I've been doing some extensive reading on www.gnu.org and they are slowly converting me. I don't think I'll be able to be as fanatical about it as they are because there are simply things that I can't get GNU/linux to do, like make the video in on my video card work and I've been putting alot of time into it. I can't live without that feature so at present I can't eradicate XP off my computer, although I'd like to. I'm also a heavy gamer and it would be just as much work getting all my games to play on linux as actually playing them! So while I agree with their philosophies on freedom, I simply would not be able to make the commitment of never running proprietary software on my computer. But I would agree with them in principal that the freedom issue is more important than the technical issue, athough putting it into practice just isn't realistic. So what are your motives for switching to GNU/Linux? Are you a GNU purist or just having fun? Does anyone really care? Let me know.

MM

Here is my 2 cents worth. I am not going to purchase XP because MS wants me to. I have to say though that Linux is not all there yet especially in the areas of games. So if you have XP and you are a gamer (I am not) than I would not abandon it yet.
I feel that Linux has a few things to work out but I am getting to know Linux now and preparing myself for the future. I feel within the next 4 to 5 years Linux will possible and completely catch MS in all areas. I also think a lot of people are peeved at MS because of the amount of money they are charging for License fees and what not. So I am getting prepared for the future takeover. I hate monopolies.

I am in architecture, and I can't leave Windows because of AutoCAD and VectorWorks (the de facto standards in architectural design), or high-end 3D modeling software like 3Ds max, Rhino, Autodesk Viz and the like. I know that Maya is available for Linux, but it's no less expensive than it is on the Windows platform, and I would still need AutoCAD, at least.

I use Linux because it:

1) is damn sexy
2) appeals to the radical socialist/anarchist in me
3) lets me have a better understanding of my operating system and more control over it
4) gives me better reliability and less day-to-day problems
5) seriously kicks Windows butt in all network-related applications
6) gives me more choice in everything I do

I'm probably missing some points, but what can you do? I have to say this stuff so many times over that it gets really boring and tiresome.

<note> This would be better suited for 'General', I think. </note>

Regards,

Could I direct you to this thread:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...hreadid=123604

and in particular:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...130#post640130
for my opinion.

Dave

For me, (a Linux Newbie in every sense of the word) I just want to try Linux for a project I am working on at home.

I would love for it to do everything, but like the poster above, I play games. Not only that, I am paid money to develop in .NET C#.

Linux does not do either very well so for me it is not an option.

However, that project at home I mentioned is to build a HTPC (Home Theatre Personal Computer). After a few weeks of research I have discovered much to my delight that Linux can do everything I need it to in this front. So I am going to have a red hot go at building the HTPC with Linux. And if possible, all with free software.

This I know will be making a rod for my own back. Coming from a Windows background nothing in Linux is easy. With the exception of the install. (Funny that). I know that I will have problems....

• Getting an ADSL USB modem installed and on the net
• Getting a capture card (that comes with tons of Windows software) working in Linux
• Setting up and configuring Samba (I tried this once before and failed)
• Making the Linux box my internet Gateway for all the other computers in my house (a job currenlty done (poorly) by a WinXP box) <shudder>

But hey. I'm game. Here is a chance for linux to show its stuff. This HTPC will be the most powerful machine in the house (a 3ghz Athlon 64) and it will be great when I can show of its capabilities to my Windows using friends and tell them... "this thing runs Linux".

On a final note while I think that it is great that your average Linux distribution comes with tons of great free software. Like GIMP and Open Office etc, why must it also come with so much rubbish software. I just installed Fedore Core 1 a few nights ago (on a spare box). For an example, there are tons of 'games' pre installed.

Most of them look like something that was written on the C64.

There is one there that is a vertical scrolling spaceship shooter thing (I forget its name), that runs at about 1 frame every 3 seconds and is impossible to quit out of. It locked up the machine so badly, i had to press the RESET button on the case. Not good.

Isn't there a Linux version of the shareware of Quake that could be put on there? To show off some 3d capabilities?

I know that 3d cards take some setting up in Linux, but couldn't that setting up be done to at least some default during the install. The machine it is on at the moment is a PIII 733 with a GeForce 2 video card. Standard stuff. It can run Unreal Tournament in Windows, why can't it run this little space shooter at more than 0.3 FPS?

