Is Ubuntu good for me?

Pc_Newbie671 · May 18, 2015

Is Ubuntu a good operating system for me? I am planning to build a budget gaming PC and I am wondering if Ubuntu is as simple to use as windows. I have seen Ubuntu before and I'm wondering if I have to use command lines to install apps or could I just install apps from the Ubuntu App Store?

i7Baby · May 18, 2015

It limits you. Not all eg games makers allow for Linux.

BUT you can still do a lot of stuff eg http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028896/how-to-make-ubuntu-linux-look-like-windows-7.html

and https://www.linux.com/news/hardware/drivers/8203-is-my-hardware-linux-compatible-find-out-here

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proprietary_software_for_Linux

skittle · May 18, 2015

it limits you

wow that is extremely disingenuous especially when comparing to windows. windows is infinitely more limiting compared to any linux distrobution.

Sure not all games run on Linux (yet), but there are already a HUGE (currently 2166 games) libary of games for Linux on Steam including new AAA games like 'The Witcher 3' and more are added every day

http://store.steampowered.com/search/?os=linux

p.s. The command line exists today because it is still the most efficient tool for many tasks. Quite simply it is easier to configure and administer most tasks via a plain text enviorment than it is to design a GUI for every tiny thing. In fact the 'app' store is just a front end for a command line command.

p.s.s If you are planning on building a PC. Stick to Nvidia graphics cards and use the proprietary Nvidia graphics driver. You can install the nvidia driver via the 'Additional Drivers' button in Ubuntu. AMD proprietary drivers just are not as good for gaming on linux at the moment. This may change in a few years as AMD has just released a new driver model that will greatly simply the work involved.

junkeymonkey · May 18, 2015

best thing to do is get a old or a cheap harddrive grab Linux load it up and use it and see how it goes for you .. it maybe a personal experience on how well you end up liking it ..

I use it and its just ok to me my buddy uses it and he seems to enjoy it more then I do . so in till you try it and use it you really just don't know ..

your own user experience is your best knowledge ..

vesp3r · May 18, 2015

Pc_Newbie671 :

For a gaming PC - Windows!

Under Ubuntu you can still run most games using Wine emulator to simulate windows compatibility but as said already it limits you. Its also know to have issues with NVidia drivers.
As linux user you will spend alot time writing commands to install or run things

junkeymonkey · May 18, 2015

''As linux user you will spend alot time writing commands to install or run things '' [LOL]

I like to call it constantly hacking away at the terminal to do something that should be simple point and click -- its 2014 and still doing things like back in the 90's

you would think by now Linux would have overcome most of all that

McHenryB · May 18, 2015

I am planning to build a budget gaming PC

i7Baby's comment that it limits you, in this context, is entirely justified. To my mind more damage is done to the Linux cause by over-zealous support, ignoring those places where it falls a bit short of Windows, than by pointing out the facts.

@OP - as you specifically say that you are building a gaming PC you need to check first that the games you are interested in playing have native Linux ports; otherwise you will be disappointed.

skittle · May 18, 2015

In what way does as having more freedom limit you? That's ridiculous.

The command line still exists because it is more efficient than a GUI for many tasks. If you want everything to have shiny point'n'click interface maybe you are better off with a tablet and walled garden app store.

junkeymonkey · May 18, 2015

hmmmm... freedom ? like how now Linux uses proprietary software [like oracle stuff that cant be changed or removed ] and I think it was Ubuntu you go to the software manager and pull up the list to see all the ones that now you got to pay for?? ya , you got to pay for it

funny that all seems to go against the Linux constitution..

''I talked to my friend and colleague Seth Schoen about the Ubuntu Software Center selling proprietary software, and he pointed out that it goes directly against the Ubuntu Manifesto''

https://micahflee.com/2013/01/why-im-leaving-ubuntu-for-debian/

McHenryB · May 18, 2015

skittle :

The OP specifically states that he is building a gaming PC. Even the most hardened Linux zealot must realize that there are more games that run on Windows than on Linux. Thus, for a gaming PC, Linux is more limited than Windows.

