Should I try Linux?

[despertador]

Hey guys, I know this might (probably) get a bit of biased answers because it's a Windows Phone forum and all, but I just wanted to hear your opinions, from the people who've used Linux before and those who are using it as well.

I develop programs/apps for a big portion of my time on my computer, and it's usually always Visual Studio I use. It's the best IDE I've tried so far, and I'm satisfied with it. Problem is, it's only on Windows, so this might kind of make me suffer.

Good thing is, one of my most played games runs on Java which is Minecraft, so there'll be no problem there. I do have other games I like that I'll miss though...

I want to experience and get used to as much OSs as possible. Experience never hurts! Plus I'm curious about the command line.

But because of some of the things I can't do on the OS I'm considering, I'm going to be dual-booting. My question is, do you think it's worth my time to download a distro and try it out?

Thanks!

 

[gollum18]

I don't use windows at all (as I've abandoned it) and instead use Linux mint as my main os. And I am also a developer. I frankly have never liked visual studio (really I think its for lazy developers, but that's my opinion). We had to use it for our programming classes, and really it didn't so much teach me how to program as it did just how to use an ide.

Obviously you'll miss it from windows, I use netbeans and geany in place of it and they work quite well.

Minecraft is available for Linux. And is as updated as the windows version (they actually receive updates nearly together). As for windows gaming, you can use wine or playonlinux. Both run windows games pretty well, except for a slight drop in fps or graphics quality. But that's to be expected when you aren't running them on their native software.

The biggest difference you'll notice is terminal. While mint and Ubuntu do really good jobs of minimizing its use as most as possible, it still has to be used for some things, and is very good to know.
If your classes were similar to mine, you should know Unix already, of which Linux is a clone, and share all the same features and commands, plus some additions.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

 

[palandri]

On my laptop I have Win8 and Linux Mint
On my main box I have Win7 and Linux Mint
On my backup box I have Ubuntu.

I started with Linux many moons ago when my Windows 3.1 floppies corrupted.

 

[Laura Knotek]

My suggestion is to boot from the Live CD or Live DVD of the distro of your choice first, before actually partitioning your HDD and installing Linux.

If you decide that you do not like Linux and want to remove it, you'll need to fix MBR in order to boot Windows once you remove Grub or Grub2.

 

[csd_images]

Be prepared for a lot of frustration with Linux, especially when it comes to installation of apps. It's improved a lot over the years, but if you step out-with the carefully curated stores you're on your own and it can get messy.

The Linux experience has improved immeasurably over the last 14 years I've been using it but it still drives me insane that sometimes have to drop into BASH to do simple tasks. Ubuntu is probably the friendliest and best supported but it's default interface is only something a mother could love. Thankfully most of my work is on the command line as I run Linux servers for web development work. If you don't know CLI interfaces or understand BASH you'll be in for a rough time, once you get the knack of the arcane switches and how the file system/partitioning works then it's pretty good. Just don't expect MS or Adobe class software in regards to Office or the Creative Suite (or Cloud as it's known now). The best thing about Linux is the command line, it allows you to batch process and automate a lot of the mundane stuff. Though admittedly I now find PowerShell in Windows just as powerful if not more so these days. The other great feature of Linux over Windows it comes with a lot of powerful software for free for server level task and doing web development, it's also highly customisable so you can build a bespoke box easily to minimise attack vectors.

Give a live CD a shot, play with it and see if it works with your hardware. If you do want to install it I'd recommend installing it on a separate hard drive to your main Windows OS.

For my own development work I use Aptana which is Windows/Linux compatible.

 

[Corey]

I've been using Linux for about a decade or so on at least one machine. My main laptop for bombing around the internet and using as a general media hub is a linux box (currently trying out xubuntu because this thing is old and slow). There are a slew of options out there to try out. I've installed a ton of different distributions just to try them out and see what works for me and what doesn't (distrowatch is a great site for that). I've managed to cobble together a small working knowledge of a few of the distros, but in no way am I even close to being an expert at anything computer related. Anytime I have to drop into terminal, it involves a lot of internet searching to find the commands to do what I want to do. Otherwise, I keep in the GUI and play around with all the menus and submenus until I can fudge my way through things.

 

[NTUser]

I'm a Windows user (if my username isn't enough of a giveaway) but I dual booted with Xubuntu for about around 6 months about a year ago, and I do mess with Linux in VMs sometimes.

Personally, and don't let my opinion discourage you, I don't like Linux at all. It just doesn't have the level of polish, support, and amount of programs that I like. Things in Linux are way more complicated than they are in Windows. I've also had a less than fantastic experience with numerous Linux communities. They don't take kindly to "noobs" or those that don't see the world the way they do.

