Thinking About Using Linux

I'm thinking about using Ubuntu. It seems like a good OS, and they seem to have a helpful community.
I have never used Linux in my life. Not even for a split second.

Is there any way to play any high end games on this, or do I still have to have a Windows system for gaming.

Will I be able to network my Linux rig with my Windows rig to transfer files betweeen eachother?

Filesharing is very important. Will I be able to access networks such as Bit Torrent, Gnutella, or any other places for filesharing?

With Windows, I can install a codec pack to open downloaded media files that would not open otherwise. Can Ubuntu read downloaded media files or is there a codec pack I can use with that system?

I have a DVD writer. Does anybody know if Ubuntu has any programs for DVD playback, shrinking/burning? What about converting DVDs/CDs to ISO files, and running ISO files using a virtual drive right off of the computer? Any good CD/DVD burning software?

Is there a 64bit version such as vista that handles 64bit hardware(processor)?

 

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anything but mac is good.

 

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Answer to first question-- yes and no.
You *can* plan high end games using Linux, You can install a program called 'wine' which will allow you to run certain windows application........still a bit of a pain to configure though.
There are a few games native to Linux that are OK, but nothing close to the kinda stuff released for Windows. You'd be better off keeping windows for games.



Everything else (all your other questions) is all affirmative. Linux will easily do all of that stuff.
You can either connect to windows shares, or host shares visible to the Windows network
You can run any codec windows can run (for the most part).......I would recommend downloading "mplayer" and the accompanying codec package/browser plugin once you have Ubuntu up and running.
There are a ton of applications for burning CDs & DVDs. I'm not sure on "DVD shrinking" because I have not researched it, but I'm pretty sure someone has made that sort of program somewhere.

As for 64 bit-- yup
http://ftp.ussg.iu.edu/linux/ubuntu-releases/edgy/

 

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Yes. The most popular way is with a program called WINE, although there are many unsupported games. Few of the supported games work flawlessly.

Check out http://winehq.com for more information.

What most gamers do is dual boot.

Yes, linux does this very well.

Yes, all of the above.

I'm not familiar with Ubuntu specifically, but it should be able to play nearly all media files on a fresh install.

It used to be ogle/goggles for dvd playback, but nowadays most people use VLC.

Running ISO files off a virtual drive is easier than windows. Just type on the command line:
>> mount file.iso /media/iso -o loop -t iso9660

Ripping DVD's/CD's is also super easy. The following guide is for Gentoo, but should apply equally to Ubuntu:
http://gentoo-wiki.com/TIP_DVD:_Rip,_Shrink,_and_Burn

Yes. You'll have a hard time getting flash to work, but it should be fine for most other programs.

 

I'm not familiar with Ubuntu specifically, but it should be able to play nearly all media files on a fresh install.

Actually, some proprietary codecs are omitted for licencing reasons, notably MP3. They'll be installed with MPlayer. Ogg is better, anyway.

 

Heh. The more I read about linux the funnier it sounds.

I mean, why bother?

Just use Windows, you hypocrites!

God, I'm feeling moody today. Do men have a time of the month?

 

Just be sure you try and boot from the liveCD before you install it. All Linux distros can be a bit picky about hardware, for instance the PC on which I am working now does not run ubuntu, but will boot knoppix. my other PC however will boot ubuntu fine, but when it comes to knoppix it doesn't work. I seem to recall something about ATi cards being supported less often.

 

To be fair, a complete set of codecs isn't installed by default on windows either. But that's a good question: why bother with Linux?

You shouldn't use Linux because it is the cool thing to do (yea right

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) or because you hate Microsoft, but because it is the superior OS. It is free, stable, secure, completely customizable, and heading in the right direction. Use it because you like those things.

Windows has games, but it's a mediocre OS.

 

You may not know it, but you pay for those codecs.
Cost aside, it is easier to play media on Linux.
Here's the windows way to play the most common formats.
- find real player website, find the appropriate version, download real player, run installer
- find quicktime website, find the appropriate version, download quicktime, run installer
- find ogg vorbis codec, download, install
and so on.

The Linux way

- type "sudo apt-get install mplayer w32codecs mozilla-mplayer"

 

I have a single Windows box left in my home. It crashes and gives me more problems than all my Linux servers and Macs combined. That is why. People usually assume that Linux or Mac will be hard because 'they already know windows' yet quiz them on even some of the most basic tasks and they fumble. I can honestly say literally over 100 people I know (I worked at a University and have contact with a large number of people) have switched to Mac as their main PC and only about 5% said they had to go back to Windows (All of these were Engineers who needed specific software available only on Windows).

-AntonK

 

I still don't get why so many people complain about Windows crashing so much?? I run both Windows and Mandriva (now lol); one sole Win PC and one dual boot Win-Mandriva, and neither crash.

However I should mention that neither home PC remains on for more than 3 days (that's the weekend span Friday to Sunday).

The real question is what do you people do to your Windows box? 90% of the time a Windows crash is a user error.

PS: before anyone asks me, my previous job was sys admin (Windows on 19 servers, 90 user machines, Linux on 1 server), and current is network admin (Windows on 22 servers, 400 user machines, no Linux).

