Windows 2000 user demands Linux!

[dresden]

i have used nearly every single microsoft product since DOS in 16-bit. win2kpro is the best windows operating system. i have XP and vista also, but i reverted to my backed up win2kpro because they are identical, except XP/VISTA are loaded with pretty buttons and other ********.

i can run everything on my 2000 that you can run on your xp/vista. i don't have the 64-bit 2000 because i can't find it any where, i wish i cared to buy it when i heard about it....(advanced server 64-bit, but you can pop the CD in to change to a desktop setup)

but thats irrelevant, because now apparently i'm being "phased out" for no reason other than money. despite the facts that i've bought their new crap, they don't want me to use their old stuff any way. on 2010 (less than 3 years) i will no longer be able to patch windows 2000 computers, and it will be officially abandoned.

so, i look at the alternatives..because i can tie my own shoes, i won't buy a whole other machine to run that macintosh thing. i'd feel ever more retarded (no offense retarded mac users). i guess i'l settle with linux.

naturally i've gone throughout the internet and looked at everyone elses sad story and their comparison charts of different linix distros...on the charts i see that they're constantly changing and these charts are also not frequently updated, OR i read an overload of information that tells me only that they are all apparently great operating systems despite being dozens of sperate projects....

there are so many choices, and i read about people being recruited into different projects despite having the same reasons....so i am truly at a loss.

i want to convert to linux but i can't because i don't want to pick 1 and say man, i wish i had picked that other 1......holy **** people, why do you have so many seperate linux projects??? please help me......YES i've read AT LEAST DOZENS of pages on this subject before posting this, and i'm suffering from information over load, so please don't forward me to some chart/post...please work with me here...


FYI i want to replace my win2kpro machine, which i use for EVERYTHING other than video games. i need to be able to do every thing like email and waste my time watching youtube, etc.

i say "other than video games" because apparently windows vista is the only market for video games soon, or so i hear. this means i will have a seperate computer set up for video games


edit: by the way, when i said "EVERYTHING," i didn't just mean email/youtube. i really meant, a lot of stuff. i am way into encryption and data storage, and spreadsheets, and all sorts of stuff. i do a lot of stuff on computers. thanks

[Freston]

Oke, I'll give it a try


First! Welcome to the forums. It seems to me that Linux is right for what you want. But you will have to put effort into it to get it working right. That's up to you, but a little direction to get you started I can help you with.

Brings us to the second point. You've noticed by now there are literally hundreds of distro's. Have you noticed too that they center around two main streams? Or three, it's how you look at it

That said, you cannot come in here 'demanding' the right distro. That's like going into a supermarket and demanding the perfect meal. What you first need to decide is if you want a ready made meal like (K)Ubuntu, a highly tunable system like Slackware or Debian, something with business like support such as Red Hat. Or anything in between. That's a matter of taste, and to keep the analogy: the proof of the pudding is in the eating.

If you have the bandwidth, download some distro's and run them. Many distro's have a life CD, just pop it in, reboot and it runs itself without touching the harddrive.

So, do not despair... You will find the distro that's right for you. Always try several, note the differences and similarities and take comfort in the thought that most applications run on all Gnu/Linux systems.




Oh, and as a final note. If you set up your partitioning right, you can always change distro. I'm converting my Ubuntu system (back) to Slackware as we speak. This doesn't even affect the bookmarks in my browser.

[320blues]

here's a link that has a "distro quiz" to help you decide.

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

it is a tad confusing at first.

[dresden]

here's a link that has a "distro quiz" to help you decide.

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

it is a tad confusing at first.

i read all that stuff too! i'm suffering from information over load...

i'm thinking about ubuntu or debian (because of reviews, nothing else....).

i don't need an OS that is super-user friendly (am willing to figure out stuff if its not too extreme), but i would imagine that if its user friendly than it had that extra love put into it, so its probably polished?? but i really don't know that however, because i've never even used a linux OS before!!! so i have to ask!

im asking because i'd like to know what you expierenced linux people use personally (and why!), and what you'd recommend for what reasons. thank you

[Juan Pablo]

I think you should begin with something easy like Ubuntu or its derivatives, it will help you to learn how Linux works.

I personally use Ubuntu and Gentoo, Ubuntu is the Linux flagship right now and Gentoo is one of the most advanced and somewhat difficult distro out there.

[dresden]

thank you, after much of my research im thinking of moving to ubuntu for the reasons i've said, but i ask why do you use both?? what are the advantages of using two different linux desktop operating systems?

[Juan Pablo]

I both because I like how easy Ubuntu is, I use it when I need to get something working without much pain. I use Gentoo when I want to have fun with my computer, to learn more about Linux, etc. I enjoy compiling from source and Gentoo is the best for this

[dresden]

ahhh i see. so, for the linux user who just wants to reap the benefits from all the hard work from the linux community, i should only ever use ubuntu (until better things come)???

if thats the case than i will go with ubuntu. hopefully when i learn more about how linux works i too can be a productive piece in the linux world.

so before i make this big change, i ask further....to those of you who have not posted yet, what OS's do you use, why, and what do you recommend? thank you, you're experience will surely affect my decision.

[pavlo_7]

I use Debian most of the time and sometimes Fedora/Cent OS 5. Once in a while I try other distros simply out of curiosity or when I'm bored.

I love Debian mainly because it's stable. It lets me do all kinds of experiments with it and still boots or allows me to fix it. The only time I reinstall it is when partition runs out of space or if I want to test new version from the scratch. Installing software with apt makes it very efficient. I can be lazy and install bunch of programs with one command.

I use Fedora mainly for the sake of feeling different, like installing things from rpms or through yum. To me, Fedora is nice free extension of RedHat distribution. It gives me freedom to install other packages or drivers that are not available in RedHat (ex. FireWire).

CentOS. It's free recompiled RedHat. I use this as a test bench just to see what to expect when I install or configure something in actual RedHat.

P.S. Recently. I tried Ubuntu and I really liked it. I think it's definitely a very good (if not the best) distro for starters and a convenient distro for power users (most of the things just work). And you can use apt

[Roxoff]

Coo - a 'which distro' thread that hasn't degenerated into a flame war... We'll be all grown-up next.

Here's my two-bob's worth.

For beginners Ubuntu is an excellent choice. Other good candidates are Fedora (which I use all the time) and find to be extremely well polished and stable, and Suse which has quirks I dont like, but which has excellent hardware support.

If you're looking for a windows-like experience then PCLinuxOS might give you what you want.

If you want a full-on server os with rock-solid stability then look at Debian and CentOS - Debian has a absolutely awesome range of software packages available for it, while CentOS is a re-badged RedHat Enterprise Linux (but with no support).

Nobody seems to have mentioned Distrowatch yet as a place to find information.