what do you use linux for?

daven1986 · 13 Apr 2008 at 11:11

hi guys,

i want to start using linux but i also want to play games. my solution was to run windows but using linux in vmware - this also makes it easier to set up drivers etc

so what i want to know is: what do you use linux for that windows can't do or that linux does better.

i'd probably use the internet, office etc. on windows. but i study computer science so i do a lot of programming - would linux be better for this?

thanks

daven

PCDave · 13 Apr 2008 at 11:17

i used to use it as a file server until i got a nas which has linex on it anyway. was much quicker than using windows shares

i personally prefer programming in windows as i had some weird portability issues when i took my work to the labs after programming in linex for some bizarre reason

tntcoder · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:22

Everyday Desktop OS on one pc & file server + rtorrent + CVS on another, i only use windows for gaming

.

Cew27 · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:24

as an experianced linux user i would say dual boot, i use linux for programming, music, safe web browsing and downloading and im chatting i only use windows for games
heck i even use photoshop in linux

Sarduk · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:25

Programming and web servers.

Outcast · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:28

Everything.
I only used windows for NLE ( I used MediastudioPro) and as I gave videoing weddings up last year the windows side (dual boot) lies dormant.

daven1986 · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:29

hmm but i find windows much better for browsing and general usage. i was wondering what special things one can do on linux that is much easier than or impossible on windows.

Sarduk · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:30

daven1986 said:
hmm but i find windows much better for browsing and general usage. i was wondering what special things one can do on linux that is much easier than or impossible on windows.

Deep system tweaking and configuration. Apart from that, nothing else really!

daven1986 · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:31

oh well, looks like windows it is

Outcast · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:32

If your happy with windows then stay with windows.

Some of us got pe'ed off with malware, virii, trojans, and crap in general.
Now we just surf where we want. Bareback mostly.

Sarduk · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:53

Outcast said:
If your happy with windows then stay with windows.

Some of us got pe'ed off with malware, virii, trojans, and crap in general.
Now we just surf where we want. Bareback mostly.

That's a really bad attitude to take. If Firefox has an exploitable flaw, it is a problem for both the Windows and Linux user. What makes you think otherwise?

Cew27 · 13 Apr 2008 at 12:55

he means you wont get any malicious cookies ect
linux is much much safer than windows and osx

Sarduk · 13 Apr 2008 at 13:00

Cew27 said:
he means you wont get any malicious cookies ect

If you don't know what you're talking about, don't. The only way to making Internet usage secure is through education, which is made impossible when you misguide people.

Cew27 · 13 Apr 2008 at 13:02

i dont know much about what i ajust said. but all i know is on windows if i visit a website kaspersky will scream malicious cookie, and my pc will play up, on linux nothing happens and i carry on my way
also linux is more secure thanks to sudo or su

sid · 13 Apr 2008 at 14:17

Cew27 said:
i dont know much about what i ajust said. but all i know is on windows if i visit a website kaspersky will scream malicious cookie, and my pc will play up, on linux nothing happens and i carry on my way
also linux is more secure thanks to sudo or su

Thats a fair comparison to xp but vista fixes a lot of the original problems and its got UAC which is similar to sudo access for linux/ OS X

deadite66 · 13 Apr 2008 at 14:33

oh for the holy grail of virtualization.
if i could run linux but be able to run a VM windows with full 3D support for games mmm.
will that day ever come?

tntcoder · 13 Apr 2008 at 14:38

deadite66 said:
if i could run linux but be able to run a VM windows with full 3D support for games mmm.
will that day ever come?

Yes! One day it will

Parrels for macs already has a fair amount of 3d support, for an old version of directx i think? I also heard vmware are 'working' on it as a low priority thing. It isn't easy to do but im sure one day it will happen.

Sarduk · 13 Apr 2008 at 17:38

Cew27 said:
i dont know much about what i ajust said. but all i know is on windows if i visit a website kaspersky will scream malicious cookie, and my pc will play up, on linux nothing happens and i carry on my way
also linux is more secure thanks to sudo or su

That is because there is nothing on Linux checking your cookies, so Firefox is accepting them :rolleyes:

daven1986 · 13 Apr 2008 at 18:48

yes well i am happy with windows, but have always wanted to explore linux, maybe i'll put it on my macbook instead

GarethDW · 14 Apr 2008 at 03:49

JimpsEd said:
If you don't know what you're talking about, don't. The only way to making Internet usage secure is through education, which is made impossible when you misguide people.

That's a bit of a sweeping generalization. I can think of some other things that would help make usage of the internet more secure,such as

1/ Not having users run sessions in an Administrative context. Admin / root access should only be used when it is specifically required (no OS should require you to be Admin / root just to do trivial things like install software). UAC is a start by Microsoft (even if all they had to do was copy the Unix su command which has been around for donkey's years) but they screwed it up to the point where users switch it off.

2/ Full disclosure of security vulnerabilities.

3/ Widespread use of Mandatory Access Control at the OS level, a la AppArmor or the new version of SELinux, as opposed to relying purely on Discretionary Access Control.