Questions about Linux
 

Okay, so I'm looking at getting a new, probably pretty powerful, computer within the next couple of weeks. The thing is, I don't really like Windows all that much, and Mac OS doesn't really suit my purposes (also I find the Mac community really annoying).

This has left me looking at Linux. The problem is that I know very little about Linux. My understanding is that it's essentially a bare-bones operating system that you kind of have to build as you go, and that this has some major advantages as you can make it do more or less whatever you need it to provided you know what you're doing. I'm also told that it is very stable and doesn't hog resources or do the generally stupid things that Windows tends to do.

How am I doing so far? Am I fairly correct? If I'm not, please explain. What I've heard about it ranges from "it's a stable operating system" to "it grants you unlimited power at the expense of turning you into a pasty loser who will never have sex. EVER." (quoted from Oddwebsite)

Well, I'm pretty sure I've at least got that stuff right, so here are some questions:

1. What is the learning curve like? I am pretty computer literate, but I'm not like, savant or anything. I've done a bit of coding before and found that fairly simple. I'm pretty good at hunting down utilities to do various things. Am I going to be capable of using Linux, or does it require some kind of enlightened computer Buddha figure?

2. What is the basic interface itself like?

3. Where are some good resources for learning how to use Linux and make it work for me?

4. What is "Ubuntu?" I hear the term tossed around a lot, but I don't know exactly what it is.

Any advice would be appreciated. I intend to put a fair bit of capital into this machine, so I want it to be as good as it possibly can be.

1. Steep but not impossible to climb. Anyone can learn it given that they hate Windows enough and aren't attracted to Men Mac.

2. Point and click most times, but when you're installing new programs or doing non-trivial stuff, its a console that IS NOT DOS.

3. I have no idea really. I've been using the Ubuntu fora.

4. Ubuntu is prettymuch the best linux distro you can get, IMO. I'm a linux beginner and said OS has been the easiest to use.


You are going to learn a lot of little things in a very short period of time, so pack a lunch.

EDIT: To address this:
Not true, and also not true. Linux has some problems, especially with Suspend/Hibernate, and can run into problems when you try to use things a certain way. Oh and sex with Linux installed is just as good but the pillowtalk is geekier.

If you want to do yourself a bit of a favor on that same learning curve, I heard Kubuntu is nice too (It's an Ubuntu build with the KDE desktop, still my favourite dualboot.)

Second thing: Not all drivers are supported across Linux. If you plan to buy a nice 8800GTX video card, Some part of me deeply doubts that you'll find the drivers for it in linux.

Or that you'll find a game that will run and utilize it.


Not bashing linux, but if you're building a gaming machine... maybe stick with windows? or go dual boot.

www.ubuntu.org

www.kubuntu.org

There's more out there- but Ubuntu is usually lauded as the 'most user friendly.'

Be careful with rm -rf!
 

No.

Well, more specifically: There are various distributions out there that are fully-fledged OS packages. In fact, almost all of them are not really "bare-bones." As for stability, sure, it doesn't seem to crash or anything [note: my experiences with Windows have been relatively crash-free, save for horrible drivers], but that doesn't mean a distribution or setup won't find a way to fill up its swap space and start chuggin' through your memory or whatever. Linux isn't any more or less stupid than other operating systems, bringing along its fair share of annoyances, dialog boxes, and general failures.

** Edit -- After reading Nikose's post and then re-reading yours, I agree -- if "powerful" is a hint at "I want to play games and throw some nice 3D hardware into this thing," Linux should not be your primary boot. Sure, you can run things through Parallels or Wine or Codega [read: Wine for money] and all that, but you might indeed have driver issues or emulator problems, and that's just silly to put up with when dual-booting is soooo easy.

Anywho-

1) Steep if you go with a more basic and clean installation, pretty damned easy if you go with something larger. For example, something like slackware, or at least my memory of it, will assume you know a lot about what you are doing, leaving it up to you to muck around, while something like Fedora or Ubuntu will try to work better with you as an end-user and not a voluntary developer/user.

Furthermore, it can depend on what you are doing at times. At one point, I ran Mandrake (now MandrivaLinux). A lot of it was similar to commercial OSs, making it easy for me to install a package or manage the machine. Some of it wasn't, however -- I had to manually compile and install desktop themes, make my own settings for my monitor/desktop resolution, and tweak the settings for the mouse to use all of my buttons*. Also, depending on the distribution, you might have the easier route of opening a package explorer (these are easy to learn how to use) / GUI to install updates or new applications [you can also use the console commands to do the same thing] OR you might have to manually download and compile from source. Things like getting video codecs downloaded and installed correctly can also be a pain in the ass.

The choices you make for which applications to use, as often one type of activity or whatever will have several options, might dictate how much you will have to learn vs. just click and go (e.g: Shorewall is set up via text files to define the rules and allowed ports, etc., while Firestarter is managed through GUI). Also, many applications mimic popular commercial software [OpenOffice is certainly a prime example] or other well-known software [if you haven't already seen or used Pidgin, for example, it's a lot like AIM or other IM clients].


