Topic: @Linux geeks

[GTS]

I'm thinking of switching to Linux some day (i'm kinda tired of windows), but theres one major thing that keeps me from switching:

I've heard that linux support for NTFS isnt perfect (reading NTFS partitions is ok, but not writing), and all my partitions are NTFS ... Backing up 180 GB of stuff isnt fun (even if i delete tons of stuff, its still too much).

Does anyone know if the above statement is true? If it is, i definetly won't switch to linux anytime soon.

[Rogue`]

Well

That was the case for a long time, although u would be better talking to Eq or Shahid, but afaik Reading and Writing to NTFS is possible and safe now

Which distro u thinking of? I highly recommend debian (unstable/testing)

[GTS]

Mh, that would be nice
But considering i want to finish gtsdll _some_ day, i need to use windows
On the other hand ... i have no motivation / passion to finish it

Yea, i was thinking of debian / ubuntu

[DXTR66]

Mh, that would be nice
But considering i want to finish gtsdll _some_ day, i need to use windows
On the other hand ... i have no motivation / passion to finish it

Yea, i was thinking of debian / ubuntu

Well then I would definitly prefer debian. I tried ubuntu and it wasn't able of _READING_ the partitions. Also, ubuntu is not able to write to fat32 paritions (reading works fine).

But I'm pretty sure there is somewhere a setting to support writing to fat32.

Another thing: You know I tried ubuntu last week, and what should i say...my imagination and the reality didn't nearly match. E.g.: It took me a few hours to get my tv tuner running. The interesting thing, ubuntu identified the card perfectly during the installation. But not _ONE_ program was capable of showing me a picture AND playing the sound. At the end i found something in the configuration, now everything works but the program is not very good. eg the max. resolution is set to 7xx x 5xx and that sucks pretty much.
Next thing, the packaging system in linux is very good. From my point of view, it is way more comfortable then installing a programm with windows. But (!!!!), they use the packaging system in such a "sissy"-way...it's incredible. When a distribution will be released, they also provide a list of programs which are compatible to the current distribution. You can install those programs with the packaging system but not releases which were released after the release of the distribution. eg. in ubuntu you get firefox 1.0.8 - NOT firefox 1.5.3! The reason for that is, that ubuntu seems to be a distribution for people who needs a stable system.

At the moment i decided to freeze my linux enthusiasm and give winxp a shot. If my system stays instable, i guess i will try another linux distribution.

[GTS]

Hmm, that sounds pretty bad
If it is like this, i'll stick to windows.

Thanks for that detailed answer

[DXTR66]

Hmm, that sounds pretty bad
If it is like this, i'll stick to windows.

Thanks for that detailed answer

Well, you can still try these Live CDs. Those CDs boots linux on your system and you can test a bit. And I have to say, after I tried the Kubuntu Live CD I fell in love *g*. The KDE Desktop seems to me much more elegant than the normal Windows 2000k Style. Also the packaging system seems to me very powerful. But in Kubuntu they use it to simple.

The problem I have, why not switching to linux, is installing programs on kubuntu. That the tvprogram is not that good, is not the case. I mean I have a tv in my back (not really in my back...at least I hope so *g*) but in the back. I hate it, that it took me nearly half an hour to install firefox 1.5...and then it didn't work! Also the problem in the wikipages is, they say what you should do to get the programs run, but they don't say _WHY_ you have to do this and that. They never discribe a step, what its purpose is. Maybe I get firefox running after another half an hour, but when i choose to install another program, should I AGAIN search for an install guide at wiki!? I guess what they lack is a standardized model of installing programs. I'm pretty sure, every program needs its own installation-hint and there is no predefined procedure.

[Rogue`]

Tellin ya, debian Unstable/Testing is the one u want, its not actually unstable, it just uses code thats been written in the last month, instead of debian sarge which is old code and old versions of programs....

All u do (if u have internet through your ethernet) is get the live unstable/testing cd and ur good to go.....

