Deverill Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 I found an interesting article written by a guy who switched 95% of his computing to Linux. He still dual boots into Windows when necessary and seems to have no hidden agenda in his pretty well written intro to Linux article. If any one is interested in what the Linux fuss is and is afraid of the switch it would be a good article to read. The article. And for anyone who knows what the fuss is about but is new to the idea there are some "you can do it this way" tidbits too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Good find. With the ever-lengthening gap between XP and Vista releases, the non-stop barrage of viruses and spyware, and other things, perhaps now is as good a time as any to try Linux. There's a big hype over Ubuntu/Kubuntu, but personally I recommend Fedora for beginners (even though I'll admit, I'm a bigger fan of .deb based systems than I am .rpm based systems). There are plenty of resources out there (as well as right here in our own TCH family) that can and will help beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 Great read! Sorta puts things into perspective. I enjoy how Linux makes one "think" and learn one's computer system. (But that's just how I am anyway! ) Unfortunately, until a Linux version does the same "non-thinking" stuff that most Windows apps do, the majority of people won't change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deverill Posted May 10, 2006 Author Share Posted May 10, 2006 But they are getting there. I lost my laptop harddrive and decided to just go Ubuntu and toss Windows. The only thing I have to do in a non-GUI way so far is relating to the wireless card because it's not one of the normall supported devices. It can be done but it requires some mucking about the OS. Other than that I've not had to do any config file tweaks or anything and haven't even heard that other nasty word (registry). I think it will be soon. If anyone is interested, I've been recently laid up with a herniated disc in my back so I've been doing a lot of reading and desktoplinux.com has some articles about all kinds of things. It has a bunch of linux articles such as governmental adoption of it and how to make a knock out home network and all kinds of other stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 (edited) It has a bunch of linux articles such as governmental adoption of it ... Hello...I'm from the government and I'm here to help! I'm not sure what part of the government is running it, but it's definitely NOT end users! I've worked with some that a windows machine is PERFECTLY suited for! In the FAA, they are using Linux as the OS for the newest version of Radar display. (Link to STARS information page.) Edited May 11, 2006 by stevevan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Hello...I'm from the government and I'm here to help! I'm not sure what part of the government is running it, but it's definitely NOT end users! I've worked with some that a windows machine is PERFECTLY suited for! In the FAA, they are using Linux as the OS for the newest version of Radar display. (Link to STARS information page.) Specifically, they migrated to Red Hat Linux. Here's a link to the story: http://www.redhat.com/rhel/informationcent...rnment/faa.html There was a video too but I can't seem to find it. I'll post the link if I do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deverill Posted May 11, 2006 Author Share Posted May 11, 2006 I didn't say the US government. There are many other countries that are more quickly adopting it than the American gov. and one article I read says that once our gov. starts it may tip the balance and Linux usage in all areas may explode. I'm skeptical of that as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Don't believe everything you read Aaron! Like any change, you've got those who love it and those who hate it. But from what I can tell, it's better than what they have been using. I just wish things would migrate a bit faster. There are several applications the FAA uses that are still running on DOS 6.22, and most of the modems in use are running at 19.2. I was shocked that I have a faster network at my house than what is in operation at a major center! They follow the old maintenance standard "if it ain't broke, don't fix or touch it!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 They follow the old maintenance standard "if it ain't broke, don't fix or touch it!" As a person who flies fairly frequently, I'd almost rather the FAA do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevevan Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Now you know why I haven't flown in almost 3 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted May 11, 2006 Share Posted May 11, 2006 Heh... too bad flying is faster and more convenient than driving in most situations. If gas prices continue to rise, flying might just be cheaper too (Phoenix, AZ to Omaha, NE ... non-stop, 1-way, $139 (including tax), Southwest Airlines) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Scrimpshire Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Wonder about Linux? Nope. I run it. Have for several years...6, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 I'm pretty much transitioned from Linux to FreeBSD. Not lookin back either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deverill Posted June 5, 2006 Author Share Posted June 5, 2006 We used FreeBSD at my last job and it was great. We had hundreds of players in a massively multi-player game and they were as solid as it gets. I wonder how it compares to Linux for home users and business servers in today's versions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaula Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Theres alot of offices in the military buildings here in omaha/bellevue, ne where they have both windows and unix based machines at the same desk. There is also alot of contracted businesses for the goverment out here that use unix and novell, though the schools here seem to push MS products. I dont know if I'll ever completely switch to bsd or linux, I play too many games and alot of the programs I wish to use dont have acceptable Linux equivalents or would be too hard to get setup. any freebsd users gotten xgl workin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajunman4life Posted July 3, 2006 Share Posted July 3, 2006 Hey Kaula, can't offer much in the way of XGL on BSD, but I just wanted to say hi as a former Omahan. Moved last September to Tempe, AZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.