Pro: Linux is exceptionally more customizable than Windows.
Con: Linux is exceptionally more customizable than Windows.

What?

It's pro because this enables you to tweak the operating system, the GUI (if you even want one), the system as a whole, in almost any way you wish.

It's con because this means that the common Windows user will probably get a headache from all the scripts and configuration involved. It's give or take, but I was hooked the first time I touched a *nix box. It's one of those things that you either absolutely love, or you absolutely hate, but there usually isn't much in the way of middle room.

Neither one is better--they are different. The question can only be answered based on what you expect a computer to do for you---and what you are prepared to do for your computer.

Linux gives you enormous freedom and power, but this comes at a price. Unfortunately the individual can't always know the price until they've been in the water a while.

I suggest you simply set up a dual-boot machine and try it.

oh god, please not another one....

At least is doesn't happen as often as:
How do you dual-boot?
Which distro for me?

OR--the ever-popular:
Please help me

lol
I thought there was a megathread for these mmmhh.. interesting subjects?


For the OP, you could do a search, this subject is treated several times a day..

There is no so much philosophy about this. If you are gamer stay away from linux, and if you keep open mind try linux.

In my infinite wisdom I created a megathread for just this sort of question, in the general forum. I have now merged this thread with the megathread so that you too can get all it's warm creamy opinionated goodness too.

Fly, my pretty over to: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...d.php?t=468236

hah if u dont want stuff like that, what are you doing on a site called linux questions. seems its for asking and answering questions about linux huh.

THERE IS A SEARCH BUTTON, USE IT...

These questions have been asked and asked and asked. People have all given their ideas one day and a lot can't be bothered to talk about it again. So you will get more results by using the search button.

Putting all these comments in this single thread is a good way for people to have a better access to information.

Regards

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the enormous feedback.

I am not a gamer. I want to use it in my office the reason being MS software is priced at a price where I can easily buy a CAR in INDONESIA. LOL

What I understand from this forum is that LINUX can be programmed by anyone, open source, is that right? If that is right then it can do miracles for my office. Which means I can tailor it to suit my needs.

Thanks a million guys.

It (GNU/Linux) can fit any needs you may have. Conventional office software is of a very high standard, be it for older systems (abiword, gnumeric ect) or newer systems (openoffice) and for servers it is second to none.
Simple shell scripts are ideal for automating tasks, and cron is ideal for running them automatically.
A lot of specialized/task specific software is not available, however wine can be used to run a lot of win32 applications or you can easily find developers to tailor make or modify existing applications to your needs. Also with open source you get to see the quality of work from a huge number of developers at no cost.
Hope it works well for you.

Gentoo has a way of doing that to people

It wasn't Gentoo. It's being disabled and having arthritis in places I didn't know I had joints that makes me feel old. I dread being 50, I don't even want to think about 70.

Gentoo actually helps me relax. I have very few problems with Gentoo. Mandrake was a nightmare though.

Later

It can go beyond that, but you're definitely starting to get the idea. Something tells me that you'll probably end up being a user that likes Linux alot since your mind is already starting to dream of some possibilities.

In a nutshell, that's kind of the biggest strength of Linux, it's there for the taking and it's up to the user to get out of it what they want. It can fill almost any need due to it's open nature. Ultimately, a user never has to make any sort of compromise with it. It's more of a question of how much effort one is willing to put in to have it work like their dreams. Like a user may have a 'wacky' idea of how things should work by their views, but really everything is all relative. What's ridiculous to one person is ingenius to another, and Linux has been licensed so that it's open to all ideas. This is also probably why there is so much innovation, finding of better ways to accomplish things, and such a strong evolution in open-source software.

Linux and open-source tends to be concepts that clicks with some (a big old light bulb turns on in their head), but doesn't with others. Alot of it seems to be dependant upon how creative and open minded one is. The open-minded tend to start off with a curiosity about Linux and open-source software. They may not quite get the concept at first, but they have the drive to make sense of it all. Often, that open-mindedness and curiosity ends up paying off big in the long run since they've just openned a door for themselve's to a larger world of possibilities that they may have not even thought of before. The closed-minded tend to overlook it all. It's not really any skin off anyone's back though, because it's ultimately their own loss.

As a result, you tend to have two types of Linux users. Those that want to encourage others to give it a serious consideration since it's ended up being the answer, for them, to their computing prayers, and those that are pretty much indifferent about it all. The latter tend feel the way they do because it doesn't have any impact on the future of Linux and open-source one way or the other (In a way, it does somewhat, but you'll see where I'm going with this in a few more sentences.). Afterall, for open-source to thrive it's only a matter of that there are people in this world that have an interest in developing open-source based software. Of course, more interest in the development of Linux and open-source means more innovation, but numbers don't matter if those involved aren't driven and inspired to begin with.

Anyway, it's good to see that you're already seeing some good possibilities. The transition will mostly be a bit rough and trying sometimes, but in the long run, you'll probably eventually come to the conclusion of wondering how you ever got by with proprietary software in the past. Sooner or later, when you move away from proprietary solutions, you feel like you've just broken free of your shackles in the realm of computing.

You might realize this, but just to be clear, that was more meant to be more of giving you a hard time about using Gentoo. Truth be told, while I think Gentoo can sometimes seem a bit over the top, I can totally relate to how it can have some big appeal. I've started to take some interest in Linux From Scratch recently. I think this must mean I'm even more insane than Gentoo users. I suspect, that in about month's time, I'll end up being 34 going on 105.

I have yet to find a distro that didn't have problems, or that I didn't like in some way. Almost all of the ones, that I've tried, there have been things about them I liked alot, but there is always at least one fundimental thing, that I dislike about them. I think this is probably a pretty common thing for all of us and probably why we have ended up with tons and tons of different distros This might be what is inspiring me to play around with Linux From Scratch. In a way, I think that for alot of Linux users, that things eventually evolve in the direction of wanting a distro that they can have even more control over all of the bits and pieces. I guess that's kind of the nature of it all though -- that as we get more used to having choices and being able to make decision for ourselve's, we become more jaded and more of sticklers about it all. It's really a good thing though. No matter how it's looked at, it's a win win one way or another.

I know what you mean about it helping you relax. Sometimes there is something so right feeling about sitting at the console and tweaking settings etc (especially at the bare bones command line). It's sort of like the same sort of feeling of zen that fishing gives.

When it comes to the topic of how micro-management oriented a distro is, it kind of makes think of a driving as a good analogy. For me, driving a standard is generally a more enjoyable experience, but there are certain times where I wish I was driving an automatic instead. Like in rush hour for instance. But when you get out on the open road, an automatic tends to be kind of boring.