Linux noob here - Could I replace Windows with Ubuntu?

If you can't learn windows 8 you sure as hell won't learn linux.

I'm twaxhing the mother in law mint and ubuntu for now to see which one she likes. Neither one are very difficult so if she can learn them I'm sure anyone can.

jwcalla said:

Aren't drivers installed through Jockey in Ubuntu? Why are you using the command line?

Aside from gaming, I've been exclusively Ubuntu for three years and I don't think I installed NVIDIA drivers once from the command line.

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You could've just said you're not interested in 3D and stopped right there.

dgz said:

You could've just said you're not interested in 3D and stopped right there.

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But I am interested in 3D.

Unless by "3D" you mean "three-dee" with the geeky glasses, in which case you're right, I'm not interested.

I'm a linux admin and fully love the simplicity of linux. I think it makes great servers and appliances (routers, firewalls, NAS, etc) but my desktop OS of choice will most likely always be Windows based. I fully embrace the idea of using whatever is best in a particular situation and not really caring what that happens to be.

The most annoying part of linux is that every distro is different, so if you get used to how to do things on Debian, be prepared to look like a total noob on Fedora. Hell you now need to know 4 linux distro's just to pass Linux+. Its gonna be easier now just to get Red Hat certs.

Also, linux likes to use RETARDED acronyms for its programs, which makes it hard to remember when its time to use the terminal.

I am on the same boat as you guys. I keep on trying Linux but in the end I go back to windows, being using ms oses since dos 3. I too don't like windows 8, but I think windows 8.1 does look a lot better, and that was my problem with it. from now on I am going to use the boot to desktop option. lets "hope" Microsoft see the light and don't destroy the desktop.

Windows still has more support for gaming, so you may want to keep it around a dual boot by installing grub or grub 2. However if you do decide you want to just use Ubuntu you may need a /boot partition of 16 MB because Linux uses 2 MB of it for something I'm not able to tell you because I don't know. Once installed you can officially run Steam on it now, which I have sort of done with a virtual machine created with VMware player and if your interested check out the Post a picture of your Linux Desktop and see for yourself. As for learning Linux I learned it as part of getting my three associate degrees in Computer Network Adminstration, which includes the CNAS option, Cisco option, and UNIX/Linux Database option. After getting my degrees I am now formiliar if not an expert in Windows, Cisco IOS and PIX Firewall, UNIX/Linux, and Mac OS X. I can honestly tell you one you learn the structure of a command in UNIX/Linux you will have a better understanding of command in Windows. For instance in Linux it goes the command, the option, and the argument, like this ls -l /home/bob. For windows the command would be like this runas /user:<computer or domain name>\<username program name in which the /user is the option and the program name is the argument. Another interest thing you might like to know in case you didn't already know is that if you type something like help dir it will tell you what all the options do for the command. Also some windows commands are like UNIX/Linux command, such as the type command for windows is the same as the cat command for UNIX/Linux. Also UNIX and Linux are all about automation and scripting, so don't let that stop you. Finally as you've aware of UNIX/Linux both have a GUI (Graphical User Interface) called X-Windows and have simple installer programs like RPM (Red Hat Package Manager), so once again don't let command line discourage you from using at least Linux because distributions like Ubuntu make installing programs, like steam easy.

Yea your probably right I did probably end up answering my own question because I pursued an installation of Steam as soon as it officially supported Linux. See my screenshots of PlayOnLinux and the Official Steam install under Linux Desktop Screenshot on hardforum and thanks for all your help anyway. Also thanks to Valve's Gabe Newell for finally making this possible even though it has a long way to go before it catches up with its Windows or possiblly even its Mac OS X rival. Now to deternine if it's better to install Steam in Ubuntu or just to install SteamOS.

Install SteamOS if you want to run a dedicated living room gaming machine and are comfortable using early-release software. Otherwise, just install Steam on Ubuntu.

Until Linux is in a position where it is at parity for performance and title selection users (not already interested in Linux) are normally not going to bother.

That being said, if Linux does prove to eventually have better performance and have most titles people are interested in, you'd be amazed what users will put up with.

The comment about not wanting to use the command-line is install a driver for a game is amusing considering in the Pre-Win98 that is exactly what was done. I have fond memories of making boot-disks for Dark Forces and having to tweak AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS. LucasArts even still has the instructions published.

http://www.lucasarts.com/support/system/bootdisk_instructions_protected_mode.html

I use Linux for what it is good for, Webservers/Frontends, CMS, ERP, MySQL/Postgre, etc.