Save the polemics for those who are interested in building a general purpose computer rather than a gaming machine.

junkeymonkey · May 18, 2015

that's right you can fight them into Linux and hope it all works out - put a steam/mal/spyware client [Linux] on your drive - or just pay bill 80 bucks for a smooth point and click and ready to play native near everything ??

depends on if you want to play or play around trying to make it work if at all in Linux

I want to play not hack and bang in the terminal just to hope for the best with all my time spent on that or with a wine type program just to end up disappointed in some way

wine should be renamed whine cause that's what you maybe doing using it

vesp3r · May 19, 2015

well i never got to the part where i actually start any game through wine to see how it goes... i remember after installing Ubuntu i spent like 4 more hours trying to install my nvidia drivers and trying to make flash player work properly in Chronium.
So all said - Linux is not good for a gaming pc... but you know... Ubuntu is free... so why not get a live cd or even install it and see for yourself

junkeymonkey · May 19, 2015

i guess is the person using it like my buddy he likes to sit and hack away in the terminal all day to do a simple point and click thing like in windows

i joke him and say '' are you installing a program or rewriting it ??'' like i said in this day and time there should be a universal installer but they insist to keep things like in the dos days they cant eaven get that for programs that are for Linux and you still got to hack the terminal to get them in . wow

skittle · May 19, 2015

junkeymonkey :

dos? the terminal has its origins from the 1970's. Why do you think it has been around so long? Because it is simply faster and more efficient for many tasks than desiging a gui for every option. Why would you want some kind of gui interface impeding your workflow?

When all you use your computer for is casual gaming and facebooking then perhaps you do not see the appeal of a command line interface but please do not say GUI is better for everything. It is not.
'
also its not 'hacking' the terminal to install stuff... just issuing commands to the appropriate program. Debian and derivitives DO have a universal installer. APT package manager.

Code:

sudo apt-get install firefox

Not difficult at all

junkeymonkey · May 19, 2015

ya , you do sound like my buddy with all that jazz. but when I'm using he's typing [hacking away] at the terminal . and it the old '' come on man aint you ready to go yet ??
not to say Linux blows and if you gert it in and working its as good as windows I got programs that do as well as in Linux as windows

and lets facer it that thig like fire fox from there software manager then yes knida easy bu tlike the guy above said about the driver or like igot that y-cruncher to run in windows and Linux windows was piint and click to install Linux took extra work not just that '' sudo apt-get install
'' so keep talking

herers the game ETQW that funs native in Linux

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/forum/software/linux-gaming/47513-tutorial-install-etqw-enemy-territory-quake-wars-on-fedora-linux?112116-Tutorial-Install-ETQW-(Enemy-Territory-QUAKE-Wars)-on-Fedora-Linux=
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Games/Native/EnemyTerritoryQuakeWars

heck of a lot more then sudo apt-get install [LOL] then hope you don't mis type something and go into redo mode or the old file path not found, ect...

funny I don't need to look up Tutorial to install in windows ??? just insert disk click install then click play - zip zap pow-

skittle · May 19, 2015

That post is from 2011. Steam for Linux wasn't even available then.

I installed cs:go for steam, civ5 and witcher 3 on archlinux without even touching the command line.

I understand long path names though that is why tab-completion exists in virtually every terminal emulator in existence since forever.

McHenryB · May 20, 2015

Just to give a little context to the question of Steam support for Linux, I checked the games that I have on Steam. I'm not a great gamer (in any sense of the word "great"), but I have a library of 20 games. Of these, 20 have Windows versions, 3 have Linux versions.

So I think it is eminently fair to comment that "It limits you. Not all eg games makers allow for Linux." when a poster is asking whether Linux makes a good base for a gaming computer.

Caveat emptor

Pc_Newbie671 · May 20, 2015

Thanks guys I will try out Ubuntu because it's free but I will probably be sticking with windows.

junkeymonkey · May 20, 2015

like I said , if you don't try it your self you just don't know . and its all free so if one distro don't feel right to you try out another . right now I'm trying out the mint 17 . I tend to like mint

vesp3r · May 21, 2015

so far i tried only Ubuntu and i gave up on it when i found some issues between the OS and graphic drivers and flash player. Anyways i read Mint is alot more like windows and it comes with preinstalled plugins etc. I would recommend you testing that one too if you are not affraid/bored of constant reinstalling different OS`s

Luminarc · May 21, 2015

Hey OP. I've used Linux since 2005 and, as someone who works on all 3 OSes, I'd recommend you stick to Windows for your gaming PC.

1.) New games are released on Windows, not Linux or OS X.
2.) If you're building a PC for gaming, you don't want to fix bugs with the OS. I've spent countless afternoons solving small issues with Linux that OS X and Windows never had (like "Sound goes off after installing Netflix-Desktop" or "Chrome on LInux can't run Canva" etc).
3.) Linux is easier to use today than it was back in 2005 but, still, doing basic stuff like connecting it to a projector isn't as easy as on OS X or Windows.

In total, if you want something for Media or gaming, avoid Linux. If you plan on learning code, pick up linux.

Is Ubuntu good for me?

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