Why Should i switch to linux????

[infernogamer]

Hello. I read ur FAQ about switching to Linux But here's how it's all started

I read about Linux in my favorite IT magazine. It was a distro called Linux Mint. I ran it on the VirtualBox and installed some programs I am a gamer but i decided to dump BF4 and other hot games. And since i heard about program called PlayOnLinux and Wine and the console emulators
And my Win 7 started to go slower and slower each day when finally giving me a BSOD just for plugging a USB stick into the USB port. That made me think. But can you please give me 10 reasons and some beginner's tips about switching to Linux BTW What distro should i choose except the original Ubuntu i hate it's Unity desktop just be looks and i heard it eats RAM alot and spys on you. Ubuntu-based distros are ok

Oh PS: My friend said to me that Linux is just for geeks. Is that true?

Best Regards

Sorry for taking ur time

 

[Spac3nerd]

If you have to ask yourself "why", then you probably have no reason to use it.
Most of us got started because we wanted to learn about, and experiment and build upon the software with which your typical distro is built. The second reason is because it helps us do work.
If you're a casual user that has no technical knowledge about the distro you are using, I would advise that you stay away from using a Linux distro on a daily basis. The moment something breaks and you have to use the shell to rectify the problem, you will break the system even more.

The first step should be to have some curiosity about how a distro works and why, and use that curiosity to experiment. Once you have a decent amount of knowledge, you can think about using a Linux distro on a daily basis.

I would start by playing around with a distro such as Mint, as I think that it's the most beginner friendly. Once you have some idea as to what you're doing, try something oriented towards the power user, such as Gentoo, Arch or even Fedora. I found that using Gentoo served as a good lesson. You can then choose a distro that fits your daily needs, and you can go from there.

In conclusion, I would advise against jumping in and using a Linux distro for a daily machine without having some idea of how the system functions. Play around with a few distros, maybe try incorporating a distro into a little project, like running a server from one.

Finally, I can't give you 10 reasons for using a Linux distro, but I can give you just one:
You have the power to run the operating system any way you like it and you can modify it any way, assuming that there's no restrictive license involved and assuming you have sufficient skill.
It is up to you to find the other 9 reasons.

 

[nss000]

Spac3* has well summarized the casual-Linux-users viewpoint. I might only add -- get whatever Linux.only box you can afford, install UBUNTU or CENTOS and give it a few years. If you find yourself spending more time and performing more & more tasks on Linux then you have answered your own question.

 

[stillblue]

No, linux isn't just for geeks. For some things it is far easier than windows. If I was setting up my mother with a computer to navigate the net, read and write emails and write letters I wouldn't even consider windows, linux hands down. No viruses and simple to use interfaces available, particularly LibreOffice vs MS Office and Mint vs Win8.

 

[Servet Portakal]

I've tired a few Linux distros for a while.

First, I'd recommend you to download a live Ubuntu image and create a bootable USB with it ( There are instruction on its website ). This way you can test the OS and the compatibility without making any changes on your computer.

Secondly, gamers're gonna be better off with Windows. Emulators will cause problems, even if they work, you're gonna get lower FPS.

 

[dmroeder]

Okay, my .02...

If you call yourself a gamer then to answer your question: you probably shouldn't choose Linux. Linux is not ideal for games, Windows is (unfortunately).

That being said, I chose Linux for most of the reasons mentioned above. And I game, I'm just not a "gamer". I am perfectly happy with what is available (Valve titles, some sweet indy games and even a little Minecraft). Although I would play AAA titles, I don't need them so I'm perfectly content with them not existing natively on Linux (hopefully that will change). If it's the fancy AAA titles you are after then don't chose Linux.

And that being said, I would encourage you to give something like Linux Mint KDE a try regardless of gaming. Although you might not be satisfied with the game titles currently available, it really is a great OS. It's not perfect, but neither is Windows by any stretch.

P.S. Your friend is showing his complete ignorance of Linux. I had a coworker that said the same thing: He was about to throw his old XP machine out the window and I suggested he install Mint on it to at least give it a no cost try. He is still using it and is pleasantly surprised. My mom, my dad, my wife, my kids (3/6), and several coworkers all use it. The beauty of it is that it is refined enough that all the people that I mentioned use it and in many cases find it easier than windows, yet it is open to tinker for the geeks. Unfortunately it has a stigma of being off limits for the average user when it is totally not true. Don't want to do the geek stuff, you don't have to. But it's there and it's really exiting to learn!

Another thing that I love is my machine had been running for 170 days straight (until my brother-in-law shut it down), fully updated and runs like a swiss watch. Not one update ever asked me to reboot. I ran Mint 13 until 17 was released and I never noticed it running slower than the day I installed it. My work machine with Windows 7 however....

 

[infernogamer]

Okay, my .02...

If you call yourself a gamer then to answer your question: you probably shouldn't choose Linux. Linux is not ideal for games, Windows is (unfortunately).

That being said, I chose Linux for most of the reasons mentioned above. And I game, I'm just not a "gamer". I am perfectly happy with what is available (Valve titles, some sweet indy games and even a little Minecraft). Although I would play AAA titles, I don't need them so I'm perfectly content with them not existing natively on Linux (hopefully that will change). If it's the fancy AAA titles you are after then don't chose Linux.

And that being said, I would encourage you to give something like Linux Mint KDE a try regardless of gaming. Although you might not be satisfied with the game titles currently available, it really is a great OS. It's not perfect, but neither is Windows by any stretch.

