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-   -   Why Do You Use Linux or Why Did You Switch? (https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/general-10/why-do-you-use-linux-or-why-did-you-switch-259552/)

wilsnyder 04-25-2001 11:16 AM

Hi all.

I'm running redhat 7.0 (updated) with kde 2.1. I need to be able to read documents in chinese, and chinese emails, etc. I've been looking around for documentation on how to set up double-byte languages on linux, but haven't come across anything much beyond the chinese-howto written in 1998. I'm sure there is a better way of doing things now, but I can't find it. Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

cheers,
wil snyder

sapilas 05-10-2002 02:49 PM

Y use Linux instead of windows ??
 
Give me a good reason to use Linux as the main system instead of windows..

First time I used I mouse seriously to do some work was in 1997 and I was using Unix - Solaris6 - winNT4. Now I use various linux distros and win2k.

But I still cannot find something that will make me prefer a Linux 2 a winNT (2k) version.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What do you thing that Linux can do that a win2k OS cannot do ?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:cry: ?:cry: ?:cry: ?:cry:

dorward 05-10-2002 03:22 PM

Reasons I use Linux and not windows

1. Its cheaper
2. It loads faster
3. Upgrades are readily available
4. Fewer and more rapidly corrected security problems
5. Focus follows mouse
6. It supports my hardware (Windows tends to crash with my TV Card)
7. It doesn't leave me with a "You can not turn off your computer" message, it just turns off

burzmali 05-10-2002 04:44 PM

hey dorward;
1. your right, free is cheap!
2. winxp boots to desktop faster then linux goes to kde3 desktop
(running gentoo, 2.4.19 kernel, fully optimized for my box)
3. win2k / xp have many upgrades available, infact xp requires upgrades right of the box just to work right!
4. right again (i think) windows on the net is like standing naked in the rain:rolleyes:
5. you can have focus follow mouse in windows very easily, and in linux that behavior is dependant on your window manager.
6. wow man, that must be the only vid card ever produced that has better support in linux then it does in windows!
7. windows will turn off you pc if you want it to, as long as it isn't nt 4.0. 2k, xp, 98, 98se, me, will all shutdown the pc if you have apm or acpi enabled.

not trying to nock you though!:D just some comments

i run linux all the time at home, myself. it is free (woohoo!) and it lets you do some pretty neat things with a minimal amount of hardware. probably the coolest thing about linux for me, is that you can compile everything yourself (like the kernel!) in order to take advantage of all those neat cpu extensions that you paid so much for, like 3dnow, sse, etc. it isn't 'what can linux do that windows can't?', it should be, 'what can windows do that linux can't?' since you have to pay for windows and linux is free. and the answer is nothing! linux can do anything that windows can do, but for free. that is why i like linux over windows.

also, i'm a rebel:p

dorward 05-10-2002 05:29 PM

2. I don't use KDE, its too slow
5. How?
7. XP, APM enabled, "You may now turn off your computer"

linuxfreak 05-10-2002 05:46 PM

Sapilas, why bash your head against the wall when you can leave through the door? Why try to invent a reason for not using Windows when it serves its purpose well enough?

Linux is a server based OS trying to make its way into the desktop market. As much as anyone here likes Linux, I think most people would agree that it doesn't quite cut it yet as a serious desktop alternative to XP/2000 and that most people still need to do most of their stuff in Windows.

I frequently find myself though logging out of Win XP or Win 2000 and rebooting into Linux just to surf the web or listen to mp3's using Gnome. It's really got that sleak look which makes your eyes beg for more, a masterpiece of simplicity and elegance at the same time (btw, I badly need a Gnome theme for my XP desktop :D).

There are other thing I could do in Linux, like programming C++ code, but I really prefer the Borland C++ compiler in Windows over the text editors in Linux. I could also do a lot of other things, like burning CD's, writing stuff, whatever, but I find myself doing all that in Windows. Then there are those many programs that you simply can not live without which aren't available for Linux.