That being said I'd say go for it. You could like it, or hate it. You'll never know unless you try, and it is a good experience that if nothing else will give you new appreciation for Windows. Ubuntu is always recommended as a distro for "newbies" but I'd say go with Debian or something else Debian-based (I hear Mint is good). Most Ubuntu-compatible software should work with Debian, since Ubuntu is Debian based. I also have to throw my hat in the ring for PC BSD. It's not any less complicated than Linux but I find it more enjoyable for some reason. Here's their site: What is PC-BSD?

Also I am not trying to start a flame war, I'm just sharing my experience and opinion.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I'm a Windows user (if my username isn't enough of a giveaway) but I dual booted with Xubuntu for about around 6 months about a year ago, and I do mess with Linux in VMs sometimes.

Personally, and don't let my opinion discourage you, I don't like Linux at all. It just doesn't have the level of polish, support, and amount of programs that I like. Things in Linux are way more complicated than they are in Windows. I've also had a less than fantastic experience with numerous Linux communities. They don't take kindly to "noobs" or those that don't see the world the way they do.

That being said I'd say go for it. You could like it, or hate it. You'll never know unless you try, and it is a good experience that if nothing else will give you new appreciation for Windows. Ubuntu is always recommended as a distro for "newbies" but I'd say go with Debian or something else Debian-based (I hear Mint is good). Most Ubuntu-compatible software should work with Debian, since Ubuntu is Debian based. I also have to throw my hat in the ring for PC BSD. It's not any less complicated than Linux but I find it more enjoyable for some reason. Here's their site: What is PC-BSD?

Also I am not trying to start a flame war, I'm just sharing my experience and opinion.

I will say that some online Linux communities can be somewhat harsh toward new users (and Windows users), but it's better than it's been in the past. You won't see as much "RTFM" given as a response to a new user's questions. They were a lot less friendly in the past than they are now.

Other the other hand, Linux communities in real life are nothing like online Linux communities. I belong to two different local Linux User Groups. At the last meeting I attended, one person asked, "Why are we still not seeing more adoption of desktop Linux?" The general consensus was that fragmentation was the problem. People did not bash Windows; in fact most of the members run Windows at work and/or at home, in addition to Linux. Their company might have Linux servers, but the desktops run Windows. Or they run Windows at home for gaming or Netflix. Heck, I've even spotted other Windows Phone users at the Linux Group meetings.

BTW, I'm replying here while running Mint 15.

 

[WasteSomeTime]

You should try it. I have tried a few distros. I found ubuntu to be the worst. Its not big on customization and looks ugly. Also it heats up the computer. All Linux distros seem to suffer from this same problem.
I found Linux mint to be a nice distro. I found its terminal commands are easier to remember.
Then I tried the Zorin OS and stayed with it. It looks to be the most polished and is pretty much some variation of ubuntu. I would choose zorin over ubuntu. Its a different look and sounds like a prescription drug. I do want to try pear Linux. It has an apple look.

 

[despertador]

Thanks for all the replies! I've installed the Linux Mint 15 on my laptop after the replies came in (different partition for Mint) and tried it out for some time. It's an okay OS but I think I'll go back to Windows though...

Here are some of my problems that decided I wanted to go back:
There's apparently no way to use VS, the desktop kinda looks ugly, some of the other programs on Windows I use aren't on Linux, and the file system is really confusing to me! And also Minecraft has to be launched from a command from Terminal. Some programs look really ugly compared to the Windows versions (eg. Skype). I really miss some of the Windows key shortcuts. The moving-window-to-top-to-maximize I miss greatly!! Not very intuitive...

Some of the pros of it, in my experience:
It's very fast, takes little resources, Minecraft is faster and lag-free (almost), no lag with opening the WiFi menu and seeing the WiFi networks available.

I'll give it a few more minutes until I find out how to fix the MBR like Laura mentioned. Agh, why didn't I listen in the first place to not install before trying!! >.<

 

[Laura Knotek]

You should try it. I have tried a few distros. I found ubuntu to be the worst. Its not big on customization and looks ugly. Also it heats up the computer. All Linux distros seem to suffer from this same problem.
I found Linux mint to be a nice distro. I found its terminal commands are easier to remember.
Then I tried the Zorin OS and stayed with it. It looks to be the most polished and is pretty much some variation of ubuntu. I would choose zorin over ubuntu. Its a different look and sounds like a prescription drug. I do want to try pear Linux. It has an apple look.

I haven't had thermal issues recently--that was more common in older distros, but I'm running the Nvidia graphics drivers, not the open source graphics drivers.

