[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Folks who feel bound (and many ARE bound) to apps like Photoshop and MS Office may very well want the security, configurability and control of a free system

That's not why I want a free system. What these folks seem to want is better proprietary software actually.
I don't know that free systems are more secure BTW.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif It will take years before FOSS gets to a level where it can compete head to head in every sector of software, but the more it is used the less locked in we are to proprietary formats and software.

If by "compete head to head" (FOSS is not trying to compete with anything) you mean "be as good as", it will never happen (barring a legal seachange or some such). Using a free OS instead of Windows or some such isn't going to help (it would help with other things such as driver availability so I'm not saying it's useless). Supporting free alternatives to these proprietary apps that you speak so highly of would help. And so would refraining to characterize them as inferior or even useless. But the most important thing is to do is to simply stop using these proprietary formats!

I think all the proprietary software currently installed on my computer is either freeware or abandonware BTW (except for Windows). Off the top of my head I use EAC, foobar, Proxomitron, some Adobe stuff and a bunch of programs that are Windows-specific such as Mark Russinovich's stuff.

Quote:

Parallels for Ubuntu would be the ultimate solution until apps are compiled for linux.

I'm not familiar with Parralels but my understanding is that it's basically running Windows in a VM so that doesn't solve anything really. There are several virtualization products available for Ubuntu right now if you really want to do that.

 

[HFat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif 7zip

is cross-platform.

 

[uzziah]

too complicated; windows xp works for me; i don't want to have to fiddle with drivers, settings, emulation blah blah to get things to work, also many of my fav free programs are windows only, and emulation can be spotty; otherwise i'd gladly go linux, i tried once

 

[uzziah]

my big reason is really "why bother" and there's no reason for me to, and many reasons not to, mostly complications; MS doesn't have any grip on me, i hardly run any ms programs at all; openoffice, VLC, foobar, eac, utorrent, avgfree, on and on and on

but say i want to run a snes emulator, can i do that on linux? easily? i dunno

however, i have no intent to ever buy vista

 

[oicdn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zanth /img/forum/go_quote.gif Using a system with a package manager like Debian/Ubuntu's apt system...you never have to compile. Redhat has a version, so does Suse etc. For those that love compiling Gentoo would be the solution, save for rolling one's own outright, this would be the best distro for those that know what they are doing and want their system to run EXACTLY the way they want. Is there nothing that is as capable as Dreamweaver? What about Bluefish? I don't know about Flash...but again these are Adobe apps, Adobe really needs to come through for us

Rpms are NOWHERE NEAR as easy to "extract" as an .exe file. An example? gaim is a PITA to compile considering all the work for the kind of program it is. mPlayer is a fairly lengthy process, heck, even on windows you have to compile it in a sense, with having a GUI so you're not running it command line.

I had both Suse and redhat (albeit when I was running suse it was Suse 9.1), it was easy, but nowhere near as easy as a Windows box. I really want to go back to running Linux, but I think the only way I will, is when I'm forced to goto Vista....

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFat /img/forum/go_quote.gif is cross-platform.

Yes, 7zip is, but not easy to obtain if not officially supported like in Ubuntu.

 

[CarbonTi]

I'm about 95% linux based, which includes the computer as source portion of my audio set up.

When I need Windows, I run it on VMWare in Gentoo linux. The only app that keeps the Windows partition on the box is Avisynth. I don't know of anything in Linux that provides that kind of utility for video processing that Avisynth does. As an outgrowth of Avisynth, I consequently do all my video processing in Windoes/VMWare. Also esoteric apps like SRMWin for a bicycle power meter that I can't get to work in VMWare, so I gotta dual-boot into Windows just to download data from the PowerControl unit.

Hopefully by the time MSFT stops supporting Windows, linux will have gotten to the point where I won't have be forced into using Vista for the video/DVD work.

 

[marvin]

Windows works well enough and due to market size, pretty much every major software and hardware maker has to support it. That alone is worth the couple hundred it costs to upgrade OS versions every 5 years or so.

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oicdn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Rpms are NOWHERE NEAR as easy to "extract" as an .exe file. An example? gaim is a PITA to compile considering all the work for the kind of program it is. mPlayer is a fairly lengthy process, heck, even on windows you have to compile it in a sense, with having a GUI so you're not running it command line. I had both Suse and redhat (albeit when I was running suse it was Suse 9.1), it was easy, but nowhere near as easy as a Windows box. I really want to go back to running Linux, but I think the only way I will, is when I'm forced to goto Vista....

To install gaim on debian/ubuntu you open a terminal window and write "apt-get install gaim". DONE
To install gaim on gentoo you open up a terminal window and write "emerge gaim". DONE

installing programs is FAR easier on linux than windows. You just type in the name of the program and it downloads and installs it for you. On windows you have to find the exe on a website and then install it

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uzziah /img/forum/go_quote.gif too complicated; windows xp works for me; i don't want to have to fiddle with drivers, settings, emulation blah blah to get things to work, also many of my fav free programs are windows only, and emulation can be spotty; otherwise i'd gladly go linux, i tried once

I can assure you that linux becomes far less complicated than windows once you give it a try. It's got a bad rep because I think it used to be hard to use, but I find it far easier to get things done on linux than windows. You, of course, have to get over the initial hump for the first few days, but that's to be expected after using an entirely different system for your whole life.

