Why use Linux?

.walls · 10 Aug 2007 at 09:26

BillytheImpaler said:
Sometimes it is but it's a major hassle and performance is usually severely degraded. If the game you want to play does not have a Linux version you should play it under Windows.

I disagree with that... however, if you want the absolute best performance, dual boot.

Cheetah Designs · 10 Aug 2007 at 12:45

I think it was on these forums that I read that you don't get much of a performance increase over windows on ubuntu because it is very bloated?

Is that specific to ubuntu or is that all Linux distros - is there a distro where you will get a performance/speed increase which isn't that difficult for a near-noob linux user to setup and use?

Ol!ver · 10 Aug 2007 at 12:53

Cheetah Designs said:
I think it was on these forums that I read that you don't get much of a performance increase over windows on ubuntu because it is very bloated?

Is that specific to ubuntu or is that all Linux distros - is there a distro where you will get a performance/speed increase which isn't that difficult for a near-noob linux user to setup and use?

I was under the impression Ubunto was streamlined.

.walls · 10 Aug 2007 at 12:55

Ubuntu has the potential to be what ever you want it to be (as has any linux distro). Generally, the bigger named distros are bloated and have a ridiculous amount of packages by default - but you can [usually] choose not to install these.

Distros like Ubuntu, Red Hat, OpenSuSE, etc generally have just about every [legal] package that a regular user will ever need installed by default (or if not, very easily installed using the package manager for that distro).

You can get distros which don't do this (Arch is one of my favourites) - however, they have a tendency to be less "n00b friendly" - Arch for example drops you into a command shell if you do a "base" install (from a customisation point of view, this is the best to start with).

BillytheImpaler · 10 Aug 2007 at 13:26

=walls= said:
I disagree with that... however, if you want the absolute best performance, dual boot.

With what part of it do you disagree?

Cheetah Designs · 10 Aug 2007 at 13:42

Hi there,

Thought I may as well post this question here rather than starting a new thread.

I am trying to explicitly set the resolution of my screen (still using virtualbox btw). I want to set it to 1280x1024.

I am using this guide here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=83973

I am assuming that for what I want to do I should be using this section "
Adding custom modeline"...but tbh I haven't a clue what should be going where? I have got as far as figuring that "#" comments out the line

Once I have generated my modeline:

Code:

  Horizontal Resolution:   1280 
  Vertical Resolution:     1024 
  Vertical Refresh Rate:   60.00 Hz 
  Horizontal Refresh Rate: 63.73 KHz 
  Dot Clock Frequence:     109.62 MHz 

 # V-freq: 60.00 Hz  // h-freq: 63.73 KHz
 Modeline "1280x1024" 109.62  1280 1336 1472 1720  1024 1024 1026 1062

...where should it actually go to get what I want, or am i doing the totally wrong thing?

Thanks.

likwid · 10 Aug 2007 at 13:56

I've never read about modeline..

Edit xorg.conf and edit the SubSection "Display" under modes. That's all you need to do.

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]"
Monitor "CM752ET"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display":
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Cheetah Designs · 10 Aug 2007 at 14:08

likwid said:
I've never read about modeline..

Edit xorg.conf and edit the SubSection "Display" under modes. That's all you need to do.

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]"
Monitor "CM752ET"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display":
Depth 24
Modes "1280x1024"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Tried that. No avail.

GarethDW · 10 Aug 2007 at 15:20

Maybe it'd be easier if you pasted your xorg.conf into a reply or uploaded it somewhere we could have a look at it.

Cheetah Designs · 10 Aug 2007 at 15:41

Sorry here it is:

edited version:

Code:

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf(5) manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	# path to defoma fonts
	FontPath	"/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"i2c"
	Load	"bitmap"
	Load	"ddc"
	Load	"dri"
	Load	"extmod"
	Load	"freetype"
	Load	"glx"
	Load	"int10"
	Load	"vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver		"kbd"
	Option		"CoreKeyboard"
	Option		"XkbRules"	"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"	"pc105"
	Option		"XkbLayout"	"gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"stylus"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"stylus"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"eraser"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"eraser"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"cursor"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"cursor"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Generic Video Card"
	Driver		"vesa"
	BusID		"PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Generic Monitor"
	Option		"DPMS"
	HorizSync	28-51
	VertRefresh	43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"Generic Video Card"
	Monitor		"Generic Monitor"
	DefaultDepth	24 
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1280x1024"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
	Screen		"Default Screen"
	InputDevice	"Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice	"Configured Mouse"
	InputDevice     "stylus"	"SendCoreEvents"
	InputDevice     "cursor"	"SendCoreEvents"
	InputDevice     "eraser"	"SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

backup of original:

Code:

