Woo ... thanks for all the replies.

I have two computers but I can't totally convert either of them (one is the fast one where I do work, the other has my CD burner and music) but I'll try to add a Linux boot for one of them. Is Linux particularly sensitive to processor speed?
I also hear that if one were to do something insane like start a web publication using a Perl-based engine despite not (yet) knowing Perl (i.e., Everything - http://everydevel.com/), Linux will make the setup much easier.
Oh and one more thing - what does rm -rf / do?

steve

rm -rf / removes files from the root directory until there isn't enough system left to run and it dies from lack of stuff removed.

man rm

yeah... someone telling you to rm -rf / is telling you the same thing as in DOS format c:... but rm -rf / will not actually delete everything (anything after what makes the system die), but don't bet on every being able to get to any of the other stuff

no - "format C:" is the same as "mkfs /dev/hdxX"

lol yeah... I was just relating it (that's why I said "but rm -rf /...") basicly just saying that it spells doom for your computer, unless you want to do that

Linux is not for everyone.

If you get someone trying trying to force you into linux, dont listen.

Linux IS harder, but there are plenty of advantages. You have to weigh the pros/cons, and decide for yourself.

If you use your computer as a hobby. You enjoy fixing/tweaking it, then linux could be for you.

If you use Linux as a tool, and you dont really enjoying fixing/using computers, Linux is not for you.

Dont use Linux just because its free.

I use a computer as a tool and I never could get Microsoft to run smoothly without crashing. I didn't enjoy trying and failing to get it to work.

I configured Linux once, and it keeps running.

My experience differs.

I say, if you use a computer as a tool and don't enjoy expensive, buggy hardware that does a job poorly and crashes a lot, choose Linux and get it installed and confugured correctly (you can hire someone for less than the Windows OS costs to install/configure). You will find yourself twice as productive than you were with the popular OS.

The popular OS is pretty good at playing games, however if that is your idea of using a computer.

but...you simply can't beat "Tux Racer" in windows

With the right tools (i.e. arc-welder & sledgehammer), you can actually turn your PC's into a row-boat. Enough of this debate between windows and linux, I say install tacklebox_1.4.3-rc3 and just go fishing. Of course tacklebox runs much more efficiently on linux than it does windows.

Another nice one is
dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hdxX :)

Cheers,
Tink

Dreamweaver/ColdFusion = Screem = Bluefish = Quanta Plus
Illustrator = sodipodi
PhotoShop = gimp
CoolEdit & various drum machines = http://linux-sound.org/
KaZaA = eDonkey
MSN/Hotmail = Web browser
Winamp = XMMS
not to mention all of my mouse/scanner/media drivers = kooka, usbview, KDE


There are many things that LINUX can do that Windows can not do:
Make ISO images
Mount ISO images
Edit ISO images
Record DVD/CD using more options than NERO
Apache
MySQL
Perl
C programing without downloading the complier
Handle more than 4 CPUs
Handle more than 26 drives
Store up to 64 gigabytes of memory or more
Memory Managment
Easily forcing to exit a program with out OS falling down.
No Blue Screen of Death.
Read multiple filesystems
Control had sound is played
Be able to install LINUX on multiple computers
Very verbose Log files
many, many more

All can be used straight out of the box.


I had and having the same problems as you did. I use LINUX every day. Sometimes my mouse glitches but I have a KVM switch.

About that crashing thing. the KDE stops working. Not even the konsole opens when i click on it. Also ctrl alt pageup doesnt work. ctrl esc doesnt work and i cant logout. No keystrokes have any effect. if u dont call that a crash, than what is a "crash"?

Fukn' A that is so damned cool.

Its nice to have atleast a pentium 2 350 or 400mhz processor to run a GUI like KDE or Gnome - also atleast 128mb ram would be nice - also a 4mb or 8mb video card is fine.

Oh and something about "crashing"

Unix/Linux has a nice ability that even if any particular program locks up, it rarely crashes the rest of the session - contrast that with certain recent versions of Windows in which a crash in an application more often than not can end your session as explorer.exe becomes unstable.

madiyaan,

What you describe is a failure of the KDE desktop; not Linux as a whole.

A kernel crash forces you to reboot your computer. In Windows, this is characterized by the famous "Blue Screen of Death." In Linux, it's referred to as a "kernel panic."

From a new Linux user's standpoint, your desktop freezing may seem like a crash, but it isn't. You can switch to another virtual terminal (Ctrl-Shift-FX, where X = 1,2,3,4, etc.), kill the desktop session, and restart it. You did not have to restart the machine because the Linux kernel (what controls the hardware) is still running. Since you say you can still move your mouse, that gives a good indication that the kernel is still alive because it's responding to your mouse.

This might seem like splitting hairs, but it really isn't. It's one thing to restart your desktop, and quite another to restart your machine. Your desktop is one of many applications running. Restarting your desktop doesn't interfere with the others. Restarting the computer is a rather violent end for ALL programs on the machine.

You've undoubtedly run into a similar situation with Windows where the desktop froze. The problem with Windows is, you don't have the ability to switch to one of those virtual terminals. In that case, a desktop freeze is equivalent to a crash.

The problem you have is with KDE, not Linux. KDE is simply an application that runs in Linux. Just like you wouldn't blame Windows for a Winamp freeze, you can't blame Linux for a KDE freeze.