why you switched to linux ?

[igor83]

I bought a 2.5tb drive, and all of a sudden Windows XP wouldn't partition it due to the 2TB limit. How frustrating is that? Microsoft decides I need to buy Windows all over again just to stay afloat in the modern world of terabyte drives. There's a host of features that MS won't backport to Windows XP just because they don't want to. It was clear to me that XP was getting long in the tooth. Time for a modern operating system.

Choice: pay $75 for Windows 7, not just once but for each computer in the household, or try Linux, which is free. I had more time than money, so I went with Linux, being curious about the "other" operating system. I had tried Linux distros off and on since 2005 or so, but never had much luck, running into problems configuring my display or sound (sound was always the chief problem) and slow Flash. You know, hardware incompatibility I think has been the #1 reason people give up on Linux and slink back to Windows.

But now in 2012, with a new motherboard, I find that Linux handles the sound hardware okay and installation and configuration isn't quite as grueling as it used to be. Flash is still a bit slower than in Windows but not nearly as slow as it used to be back in the day. I think one's Linux experience depends upon the hardware. An incompatibility can really spoil the experience. Back in 2005, I wasn't willing to have a silent computer. But now everyting okay!

So far, I've converted two of my computers to Linux, and only have one Windows XP system remaining for the sake of old legacy programs. I don't think there's as good an image browser and editer in Linux as Windows's ACDSee. The Linux image browsers I've evaluated so far seemed unwieldy and lack editing features, so I need ACDSee to get things done quick. Open up a directory with tens of thousands of pictures in something like Gimp, and you may as well reboot the computer, you will be waiting a long time. Also, Rob Latour's Call Clerk runs 24/7 on my Windows PC, because otherwise telemarketers and other scum would be ringing every day leaving annoying messages. In my opinion, every telephone in the world should have a butler, an intelligent answering machine, and that's what Call Clerk is in a nutshell. No equivalent program in the Linux world to my knowledge. I doubt Rob will ever release a Linux version, because he is using a Windows programming language I think, .Net.

However, Linux shines as an htpc due to the wonderful VLC, and with my Firefox browser and all its add-ons I am quite content to use Linux on my primary desktop for surfing the Internet. I don't use Flash much at all other than to play chess, so as long as flash works reasonably well I'm content. I watched three webisodes of The Walking Dead ("Cold Storage") on amctv's web site yesterday, and noticed that full screen was a mess, with a flashing white frame every five seconds, but the video displayed okay in a small window, although it did hesitate a bit, but that may have been due to bandwidth overload on the server.

[overthetop]

A couple of years ago I had an old computer given to me that had a broken Windows XP install. I didn't have my own computer at the time and was trying to learn programming and just getting into computers so I looked up Linux because I heard it was supposed to be free. Linux really increased my programming ability and computer skills in general. Since then I have bought a new laptop and, of course, installed Linux right away.

The main reasons that I use Linux today are: its more fun to use; I like the way it works; I am much more productive on Linux; I like to keep most of my software cross platform so I have to test it on Linux anyway; I like open source software; and did I mention Linux is more fun to use!

[Mister A]

Edit: richardsdma: "i prefer fewer quality application instead of a lot of crappy "open source" apps like audacious, pidgin, banshee, rhythmbox, totem etc, etc."

Those programs really are pretty lousy.

Just curious, what do you find lousy about banshee & pidgin? I'm not trying to start any flame wars or anything and I haven't used banshee for anything other than streaming radio and I use pidgin for IRC. I'm always interested in learning why things that work just fine for some, just plain suck for others.

[Dngrsone]

I went to Linux for a multitude of reasons. Price, for one-- I used to build all my computers, and back then Windows cost $150 or more, depending on the version you wanted.

Also, I like to customize my computing experience, and that was not always easy (or even possible) in Win.

Third, I have worked in commercial-level computerized systems since 1982, and have a certain level of comfort with the command-line, so I thought that having a better familiarity with Linux would be right up my alley.

I still use WIndows (in the case of my laptop, Vista), when necessary, but I spend most of my time in Ubuntu 12.04 or Mint 14, since I just installed that and am trying to get used to it (and/or import all my working data from 12.04).

