Who Is Using Gnu/Linux?

**zpman** · September 4th, 2005, 10:01 PM

So, who all is using GNU/Linux? Just curious. Which distro are you using? How successful has your experience with it been? What are your favorite applications? What are you using for P2P? Are you a newbie, or a hardcore geeky power user?

I am using Kubuntu, Hoary Hedgehog 5.04, which is, of course, Ubuntu, but with KDE, instead of GNOME (for those not familiar). (K)Ubuntu is a Debian-based distribution of GNU/Linux. My experience with Kubuntu has been great! Check out some screenshots of Kubuntu. I run kernel 2.6.10-5-386. I'm running KDE 3.4.2.

I have used many other distros, but this is by far one of my favorites. I have had little trouble with it. Some of my favorite applications include GIMP, apt/Synaptic, Audacity, XChat, XMMS, and of course the Konsole. For P2P, I am using Limewire 4.9, aMule, Pan (Newsgroups), and Azureus. I'm sorta in between a newbie and a totally geeked out power-user. I've been a user for a few years, I understand it pretty well, I know many commands. But I'm not there yet. I still need to look up things (a lot, lol). There are many unanswered questions. I'm looking foward to Breezy Badger, the newest release, this October.

So how about you? Anyone else using (K)Ubuntu? Or another distro? What Desktop Environment do you prefer? Post related comments please.

**evilmegaman** · September 5th, 2005, 10:55 PM

Okay, I will reply!

First of after all of the reading I have done I have concluded that GNU/linux DOES NOT EQUAL linux. I do not believe I use a GNU/linux distro. Correct me if I am wrong.

Anyways, I dual boot with windows and Zenwalk Linux.

click here to check out zenwalk linux.

My favorite Desktop Environment is XFCE

The programs I use are: cedega, Wine, gaim, Firefox, and basically any program I can. And the nvidia drivers too ;).

I love zenwalk so much because it's hassle free and STABLE. I love zenwalk. It's great! (It's based on slackware too somewhat which is a plus!)

**mxpxsumblink4182** · September 6th, 2005, 12:35 AM

Im using SuSE linux 9.3 pro. I switched over from windows xp about a month ago. The programs i use are Limewire, Azureus, Gaim, Firefox, and i run DivxToDVD through Wine. I am liking linux alot better than windows well except for burning dvds. Ive been having a bit of trouble finding a program to backup my dvd movies 1:1. Right now im using GNOME but i use KDE on occasion. Im still learning how to install tar.gz/bz files but im getting it.

**haakon** · September 6th, 2005, 02:09 AM

I just switched to Ubuntu from Arch Linux. Been using Linux exclusively since 1998. I always say that if you are not dependant on Windows games, and you are interested in computers, there is no reason why you should not use Linux.

**Mels_Smileys45** · September 6th, 2005, 02:54 AM

I'll only switch if MS does all the crap it says its trying to do with its next OS. So far I've never had a real reason to use it (I know - shoot me) Ive always been happy with windows, but that may change soon enough.

**mcovey** · September 6th, 2005, 03:13 AM

using debian, and occasionally mepis on my desktop machine.
debian with fluxbox gui on my server.

**zarquon** · September 6th, 2005, 05:53 AM

Got a dual boot ubuntu 5.04 and xp.

**ducttapeBigSexy** · September 6th, 2005, 07:04 AM

Mandriva Limited Edition 2005 all the way here :)

Personally, I'm a fan of KDE - I find it's easy, powerful, and looks nice (Qt looks much nicer then GTK+, in my opinion)

Also, nice choice on p2p apps - that's my exact lineup for apps :)

And, hey, don't worry about being a n00b - trust me, I don't think you exactly want to be a true 1337 haX0r of Linux - those guys tend to freak me out :P

**black_magiic** · September 6th, 2005, 07:49 AM

Kubuntu and WinXP Home. The only reason I hang onto windows is that all my games are for windows and I am a heavy gamer. If all my games ever run perfect on Linux or as close to as possible I will switch exclusively.

**evilmegaman** · September 6th, 2005, 07:52 AM

Originally Posted by haakon

I just switched to Ubuntu from Arch Linux.

Wow. That's what I call a downgrade IMO. Arch is probably the best linux out there. It might be somewhat tough to use and set up. But it's speedy and it has the best package manager EVER.

Why'd you choose ubuntu over arch? Ubuntu's never treated me well. I always seem to screw it up...

EDIT: blackmagic, try cedega. You can get it from transgaming.org if you want it for free (as source code of course) or you can pay for a subscription and get point2play, which is easy. But you can't use point2play without an account.

**ducttapeBigSexy** · September 6th, 2005, 12:46 PM

I've personally tried Cedega - it's amazing that they run at all, but it's nothing specticular - games that run perfectly in Windows (over 60 fps - full screen, graphical options all the way up) can't run more then about 5 fps in Cedega full screen (with graphical options all the way up) - even on their officially supported games. But, don't take my word for it - I'd recommend checking it out - you might get better results.