2) This will depend on which flavour of Linux you choose. Many come with GNOME or KDE as their overall GUI desktop environment, and all will have the UNIX terminal/console. Some will have Xfce or Fluxbox or another desktop environment. GNOME and KDE are the "largest," meaning that they have a ton of applications and widgets connected to them, are easier to find support for, and probably make the most sense to someone coming from Windows.

These packages have come a long way, and most distributions will provide a control panel type set of administration tools, allowing you to manage window decoration themes, color schemes, accounts and access, network settings, installation and removal of packages and applications, etc. You will also get a start menu type of interface to select any installed program to run (depending on the setup, this might also be your right-click desktop menu).

Any of this can be completed in the console. In fact, any single thing you want to do in Linux can start in the console. For more customized tweaking and often to properly setup other programs, you will have to dive into the console and the text files that set options and settings. Fortunately, many things will have some kind of support online or readmes to at least get you looking in the correct place.


3) That's a good question. I don't have any one single place bookmarked or anything. I kinda just search with Google-fu when needed. I suppose that means that there are a lot.

Clearly, though, you should poke around your distribution's community and support fora, at least as a start, when you want to find something out.


4) "Ubuntu" is a Zulu word that means "humanity" (and, as such, their default interface theme is called "Humanity"). Ubuntu Linux is designed to be easy-to-use and user friendly, and it usually is up to the task. I eventually moved to Ubuntu myself because of this, as I really don't use my Linux box enough to want a more crazy, I-have-to-mess-with-everything distro.

Ubuntu uses GNOME, Kubuntu uses KDE, and Xubuntu uses Xfce.

Ubuntu is the easiest linux distro to learn. If you're tired of windows and don't like a mac, Ubuntu is the best step to take. It's great to test the waters of Linux but I really wouldn't recommend it once you learn how linux flows, it just doesn't have the customizability as other distros have (I'm currently using Arch Linux). If you want to learn it, most distro sites have a wiki where you can learn the ins and outs of using the counsel and such.

The only problem I really encounter is that it's not really supposed to be used with a laptop so you have to go out of the way to personalize your touch pad.

It's going to be a desktop computer, not a laptop, so that's fine... although I have kind of thought of going for a laptop as well.

It's not specifically gaming that I'm looking to do. The gaming I do is mostly emulated, at least a few years old anyway. I tend to use my computer for lots of different things that strike me at the time, and I don't feel like being particularly limited, so since I'm doing pretty good for money right now, I've just decided to make the best thing I can afford.

Huh, I swore you said laptop there... oh well. But if you want to use a lot of programs that aren't designed for linux, WINE works well, just check the appdb too see how well that program works on it.

Having thought it through, I think the bottom line here is that most Linux distros are free. Try it, give it a week or two, and if you don't like it go back to Windows. Anybody who isn't a pretentious fanboy of one OS or another won't fault you for it.

And anyone who does, I can probably beat up for lunch money.

That sounds like a good plan though. Thanks for the advice.

sudo apt-get install The-Open-Source-World
 

synkr0nized has given an excellent summary of the nature of Linux distributions.

I personally use Kubuntu myself (Tried Mandriva but I was not a fan of combining GNOME and KDE interface applications together), I feel that it's a great way of actually thinking outside the box. You will start to question why Windows Operating Systems perform in such a way, where perhaps a distribution offers a more efficient alternative. An example of this would be when a menu appears on a windows application you are unable to move the main application itself until you close the menu.

Or perhaps you will find the applet manager (This is an application that searches the internet for applications that you can install onto your machine.) very effective. As opposed to finding the site, clicking the link, opening the file, going through the wizard and clicking next for the umpeenth time and then restarting your system you are able to simply search what you need, and the system will sort everything out for yourself all contained within one application (Of course this is a generalisation on many packages and the effect they may have!)

If you use it as a developer or a study station, it offers you useful tools such as being able to create multiple screens which you can click to switch between (Up to a maximum of 254 I believe? Can't check as I'm at an XP machine at the moment) so you are able to cycle between software development and leisure applications; useful if you do not have a secondary monitor.

I would also reiterate that there is plenty of help available by just using google or searching the distribution forums, the power of the community really shines through in this regard, it's been going strong now for several decades and getting stronger with every day.

Even after all the time I have been using it, I still have tremendous amounts of fun playing around in the console and fiddling with stuff. You may end up doing silly stuff like removing your entire USB Video Class device driver but such things are easily fixed! Or outputting a text file through your speakers so all you get is a load of noise.

Also if you are wanting to learn how all layers interact with eachother and want to become technically aware of how your Operating System works, it's all there for you to research into.

And besides, with Plasma now instituted within KDE4, who doesn't love those rotating containments/widgets and wobbly windows?

Anyway, please keep us updated on your adventures of delving into the Open Source community. You will most definatly run into some ups and down on making things work, but you really do get a sense of achievement when you actually make something work.

Welcome to the software wars!