I prefer Banshee over Rhythmbox... I really don't like Windows Media Player, though a good chunk of my music is in .wma format.

[ZaGhost]

I was never a M$ fan,
I used OS2 for a while, then ended up into XP ....
As i grew tired of monotering for malwarw and viruses, started casually looking else where...

First Linux experience was Freesco, a compact firewall setup....
Upgraded from the floppy version to a HD install to run a small home server..
later upgraded my serverbox to Puppy Linux, and thought, it was a nice overall system...

One day at work our IT guy leant me a USB stick with Mint 6 on it, loved it....
shortly after that I installed Mint 7, been Minty fresh ever since ., now with 12 on my old laptop and 13 on my desktop.
(desktop dual boots with 2 seperate XP installs, 1 for non wine ompliant games, one for my recording setup)

Now myoldest son has a mint dual boot n his netbook and desktop

Earlier in the year also put together a small vid player machine for the TV using Geexbox as well

[exploder]

My step-dad recently switched to Linux. My step-dad said he liked how things were looking with Unity and KDE and he really thinks Linux is making some serious headway. He also said that he was tired of spending money all the time to have up to date software. My step-dad is retired and he just does not have the money to spare to pay the outrageous prices for new versions of Microsoft Office anymore. My step-dad enjoys games these days too and he is real excited about all of the games that are being ported to Linux now.

I can understand my step-dad's situation. I went from a very high paying job to a lower paying job and that got me to take a serious look at Linux. I can afford to run whatever I want to now but I honestly feel that things are much better with Linux than they are with Windows. I just can't picture myself defragmenting my hard drive or updating ant-virus software. Also, Windows just seems so limiting, you either like it the way it is or go with something else, I chose to go with something else.

[tdockery97]

Because DOS was too out of date?

[richardsdma]

what do you mean by saying: windows is limiting? can you give us some exemple?

[Orbmiser]

what do you mean by saying: windows is limiting? can you give us some exemple?

Agreed! In fact it can easily be the other way around with Linux lack of specific applications. Reason I left in 2008 was lack of options for editing my Nikon raw images in a program suitable for editing & functions. Also little in way of Video editing tools back then.

So Found It To Be Too Limiting!

Now with RawThreapee & darktable has eliminated image and Lightworks soon to be realeased for video editing gives Linux more options.

And windows has to be setup for protecting itself and maintenance is required. Unless you want to bog down and slow down the system due to lack of effort or carelessness by the user. But in no way do I find it limiting when I find a need to use it on my dual boot system.
.

[exploder]

Windows seems limiting to me because there is only so much you can change as far as the look and feel. With Linux I can configure things just about any way I can imagine.

[Dngrsone]

Windows seems limiting to me because there is only so much you can change as far as the look and feel. With Linux I can configure things just about any way I can imagine.

... Depending on which desktop environment you choose...

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[Catbuntu]

I firstly switched, with Ubuntu 11.04, because of it's the ideal programming environment. I was very obsessed with Linux too, and I always loved the bourne-again shell, so I just did it... And since that first jump into the Linux world, done on 2011's October, since now, I've been hopping a lot, but finally I found Linux Mint to be a safe place to stay

Catbuntu

[David Baum]

I first tried Ubuntu 11.04 when my Vista system got attacked (again) by viruses. While discovering the features of Linux, I accidentally formatted my whole hard drive and lost my vista while playing with gparted

When I wanted to reinstall Vista again, I recognized that my Vista DVDs weren't readable anymore. So I contacted Packard Bell (my notebook manufacturer) for new DVD (because my notebook is under restriction and allows only MY purchased copy of Vista to install on it ). I've been told to pay 50 euros in order to purchase a new install DVD.

So long story short: I did not want to pay for a Windows copy I already purchased and have used Ubuntu since then.
Since 5 months I'm on LMDE Cinnamon and really liking it (Easy, Rolling Release and fair compromise between stability and date of software thanks to the Debian testing base).
I plan to install UberStudent on another machine.


Oh and: I use my PC for just everything (gaming, working, browsing, chatting, multimedia, ...) and Linux still fits well.

Merry Christmas everyone

[igor83]

I'm quite new to linux, like 6 months old.