 

[WasteSomeTime]

It would be nicer to have a command to spin the fans whenever you want.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Thanks for all the replies! I've installed the Linux Mint 15 on my laptop after the replies came in (different partition for Mint) and tried it out for some time. It's an okay OS but I think I'll go back to Windows though...

Here are some of my problems that decided I wanted to go back:
There's apparently no way to use VS, the desktop kinda looks ugly, some of the other programs on Windows I use aren't on Linux, and the file system is really confusing to me! And also Minecraft has to be launched from a command from Terminal. Some programs look really ugly compared to the Windows versions (eg. Skype). I really miss some of the Windows key shortcuts. The moving-window-to-top-to-maximize I miss greatly!! Not very intuitive...

Some of the pros of it, in my experience:
It's very fast, takes little resources, Minecraft is faster and lag-free (almost), no lag with opening the WiFi menu and seeing the WiFi networks available.

I'll give it a few more minutes until I find out how to fix the MBR like Laura mentioned. Agh, why didn't I listen in the first place to not install before trying!! >.<

How to Uninstall a Linux Dual-Boot System From Your Computer

 

[francisco velasquez]

You should use virtualization software like virtualbox/vmware so you can easily try/install/delete/test any distro. I'd say there's no need to dualboot to get the same expirience.
CLI is very powerful, anything can be done from cli. You can easily get started with some basic cli tutorials, just bing it.

 

[gedzum]

My suggestion is to boot from the Live CD or Live DVD of the distro of your choice first, before actually partitioning your HDD and installing Linux.

If you decide that you do not like Linux and want to remove it, you'll need to fix MBR in order to boot Windows once you remove Grub or Grub2.

This is exactly what I did to my old laptop to try and breath new life into it.

I'd definitely say it's worth a try, if just for the learning experience itself. I reckon you have the potential to make greater use of it than me since you like to develop.

I tried Linux Mint, Ubuntu and Fedora on my laptop. I ended up with Fedora since I liked the appearance :wink:

 

[LMZR]

I've been tempted to jump the gun and install an Ubuntu partition.

Problem is, i don't know which computer, I'm bending towards installing Ubuntu 13.04 (Or 13.10) onto my Mac.

 

[TechFreak1]

I liked the Mate desktop better than KDE 4.10 and Gnome 3.6.

Post moved here from http://forums.windowscentral.com/off-topic-lounge/234659-2.htm

I see, I saw the linux mint review on youtube and was impressed Linux Mint 15 Review - Linux Distro Reviews - YouTube

I might dual boot again to however that depends if I get the L1020 off contract or on contract, if the latter the money I've saved will go towards a touch screen laptop.

 

[Coreldan]

I've tried giving Linux a go several times in the past, but I can't see the benefits in it at all to be honest. Windows is fast and stable nowadays and does 10 times what Linux can from what I've seen, don't see any reason to except if you want to experience as many OSs as possible in which case you might wanna just dualboot Windows and Linux. Even then I'd rather try experiencing it in a virtualbox or something first like others suggested

 

[NTUser]

I will say that some online Linux communities can be somewhat harsh toward new users (and Windows users), but it's better than it's been in the past. You won't see as much "RTFM" given as a response to a new user's questions. They were a lot less friendly in the past than they are now.

Other the other hand, Linux communities in real life are nothing like online Linux communities. I belong to two different local Linux User Groups. At the last meeting I attended, one person asked, "Why are we still not seeing more adoption of desktop Linux?" The general consensus was that fragmentation was the problem. People did not bash Windows; in fact most of the members run Windows at work and/or at home, in addition to Linux. Their company might have Linux servers, but the desktops run Windows. Or they run Windows at home for gaming or Netflix. Heck, I've even spotted other Windows Phone users at the Linux Group meetings.

BTW, I'm replying here while running Mint 15.

Laura, thanks so much for your post. I didn't mean to flame anyone or point fingers and name names and I hope it wasn't perceived that way. I was just stating my experience. I'm glad you've had a more positive one than I had.

Also OP, best of luck with whatever you end up doing, going back to Windows or not.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Laura, thanks so much for your post. I didn't mean to flame anyone or point fingers and name names and I hope it wasn't perceived that way. I was just stating my experience. I'm glad you've had a more positive one than I had.

Also OP, best of luck with whatever you end up doing, going back to Windows or not.

I never thought you were flaming or pointing fingers at all. Online Linux forums were not as friendly in the past as they are now, especially if someone said he/she also used Windows.

And to the OP, online forums are pretty much the go-to sources for troubleshooting Linux, unless you are an Enterprise running RedHat, SUSE Linux Enterprise or another paid distro.