Computer Geeks Unite!

[groundbyground]

Okay, so, I have this older computer that seems to have become unstable. She resets randomly, sometimes after hours of problem free operation, sometimes in quick succession. Since some of my tax info is on her and I don't want whatever is going on to ruin anything before tax time, I've moved over to using an old laptop for my web browsing and

Comments

[indigojake]

I just wrote the longest comment ever, and it was lost due to an LJ error. :( This is attempt #2.

1) Yes, if it is a software only issue, Linux would be a "work-around" for that, since Linux isn't written using any of Microsoft's code.
2) It is likely to wipe your drive. It can do it without wiping off Windows, but it is not easy to do and it is very sensitive to little mistakes.
3) I am pro linux, but more accurately, I'm pro FLOSS (free libre open source software) - because with FLOSS, source is an open book. You can see exactly how things are running, and if you have the skills to change it, you can. With Closed Source (e.g. Microsoft Windows) one can only see the end-results of security holes and bad programming... Assuming that they are ever revealed.

Additional thoughts:
There is a lot to Linux that many users don't want to deal with... For example:

Who will support you? In my company of over 300 skilled IT people only about 10 of them are Linux/Unix people (of which I am one of them). I won't support most novice linux users since they commonly get in over their heads and want/need free support, of which, I am commonly their only source for that support.

What software will you be using? The latest video games (such as Doom III or whatever - I'm not much into gaming) doesn't exactly run in Linux, neither does Microsoft Word. There are alternatives for some things, such as OpenOffice Writer which can be used in place of Word, but it doesn't quite fill the shoes that Word had.

Do you know what you need? Linux starts off dozens of distributions to choose from (http://www.distrowatch.com) - and that's just the first important step. Everything from what File System to what Desktop Environment is adjustable in Linux. The defaults are usually fine, but it can cause a bit of bloat in the system if you go that route.

There are some major benefits, such as it is really stable, but so is Windows Vista/XP/2000. There is very little risk of a virus, but with good browsing habits, the same is true for any computer OS. There is one thing that Mac OS and Windows don't hold a candle to... that is that most Linux distributions are free (as in $0)

Linux (openSUSE to be precise) was my solution to my PC OS needs. I had the desire to run an OS that was inexpensive. I also wanted to run something as a desktop that also had extensive software packages, community support (web sites and forums), and server capabilities. openSUSE fit that description. In the (maybe near) future, I think Mac OS is the next step for me (BTW: there was a bit of a hidden geeky pun in there ^__^)

I suppose it really comes down to trying it out. There are a few Linux Live CDs out there you could look into starting with that and then decide if it's something that you would want to pursue.

Well, I hope this provided you with some food for thought. Let me know if you would like to talk more about the Linux v. Windows debate.

I was hoping you'd reply

[groundbyground]

See, I know I mentioned this before to someone, and I think it was you(like, 3 years ago). The end result to that conversation was that no, if I was happy with things as they were, and I did like gaming, it was not worth the headache to try out Linux. Well, some things have changed since then. Mainly, I'm working off of older machines none of which is younger than 4 years. All of them are notably slower starting up.

I have:
an emachine desktop, 2 gig mem, 120 gig HD
a Toshiba laptop, 512 mem, not sure of the HD
(possibly) an old Dell, unknown mem possibly 512, 40 gig HD

What I'm looking to do is make a slimmed down writing machine with web access and a wide software library if I need it, and a clean desktop. Try as I might, I'm only computer literate, not a geek, so I don't know how to code or change anything beyond plebeian level. On that end... I probably won't appreciate the open source aspect of the distributions. I've never been off the Microsoft nipple.

I want something clean and fast, and cheap.

And who will support me? I have NO idea. I was hoping to use the Linux community if I ran into trouble.

I missed the geeky pun. :(

OT: HOW ARE YOU DOING?

Re: I was hoping you'd reply

[groundbyground]

Strike the how are you doing. I could always read your lj, huh? (clicks over)

Re: I was hoping you'd reply

[indigojake]

Heheh, that is true! Although, I haven't been posting much these days. LJ has kinda turned into an aggregator of various social groups for me.

Re: I was hoping you'd reply

[indigojake]

The eMachine would be the best candidate for linux, much as any faster PC with more Memory would be the best candidate for any OS. This is the reason I decided to not switch to linux seriously until I built my own PC and instead of installing Windows on it, I'd install Linux. It worked out well.

The laptop would be the "least best" option. Laptops use proprietary hardware with funky configurations that run in software (I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my second post, but one of my early attempts to get into linux ended on my Dell Laptop because the system set the volume to max and I couldn't find the software to turn it down or to enable the "+" and "-" volume keys on the Dell (that was nearly 10 years ago now though).

The source part of FLOSS/Linux isn't such a huge deal. To me, it's like knowing that I'm protected by the laws of our country, even though I'll never be able to read though all of them nor would I likely even understand them if I did. Someone else is very likely to have checked the source code and evaluated it. At least I know that someone has access to it and I could get access to it if I really wanted or needed to.

Fast and cheap - linux can really help out with that. Getting the right distribution and more importantly the right configuration of that distribution will be important there. But you will also have to take into account usability. The fastest linux systems boot to the terminal (command line) without ever loading a desktop environment. This would be horrible for most people, and my first experience with Linux in the Classroom was nearly canceled because of this issue (my instructor didn't know about the old "startx" command to start X Windows). I can help with a few pointers for getting things off to a good start (tomorrow, after some sleep though)

The linux community is really helpful, but they are not exactly a hospitable lot. Since most of the linux users "were raised on the streets" you'll get a lot of "RTFM" and "Did you even google that?" when posting to forums - doing a lot of homework (and pointing out what you already researched before posting to a forum) will help out a lot though. There is a lot of useful information on various linux forums, Gentoo Linux's forum seems to be the one of the best, there are a few on LJ as well.

Geeky Pun Explanation: Mac OS X is a direct descendant from NeXT Step's NeXTOS. My "next step" will likely be a Mac, get it? *snort*giggle*

^__^ I'm doing fairly well. Things are going well at work, very busy but I'm not being micromanaged for sure and my job is stable, unlike most of the Det-Metro area (it's freaky, there are Ford, Chrysler, and GM BIG office buildings and factories just down the road -not even an eighth of a mile from my home, and they are all showing serious signs of down-sizing!) but I'm in Health care IT! w00t. How's life going in your neck of the woods?