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf(5) manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
#   sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
	FontPath	"/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
	# path to defoma fonts
	FontPath	"/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load	"i2c"
	Load	"bitmap"
	Load	"ddc"
	Load	"dri"
	Load	"extmod"
	Load	"freetype"
	Load	"glx"
	Load	"int10"
	Load	"vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Generic Keyboard"
	Driver		"kbd"
	Option		"CoreKeyboard"
	Option		"XkbRules"	"xorg"
	Option		"XkbModel"	"pc105"
	Option		"XkbLayout"	"gb"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier	"Configured Mouse"
	Driver		"mouse"
	Option		"CorePointer"
	Option		"Device"		"/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"Protocol"		"ImPS/2"
	Option		"ZAxisMapping"		"4 5"
	Option		"Emulate3Buttons"	"true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"stylus"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"stylus"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"eraser"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"eraser"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Driver		"wacom"
	Identifier	"cursor"
	Option		"Device"	"/dev/input/wacom"
	Option		"Type"		"cursor"
	Option		"ForceDevice"	"ISDV4"		# Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Generic Video Card"
	Driver		"vesa"
	BusID		"PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Generic Monitor"
	Option		"DPMS"
	HorizSync	28-51
	VertRefresh	43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Device		"Generic Video Card"
	Monitor		"Generic Monitor"
	DefaultDepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		1
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		4
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		8
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		15
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		16
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth		24
		Modes		"1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier	"Default Layout"
	Screen		"Default Screen"
	InputDevice	"Generic Keyboard"
	InputDevice	"Configured Mouse"
	InputDevice     "stylus"	"SendCoreEvents"
	InputDevice     "cursor"	"SendCoreEvents"
	InputDevice     "eraser"	"SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
	Mode	0666
EndSection

Thanks!

.walls · 10 Aug 2007 at 16:16

BillytheImpaler said:
With what part of it do you disagree?

Both parts!!

It can be a bit of a hassle - not a major hassle - and once it's up and running, that's it - point and click, off you go.

Also, I wouldn't say that performance is severely degraded... it is slightly degraded, but all the games that I play run almost as well as they do in windows.

likwid · 10 Aug 2007 at 17:45

@Cheetah Designs

Try commenting the:

Load "dri"

- line out.

Section "Module"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
#Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Cheetah Designs · 10 Aug 2007 at 19:36

likwid said:
Try commenting the:

Load "dri"

- line out.

It didn't work - what does the "dri" stand for anyways.

Thanks for the reply.

EDIT: could it be something to do with the fact i am running within virtualbox?

GarethDW · 10 Aug 2007 at 19:49

Cheetah Designs said:
EDIT: could it be something to do with the fact i am running within virtualbox?

Yeah, could very well be... am not clued up on how VirtualBox works.

Fancy trying dual booting to see if it works like it should?

SiriusB · 14 Aug 2007 at 01:15

If VirtualBox is anything like VMWare then the problem usually stems from the fact that the virtual machine usually wont give any direct access to the hardware. Meaning that Linux only sees a virtual HDD, CPU, and Graphics.

Virtual machines are good for trying stuff out, but you shouldn't expect to be able to do everything [or configure everything] you want.

MouseMat2004 · 15 Aug 2007 at 15:50

I dont pretend to know a lot about Linux, I've used it a little throughout the years.

I remember when I first tried Redhat Linux, probably a good 10 years ago, when even partitioning the HDD required an whole page manual, then it would just boot you to the command prompt

Far from user friendly, even the GUI was crap!

It's got a lot better, much more user friendly, especially with built-in Add-remove package managers, which make things much more one click install (in some ways, a lot easier than Windows). Maybe we're all spoilt but the ease of Windows, I'm not saying windows is perfect but it is well supported, easy to use etc, naturally why 99% of the world use it...

Linux isnt perfect, theres so much choice out there which will scare of n00bs, different cores, different GUI's which have different programs that run etc etc.

I've recently been playing with Ubuntu 7.04 (installed Compiz Fusion) and Sabayon 3.4, both look and feel very different. One ran Gnome and the other KDE, Installed KDE on Ubuntu which looked similar to Sabayon. I think I perfer KDE, It looks better imo and seems to have more programs available. These are just 2 distros out of loads, which I'd imagine all feel very different and all probably have different programs available. I know it'll never happen but it would be nice to have one main setup that everyone could concentrate on.

Linux is becoming more of peoples lifes, I've got 2 handheld devices which run Linux, so does my router. Probably due to lazy developers who dont want to build their own OS

Why use Linux?

More options

.walls

.walls

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

Ol!ver

Ol!ver

.walls

.walls

BillytheImpaler

BillytheImpaler

Man of Honour

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

likwid

likwid

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

GarethDW

GarethDW

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

.walls

.walls

likwid

likwid

Cheetah Designs

Cheetah Designs

GarethDW

GarethDW

SiriusB

SiriusB

MouseMat2004

MouseMat2004