Fuck general productivity and desktop use. Windows and OSX do that far better.

@OP

<GIANT POST WARNING>

You 're not alone. I 've lost count of how many friends i 've had that tried to move to Linux and went back to Windows...

It's always the same. Best collection of user comments is here:
http://chris.pirillo.com/linux-sucks/

I first tried Linux at about 2005. It was a complete mess... I couldn't even understand why i had so many choices of file system when installing. Every step you made was a google search. I got one guy telling me "jfs" or whatever it was called was the one to use. Another pops in "are you crazy? You want ext3". Another comes "i use ext2". Once you pick your poison, you 're in. Drivers mayhem. Strange acronymis that don't help you at all. glfx or whatever it's called. SAMBA is a server. The firewall (IP Tables) was impossible to manage without "Firestarter" i think was its name, which i had to google to discover. Even then, it was pittyful compared to any Windows firewall in understanding what was going on. CLI for this, CLI for that. "Wait, you didn't know about apt-get"? (Right, it was so intuitive to imagine that "updates" come through "apt-get". Then you were trying another distro and it was all weird again "sorry, we don't use su, we use sudo". "No, no deb here, this is rpm". "No, no apt-get here! You're not in Debianland land anymore, Dorothy!"."No big deal, just complie from source" (of course i will, i will just imagine the commands), Then you updated and something broke. Then you were googling and googling for hours to find a media player. Installed, bad performance", "Oh, this was made for KDE. No, let Kaffeine go, get Totem which is made with gtk, it's native for Gnome". And you are "what? who? gtwhat? why on earth should the player depend on the desktop enviroment?". Then the codecs... USB ADSL modem? Forget it. The fonts? Just weird. "Hey, this distro has Synaptic, it's easier". After a while, Synaptic gets borked, because of dependencies clash or something... One day, i try to boot and it doesn't... I am greeted by a black screen with a cursor waiting for my comand. Which i didn't know... I thought "this can't be, where's an option for safe mode or something?" . 30 minutes later i was formatting and installing Windows. I had tried Mandriva, Kanotix, OpenSuse, Fedora, Mepis, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Sabayon, PCLinuxOS,Debian Edge an XFCE based i don't remember and a bunch more. I was registered in 3-4 different fora asking questions, searching in the fora for the the most simple things... I gave up... Amongst other things, you couldn't find 2 persons agreeing on 1 distro. So it was always "you got the wrong distro, try this! No! Do it this way, on this distro", because there is "distro loyalty" and "distro wars", not just "distrowatch".

This said, i had managed to successfully install Mandriva to a completely illiterate person, that only needed Open Office.

Lately i got interested again in Linux, I tried Mint. It takes away much of the pain, but the CLI, again is around the corner. I COULD use it though for simple tasks, on a secondary computer. I now wait for the LTE version. But honestly, it's not worth it as primary desktop, if you 're not working in IT or a 16 year old with a mountain of free time in your hands and a deep hatred for Windows. I may end up using it if MS continues the flat tile path, but i ll probably keep Win7 for as long as i can for being able to use some software. I mean, i 've even spotted some software i need for Linux, but i can't even find everything in repositories or packaged and source is a pain. I found one that has a million dependencies.

The problem with Linux is that it's not intuitive when it comes down to details. In Windows, most of what you need, is somewhere waiting for your mouse to reveal it and with a nomenclature that is intuitive. They don't call "Windows update" as "synaptic". In Linux, you needed to google even what Synaptic is. Here i learn about "nouveau". God forbid call it in a way that a user can guess what it is...

And as if this wasn't enough, desktop enviroments keep multiplying. Last time i knew about Gnome, KDE, Enlightenment (or was it another), XFCE. Now they have added LXDE, Cinnamon and probably a couple more i don't remember. The more the merrier, "more choice" for Linux users. Yeah, sure. The good thing is that Linux users have made peace with the idea that they will not conquer the desktop universe, which is a very positive thing. 10 years ago, they were much more fierce in their plans of bringing down Microsoft...

Linux is more of a geek toy, just like distrohopping. If you want to use Linux without stress yourself, use it for the things that comes ready for. Open Office, Gimp, media player, surfing. For that, Mint is usable. For the rest i don't know. To tell the truth, i don't even know whether Mint was using a generic driver or the AMD driver, but it played mkv fine.

For the rest, i will become a fossil with Win7 for as long as i can and use Linux "easy" distros for secondary tasks, when possible. Who knows, by the time Win7 will be useless, i may be old enough to bother only with the basic tasks that Linux can do out of the box and migrate completely there.

