Linux

M

Merak

Location
New Richmond Wisconsin
Glens got me curious about Linux so I downloaded 4 versions. The one that installed the easiest was SUSE Linux. Easier to install than Windows, connected to the internet no hassle, has loads of applications that come with the operating system, and it is a free download. Very cool. The partitioning software that comes with it works fantastic compared to the fdisk that windows comes with. Bill Gates doesn't want you partitioning.
 
May be, but I wonder how long Bill's stuff hesitates before totally destroying anything it doesn't know or care about, such as any of the myriad filesystem types which are better than anything Bill offers. I'll bet Merak's DOS/Windows/NT filesystems were still safe and sound after the disk layout modifications.

Want a filesystem that's faster out of the gate and stays unfragmented with normal use? They've been available for many years already, but not from guess-who. Rather than fix the toy, they'd rather first steal then license or buy out third-party defragmenting tools.

The typical GNU/Linux operating system comes ready to legitimately do tons more useful stuff (and on lesser hardware) than even a "professional" server-licensed Windows setup can do even after spending yet more for the tools to go with it. But nobody ever said usability/performance/security are worth more than savvy marketing...

Glen
 
Does XP allow you to reformat and partition without losing what you already have on the disk? I know W98 didn't. The main reason I wanted to try Linux was because XP costs $100 per computer, regular updating to correct all the problems. and then having to register before using it. I have 3 computers and don't want to put all that money out, then have to purchase a bunch of office software to go with XP because the old stuff no longer works. W98 is a pain because it needs to be defragged regularly and reinstalled once a year because something eventually goes haywire. Linux is much easier than I thought it would be.
 
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I have 3 computers and don't want to put all that money out, then have to purchase a bunch of office software to go with XP because the old stuff no longer works.

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Some of the same office programs you find in your Linux distribution are available for Windows, so if you are stuck using Bill's OS you do not have to use his office suite. I know OpenOffice.org and AbiWord run under windows. There may be others as well. If you add Firefox, Thunderbird and Cygwin you may think you are running a UNIX OS! Well other than that mandatory reboot/shutdown every few days /forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

I use both SUSE and Debian. I like SUSE best for a general user setup.

Cary
 
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so do programs like quickbooks work with linux?

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Intuit does not yet seem to be interested in GNU/Linux, but according to this recent slashdot article the Windows version (as well as most other for-Windows software some feel they cannot currently live without) will run directly under GNU/Linux using the $30 package from CodeWeavers.com. Alternative financial software packages are the doubly-free GnuCash and Monydance.

I also found this recent write-up.

Glen
 
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