P.S. Your friend is showing his complete ignorance of Linux. I had a coworker that said the same thing: He was about to throw his old XP machine out the window and I suggested he install Mint on it to at least give it a no cost try. He is still using it and is pleasantly surprised. My mom, my dad, my wife, my kids (3/6), and several coworkers all use it. The beauty of it is that it is refined enough that all the people that I mentioned use it and in many cases find it easier than windows, yet it is open to tinker for the geeks. Unfortunately it has a stigma of being off limits for the average user when it is totally not true. Don't want to do the geek stuff, you don't have to. But it's there and it's really exiting to learn!

Another thing that I love is my machine had been running for 170 days straight (until my brother-in-law shut it down), fully updated and runs like a swiss watch. Not one update ever asked me to reboot. I ran Mint 13 until 17 was released and I never noticed it running slower than the day I installed it. My work machine with Windows 7 however....

Sorry for necro posting dudes but i will try but will Wine work for DX9 games I play games CS 1.6 Minecraft maybe GTA San Andreas and i play PS2 games using PCSX2 (I buy original PS2 games then i rip the games)
And about AAA titles Nope i dont play it and there is one good reason for that So take for example Call of Duty 1 and Call of Duty Ghosts I think the original one is better than its AAA version because these days game developer care only about the graphics not the actual gameplay

And about the Geek stuff i DO know how to work with Terminal but i don't want to write programs and all of that stuff
I just want to use Linux because i heard you can customize it all you want And best of all NO VIRUSES YAY!!!!
Oh one more question: If Linux get popular as Windows or Mac OS will hackers try to write viruses for it or it's impossible

PS: About your coworker trowing his XP box out of window I will never do that , not because i have to buy a new one but i have nostalgia towards Windows XP Windows Xp is my favorite OS of all times I still have me XP box (I know you think i am crazy) even if support for it has ended, I think Microsoft is killing Win Xp because of rage and greed, They are raging because Windows 8 has failed so hard with it "interface" and they want to force it
I bought a ASUS notebook When i wanted to downgrade to Windows 7 (bought a brand new copy Home Premium ) NO DRIVERS :\ I am stuck with 8 RAGE!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry


Best Regards See ya

 

[HomerThompson]

Minecraft plays natively in Linux.

I agree on Windows XP. I loved XP but using Vista at work made me decide I'd rather go fulltime Linux at home (no more dual boot).

Back on topic, the things that made me interested in Linux:

1. The Linux From Scratch project. It's so cool to see how a modern operating system is built. LFS was my second distro (Slackware was first), and it was so fast compared to the mainstream distributions and to Windows XP. Gotta admit waiting for Glibc, GCC, and Firefox to compile was a pain though.

2. Free as in free beer. I like free beer and I like free software. The free as in freedom stuff is nice and all, but paying $0 for lots of great software is huge for me.

3. The BASH shell and all the little command line programs that can be used together. I love being able to write little scripts to automate things, and being able to tie output from one program into input to the other is awesome, especially when so many UNIX programs use plain text files as their I/O format.

4. I was having to use Linux all the time anyways in my CS courses in school, so much better to do my work at home than in the computer lab.

5. Being able to read the source code. God Glibc has some ugly code and C has to be the strangest high-level language to read.

6. It runs great on old hardware. Before my last upgrade I had been using the same CPU and motherboard for almost 8 years, and it was a budget CPU when I got it (AMD 64X2 4000+). The CPU really only started showing its age this year so I replaced the CPU and board finally. No way I could do that on a Windows box since they don't support XP any more.

7. Ease of use. No worry about activation if I need to reinstall (which I was always doing in Windows).

Not sure if I have a 8-10, but those 7 reasons are good enough for me.

 

[infernogamer]

Sorry for necro posting (again) But i have the question Mint or Zorim OS and another question I like to program in VB Net (its hobby nothing profesional) So can i do so in Linux?

Best Regards

 

[skittle]

Most people will recommend Mint, simply because it has a <much> larger community than Zorin. Keep in mind that both Zorin and Mint are built on Ubuntu.

Yes you can use .net/c# on Linux via Mono
http://www.mono-project.com/

However under Linux most people prefer to develop with Python, QT, GTK+, VALA... etc and not use a Microsoft programming language.

 

[infernogamer]

Yes you can use .net/c# on Linux via Mono
http://www.mono-project.com/

Cool Zorin OS or Mint, your opinion?

 

[infernogamer]

Sry didnt see ur post

 

[mdd1963]

Gaming is really the *only* advantage Win7/Win8 have over any of the major Linux distros....

If gaming is the priority, I'd straighten out your Windows rig; if it's getting slower daily, and blue-screening with USB insertions, you have issues unrelated to Linux vs. Windows....

(You can always play with most of the Linux variants in a 'Live" mode, running them straight off the CD/DVD, you don't have to install them to look/get a feel for what you like)

 

[infernogamer]

I installed Linux Mint I like it I must admit it's pretty awesome Going to test emulators and PlayOnLinux It'seems all games i play can be played either natively or through emulators or through PlayOnLinux\Wine Just four more question for a Linux Noob plz

How do you install GNOME 3 instead of Cinnamon
How to install my NVIDIA drivers
Any free alternatives to Adobe After Effects that work on Linux
Any free alternatives to FRAPS that works with Linux (game recorder that can record emulators and Wine and Linux Steam Games aswell?)

Tnx for all help to switch to Linux