Conclusion
While Linux has been around for a very long time, it has been ignored for mainstream desktop use for most of its existence. However, two little words are being written more and more in the technology press: "and Linux." Two years ago, no one even bothered to check whether or not products would work with the free operating system, but now it's becoming compulsory to divulge Linux compatibility.
Critics and Windows fanboys say that switching to Linux will bring the same limitations as switching to Mac will, thus putting the user in a sandbox of limited options, while Windows works with a near limitless range of hardware and software. Linux is not like a Mac operating system. In fact, Linux will run on a wider range of hardware than even Windows.
As far as the software goes, free alternatives to most mission-critical applications for Ubuntu are just a download away. As an operating system, Linux is completely customizable, from the kernel to the GUI and beyond, which is not something that can be said about Windows.
The question is not “can Linux run it?” That has never been the question with regard to Linux. Instead, you can make it do just about anything that you want it to do. The more pointed question is: “just how much of a hassle is this going to be?” Being a do-it-yourselfer, I don't mind the challenge. Spending the hours needed to properly overclock a rig only to fill your system tray with CPU-draining security programs and a perpetually fragmenting file system is just plain absurd to me. Scouring reviews and feverishly price-checking the best components possible for the custom system of your dreams only to install a stock operating system seems self-defeating.
Competition drives innovation and there is no lack of competition in the Linux sphere. Today, I use Ubuntu because today Ubuntu is king. But tomorrow is a new day and Novell's OpenSUSE along with Red Hat's Fedora are looking to become usurpers to (or re-claimers of) the throne.
Then there are Dell and HP, which pre-install their own custom variants of Ubuntu in new systems. Intel developed the Moblin distribution and turned it over to the Linux Foundation earlier this month. Google's Linux-based Android operating system is making its way from mobile phones to netbooks. Is the desktop far behind? There are even more free options beyond Linux. BSD has been around for a long time, while Sun Microsystems offers the OpenSolaris operating system. The OpenOffice office suite and Virtual Box virtual machine are all free.
Today, we have more quality choices of operating systems than ever before, and choices are always a good thing. Choice inherently means that there are differences, and with computers, that usually leads to specialization. If you need to build a rig on the cheap or just like to do-it-yourself, then Linux is for you, and today the Ubuntu distribution is where to start. If you are a hardcore PC gamer, I'm afraid that due to DirectX 10, you're stuck with Vista (or waiting for Windows 7) for the time being. If you need your hand held, then go buy a Mac.
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If you forget your username, you are plain stupid. But it is not an issue. Boot up in safe mode/recovery mode or whatever. Once at the recovery mode screen, choose to start terminal as root. You can type "ls /home" to list users. You're username will be there.
Type "passwd yourusername" hit enter and type in your new password type. Remember it this time dummy. Confirm it by typing again. Remember linux is case sensitive.
You've succesfully changed your password and recovered your username. Type "exit" funnily enough and boot into Ubuntu.
You win!!!
I tried out Ubuntu Ibex (dual boot with vista) for a little while a couple of months back. It was simple to install and I loved the GNOME desktop but I found that some of the software I installed didn't work and my wireless wouldn't work. I searched a lot on line (wired access of course) but every suggestion I tried didn't solve my issues. Since I loved the GNOME desktop so much though I recently tried out FEDORA 10. It's working perfectly for me (only had it a week but used it a lot already). I haven't booted to vista since bar once just to check that I can actually dual boot. I'll probably use Fed for my work and vista only for my games when I'm bored with my PS3.