What pushed me to linux is windows 8, plain and simple. I was "beta testing" it since december 2011 and first I liked it, but then it grew sour on me and 6 months later, when I tried to push the charms bar back in it's pit while I just wanted to use the scroll bar one time too often, i got angry. I mean more than usual, and I browsed for a linux distribution. I saw ubuntu (which I did try some years ago without much success), and I didn't like either printscreen or the fuss about unity. I stumbled on a mint printscreens, and I was sold.

1 hour later I was using mint 13 Cinnamon, and I was blown away. This thing looks nice, and unlike past experiences, it installed without much fuss. But what struck me most is that, after a couple hours of normal use, I felt calm, zen. It was like I was in japanese bamboo garden on the foot of a mountain, birds singing around, a nice cup of hot strange tea in my hands. Or at least in my head. I didn't shout once at my computer, and didn't sigh in frustration 10 time per hour anymore. I realized then I was not stressed out by fear of going in the metro menu, or activating that dreaded charms bar. Mint is not going against me, pestering me, I can concentrate on what I do best (watching youtube videos )

The only thing I miss from windows is total commander, cause I used it since 1997. I don't miss games, since my last windows games were supreme commander 1 and modern warfare 1. And things like node, eclipse, sublimetext integrates more smoothly on linux.

Until wiindows 8, I was kept at bay by missing drivers, or more like the fear of them. But now I took the plunge, I definitely like the waters I dwelling in, and there is no way I'm going back.

Well roselan, I was a longtime Windows user too, and I worried about drivers. Then I came to understand that in Linux, one doesn't need drivers, or rather, they're built-in to the kernel, so there's no messing around with them for the end user, with few exceptions (*ATI, possibly NVIDIA? but that's completely optional, not necessary at all, and many do without the proprietary drivers altogether--I do without 'em on my laptop). With Windows I needed a driver for every little thing, but with Linux, it's pretty much good to go from the get-go, a no-brainer on certain hardware. Linux still has difficulty with some hardware, some motherboards, but by picking and choosing your hardware, you come out on top.

Definitely see no advantage to Windows for Internet surfing...and the only game I play is online chess...at chess.com...so that settles that. And after you discover K3B for dvd/cd burning, honey, that's all she wrote...k3b is better than any Windows burner I'm familiar with... just blows them away, completely away. Once I found k3b, I was like, yes, this is it, Linux has won, end of story. For cd/dvd creation, k3b is tops and free by the way. It is almost enough by itself to make me want to jump over to the desktop KDE, whose developers also made k3b. I definitely will give KDE a look one of those days.

I don't do much in the way of word processing but LibreOffice looks completely respectable, nothing amiss there. I get the feeling some of my friends sniff at my Linux because it doesn't have Office, but you know, they aren't doing anything complex, and I think it's just snobbishness really, looking down on something because you don't have to pay a couple hundred dollars for it. Microsoft has the snob appeal, you know, the brand and all that comes with it. But you got to pay $ if you want to be a snob, and the $ doesn't necessarily get you anything in return other than vanity.

[Toontwnca]

I have used linux on and off for almost 10 years I think.
I would be what is considered a distro hopper. I have tried all
the major ones at one time or another. Except for Fedora. I
can't seem to recall using that one.
Some times I would dual boot and sometimes not.
I now switched to linux full time because idiot somehow managed
to delete the recovery partition on his laptop. And no backup dvd
made.
So what to do? Either pay for new CD or install something free.
Being cheap I opted for free. So here I am running Nadia. Before that
I was using Ubuntu 12.04 and PCLinuxOS. Switched to Nadia for the
Cinnamon goodness.

Thanks Mint team.

[perduta]

After costly experience of unscrupulous spyware operators and the high cost of software with never ending upgrades and new compatibility issues on Windows, I installed Ubuntu Hardy Heron in 2005 as a dual boot with Windows XP. Web development was my main focus including programming of Java applets, but I still regularly needed Windows for Microsoft Office as well as Photoshop. Eventually I abandoned Microsoft Office suite in disgust after having compatability issues with my documents as well simply being unable to find anything in the new menu layout of MS office 2007

However Linux 64 bit platform proved unreliable. I experienced major disruptions due to updates and new releases (that seemed completely unnecessary) and caused things like the audio to stop working completely! I had serious malfunction where all my desktop icons and the launcher bar had disappeared. A few weeks after I fixed that, I found Linux simply would not start Nautilus. This forced me to do it manually from a command login. Try as I might, I could not fix that and in desperation forced a complete reinstall pf Ubuntu 12.04. Then grub2 trashed my disk partitions and also my boot capability on the physically separate Windows drive. This is when I discovered that optical media suffer from 'bit rot' within just a few years: Quite simply I could not read some of my media at all. Software designers obviously decided I should get an error message rather than partially corrupted data.