However, games that are specifically made for Linux (UT2k4, Doom 3) run excellent in Linux - I personally only play UT2k4 in Linux anymore (and, the greatest part is, if you already own the game, for UT2k4, the installer for Linux is already on install disc 1, and for Doom 3 you can just grab the Linux installers off the net for free :) )

However, other then those games, I'm still stuck using Windows for gaming :( But, here's hoping developers get on the ball!

**haakon** · September 6th, 2005, 02:33 PM

Originally Posted by evilmegaman

Wow. That's what I call a downgrade IMO. Arch is probably the best linux out there. It might be somewhat tough to use and set up. But it's speedy and it has the best package manager EVER.

Why'd you choose ubuntu over arch? Ubuntu's never treated me well. I always seem to screw it up...

Well I used Arch for some 1.5 years, and I love the simplicity focus of it. But after a major hardware switch I had to reinstall anyway, so I figured I'd try something new. Initially the point was that Arch has no amd64 version while Ubuntu does, but I ended up using 32-bits Ubuntu anyway. So far I'm very happy with Ubuntu. Arch's "rolling release" often meant broken packages, which you never see on Ubuntu. I'll try Ubuntu for a while, and if I don't like it in the end, there is always Arch to fall back on :)

**zpman** · September 8th, 2005, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by evilmegaman

Wow. That's what I call a downgrade IMO. Arch is probably the best linux out there. It might be somewhat tough to use and set up. But it's speedy and it has the best package manager EVER.

Why'd you choose ubuntu over arch? Ubuntu's never treated me well. I always seem to screw it up...

EDIT: blackmagic, try cedega. You can get it from transgaming.org if you want it for free (as source code of course) or you can pay for a subscription and get point2play, which is easy. But you can't use point2play without an account.

What problems did you have with Ubuntu? I haven't had any. Did you use any guidelines for Ubuntu? Were your issues hardware related or library related? Did you find Ubuntu harder to use than Arch? Or did you just not like it as much for another reason? Just curious. I tried Mepis(live boot) and wasn't impressed the way I was with (K)Ubuntu.

The beauty of GNU/Linux, is the fact that there is so much choice. There are so many different flavors. This allows you to choose which one you like best. Whatever best suits your needs is best for you.

I've tried many many distros, and Kubuntu just happens to run the best on my computer. Mandriva gave me nothing but errors. Fedora was slow as a snail. I wanted Debian so I tried a few Debian-based distros and found my favorite.

I've had the pleasure of installing a Slackware system from scratch. I did this a little while back when I was an intern at college. My mentor insisted using Slack, cause he heard it was the hardest to install. It wasn't that hard. I did need a calculator, to measure partiton size. We got a great working system in a couple of hours. It wasn't all that hard.

I still prefer Debian-based distros. I cannot live without apt-get. It is just so simple. It's not that I can't install libraries manually, and compile many applications. This is no problem. Apt-get just makes upgrades so nice and non-complex. A few commands and you are done. I don't have to spend hours configuring things after a fresh install to get a good working system. I don't want to spend all of my time configuring everyday things. I'd rather spend my time configuring more complex things, hehe. I've even gotten my old scanner to work, and better than on Windows. It took some pretty good hacking, but it works.

That said, I always recommend (K)Ubuntu for beginners and non-beginners alike. But to each his own.

**sam923** · September 21st, 2005, 02:23 PM

In our company we use mostly Red Hat 9 as servers. More recently, we have a Red Hat 9 server to be used as the Akeni Enterprise IM server. It is running great and very stable.

**AgentOrange** · September 21st, 2005, 03:57 PM

Ubuntu is Debian based. I really like Debian, i think apt-get is a very clean system. Debian has by far the most packages (RedHat rpm's do not count, RPM's are a broken broken system). With debian you can choose to install one of thousands of peaces of software with one simple command.

When I am choosing an operating system I look for the number of packages (or ports) it has. Last I checked windows has none which makes windows difficult to use and maintain, as well as making the entire system insecure. When you get debian you not only have a stable operating system but access to tens of thousands of peaces of software that is extremely easy to install and update. Even if the software you install doesn’t have an auto-update feature, apt-get will update it when a new version is available. This makes Debian very secure.

I use KDE, sometimes fluxbox (mainly on older systems). As far as file sharing I use Azureus, sometimes limewire but defiantly GIFT!!!!

If you are interested in running multiple operating system I suggest snagging a copy of VMware workstation. I am sure you can find a demo on your favorite p2p network ;D
I have vmware running on my debian system and i am able to boot as many copies of windows as i want, as well as OSX (x86) and Sun's Solrius 10!