I know most people on here are strictly OS X (notice the lack of hardware distinction)/Windows people. But I wanted to make an everything linux thread.

How many people here have tried linux any other non-apple *nix machine?

I have been using linux roughly 5 years on and off, and more recently I have been using ubuntu almost everyday for school (my job at my school). I think it has the possibility of being the savior of PCs, and linux's solution for a cut into the windows market. I think it is possibly the bridge between ease, power, and support that linux has traditionally lacked (well, not the power)

Any other linux users out there? I would like to know what everyone thinks. Also, as far as DAWs go, does anyone use ardour either for shits and giggles or for actual work?

For those who don't know, linux distributions are free. Ardour is free DAW software.

talk any and everything linux in this thread.

awesome.


I've used linux off and on for about a year and a half now. Ubuntu is my distribution of choice as well, and I agree w/you - if any Linux distro is going to make a cut in the market, this should be the one.

That having been said, I am continually disappointed by Linux (including the ol' Breezy Badger) for its seeming lack of support of wireless devices, and onboard sata raid chips.

I have tried probably close to 7 or 8 different distributions with my Linksys PCI wireless-g card (no speedbooster), and none have worked. I have tried two distributions on my laptop with my linksys wireless laptop card, and neither have worked. And I recently was attempting to install ubuntu on two computers for a friend of mine, and her linksys usb wireless card was no more than a box on a wire.

I would happily (and permanently) make the switch if I knew that my wireless internet would be supported!

If you're interested in unix or linux, then only buy computer equipment that you know supports unix or linux. Some companies prefer to keep the source code for their drivers secret. Sometimes they keep the information for writing one's own driver secret. There's not a lot that linux geeks can do about that. It's your responsibility to choose equipment that works in your operating system. Ah, how I remember trying yet failing to get my 56k PCI modem to work in FreeBSD!

I keep a cdr copy of damn small linux about in case of a hard drive failure. At least if my hard drive fails, I can still access the internet. There a "to ram" option that one can choose at bootup. If you have the ram for it then browsing the internet should be hella fast, unless the connection is slow. I'm often surprised when someone tells me his computer is slow. I'll try a copy of damn small linux to prove that the computer is fast enough but the hard drive is worn out and needs replacing.

I tried damn small linux on my xbox once. It was sluggish. I think xbox media center is based on linux. Xbox media center is not crap at all.

If you're interested in unix or linux, then only buy computer equipment that you know supports unix or linux. Some companies prefer to keep the source code for their drivers secret. Sometimes they keep the information for writing one's own driver secret. There's not a lot that linux geeks can do about that. It's your responsibility to choose equipment that works in your operating system. Ah, how I remember trying yet failing to get my 56k PCI modem to work in FreeBSD!

Yeah I know about the licensing under which a company programs drivers and such. I wanted to switch to linux on my main mastering computer with a lynx l22 and couldn't because Lynx won't release their code to the ALSA project. It's ridiculous.

You make a good point about choosing hardware that linux supports and all, but that's also why linux will not catch on with the general population at this point. People want systems to work "out of the box", right? And the only way to make Linux a consumer alternative is that it's an easy switch from Windows, right? But it's not! You have to check your hardware to make sure it works, and oh that $100 raid card ya got, it's no good with Linux! And so on....

I love Linux - I really do. There's so much that most distributions can do right out of the box! But configuring everything drives me crazy sometimes, and I'm a techie type. I can't imagine someone like my father-in-law using Linux. (who I just had to explain a week ago how to shut down windows through the software and not just hard shutting down)


Are there any good comprehensive sites for matching hardware to Linux distributions? I've done some research before, and most sites are spotty at best.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/HardwareSupport

The wiki for ubuntu is top notch, this might be the reason why I think it could take over windows. It's actually much better than microsoft's help shit, things are easier to understand with it usually, and it gets better by the day because of the wiki format. Also, the more people that use ubuntu the better it gets.

I have the linksys USB wireless G card, and I am pretty sure that dapper will support it:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiD ... sSupported


try dapper! I updated my school computer with it yesterday and it's more pleasing to the eye at first. my home computer is next- tonight hopefully. I am getting rid of XP for good!

i've used gentoo, fedora, and most recently kubuntu (an ubuntu distro). kubuntu has been my favorite by far. very very easy to install, and it's been working great with no problems. if you're thinking about getting into linux, get an ubuntu distro!! you barely have to know anything, and there's plenty of help out there in the way of message boards and documentation (which is actually the case for most linux distros). fedora was cool for awhile, but i had some trouble with their yum tool, and it got kind of annoying. gentoo was a little too geeky for me and i ended up breaking it cause i didn't know what i was doing... hehe.
i have to say, i was very happy when i completely erased my windows partition after installing kubuntu. and it only makes me happier when i hear about the ridiculous stuff microsoft is trying to do (leasing software and such).
as far as wireless goes... i don't know much cause i'm plugged in with cat 5 cable. i'm thinking about getting a laptop in the near future, though. i've heard that wireless stuff is tough in most linux distros, but i've found that just about every problem can be solved by using google. i'm also going to make an effort to get the most linux friendly laptop i can find.

I've used Fedora, KDE, and now SUSE. I'm a cheater, though, as I've never had to install it myself. Someday.

Those of you who are into Linux and the erotic avant-garde might enjoy this.

Ok nerds: cshell or bash?

Boy, I sure would like to insert my dongle into her SCSI female part and upload my data at a high baud rate. As long as she doesn't ask to use that gender bender in my port 0 I am cool.

Used it for coding over the past year or so. I find the programs annoying - configurations, finding options, crashing, etc.

It's nice to work at a command line level from time to time though.

Maybe i'll go all-out if I get my degree (C.S.)

Hey!

I see Ubuntu is now up to the "Dapper Drake" edit: THAT'S what juice meant by "Try Dapper"! I kept thinking that was some open-source software meant for wireless devices. Ha, I'm an idiot.

and the wiki does seem to suggest more support for wireless devices.

But what's with the alliteration?

Maybe I'll just wait for the "Vivid Vasectomy"