 

An uptime of 3 days is not good, and as a sysadmin, you know this. I run a variety of different software on all my machines ranging from games to graphics software to CAD, etc. An OS should be transparent, I should never have to think about it. It should sit in the background, take care of managing resources and never even give the user an idea that its there.

Say what you will, but a lot of people agree with me, the ONLY reason I use Windows for anything is software. There are no qualities of the OS itself that makes me want to use it.

-AntonK

 

True of course, however I turn off the machines myself. I'm quite confident that both machines will remain running fairly indefinitely. Don't get hung up on my verbage

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Incidentally, my office machine remains powered on indefinitely. I turned it off maybe three times in 7 months. It crashed twice. One was the odd Windows glitch. The other was my own fault...i installed an open source revival of a childhood game to see what it looked like...memories lol.

At any rate, the Windows servers in my care have all been running without turning them off with the exception of a major power loss in the city, and 3 separate hardware failures on different servers. This is out of 20 at my last job and 22 servers at my current job (although these 22 aren't strictly my responsibility). I know about uptime

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and I know the difference between a core Windows failure and a 'perceived failure' of Windows due to an external source (HW, power, user, network).

What I was saying, I don't see Windows as hardly the bugbear folks make it out to be...anymore that is. Windows on the desktop before XP was a pain in the rear for various reasons.

While it might be true that Windows holds nothing majorly advantageous in a pure OS to OS to OS battle...how about also considering the MS extensive support machine? At a mere two points of contact? (The website and the country correct phone number). Non-corporate Linux support bites big time, it takes WAY too long to fix an issue when they do appear.

What about device support? Got to share that odd Epson label printer in the office? How about using the cool features on a Ricoh or Xerox multifuction? Hook up your cellphone? How about a simple modem or ATi video card? Why should I have to fight to install these things? Mac advertising is right - for a decade or 15 years ago...but since MS has caught up in making periperhals easy to deploy...Linux is next to take a beating for that.

 

Oh: Windows servers are put on schedule to reboot after work hours IF there's a Windows update

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I forgot about those

 

Windows games on Linux: http://www.transgaming.com/

 

So I buy RedHat Personal at USD 15. Or maybe I stick with Mandriva. I have tons of problems because I've got a Conexant modem, so I can't get online to get support for it. It's 10 at night so I go watch TV then sleep.

I go to a friend's in the morning who's Windows box works perfectly and dial up to get a driver for my own modem. After 48 minutes of searching, I take this driver back home and plug in my Kingston USB memory key. It causes Linux to lock up at first, then I browse it, for my modem driver. AH it installs.

So far I've wasted a day, in which I could have installed Windows and played XMen Legends II already.

Further to this...I now go to transgaming.com, and pay USD 55 for a year of using Cedega (gasp Linux isn't so free now right)...and HOPE it plays XMen Legends II. But OOPS, I have an ATi x600 video card, that causes Cedega to fail.

I go out and get me a GeForce 7600 at USD 160 and finally get to play XMen II on my Linux box (my Windows friend has upgraded Cyclops, Jean, Storm and Bishop to level 34 already). Two days have elapsed and I'm tired, I'll play tomorrow.

I beat the game 3 weeks later and decide well lets try another, Cedega seems to be handling it well. I give the new Star Trek Legacy a try and oops! Cedega does not support it! Meanwhile my Windows bud is fragging a couple Warbirds with a Galaxy Class and the Defiant.

I've spent USD 215 on getting Linux to support that which Windows does already, and 2 extra days of manpower getting Linux to work in the first place.

Linux is nowhere near being ubiquitous as yet. To consider Linux you've carefully got to map out the tasks required of your machine.

 

I use Linux as my operating system for Desktop for about 6 years (one year I dual booted with Windows)
and everything is just fine. And before I buy any new hardware I check its' compatibility.

And there is no reason to buy any Linux distribution, because there are many great that are for free.

USB has been working with no problems on Linux for some years now.

Since I don't play pc games, I don't share your problems. Linux has cost me zero $$$ and has been very reliable.

Of course there are issues that sometimes have to be solved, but I like to learn.

 

Quite correct Avatar...you won't have problems, however the point was to illustrate why Linux is definitely not a universal solution. And as a side note, how Linux isn't really "free". The only thing that's "free" is the acquisition.

I can almost guarantee you that your OS has cost you in man-hours though

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Oh, sure it has, but I have enjoyed it.
And I agree that, of course, it's not an universal solution.

For example I run Linux on my desktop pc and laptop, but later this year I'll be putting together a system for video editing and it will be Windows XP, because there isn't video editing software on Linux that is on par with Adobe Premiere.

I won't be buying a Mac, because it costs too much.

 

That's too bad. Having used Premier for years before switching over to Final Cut Pro around 2001, I 100% vote for FCP over Premier.

Unfortunatly, you are right, the up-front-costs of buying a mac are more than building a Windows machine from scratch.


But this thread is about using Linux. I really, really like Ubuntu. Go for it on a weekend when you don't have anything important to do - it will take some time to get used to, but IMO it is the best desktop linux distrobution.