Another bad thing with Linux, is that, if you don't use it, you forget the comands you had learnt. I knew a lot more in 2005, now i don't remember 10% of it. The other day i found a comand to automatically shut down the PC after X hours, to see if i can replace a Windows proggie, now i don't remember the comand anymore... Duh... It's not about "learning". It's about "memorizing" mostly stupid stuff in Linux. Learning is a different thing. And when one has enough to memorize, doing it for other trivial tasks, becomes annoying.

This said, it's better to have Linux around than not. Mint for instance can very well serve as "grandmothers'" OS, for surfing, music, email. But for myself, as my main OS, i am not that young anymore nor that old. This is the problem. Everyone tries to use a PC to makes his life easier. No point in making it harder. For a secondary PC and to break Windows monotony, it's good, as long as you have compatible hardware for basic tasks.

Hahahaha! I just remembered! Back then i couldn't even get Linux to set my correct screen resolution. And i asked in a forum and a guy told me "what did you expect? Didn't you edit Xorg?" I was like "what? Who's Xorg?" Where? How? Why?

The good thing about Linux, is that at least you conserve these memories and have a good laugh even after years. The most hilarious is when you asked for advice in generic Linux forum (not a specific distro's) and there was always aroud the corner some "jedi guru" lost in his world, that would jump on the newb and tell "you should really get Gentoo. Only by compiling your distro from scratch you will really learn". And then newb was shooting his brains once trying. Oh, good times. Even i was laughing on poor newbs that were more newbs than me. Or you had the Slackware guy telling the newb "i hate GUIs, i don't understand why you don't want to learn CLI! I use Slackware exactly because i hate GUI!" There was also the Debian clan taking shots at the upcoming Ubuntu at the time. I think i managed to live about 7 months with Linux only at the end. But what always bothered me, is that i never mastered it and never felt that i was controling it. I never felt i knew what was going on. In Windows XP i had HIPS, i could understand even Kerio 2 or Ghostwall and made custom rules for ports and protocols, i could tell if i was infected. In Linux it was like the OS was driving me and i was a passenger, because there were so many things about the CLI i didn't know... I always said to myself "in Windows, if i get infected, i will be able to tell in seconds. In Linux, they may very well rootkit me and i will never be able to tell. So i may as well go back".

When it comes to comparing Linux to Windows, my experiences are fairly positive.

My Linux rig is a Dell Optiplex 745 running a 60GB SSD, 3GB of ram, E6600 and an Nvidia GT210 2GB graphics card and this thing running Linux Mint 16 flies, boot time is simply amazing.

Not only that but I am quickly finding that everything I need in Windows actually has a native equivilent in Linux that is just as good.

I love the desktop environment in Linux Mint, it offers a level of customisation that Windows cannot match yet isn't too unlike the Windows desktop making it's operation not so daunting for someone that is so used to the Windows OS (with the exception of that abortion called Metro in Windows 8/8.1).

I also like the ability to run multiple desktops, makes using a single monitor so much less of a chore (my Windows machine runs two GTX 670FTW's with a four monitor NVS desktop).

The other thing is I find, suprisingly, that with my Linux rig things just work, for instance, I can plug my SGS3 with CM11 into my linux rig and it is recognised perfectly and all video's and photo's stream just fine - On my Windows rig that's not the case until I find the correct driver and even then HD video's seem to be hit and miss for some obscure reason.

Honestly, I built my Linux rig to see if I could break free of the Windows way of things, the rig cost me $110.00 all up and the results have been very impressive - I can even play games at playable framerates on this thing! And the number of games on both the Steam store and software manager are growing all the time, in the case of Steam there are even a number of mainstream titles that are just as good as their Windows equivilents.

Honestly, the only thing I miss is Battlefield 4, that's it. These day's I find myself using the Linux rig more and more while the Windows rig sits there and gathers dust.

flu!d said:

I also like the ability to run multiple desktops, makes using a single monitor so much less of a chore (my Windows machine runs two GTX 670FTW's with a four monitor NVS desktop).

.

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I agree. Cinnamon is very nice, looks very good. And i also agree on multiple desktops, it's one of the biggest failures of MS, to provide this in Windows, since in Linux it exists since ancient times.

Fortunately, the solution for Windows exists, works fine and is free. And oh, the irony, comes from a MS employee (ex independent security researcher that MS hired at some point):

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/cc817881.aspx

I never do without it.

