How to choose which Linux?

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timvw
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Post by timvw »

Pyrite wrote:A reverse example would be: both have a clearscreen command, but it is easier in Windows to type "cls" than to type the full "clear" in Linux.
I'm sure you know why that is not a good example either.
(And otherwise: alias cls='clear')

I only want to make clear it's hard to find a good example.
Pyrite wrote: And you can't say something like, on Windows you are restricted to fat32/ntfs. Well technically on Linux you are restricted to Linux filesystems though. Last I checked, you can't run Linux natively on NTFS anymore than I could run Windows on ReiserFS.
Although it is not "free", ntfs for linux exits. The best way to use ext2/ext3 from a windows machine i know, is with a tool like explore2fs. Now, which one do you think is easier to use?

But that was not really my point. I was referring to LVM which is way easier than messing around with partition magic or whatever.


If my mom needs to surf/send e-mail/write a document she'll be more efficient with windows (and it's tools) because that is what she knows. There has been a time where i too though that linux didn't allow me to be productive (certainly not more productive) than in a windows environment.

But i was fed-up with outlook express taking ages when i wanted to read usenet messages on my computer. And i was suprised how fast it went with slrn. (Yes i know, it doesn't have a fancy gui). Another example is GTetrinet which runs smooth when a server performs a cheat control, while TetriNet for windows just seems to slow down my whole computer.

On the other hand, there are applications (like Eclipse) that give a much more responsive feeling on windows than on linux.

Therefore, both have their pros and cons. And my point remains: Just use the one you are most productive with.
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

Last I checked NTFS for linux was read-only and the testing they were doing on a writeable version was very seriously screwed up.

You can read reiserFS from windows too (again - you can't write). You need a plugin for (the name an app I cant remember dammit - something "commander").

BTW - which linux flavours run on reiser as standard these days? SuSE 9.1 was the first version i got which made use of it.
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Pyrite
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Post by Pyrite »

Guys, forget it, none of you are listening. :lol:

A friend of mine was able to think of a few. Nothing to do with being productive really, but it is a good example. The effort it takes to switch between Desktop Environments in Linux is easier. In windows, there are tons of shells you can use, but each one requires custom steps. Linux has login managers like kdm, gdm etc that allow choosing a different graphical shell on startup a lot easier.

Or, having virtual desktops. There are some applications for Windows that have virtual desktops, but natively, most if not all Linux desktops have virtual desktops, while the Windows "Explorer" does not. That is a good example.
timvw
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Post by timvw »

d11wtq wrote:Last I checked NTFS for linux was read-only and the testing they were doing on a writeable version was very seriously screwed up.
I know that the support for ntfs in the linux2.6 kernel isn't much.
But the company i mentionned really supports read/write/whatever ;)



Anyway, i don't think this is relevant to the OP. (/me leaves thread)
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

Sorry to dig this up again but I'm just in the process of setting up another SuSE box and I just have to say one huge thing that's great about linux while I do it....

FTP or HTTP Based installation - Anyone can just install the damn thing, very latest stable version straight off the FTP of the guys who make the distro. Windows sure doesn't do that.

Side note: SuSE has a beautiful installation with great graphics and stuff right from the point you boot into the installation.

Other things linux does better:

Repeating commands in the BASH shell (^old^new, !cat), PIPE commands, SSH, GREP...

OK I can bury this again now I have that off my chest :wink:
joachimseitz
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Post by joachimseitz »

ive tried redhat and suse

i prefer suse (atm 9.1 i'm using)

and suse HQ are about 30 minutes from here :)
not that ive ever visited them
AngusL
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Post by AngusL »

For what it's worth, downloading, recompiling and setting up a 2nd GCC package as a cross compiler under cygwin was a nightmare - I never did get it to work. Got it to work in about 15 minutes on Fedora Core 3.
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Chris Corbyn
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Post by Chris Corbyn »

joachimseitz wrote:ive tried redhat and suse

i prefer suse (atm 9.1 i'm using)

and suse HQ are about 30 minutes from here :)
not that ive ever visited them
Lets hope SuSE just go from strength to strength even quicker now that they have been purchased by Novell :)
Lost_Heaven
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Post by Lost_Heaven »

You can find somethings about Linux ;)
You definitely look HERE :wink:
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