Linux and whatnot

[weirdlookinguy]

This post is not intended to bash Linux. I am simply sharing my recent experiences with it.

I realized having an install of XP 32-bit on my computer would be nice, so I formatted my hard drive and proceeded to install XP 32 and Windows 7 64 for some dual-boot action. Then I realized: well shit, if I'm going to go through all this trouble, might as well get some Linux triple-boot going.

I tried Fedora 15. Install was very fast, about the only positive in this story. It had some newfangled interface that made no sense to me and drove me up the wall. Icons on the right side of the screen and it was hard to tell what was running. I had no graphics acceleration and no resolutions past 800x600. I googled how to install ATI drivers and all I found were a bunch of scattered, incompleted guides for older versions of Fedora or for NVidia graphics. After 5 minutes of fucking around with terminal I felt a massive migraine coming on so I gave Fedora the finger and decided to try Ubuntu instead.

Ubuntu was also easy to install. It has that same newfangled interface. Why does Linux have to change so drastically every time I go to use it? The GUI was perfected with the introduction of Windows 95 and does not need to be changed. Why does Linux always insist on re-inventing the wheel?
I liked Ubuntu better than Fedora but still just could not get those damn ATI drivers running. I tried to do the auto-install and after 20 minutes of waiting it told me that installation was unsuccesful.

At this point I was done with Linux, my blood pressure was rising, and a headache was about to set in. I hit the reset button and booted into good ole' Windows 7. Ubuntu will stay installed on the off chance that I need access to a Linux system, but Windows 7 remains my main OS.

[ratdude747]

Re: Linux and whatnot

with fedora, that is gnome shell. most hate it but i like it. it takes some getting used to.

the old interface was looking dated and gnome shell was the attempt to fix that.

however, ubuntu said no and decided to use the poorly designed interface from the netbook remix for the desktop release. it is worlds different than gnome shell.

if you want the oldskool gnome, try linux mint.

[weirdlookinguy]

Re: Linux and whatnot

I just might try Mint.

I want to like linux, I really do. It just always and without fail drives me up the wall when I try to give it a chance.

[lti]

Re: Linux and whatnot

I don't like Linux because I haven't seen good clones of certain programs (like Microsoft Office) and it is too difficult to configure.

[shovenose]

Re: Linux and whatnot

I just might try Mint.

I want to like linux, I really do. It just always and without fail drives me up the wall when I try to give it a chance.

Qft

[bigbeark]

Re: Linux and whatnot

The best idea is to download Ubuntu 10.04.3.LTS from the Ubuntu site.

LTS means long-term support. Count on at least three years IE til 2013.

If you download this version, you get the traditional GNOME desktop.

You can check for proprietary ATI drivers by going to System->Administration->Hardware Drivers. Ubuntu will find the recommended ATI drivers and prompt you to install the recommended one.

The newfangled Desktop is called UNITY and is supposed to appeal to people used to mobile phone users.

There is a way to install the GNOME desktop on the latest Ubuntu release but it is a PITA.

The previous version 11.04 allowed you to select the GNOME desktop, but the new version (11.10) does not.

[Mad_Professor]

Re: Linux and whatnot

I tried Fedora 15 recently it seem stable, which seem unnatural to me. I had trouble with the ati drivers turns out there's a nasty bug when using the ATI provided driver that when you install the driver it will crash the kernel hard forcing people to wipe and reload.

The only one you should use is the akmod version from rpmfusion, add it to the YUM repositories and install it. But unity likes to scramble the windows and tilt text in them, it's better then crashing tho.

I would not use ubuntu 11 series at all, tons of problems with unity and few stuff is still broken.

Stick with 10.04 or .10

Go debain or mandriva

[mockingbird]

Re: Linux and whatnot

Anyone who uses 10.04 is insane..... unless it's in a server environment, you should use Oneiric Ocelot for desktops...

I recently upgraded to Kubuntu 11.10... It's fantastic!!!

They really polished things... The Network Manager has really been nearly perfected, Plymouth is finally working for me, eventhough I had to install Grub in block mode, because I boot Kubuntu from the XP boot menu. (Actually, I submitted this bug to the tracker, the dev fixed it for me). The only quirk was that I had to force install grub, because the graphical setup doesn't do it for you properly, no big deal.

The drivers have been updated, the RTL8185 driver works great out of the box, they finally updated the lousy driver from 11.04 and earlier... The Ralink wireless drivers were also great out of the box (RT2870 in case anyone is interested)...

I updated to the latest nVidia drivers for my 6600 from some backport PPA, works great. Layer acceleration in Firefox is slow, even with acceleration forcibly enabled, but that's because Firefox needs its own layer engine in Linux, and it doesn't have one. I'm gonna see if Chrome/Chromium is any better... Flash and HTML5 performance isn't that great in Linux with my 6600 (It's a bit of a tradeoff... I could try the older drivers for this relatively old card, like I do in Windows, but in Linux, I actually need the latest ones to take advantage of the new 3D features)...

I _still_ would be hesitant to use Linux on any laptop, because Linux doesn't seem to be able to properly read ACPI fan settings from most laptop BIOS... and this is even after a custom DSDT is hacked into the kernel... So far, very impressed. It's getting nicer and nicer after each release (albeit more bloated too)...

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Linux and whatnot

turns out there's a nasty bug when using the ATI provided driver that when you install the driver it will crash the kernel hard forcing people to wipe and reload.

I was also forced to wipe and reinstall everytime I tried to install Nvidia drivers with Arch.

It was guaranteed that on reboot, I get an error message about the root FS not even existing and dropping me to the initramfs shell! -> That's worse than fucking Windows ME, even in the worst case!

I had much better results with Arch, when using Intel graphics.

[RJARRRPCGP]

Re: Linux and whatnot

That's also a nasty bug where installing the Nvidia drivers from the SliTaz's own repository, it causes X.Org to refuse to use anything other than the software rasterizer!

You can see this in the X.Org log. This means 3D is always borked!

With SliTaz, you're *required* to get the Nvidia drivers from Nvidia's web site!

3D support wasn't borked anymore since I did that.