Makes you angry with Microsoft, doesn't it?

The main problem with Linux is that clusterfuck of a "community". No one ever wants to actually help anyone, it will never become anything but a geeks wet dream unless the community becomes helpful.

xIronCrossx said:

The main problem with Linux is that clusterfuck of a "community". No one ever wants to actually help anyone, it will never become anything but a geeks wet dream unless the community becomes helpful.

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Yep! That too. I remember i tried to compile from source. I had a guy tell me to sdfgsomething the tarball, make, make install. Well, didn't work. I asked for help, no reply...
Heck, at the time, i was so geared into leaving MS, that i bought new ethernet router, new scanner that would work with Linux, but at the end, you arrive at a breaking point, where you get exhausted of googling everything. Not to mention that you manage to find a solution, only to discover that this was working in the PREVIOUS version, while now they use the new kernel that has changed sgskdfj and dsgfsnb, which has conseguence to adsfkh and sdhfh, so this means the solution doesn't work. So you think "maybe i can run the old version? I wouldn't mind". But you can't cause, for your convenience, Linux virtually can't exist without internet and repositories. No way to become "a fossil" with an old version, where you have gathered offline installers and stay with them.(like XP folks do nowdays). Unless you find and compile all individual programs from source or are lucky enough to find them prepackaged that is and not needing dependencies that aren't in the CD.

I've been a Windows power user since the win95 days. There were plenty of times one might have to do esoteric things to get a game working. Troubleshooting (hardware or software) isn't something that is only done on Linux. I found ubuntu was a good starter distro simply because lots of issues I had, someone else had already had and solved because of its wide user base and decent hardware support.

I use Linux (Arch Linux, specifically) every day as a workstation for software development and manage several RHEL servers. I'm pretty competent with bash and how the systems work in general at this point but I certainly didn't start that way. Up until I started in the job I have now I had no useful experience with Linux, except for a Slackware install we used to run a Counter-Strike server at college. I had no idea how to use it (it was setup by someone else) I basically knew how to reboot the machine and start HLDS and that was it.

Linux like anything else is an acquired skill. We didn't all start out being power users in Windows, and there is a similar break in period for Linux as well. For myself I learned to use Windows proficiently because I used it a lot (mostly gaming in my earlier years) including all the tweaking and troubleshooting, and OS reinstall experience you pick up along the way. I knew basically nothing about Linux several years ago, but because I had to use it for work I picked up things along the way. Currently at home I have a Linux based NAS and a BSD router, my primary PC is still a Windows box. Simply put Linux doesn't do what I want it to do for that platform yet (read: gaming). I'll sit out SteamOS for now and let others alpha and beta test, and if it (or a desktop oriented fork) becomes a viable option in the future I'll probably give it a try.

If a user has no reason to really stick with Linux because it isn't necessary for what you do or it yields no apparent advantages, it is unlikely the user will continue after encountering difficulties. There is nothing wrong with this, it is simply the way things are. Linux will have to offer Windows power users something better or at a minimum on parity in the desktop realm before users will really start to want to pick up skills in installing, troubleshooting and ultimately managing a Linux system.

shrug. I keep saying it. Been using linux for 15 years. Can do pretty much whatever i want on it, but when i get home i just want something that works, and thats windows. Especially when it comes to gaming, audio, photo editing, peripherals, etc etc. I'd rather come home to a Mac than a linux home workstation. If i need linux i just ssh over to one of my VPS/VMs/etc.

xIronCrossx said:

The main problem with Linux is that clusterfuck of a "community". No one ever wants to actually help anyone, it will never become anything but a geeks wet dream unless the community becomes helpful.

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The Ubuntu Forums are pretty decent since they have a "don't be a dick" policy that's rather strictly enforced.

xIronCrossx said:

The main problem with Linux is that clusterfuck of a "community". No one ever wants to actually help anyone, it will never become anything but a geeks wet dream unless the community becomes helpful.

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Then you're must be "that" forum newbie everyone talks about...

Most of the time, unless you're a dick who expects the universe handed to you on a silver platter with zero effort...people will help you.

jwcalla said:

The Ubuntu Forums are pretty decent since they have a "don't be a dick" policy that's rather strictly enforced.

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Can't speak for of late...but even Ubuntu Forums was just about the worst place to seek help, and you usually got it.

It's obvious that most of these people who critisize linux have really spent maybe 5 minutes with it before dumping it. There's no other way they could have missed the 'proprietary drivers available' notification that offers to install the binary nvidia drivers automatically for example.