I love Linux, I've been using it since my college days (actually, I needed it, along with Unix, for engineering work). I think it's a bit complicated for the average Joe that just does not know any better than to point and click, especially if you have to play with it in the cli and the actual inner workings of the OS. Linux has come a long way but it still needs to polish some rough edges associated with the OS. Some of these issues are not the OS fault for example gaming, proprietary drivers, patent ridden codecs, etc. I hate it when I have problems with my video card drivers (yeah ATI), I hate it when a printer is just not supported (yeah Lexmark). Anyways, Linux is in the way up and I think this (rough edges) is going to change soon. I will continue to use Linux for a long time, heck I never actually used Windows ME or XP as my primary OS, Linux was my primary OS before that (Debian 2.0 rings a bell, ha)
Other people may well disagree, but the last time i tried ubuntu (8.04) It took me over 30hours to get my wifi card working, and that's depsite fllowing letter for letter guides written by other people.
I wouldnt mind but I consider myself extremely knowledgeable most of the time I used to install fairly complex multi-server networks, and the card that wouldnt work is a netgear wpn311 - not even an uncommon model.
Windows - literally plug and play, less than 5 minute job including shutdown and reboot, clearly linux has a way to go before it is acceptable for everyone.
I want to love Linux, I really do, but overall Windows makes things easier. In this day and age we shouldn't need to go to a CLI, I haven't really done that in anger since I used my old BBC Micro. I hate the fact that when I finally figure out how to get one of the many different package types to finally install, I then can't find where the program has actually gone. At least with Windows you say exactly where the program is to reside. Lets be honest, most people don't care about /usr /home /var etc etc. Outside of the Linux (UNIX?) world it means nothing and adds nothing but confusion. OK it does make sure everything is in its place but it also adds complexity. If I want to install a program on Windows I double click the install program and off it goes, installs and then adds a shortcut to the start menu. Simple. Windows even now asks for authorisation before running an executable. It isn't perfect, nor as secure as the Linux way, but a darn site easier. As I said, I want to love Linux, I want it to be easy to use and simple from an average users perspective. I love computers, always have, but I like using them, not fudging around 'under the hood' when I just want to install a simple program. Until that day I am resigned to using Windows with all the risks that go with that
What people generally confuse themselves with regards to drivers is that it's not a Linux issue. The problem is with the manufacturers of the hardware. They restrict themselves to creating windows only drivers, which means the Linux community have a hard time trying to reverse engineer those drivers to make one that will work with Linux. If the manufacturers of hardware were to release Linux drivers then these issues would simply disappear.
So for those people with misconceptions about problems with hardware and drivers, think for a second where did your windows driver come from?
People fail to realise that drivers under Linux for the vast majority have been painstakingly created from little or no knowledge of the underlying hardware. For the drivers that do work flawlessly and lets come on and admit it there is a lot of them now, hats off to the dedicated developer community for persevering.
Don't get me wrong I love Windows XP, and before that Windows 98/se but I have used linux for over 5 years and the progress these developers have made is truly amazing. I am no Linux fan boy, I have been using a Mac for more than 2 years now but have other machines that run a gamut of OS's.
smartroad, the thing is, if you want to install something in ubuntu, you can do it with a gui too. Just go to System, then Administration (I don't really know the english version of it, so I might as well be wrong), and then click synaptic. Then, you will be able to search, select and install/update whatever packages are listed on your repositories. If you want to have all your applications to be in a specific location, then you should compile from source. That won't be as easy and will require a cli, unless someone writes a script for it.
But I don't think we should be afraid of cli, there are many thing you can do a lot faster in a terminal than using a gui. There are gui tools for just about everything you will need using linux, it's just that using the cli is faster and easier on experienced users, that's why we are trying to teach the cli to newcomers.
I'll switch to Linux when Adobe release their software on it.
kthxbai
I have now actually switched to UNR on my NC10 and to be fair it is a much better experiance then I was expecting. There are a few nags I have, unlike windows it doesn't simply switch to my external monitor when I plug it in, for one thing. But on the whole it is a much better and easier experience then when I first used SUSE linux back in '98
I also want to love Linux, and the only reason I still stick with Windows, is its ample game support... but that is not Linux's fault, off course...
~ Mortov Molotov