So, probably in contrast to some other people here, I use Linux for fun and Windows for the serious stuff (usually) :rolleyes: :D

burzmali 05-10-2002 10:14 PM

you can change the mouse focus behavior by using power toys for xp, available for free from M$, the actual app is called tweakui, it will be in you programs menu after you install power toys.
i don't know why your pc isn't turning off in xp with apm enabled, it should b/c mine does with both 2k and xp.
so, which wm do you use? it isn't really fair to compare, say black box, to windows as it doesn't have all the features that windows has. i think kde is the closest equivelent to windows gui in linux, plus i hate gnome:eek: :D .
maybe try www.amdmb.com forums for advice on how to fix your windows shutdown problem.

dorward 05-11-2002 01:56 AM

Its perfectly fair to compare Linux running blackbox with Windows - becuase with Windows you can't change the shell from Explorer without quite a lot of work.

sapilas 05-11-2002 03:31 AM

xaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxaxa

Until not I didn't read any SERIOUS REASON ! !

I said do not refer to the money thing....(FORGET THE MONEY)

Every uses Linux to do stupid things that make his life difficult..

Web, mp3, NICE Window managers.Everyone admits at the end "Well I prefer to do it on windows BUT I like rebooting to linux." THATS JUST SICK ! ! !

I found Noone to do serious work on Linux yet...

So y do you still using it......I wonder..

:eek:

dorward 05-11-2002 05:46 AM

Oi! I do all my work under Linux, series or otherwise. Writing a letter? Openoffice. Writing a webpage? Emacs. Writing a program? Emacs then Java, Ruby, GCC, or Perl. Games? UT, Quake 3 or XMame. DVD? Ogle. Video file? mplayer. Music? XMMS. Webbrowsing? Galeon. Usenet? Knode. IRC? XChat. Graphics work? GIMP. Scanning? Sane. Database? Postgrsql with a quick front end whipped up in PHP. Email? mutt.

Linux does everything (and more) that I need a computer system to do, and it does it cheaply and reliably. Windows also does everything that I need a computer system to do, but it takes more effort, it takes more money, and it isn't as reliable.

sapilas 05-11-2002 06:16 AM

Same . .here . . .but I think only 10% of the people that have installed Linux are really using it..

Bytheway last night I download Spiderman movie...BUT I couldn;t play it.... I manage to play it using PowerDVD in windows. It isn't a DVD but it plays with the DVD software in windows.

Is there any DVD software similar to powerDVD ?

If many, which is the more reliable ?

Cheers..


PS. Its the first year I rely on my Linux box for my msc project..I hope it will not disappoint me.:jawa:

dorward 05-11-2002 06:50 AM

IMO

Best DVD playing software: ogle
Best video file playing software: mplayer (which can also play DVDs)

crashmeister 05-11-2002 07:51 AM

The Question is not what Linux can do but what it isn't doing.
Linux doesn't try to put me in some stinking database - like M$ tries
Linux doesn't put any well hidden files in my system - nobody knows what M$ put in your box and what can be done with that.
Linux doesn't give me a license that allows it to access my box via internet when ever it feels like it and snoop out what I'm up to.

sapilas 05-11-2002 09:18 AM

I have used Access DB MS system before for a project, was ok.

Now I run project with php and mysql, now problem both in win2k and slack8.. but haven;t found any difference yet, except the fuck that Access in win2k prof edition doesn;t allow you infinite no of connections...
and Access DB is not portable...


Hidden files - just disable the option about them and you can easily find where they are...and what they do..

Kde and gnome usually try to connect to the internet and send bugs back to their server. thu I never use them, Wmaker fan..

(ALWAYS ASSUME THAT YOU CAN FIND A VERSION OF ALL WINDOWS PROGRAMS from work or somewhere alse.. Linux is free and I wanna hope in a few years will take win32 place.)

:D
I hope that microsoft will fail in the court and will be forced to distroy the monopooly and create more portable applications & provide more free source code to all the develpoment groups..
:D

crashmeister 05-11-2002 09:29 AM

If you really think Windows shows you everything that is there if you disable that option you gotta be dreaming.
Plus I am not able to find out what that stuff is doing - got a bunch of professionals trying to find that out for a couple of years now in a trial in the US and they can't do it.


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