By then I had really had enough of Linux and I wanted to learn about editing video and audio anyway. Linux does not support competent packages so I purchased a brand new computer with Windows 7, 64 bit. This had new problems in that it had no driver support for my printer and scanner hardware and simple things like moving my data files onto a physically separate drive that had worked just fine under Windows XP would not work anymore. Needless to say, my new Windows 7 got infected with spyware which was not detected by malware scan and once again it cost me a lot of time and money to get rid of. Ever since I would suffer inexplicable BSOD (blue screen of death) with subsequent compulsory Windows restore about once a week.

Thus now I 'upgraded' to Windows 8 and I am running a dual boot with Linux Mint. My work files (including virtual box machines) and backup go on separate physical drives, so next time I need to reinstall either OS I simply unplug all the other drives and do a complete fresh install, then plug them back in and hope it can still read them. I suspect I will drop the Linux host environment due to the extra liability for corrupting my file system that dual boot entails and I need to format as NTFS since ext4 is not recognized by Windows.

None the less... I will be doing most of my work on virtual Linux machines. I wouldn't say I've 'switched' to either OS really, but I do suspect my next computer will be a Mac TBH

[dee.]

com on guys.....lets not make an idol from linux, there are a lot of problems.
i would like to see more proprietary software on linux, like skype, vmware, chrome, (winamp on windows)

Chrome is actually one of those "crappy open source apps". Although I prefer Firefox, personally - another great open source software. Why would you want "more proprietary software" anyway, like being proprietary is some kind of value in itself?

BTW, just in case, you could try free anti-virus for linux.
http://www.avast.com/linux-home-edition

A well-kept secret that the AV companies don't want you to know: their products don't actually work, and in many cases arguably do more harm than good.

[Brahim Salem]

Linux is way better than any other OS. Linux is:
1- free
2- Faster than any other OS: According to TOP500 project that lists and ranks the 500 fastest supercomputers in the world, since November 2010, out of the top 500 systems, 459 (91.8%) run a Linux distribution. Linux is also selected as the operating system for the world's most powerful supercomputer.
3- More flexible: With Linux you can customize and personalize the look and feel of your GUI.
4- Easier and faster installation: Take Ubuntu Installer for instance.
5- More power efficient: read this article which compares power management in Ubuntu 11.04 to that of Windows 7 http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a ... _pow&num=1
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6- Better garaphics: Proprietary drivers more performant for Liinux than for Windows.
7- More secure than Windows or OS x (previously Mac OS X): Malware vulnerabilities are typically patched in the Linux kernel and libre software affected by the malware, dealing with malware that affects MS Windows is usually left up to third party malware scanning and removal software.
8- Better privilege separation compared to Windows:Microsoft Windows has a long history of providing poor privilege separation, while the Unix-like design of GNU/Linux provides strong privilege separation. NT-based MS Windows versions have improved on privilege separation to some degree, and Vista offers a sudo-like graphical privilege escalation tool known as User Account Control. There is strong evidence suggesting that even Vista's privilege separation is deeply flawed, however, such as the fact that UAC requires escalation to perform tasks considered unprivileged in other OSes and the ability of DRM systems to turn off UAC behind the scenes so that the OS can send protected data to Microsoft without requiring administrative user intervention.
9- Available in many flavours and GUI's: There are over 600 Linux distributions and over 18 Linux DE's to choose from.

With all that been said and the news of Steam coming to Linux, when it comes to gaming, I can see lots coming to Linux in the future. And on the fly I tell you this newsflash: Half-Life And Counter-Strike Games Now Available Natively For Linux.

Enough said I guess! Linux is the best