EqUaTe (when he is around) is the guy to ask, with him being a debian guru

[DXTR66]

Tellin ya, debian Unstable/Testing is the one u want, its not actually unstable, it just uses code thats been written in the last month, instead of debian sarge which is old code and old versions of programs....

All u do (if u have internet through your ethernet) is get the live unstable/testing cd and ur good to go.....

EqUaTe (when he is around) is the guy to ask, with him being a debian guru

Yeah I figured that out. Its the same with Ubuntu. If you want the newest programs, install the current development/unstable release (6.06 Codename Dapper Drake). But I don't want that, I want my stable Linux Distribution running with current available stable programs. And not with stable programs that were up to date a few months ago!

Maybe my sight of view is infested by windows - I simply don't get it, why I should update my os to use new programs via Adept.

In my opinion, there should be a team which tests if current available software runs with distribution abc version xyz. And if there are no problems, include the new versions into the packaging system!

[Rogue`]

I know what your sayin m8, I gave up on linux mainly because of game support (or lack of)...I mean yea, you can use cedega, which in some games they perform a little better than on Windows, and games like Doom3, Quake3 etc etc where the developers care about linux users and release patches to allow them to run natively (god bless idsoftware).  But when your a huge FPS/Anything interesting fan, then its pretty useless usin linux.  I just couldnt live without Steam (CSS ) and Battlefield2.

Also, aptget is the most genious thing about debian

apt-get update && upgrade && install    <------my favorite debian command

With me being on unstable/testing, as soon as a new firefox was released, it would be say 30mins to an hour later id get it through apt-get

Anyway, the day linux becomes as simple to maintain and run games as Windows, will be the day I switch to linux permanently

[DhoTjai]

apt-get on debian is cool, yum on redhat isnt bad either!
You can run some games on linux, I noticed some (actually a lot) games runs smoother on linux then on windows.

Buy yourself another computer and install linux on it, try it out Even a P2 400mhz will do!!!
Or try some Live CD's.

[Rogue`]

Thats my plan DhoTjai, but it wont be a pII hehe, what im planning on is buying a Conroe system soon after there release, and use this machine for linux....so much pain dual booting

And although your right about some games performing better under linux, my main problem last time I tried it was Steam based games (Counter Strike Cource and Half Life2)...and ive heard Battlefield2 isnt that good under linux...

I guess GTS' main concern is coding for windows under linux

[DhoTjai]

Battlefield is no good on linux. Even the servers hosted on Windows runs better then linux... (my opinion)

[Rikai]

Just wanted to make a note for you guys that most of the issues outlined in this topic are no longer issues, at least in ubuntu.

• Linux can read and write to NTFS without issues using ntfs-3g, which is shipped with the os.
• Fat32 write support has existed since the early days of windows, so i'm not quite sure why someone said it wasn't working.
• Firefox 2.0 is in ubuntu, so using an older version of firefox isnt an ussue.
• Ubuntu updates work such that, there is a new release every 6 months, updating all progams to their latest versions, any program updates released in that time will not make it into the current release except for security/bug fixes unless you enabled ubuntu-backports, which backports many programs to the current release. If you really want the latest and greatest at all times, run the development release.
• Using wine, game support is very advanced nowadays. 95% of games work with minimal effort. Many steam games work, a few examples being the entire half-life franchise(including the newest ones), CS:S, TF2, BF2 and audiosurf. There is a lot of helpful information in getting things working over at appdb.winehq.org/
• Coding for windows under linux really isnt very complicated, in fact, you can install windows inside of linux, and have a clean development enviroment using virtualbox, Virtual Machine software, easily installable in ubuntu.

I suggest waiting till the next release in april, and giving it a spin, if only for fun.
If you've got any more questions, just let me know and i'll answer them to the best of my knowledge.

Edit: Sorry for reviving a topic so old... i could have sworn that said 2007, not 2006. Ah well, at least i cleared up a lot of the issues people had.