Any Linux Users?

JaJae · 04-05-2007, 02:51 AM

I have an extra harddrive relatively small. I was using it for data storage, but burned all off to DVDs. So I decided to install Linux and play around with a dual boot. I started off with Mandrivia and then moved to Ubuntu Ultimate Gamer Edition. I then added Beryl to it and wasn't 100% satisfied so I'm starting from a minimal Ubuntu install and I think I'm gonna try Sabayon.

Any thoughts, recommendations, etc?

thomez · 04-05-2007, 09:36 AM

I read this and started singing a certain Styx song...... "too much time on my hands"

JaJae · 04-05-2007, 03:55 PM

It takes 15 minutes to install.... and you can start browsing the internet and using OpenOffice right out of the box. If anything I've noticed it's faster and the only time I wasted was using Windows...

thomez · 04-05-2007, 03:57 PM

Oh, I'm not saying the song was accurate, but honest to god I starting singing it as soon as I read this

JaJae · 04-05-2007, 04:06 PM

Yea well we'll see how much time i waste customizing it.

thomez · 04-05-2007, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by JaJae

Yea well we'll see how much time i waste customizing it.

kinggovernor · 04-06-2007, 04:12 AM

if i start working with linux then i have too much time on my hands

motivez · 04-06-2007, 03:27 PM

I think you should stick with Ubuntu, depending on how decent your system is you should definitely stick with getting Beryl configured, it's worth it for so many reasons

JaJae · 04-06-2007, 04:20 PM

I previously installed the Ubuntu Ultimate Gamers Edition and it was fairly bloated. I removed that and started from scratch with a minimal Ubuntu install and reloaded Beryl. It works better, but Beryl has issues with Firefox for some reason when they're both running Beryl seems to slow down. Swiftfox seems to work a little better, but Opera seems to work the best.

Beryl runs smooth. I can have as many windows open as I want, an even run DVDs half and half on two desktops and run the cube completely smooth. I have a 3700 CPU, 2.5GB RAM, 256MB 6800GT and it runs much better without the bloated version of Ubuntu.

I'm really getting used to it and noticed it's a lot faster. Having access to the repositories is great and makes life so much simpler. I'm finding there really isn't much I can do on Windows that I can't do on Linux. And can do it basically just as well. The remote desktop, etc programs are great. I'm beginning to find that I can do just as much if not more because I can use free Linux server software that I'd have to pay to get the same product on windows.

I'm really liking it so far. I'm using Gnome now, but I think I might want to give customizing KDE a go and see how that works out. I like all the software integrations into Gnome though.

The learning curve isn't all that bad. It took me a day or so to get used to it and I'm zipping around the command prompt now and even managed to log into World of Warcraft last night.

motivez · 04-06-2007, 10:37 PM

gnome is far better than kde imo

kde is way too bloated i think

JaJae · 04-06-2007, 10:39 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

gnome is far better than kde imo

kde is way too bloated i think

That's what I'm hearing, but I seem to like the layout of it. When I was using Mandriva I was able to switch between the two and I liked the look and feel of Gnome better, but I never tried to customize KDE really. I think it's worth a shot, even if just putsing around on a live CD of Mandriva and seeing which I like better.

KDE's layout is more Windows-like and you can get themes to make it look almost identicle..
http://www.kde-look.org/CONTENT/content-pre1/1499-1.jpg

I don't want it to look exactly like windows, but more windows-like would probably increase my productivity.

motivez · 04-07-2007, 02:59 PM

I dunno about that, you can customize how you access things on gnome or kde without it looking like windows.. where folders are located, how programs are grouped, etc, all through the GUI

I find having a completely custom setup makes me far more productive than a straight windows clone layout

Plus, what's the point of running Linux if you're going to limit yourself to a windows feel?

JaJae · 04-07-2007, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

I dunno about that, you can customize how you access things on gnome or kde without it looking like windows.. where folders are located, how programs are grouped, etc, all through the GUI

I find having a completely custom setup makes me far more productive than a straight windows clone layout

Plus, what's the point of running Linux if you're going to limit yourself to a windows feel?

That's why I said it was too windows like. But moving more towards windows feel isn't a bad thing. Customizing it to my needs to increase productivity would involve behaving a lot like windows, but with a lot of Bang to assist me in other ways. Beryl, even though it's flashy does such a great job of organizing windows for me, it's a godsend.