I know that I'll be able to tweak or install something to get this sorted out, but to the less savy user, this just might be reason enough to forget linux and put windows back on the machine. An opportunity lost.

You need to install the driver for your card from nvidia.com.

[RANT]
That is my point. Why should I have to do that? The driver are free, aren't they? The install detected my video card. It knows what it is. Why did it not install a proper driver for it? Simple. Even Windows does that.

Look, I don't really care about the game. I am getting into Linux because it is going to run my HTPC. The point is that the fact that it does not work right up will turn away users.

Might be just the 3d video card does not do 3d.

Might be that the network card does not check for an internet connection on the box next to it that is sharing its internet connection on 192.168.0.1 (how obvious).

Might only turn away 1 in 20 potential users, but still, the more users Linux has, the better.
[/RANT]

I think the important thing to understand is that the solid stance of GNU gives people the choice of running the type of software they want.
You say that you do not want to be as fanatical as GNU, but agree with them in principal although Linux does not offer all you want and you will still use Windows.
Might I suspect your use of Windows does not not mean you endorse Microsoft's fanaticism completely either? Do you agree with their principals? Does Windows offer all you want?
GNU's "fanaticism" is in contrast to expensive and restrictive proprietary software that puts computing out of the reach of many people or restricts it's use for anyone.
GNU needs to be weighed against proprietary software to understand their stance.
I think that makes their stance and beliefs much less fanatical.

this is a pretty well done subject already, but I'll say one thing. Last night my partner found some extra icons had appeared on her WinME desktop. we ran a virus scan and a bot check and found 5 viruses and 7 bots running. and this is from someone who never installs programs or clicks buttons without knowing what they are.

Linux anyone?

This post is all in my opinion:

I dual booted W1nd0wZ/Linux for awhile and a few weeks ago I formatted the drive and installed Linux on it w/o M$ garbage and I haven't looked back. No regrets from me, I can do more in Linux than I could with W1nd0wZ. Now the only time I use m$ OS is when I'm at a friend or family member's house and they happen to be using it for whatever reason. Other than that, MY box is M$ free.

Quote:

I'm also a heavy gamer and it would be just as much work getting all my games to play on linux as actually playing them!

Boo hoo! If this sounds harsh, too bad. How long have you been using computers? I'm sick of this "Linux is too hard!" bulls###. I really am. I came from command line only OS and made my way through Win 3.11 on up to XP. The people who know nothing other than Win98 on up sicken me to no end with the poison they inject throughout the web with their pleas to simplify Linux. Enough! If you're used to playing in the W1nd0wz sandbox, a limited vision of someone else's idea of computer use, understand that this is only ONE WAY of using the computer. Try opening your mind a little beyond the world of W1nd0wz and understand that there's a lot more to using your compuer than pointing and clicking.

I too enjoy gaming on my computer and used to play a lot of them on W1nd0wz but since I've switched to Linux I've grown used to reducing the number of games I'm playing. This means I have more time to do other more valuable things with my free time, and it also means I won't be spending hundreds of dollars anymore on W1nd0wz games because the games I play for Linux like Enemy Territory and Bzflag are FREE. So I may have to limit the number of games I can play FOR NOW (because who knows what gaming on Linux will be like 5 or 10 years from now) but I see that as no big deal. If I was that hard core of a gamer, I'd buy a gamecube or something. I've been playing games on computers for over 20 years and I can honestly say that the majority of games that have been coming out in the last 5 years aren't really worth my time to begin with so it's no big deal.

Quote:

But I would agree with them in principal that the freedom issue is more important than the technical issue, athough putting it into practice just isn't realistic.

Speak for yourself. IMO the best way to put it into practice is to stop talking about it, speculating about it, and just remove W1nd0wZ from your system and install a distro of Linux you enjoy using and STICK WITH IT. You have excellent sites like this one to help you when you have questions, what are you waiting for? But if you really feel you need W1nd0wZ for gaming or whatever then that's your choice. But I've heard enough of the W1nd0wz users gobbling on like turkeys over their difficulties with Linux when most of them were nursed on restrictive point and click GUIs to begin with.

Quote:

So what are your motives for switching to GNU/Linux? Are you a GNU purist or just having fun? Does anyone really care? Let me know.

