Quote from: taxed on January 30, 2014, 01:15:32 PM
I'm moving to this:

Linux Mint 16 XFCE Full Review

 

I've heard of Linux but know nothing abut it.

Quote from: CG6468 on April 27, 2014, 04:11:27 PM
I've heard of Linux but know nothing abut it.

Trrrrrrrrrrrust me! He'll be deliriously happy to fill you in. 

It's a geeky platform which requires patience to learn and may not always allow you to use your fave programs, until someone writes the proper .DLL file or whatever.

Um...his opinion will vary. 

Quote from: CG6468 on April 27, 2014, 04:11:27 PM
I've heard of Linux but know nothing abut it.

If you have a spare pooter sitting around, Linux is the answer, especially if your OS is outdated.
If you're not a gamer, it works great for most programs, and definitely faster, since it's not bogged down with useless crap like Windows.

Quote from: CG6468 on April 27, 2014, 04:11:27 PM
I've heard of Linux but know nothing abut it.

quiller has no idea what he's talking about.  You can run Windows programs on Linux, and the learning curve involves clicking simple options, like "Shut down", or "Applications".

Quote from: taxed on April 29, 2014, 11:22:48 AMquiller has no idea what he's talking about.  You can run Windows programs on Linux, and the learning curve involves clicking simple options, like "Shut down", or "Applications".

I'll remain merely a casual observer of the passing scene, laying back in da weeds..........

Quote from: quiller on April 27, 2014, 07:10:50 PM
Trrrrrrrrrrrust me! He'll be deliriously happy to fill you in. 

It's a geeky platform which requires patience to learn and may not always allow you to use your fave programs, until someone writes the proper .DLL file or whatever.

Um...his opinion will vary.

I am not a geek. Taxed is. His opinion on the complexity of any Linux platform DOES vary...especially from my own personal experience trying to make Microsoft Word (the publishing industry standard) work properly. I finally dumped Linux for that reason.

Would Linux (in any form) work well for others? Sure. Many if not most users usually don't require specific programs keyed expressly to Microsoft. And best 'o luck on finding updated .DLLs and so forth. The Linux developers as a herd (regardless of respective Linux flavors) do not necessarily do a good job of distributing these updates, and non-geeks aren't all that great about digging out sources to acquire those updates (SourceForge, Slashdot, Major Geeks, etc.). This is my reason for saying a high learning curve is involved.

I am not a geek. If you are not as well, do study whatever you can find out about any given version of Linux, before adopting it. For my use it was an underperformer...not that Microsoft in the end run is much better, except for ease in acquiring updates (while the company chooses to give any).

I upgraded from Windows 8 to 8.1 too and it broke my Wifi. I ended up going back to 8 because I'd rather stare at a brick wall than have to fix my own computer.

The thing is, and I make this argument all the time to people that know me, the LAST person who can handle something more complex is me.  I want a world with one button and the most simplicity as possible.  If I can't do something simple or easy, I get frustrated and get my baseball bat and start beating the crap out of it.  I can't handle things that break.  It's 2014.  The only thing in my life that just works flawlessly is my laptop.  I don't have to reboot, or have an increasingly sluggish system.  Everything is super fast and never flinches.  I don't have to reboot for updates, and now with this new Iron browser I'm using, my web browsing is instant.  With Microsoft, overall, they just aren't that sophisticated anymore.  The open source world passed them by.  The only thing they do good right now is on the gaming side.  XBox kicks ass, and right now, all the development love is on Windows.  On the application side, there is nothing special about them anymore.  Linux is derived from Unix, and Unix has been around since the 60s.  It's like the proven old structure that has been time tested through earthquakes and floods.  When you build a house, there is a right way to do things, and a wrong way, like when you set the foundation.  You have to do it right, or your house will sink and fall apart.  It is exactly the same with Unix/Linux.  Now, my current experience was not true a year or year and a half ago.  Much less 2-3 years ago, and 5 years ago, even less.  Even then, it was far better than what most are used to.  It is just recent the Linux desktop is where it's at now.  And when I say "Linux", there are various distros that are nothing like each other.  I run Mint, which is different than Fedora, or Red Hat, or others.  They all have their pros and cons, and if some other Linux user reads this he'd jump in and tell me how crazy I am for not using his favorite distro.  We have desktop choice in Linux, but they are all built on the same core kernel.

Linux has constantly improved over the years.  Windows, the opposite.  Would you rather have 98 or XP, or 8.1?  Linux has not re-vamped.  The data files I wrote and used back in the late 90s, I can use now.  I'll never have to worry about backwards compatibility.  And telling people it is harder to learn is beyond ridiculous.  Installing Mint, for example, is by far the easiest install experience I have ever had.  It easily passes the grandma test now.  A few years ago, not the case.

The funniest thing too is hearing someone say Linux isn't the way to go, but they won't open up a Youtube link because they fear they will get a virus or whatever.  The concept of a virus is so insane when you have somewhat of an understanding of operating systems.  It is exactly like fearing to go to the store because you fear someone will break into your house and burn it down.  Why get out of bed at that point?  If you're a non-smoker, think about how you view smokers, with how much time they spend thinking about smoking, taking smoke breaks, and burning money on cigs.  All that time and money could be spent doing nothing, or something you like.  That's how I see the whole virus thing.  A Windows user telling someone to not use Linux, or that it's harder or more for geeks, is like a smoker telling a non-smoker to not go to the gym, because they might pull a muscle.

I could go on...

Quote from: quiller on April 29, 2014, 09:35:02 PM
I am not a geek. Taxed is. His opinion on the complexity of any Linux platform DOES vary...especially from my own personal experience trying to make Microsoft Word (the publishing industry standard) work properly. I finally dumped Linux for that reason.