One problem with linux is that the internet is filled with outdated how-to:s to procedures that used to be CLI only but are completely automatical or done through GUI in current generations. This easily leads to confusion as people are trying to use old depreceated methods. I've done this mistake myself in the past.

I prefer to use the CLI myself instead of using software centers, there's something geek appealing in seeing apt, pacman or yum do their work in the shell!

I actually very much like win 8.1 once its set up correctly (like Win 7).....but Linux could make for a nice dual boot to play around with....I just cant find a reason to do it....Mackintosh might could be fun as well

I switched to full time linux even on my gaming box. I play mostly only world of tanks and that works as 1 click install using playonlinux.

I have several different OSes running in the house. 1 dedicated linux (Sabayon now) and more virtualized, 3 OSX (iMac + 2MBP) and 2 Win7 for gaming (ROG laptop and my kids desktop).

I like OSX for its simplicity, linux for tweaking and tinkering and Windows for pure game performance.

I recently started teaching myself how to use Ubuntu Server, which means no GUI, just straight up CLI.

Yeah, it was a little frustrating the first couple hours, but some basic Googling got me through. I'm starting to see how things all fit together and am slowing committing the commands to muscle memory. Once you get the hang of the CLI, it really is a much more effective way to manage a server.

For a complete noob I can see how frustrating it can be, because a lot of information you find online makes some very basic assumptions that the writers don't realize is completely over the head of a new user. E.g. - "To setup your network share, simply go to /etc/samba directory and edit the smb.conf file...". uh, how do I "go to" a directory, and how do I edit a file in Linux?

Had an AMD C-50 powered notebook with 6GBs of RAM lying around. It came with Win7 Starter (wooo), got the Windows 8 upgrade for it. It runs fine.

As I already have a more powerful notebook, I decided to use the underpowered C-50 for Linux. Tried Fedora (w/ gnome and xfce) and CentOS (xfce). It works and do everything I need, but it's slower on Linux than it is on Windows 8.

Could it be that I need to install the AMD proprietary video drivers on Linux?

I tried Linux many times at home and it cannot beat Windows in my opinion. UI is getting better every year but it is not yet there.


HTPC - Windows 7 with WMC. I tried XBMC for several months and installed back WMC - it is SO MUCH smoother experience.

Gaming PC - obviously Windows 8

Studying PC - for everything programming related we use Ubuntu that is run in Virtual Machine under Windows 7 Windows 7 we use for all the office work and web browsing.

Windows all the way even though it cost something. BTW, it is free fro IT students. So, there are 0 reason to install Linux.

Dear OP, if you are still reading the thread,

If you are not interested in Programming, Engineering, command line interface, servers, parallel processing etc, yes Linux is NOT a good choice at all, even today. It looks like Windows (not even Mac since it is based on UNIX and it may require you to enter a few bash commands here and there) is the only option for you since you want to point, click and play games. Unfortunately when you want everything automated for you in return it will cost you money as licensing fees and system resources as overhead which is why Windows is not free and is not the most efficient computing environment.

To answer your question and comments labeled "why would anyone use Linux at this day and age, I mean it is more like Windows 95, are we going back to DOS" Just Amazon is reported to have over half a million Linux boxes that they use for data storage, management and routing. Majority of the serious simulation and engineering design Desktop/Workstations that I have encountered runs Red Hat Enterprise Linux. I am talking about government agencies and aerospace DOD contractors so the issue is not the licensing fees or anything. Linux is just better at being a Computer ( a machine that computes) then a media consuming device (Ipad, windows 8, your phone etc...). So if you not need a COMPUTer then you do not need Linux. Most people don't realize this but majority of them do not need computers, they need powerful tablets that can do word processing, web browsing and games.

cdr_74_premium said:

Had an AMD C-50 powered notebook with 6GBs of RAM lying around. It came with Win7 Starter (wooo), got the Windows 8 upgrade for it. It runs fine.

As I already have a more powerful notebook, I decided to use the underpowered C-50 for Linux. Tried Fedora (w/ gnome and xfce) and CentOS (xfce). It works and do everything I need, but it's slower on Linux than it is on Windows 8.

Could it be that I need to install the AMD proprietary video drivers on Linux?

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I wouldn't even bother with AMD on Linux. Just keep Windows on that thing.

To answer your question and comments labeled "why would anyone use Linux at this day and age, I mean it is more like Windows 95, are we going back to DOS"

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Modern Linux is nothing like Windows 95....