I switched because I can do more in Linux than I can in W1nd0wZ and Linux brings the power of my computer back into my hands and gives me the joy that I once had prior to W1nd0wZ 3.11 entering the world back in the day.

IMO W1nd0wZ n1n3 d33 f1v3 made monkeys out of computer users (and brought in the common people who shouldn't be using computers IMO without passing a test similar to a ham radio test) and the monkeys are screaming, throwing feces at one another and going crazy over the threat of Linux. They know it's the next big thing. They don't want their point and click goodness taken from them. They want to live in the make believe pc geek guru plug and play fantasy land and not face the realities beyond a commercialized vision of what it's like to actually USE a computer. These common and simple people will gladly fork over hundreds of dollars for closed source software and complain very little, because they know that it keeps them in the safe kingdom of point and click GUI goodness. They don't want to venture outside this land. For outside the gates there be dragons. So they pay up for protection from the unknown.

"Linux is t00 hard - make it stupid for stupid people like me" is what I hear all over the web and I'm tired of it. These same people were the idiots who would look at you in the 70's and 80's like you were some kind of god (computer wizard is what they would call us), their eyes fogging over like they were seeing spirits when you would code in front of them and make things happen on a computer. IMO they are a waste of time to cator to. They should either learn and adapt, or stick to what they know. The endless screams and begging gets really old. Plenty of forums such as this for help exist, documentation, Freenode IRC, etc. There's no excuse. It's more help than I could've dreamed for when I started with computers 20+ years ago. But I guess I come from a time when computer users did more for themselves instead of wanting everything handed to them.

And those who say "see u linux ppl are mean/rude/snobby/etc" are scared to look in the mirror and see how simple they really are. Intelligent people eventually grow weary from listening to the simpletons repeated moans and groans about how tough things are to learn.

fanatical.... how about people dropping their fanatical wants when coming to Linux from the land of w1nd0wz? Forget what you knew, and learn to love Linux without always thinking of how w1nd0wz did things or how w1nd0wz worked. Whine Whine Whine Why Why Why... rant/flame yes but the reality is I tire of simple stupid people who spend more time pointing their open mouths at others creating noise instead of spending a few moments using their brain to learn about something that interests them.

In closing, let's examine some words your post and similar W1nd0wZ lovers have in common:

"I don't think I'll be able"
"there are simply things that I can't"
"I can't live without that "
"I can't eradicate XP off my computer"
"I simply would not be able to make the commitment"
"athough putting it into practice just isn't realistic."
"Does anyone really care?"


I hear it all the time from W1nd0wZ users: I can't, I can't, I don't, I don't!

Your words speak volumes.

^^^ This post was all in my opinion ^^^

I'm a gamer and I run Linux exclusively at home.

I run WineX (from Transgaming, not the CVS) to run the Win games that I can get to run on my system. It's geting better all the time and actually runs some of my stuff better than a Win98 native.

I also run Linux native games. The list there is increasing:

Mine;...
UT2004
UT2003
Quake 3
Terminus
FreeSpace
FreeSpace 2
Sim City 3000 Unlimited
Neverwinter Nights (+ all the expansion packs)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
VegaStrike (a nice, improving privateer/elite clone)
maybe one or two others I can't think of right now

So you can game and run Linux as well. For the stuff I can't run, I'll just get the PS2 version (if there is one). There aren't any games I can't live without, and actually I do more productivity stuff, internet surfing and tweaking of my system than actual gaming...

Thanks for the time everyone put into replying. All your opinions are valuable.

MM

Ummm...no?
The nvidia drivers which are installed with Windows are worse than the nv drivers that come with Linux distros. In order to get any decent performance you still need to download the Detonators for Windows.

I skipped windows due to:

I can't buy the English language distro. I live in Spain and then its all in Spanish.

Windows become a mess when different languages are mixed. Example the programs map is called archivos de programma in Spanish. And you get a new folder for every languge. Plain stupid.

I got tired of all the viruses etc I took to much time.

I ordered a special keyboard and could not install my own written driver for it since microsoft needs to approve it. Plain stupid.

Then I got linux and noticed a lot of nice things.

Its free.

Now I spent time on learning linux instead of scanning hard disk and uppgrading.

No crashes!

Installation of everything I need in a go with mandrake.

And if some thing do not work I can get around it.

Faster boot!

I am hooked and will never return to the other system unless someone over pays me.