That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen you post.  Most people have Word, but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with publishing.  You don't send word docs around.  It's not portable, and for other Windows user, a virus risk. People publish to PDF.  NOBODY sends Word Docs around.  You create a PDF, or you create your e-Reader format.  And if you want to talk any type of publishing, Mac completely murders Windows, and Linux, on those fronts.  Documents, video, audio, or any medium or publishing, Mac by far dominates.  You won't find Windows desktops at publishing companies. You'll find Mac 100% of the time.

Quote from: taxed on May 01, 2014, 02:26:11 AM
That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen you post.  Most people have Word, but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with publishing.  You don't send word docs around.  It's not portable, and for other Windows user, a virus risk. People publish to PDF.  NOBODY sends Word Docs around.  You create a PDF, or you create your e-Reader format.  And if you want to talk any type of publishing, Mac completely murders Windows, and Linux, on those fronts.  Documents, video, audio, or any medium or publishing, Mac by far dominates.  You won't find Windows desktops at publishing companies. You'll find Mac 100% of the time.

Best of luck on your own publishing experience. Word has been adopted by every major publishing house I can think of as the go-to platform. I partly dispute your claim that "100%" adopted Apple computers: for magazines that's true. For printed books, it's not.

But that's the hardware. In the last 30 years, I have not seen ONE publisher say writers should submit their "documents" in anything except .DOC format (or, for fastest translation into e-books, the .RTF format). That's just for the Amazon Kindle format. With companies like Smashwords and their "Meatgrinder" translation system it becomes nightmarish.

I repeat from above:

Would Linux (in any form) work well for others? Sure. Many if not most users usually don't require specific programs keyed expressly to Microsoft. And best 'o luck on finding updated .DLLs and so forth. The Linux developers as a herd (regardless of respective Linux flavors) do not necessarily do a good job of distributing these updates, and non-geeks aren't all that great about digging out sources to acquire those updates (SourceForge, Slashdot, Major Geeks, etc.). This is my reason for saying a high learning curve is involved.

Don't get so defensive. My use is specialized.

Quote from: quiller on May 01, 2014, 03:34:45 AM
Best of luck on your own publishing experience. Word has been adopted by every major publishing house I can think of as the go-to platform. I partly dispute your claim that "100%" adopted Apple computers: for magazines that's true. For printed books, it's not.

Not when I did site visits for a few of my publishing clients some years ago.  I doubt it has changed. 100% was sarcastic, but when you're formatting documents for printers and various mediums, Windows can't handle it.  I'd rather argue something closer to reality, like if Santa Claus exists.

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But that's the hardware. In the last 30 years, I have not seen ONE publisher say writers should submit their "documents" in anything except .DOC format (or, for fastest translation into e-books, the .RTF format).

That's just for the Amazon Kindle format. With companies like Smashwords and their "Meatgrinder" translation system it becomes nightmarish.

I repeat from above:

Would Linux (in any form) work well for others? Sure. Many if not most users usually don't require specific programs keyed expressly to Microsoft. And best 'o luck on finding updated .DLLs and so forth. The Linux developers as a herd (regardless of respective Linux flavors) do not necessarily do a good job of distributing these updates, and non-geeks aren't all that great about digging out sources to acquire those updates (SourceForge, Slashdot, Major Geeks, etc.). This is my reason for saying a high learning curve is involved.

You are correct about the various distros.  For a desktop, I have only used Fedora, back in the days when it did require some techiness, and Ubuntu, and now Mint the past few months.  I'll just say don't judge it by any experience you had not so long ago.  The movement to improve the desktop experience has dramatically improved since more love has been devoted to it -- at least in Ubuntu and Mint I can say.

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Don't get so defensive. My use is specialized.

I'm really not.  Sorry.

Quote from: taxed on May 01, 2014, 02:07:06 AM
The thing is, and I make this argument all the time to people that know me, the LAST person who can handle something more complex is me. I want a world with one button and the most simplicity as possible. If I can't do something simple or easy, I get frustrated and get my baseball bat and start beating the crap out of it.

I wish programming was like that :(. Two hours spent today hunting down the source of a missing "}" in my json.

Back to OS's - I still use Windows as my main OS, as of right now it's easier for me with all the programs I use. Maybe it's because I'm just used to it, but I had a time getting my bluetooth mouse to work with Ubuntu. I remember a while ago it took me a while to get a static IP set up on my computer using the Ubuntu GUI. Then again, they had just released a new version and I got the latest so that may have been the problem.

Quote from: JTA on May 01, 2014, 05:16:57 PM
I wish programming was like that :(. Two hours spent today hunting down the source of a missing "}" in my json.

Why'd that take 2 hours?

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Back to OS's - I still use Windows as my main OS, as of right now it's easier for me with all the programs I use.

What do you typically use, out of curiosity?

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Maybe it's because I'm just used to it, but I had a time getting my bluetooth mouse to work with Ubuntu. I remember a while ago it took me a while to get a static IP set up on my computer using the Ubuntu GUI. Then again, they had just released a new version and I got the latest so that may have been the problem.

Interesting....

Quote from: taxed on May 01, 2014, 08:39:04 PM
Why'd that take 2 hours?
What do you typically use, out of curiosity?
Interesting....

1) Was not pretty code :(. Maybe it didn't take quite two hours but it felt like eternity.
2) Hanful of proframs I use the most:

Media Monkey
TagScanner
Steam
Eclipse
Zune (I have since upgraded to an Ipod. I still think Zune was pretty bad ass though. The controls were better than the iPod IMO).

Yeah, I could probably get them on Linux. But I will miss the pretty Windows interface.

Fun fact: When I installed Linux on my other laptop I almost got it looking exactly like Windows 7. Almost.