....In fact any modern Linux GUI desktop out there craps all over Windows 95 - In many ways it actually has numerous benifits over Windows 7.

Even in Windows I use the CMD prompt from time to time.

Andyk5 said:

Linux is just better at being a Computer ( a machine that computes) then a media consuming device (Ipad, windows 8, your phone etc...). So if you not need a COMPUTer then you do not need Linux. Most people don't realize this but majority of them do not need computers, they need powerful tablets that can do word processing, web browsing and games.

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Probable the most intelligent thing I've ever read on the Internets regarding the Linux vs Windows situation.

jwcalla said:

I wouldn't even bother with AMD on Linux. Just keep Windows on that thing.

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Seriously? I thought Linux was a nice option to get juice from old and underpowered computers in general. Is the driver support so bad for AMD that it cripples the performance?

Andyk5 said:

Linux is just better at being a Computer ( a machine that computes) then a media consuming device (Ipad, windows 8, your phone etc...). So if you not need a COMPUTer then you do not need Linux. Most people don't realize this but majority of them do not need computers, they need powerful tablets that can do word processing, web browsing and games.

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I wish Linux would realize this as well and concentrate on the server/number crunching space instead of trying to conquer the desktop. Not to say Linux desktop attempts are necessarily bad, it's just that you will never get the average person to be incentivized enough to want to learn it.

maw said:

I wish Linux would realize this as well and concentrate on the server/number crunching space instead of trying to conquer the desktop. Not to say Linux desktop attempts are necessarily bad, it's just that you will never get the average person to be incentivized enough to want to learn it.

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How does Canonical going off and making a desktop spin of Linux affect the server space in any way?

jwcalla said:

How does Canonical going off and making a desktop spin of Linux affect the server space in any way?

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From a business perspective, it seems to make sense to focus on your core competencies and customer demands. Isn't it something like 70% of servers use some flavor of Linux, while less than 1% of desktops do? Again, I'm not saying Linux desktops are necessarily terrible, I'm just saying there is little demand for it.

almalino said:

I tried Linux many times at home and it cannot beat Windows in my opinion. UI is getting better every year but it is not yet there.


HTPC - Windows 7 with WMC. I tried XBMC for several months and installed back WMC - it is SO MUCH smoother experience.

Gaming PC - obviously Windows 8

Studying PC - for everything programming related we use Ubuntu that is run in Virtual Machine under Windows 7 Windows 7 we use for all the office work and web browsing.

Windows all the way even though it cost something. BTW, it is free fro IT students. So, there are 0 reason to install Linux.

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0 reason? And you say you browse the web with Windows? LOL!

cdr_74_premium said:

Seriously? I thought Linux was a nice option to get juice from old and underpowered computers in general. Is the driver support so bad for AMD that it cripples the performance?

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AMD drivers for linux have sucked for years. The latest kernels have an improved open source driver that is actually very fast on 2D desktop. The proprietary driver has many problems but its faster in 3D games.

When I benchmark with glxgears using a HD5850 I get 4500fps on open drivers and 8500fps using 14.10 fglrx.

I wish Linux would realize this as well and concentrate on the server/number crunching space instead of trying to conquer the desktop. Not to say Linux desktop attempts are necessarily bad, it's just that you will never get the average person to be incentivized enough to want to learn it.

Click to expand...

I built a Linux Mint 16 PC for my mother. It does everything she wants it to do (surf the web, read emails, open word docs and the like, open PDF's and get and manipulate pics on her digital camera) just fine, if not better than a Windows machine, and she can use the PC just fine - In fact I'd be surprised if she even really realized that she wasn't running a Windows based PC!

What is there to learn in your opinon? These days the Linux desktop isn't as dependant on the CLI as you like to believe it is.

B00nie said:

AMD drivers for linux have sucked for years. The latest kernels have an improved open source driver that is actually very fast on 2D desktop. The proprietary driver has many problems but its faster in 3D games.

When I benchmark with glxgears using a HD5850 I get 4500fps on open drivers and 8500fps using 14.10 fglrx.

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Not meaning to take the piss, but Nvidia drivers under Linux are fantastic! My venrable GT210 2GB is actually puite playable when gaming at 1680 x 1050.

....Which surprises the hell out of me, being a GT210 and all..?

B00nie said:

0 reason? And you say you browse the web with Windows? LOL!

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Why LOL?

Defenetelly, there is little difference in browsing web with Ubuntu or Windows. But for office tasks , gaming and media consumption Windows is still better. It is my opinion and it might differ from your opinion.