Any Linux Users?

[techie]

Anyone using Linux instead of (or in addition to) Windows or Mac?
I've been wanting to switch over for years and am finally researching my options. Got some items to clear up though, since I work remotely from home. Perhaps some of you can offer advice.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

The first thing that popped into my head when I saw the title of this thread was, "Oh yeh, she rocks... Sweet Dreams are made of this... who am I to disagree..."

 

[techie]

:rofl:

 

[craiginthecorn]

It’s not the most friendly desktop environment. There are myriad distributions of it using a variety of desktop interfaces, making it difficult on a neophyte. It’s a great operating system, though. Unix-based, so it’s fast. It’s become very common in corporate servers. I recently retired from my job as an Oracle database administrator for one of the largest utilities in the US. We ran multi-million dollar database servers on a flavor of Linux from Oracle.
You’ll be quite limited in your options for apps. While there are plenty of browsers and other apps that are freely available, you won’t be able to run things like Microsoft Office or any of the Adobe photo apps. If all you do is email and web browsing, it’ll be fine. My daughter uses a Linux notebook for remote access to her office using one the remote desktop applications from Citrix. It works just fine.

 

[chilipalmer]

Hi, Techie...
I am a Linux user and have been for years. I would say that there's never been a better time to take the plunge. Take a look at Mint Linux. It is the most turn-key solution out there. It's easy to install and it pretty much works straight out of the box.
Cheers,
Chili

 

[olkofri]

SUSE user here, although I admit the Linsux machine has been off for, wow, about a year. I second Craig's post: linux is fine for basic SOHO stuff, but if you need to use more especialised software, you'll be out of luck. Some insist that you can just use Wine and run whatever you need, but that's not true: if your Windows program requires software dependencies and/or the .NET framework it won't run under Wine. I can't run CaptureOne Pro on linux.

 

[fishfly]

I've been running Linux systems for a long time. I find the desktop environment very easy to use--certainly easier than the newest iterations of Windows. For me, Ubuntu Studio and Xubuntu are most comfortable. Libre Office will cover most of your needs instead of Office. As long as you don't have to exchange files with the Adobe Photo programs, GIMP and darktable will fill the bill. There are equivalent programs for just about everything else you might want to do.
A couple of exceptions, however: The geneology program Gramps is limited. I haven't found a good recipe program that can handle as much data as MasterCook or a simple checking application like Quicken. Some ancient hardware (like old printers and scanners) may be hard or impossible to set up. Finally, there are a few items (like Garmin GPS updates) that are simply not supported.
But there are two solutions here: 1) keep an old beater Windows machine around for those few things, or 2) Set up a virtual machine (Virtual Box is easy and free) to run the Windows stuff.
Good luck.

 

[loneredtree]

I have tried to set up Ubuntu as a duel boot and with windows 10 it will not set it up. Has Windows 10 made it impossible to do a dual boot? I am very frustrated.

 

[fishfly]

I have tried to set up Ubuntu as a duel boot and with windows 10 it will not set it up. Has Windows 10 made it impossible to do a dual boot? I am very frustrated.

Though it was a couple of versions of Ubuntu ago, I had it running for a while. As I recall, the only catch was that you had to install Windows first. And of course they need to be on separate partitions or drives.

 

[luigi]

I'm using Windows and Ubuntu but it's more for fun. I was using only Linux for several years but there are too many limitations for my taste, not to even mention the compatibility for some documents which sucks. Good for browsing internet and some basic things, nothing more.

 

[olkofri]

I have tried to set up Ubuntu as a duel boot and with windows 10 it will not set it up. Has Windows 10 made it impossible to do a dual boot? I am very frustrated.

You have to disable SecureBoot, in the BIOS I think, for it to work. Make sure you disable that before you install Windows, though.

 

[thesmokindragon]

I have used Linux for years, all great distro; Mint, Ubuntu, etc. Doing support

for both Windows and Linux server environments I have found alternative apps needed sometimes for my Windows needs ,but nothing ever perfect , so I just switched back to a Windows Desktop since all of my Linux server work is CLI I found that works best for my needs.

 

[dochudson]

You might want to check with your IT guys at work.