idea what wacom is, but if it is supported by Linux, this is the best place to find help if it isn't detected automatically. Typing "lspci" in the terminal (DOS like shell emulator) will give you a list of detected hardware. And typing "lsmod" will list all of the kernel modules (device drivers and other functions) that are loaded.

If any hardware doesn't work, post the output of the terminal from these commands here and someone will tell you if the hardware is currently supported! You have to keep in mind that almost all hardware drivers are developed by the Linux community, and the Open Source Development Lab specifically. Microsoft has better hardware support because the OEM's develop the driers for their hardware for Windows. There are some companies that support Linux by creating drivers for Linux. Nvidia supports Linux by writing drivers for Linux for their products. Intel, in the near future will be open sourcing their drivers for Linux.

Most hardware drivers are generic, which means they should work on most similar hardware types! The fact is that Linux has far better hardware support out of the box than Windows does. As far as my experience goes, most common hardware will work out of the box, like hard drives, monitors, etc. You could visit http://www.control-escape.com/linux/lx-hwcompat.html and http://www.linux.org/hardware/ for more information,

What I suggest, is to find a Linux distro that you are interested in and check to see if they make a "Live CD" A Live CD is a Linux distro that can be booted and run directly from the CDROM, and not the hard drive! If everything works and you are satisfied, you can then download the install CD and install it to your hard drive! Many distros offer easy disk partitioning that allows you to dual-boot both Windows and Linux. Before you resize the Windows partition in order to make room for a new Linux partition, it is wise to run a disk check and defrag in Windows to check for filesystem errors!

I suggest that you chose a distro that has recently released a new version, This way, you stand a better chance of getting your hardware to be automatically detected and configured at install time! This is because the Linux kernel is always under active development and new releases of the kernel have new and updated drivers regularly!

Learning Linux may seem a daunting task at first, but after a while, Linux becomes a more enjoyable way to use your computer. When you consider the cost savings and peace of mind that you experience with Linux, you may wonder how you ever lived with the insecurity and cost of Windows! Remember that Linux is developed by developers from all over the world that work on different projects that with the kernel, make up the OS. Many see the Linux forums as a part of their family, and create close ties with their fellow Linux users.

I hope i have answered your questions to your satisfaction!