Churisuchi Otaku's Journal: Linux vs Windows

Hmm I am thinking about installing Linux on my machine at home, I don't have any real experiance with it but I hear that it is much much much more reliable and not difficult to learn. Of course I would have to check hardware and drivers etc for compatability issues, but I would really like everyones' advice, you know, opinions.

Is Linux really better for me than windows 98?

Re:OMGROFL

[Churisuchi Otaku]

... by easy to learn, I mean relatively... and also that I would have someone with experiance on Linux with me. I don't plan to wipe windows from my machine without knowing what I am doing.

Easy to learn... Ugh... depends

[gbooker]

As the other reader pointed out, reference the ldp [linuxdoc.org]. Whenever I am doing a new install of linux, I always keep another machine right next to it with a web browser open to ldp.

What I have found is that a lot depends on your hardware and distribution. Most of my experience is with Debian, but I have come across some machines that are a pain in the butt to setup the sound where RedHat configured it for me in the installer.

I would suggest first going to ldp and check your hardware. Mostly, you will want to check your ethernet card (or modem if you connect that way), sound card, video card, and any other hardware that you might use (USB, Firewire, etc..) If the setup says that you may have to tinker with things, then that is not a good sign for one who is starting to learn the OS.

The system is easy to learn if you just spend time on it (I mean a lot of time). Soon you will start to tinker with the system, and eventually learn what does what. The ldp is great for this because people there share they (usually) more extensive experience with their setup. Slowely you will get everything configured the way that you like it.

Definately do not wipe windows yet. It will take a while to get everything configured under linux and you will be needing to go back to windows often to do things, but hopefully they will become fewer in number as time goes on.

As for it being more stable, it certainly is. I have a computer running linux under my desk here that has been running for 2 1/2 years without a single crash. It has only been turned off/rebooted for power outages, kernel updates, and physically moving it.

If you decide to try linux, good luck with it. I hope that you enjoy it in the long run.

Re:Easy to learn... Ugh... depends

[Churisuchi Otaku]

Thank you very much for that reply!

I have decided not to run linux on my machine, for now, because the other people who use it don't appreciate the idea unfortunately.

Most of them aren't as.. passionate about computers.

But thank you very much for your helpful opinion.