A friend used to tease me about using linux because he said it was so complex and stupid. one day I finally convince him to install ubuntu and that afternoon i find him on msn (yes, he installed msn by himself with no problems at all. I'm not sure if you introduced someone to winodws for the first time in their life if they'd know how to download and install a program), and he says to me "oh my god i cant beleive how good this is! everything just does what its supposed to! it all just works!"

I just think that a lot of people avoid linux due to misconceptions about it, and as a result they're missing out on a superior computing experience. You've most likely been using windows for 10 years now, so it's not surprising at all that you may find linux to be a little tricky AT FIRST, but thats only because you're adapted to windows' silly way of doing things. If you allow yourself some time to learn then you'll find that you become far more efficient on linux, and when you return to windows you'll be hating it.

It's like upgrading your hifi. You dont realise how bad your ibuds are until you get some sennheisers. You dont realise how bad windows is until you get linux .

Sure your senns needed an amp, but good lord it's worth it

 

[PiccoloNamek]

Quote:

"oh my god i cant beleive how good this is! everything just does what its supposed to! it all just works!"

I installed Ubuntu once. Everything did NOT "just work". In fact, so much stuff didn't work that I uninstalled it in disgust.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hugz /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can assure you that linux becomes far less complicated than windows once you give it a try. It's got a bad rep because I think it used to be hard to use, but I find it far easier to get things done on linux than windows. You, of course, have to get over the initial hump for the first few days, but that's to be expected after using an entirely different system for your whole life. A friend used to tease me about using linux because he said it was so complex and stupid. one day I finally convince him to install ubuntu and that afternoon i find him on msn (yes, he installed msn by himself with no problems at all. I'm not sure if you introduced someone to winodws for the first time in their life if they'd know how to download and install a program), and he says to me "oh my god i cant beleive how good this is! everything just does what its supposed to! it all just works!" I just think that a lot of people avoid linux due to misconceptions about it, and as a result they're missing out on a superior computing experience. You've most likely been using windows for 10 years now, so it's not surprising at all that you may find linux to be a little tricky AT FIRST, but thats only because you're adapted to windows' silly way of doing things. If you allow yourself some time to learn then you'll find that you become far more efficient on linux, and when you return to windows you'll be hating it.

I hate to say it, but even after getting over the linux hump, there's still a lot you can't do. Unless you just need to do basic tasks, odds are linux won't have everything you need.

 

[AlanY]

I'm not interested in computer politics, except tangentially, so I wouldn't switch because I believed in a particular philosophy. I would only switch if the total package was better than what I have now. That means the OS would have to be well-thought out, with the little details taken care of, and a good selection of software as good as or better than what I have now.

I switched to OS X because it did offer me something better, in my opinion. The OS was well-thought out, consistent, and reliable, and when it came to the specific software I was interested in, there were more choices on OS X than Windows (e.g. OmniOutliner, Aperture...).

I think Linux is a great idea and I support it, but in contrast it feels inconsistent and not well planned out. Why do 40% of programs use Gnome, 40% use KDE, and the other 20% use oddball things? Why not just have one well-thought out system? Similarly, Linux people don't pay for software so the selection is not good. For instance, there isn't a single outliner for Linux that's competitive with what was state of the art in 1992. My favorite photo commercial photo editor, LightZone (in my opinion better than PhotoShop for editing digital photos, because it works the way you would in a traditional darkroom), actually is available in a free version for Linux, but because people don't pay for it, it lags the commercial versions for OS X and Windows. Still, if anyone is lusting for Lightroom or Photoshop on Linux and works exclusively with digital photos, give LightZone a try.

Still, I support competition. I definitely think it's healthy. I actually switched to LaTeX this year from Word. I swore I'd never do that, I thought the whole idea of LaTeX was stupid, but then I realized that all I do in Word is apply a set of styles from my personal library that rarely changes. So LaTeX actually made sense once I converted my styles over.

 

[hugz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I hate to say it, but even after getting over the linux hump, there's still a lot you can't do. Unless you just need to do basic tasks, odds are linux won't have everything you need.

There's a lot of windows things that linux cant do, but there's a lot of linux things that windows can't do. Most people only know the windows things, so when they switch to linux they feel it's lacking in features. When you learn the linux things you'll switch to windows and feel that IT'S lacking in features. They both have different capabilities

 

[hugz]

Since this thread is somewhat intended to be "what programs do you have trouble finding on linux and can someone recommend a good alternative".. can someone recommend me a good
- pdf viewer
- ftp app

I use xpdf and kpdf for pdf, and gftp for ftp. All of them work well, but I'm wondering what else is out there. I like that xpdf is light and easy and fast, but it's navigation is a little annoying. kpdf is obviously a considerably more complete pdf viewer, to the extent that I find it a little too complete.. where possible I like to keep my apps light