As the many little annoyances with winXP slowly stack up, I was thinking about putting a linux partition on to go alongside it (need a fresh clean out and reinstall anyway, so this would be the perfect time). So while browsing the forums for which distro, and various other things, I had the rather practical though - what does it gain me? I already have XP happily running all my games, and is the most compelling reason to keep XP still. But what about development, and all the other areas that linux is supposed to shine? I have a well rounded setup for programming in, Eclipse for the majority of hobby work in Java, Visual Studio for C/C++ work, PSP for graphics, milkshape for modeling. Add in half a dozen other utility programs that get used along the way and its pretty complete. There are either versions of these avalible for linux, or alternatives (Gimp springs to mind, I keep meaning to try it). But I can''t help but think that its not worth the hastle - admittedly if need be i can reboot into XP for anything i can''t find an alternative to (my tv tuner app for the tv card sounds like a likely culprit) but i''d prefer not to have to reboot every five minutes - again, it defeats the point. Convince me its worth my time More useable interface? More convinient file organisation? Use my computer for X that i''ve never even thought of before?

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Original post by OrangyTang
Convince me its worth my time

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Maybe...

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More useable interface?

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Definitely not right off the bat. Getting the interface up and running and tweaked to your liking is a function of what distro you use vs. time...and being new it will take some time.

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More convinient file organisation?

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Depends. Different than what your used to. If you set up your partitions right though, and for some reason one gets trashed in the future, you''ll be glad it didn''t trash everything (just that partition).

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Use my computer for X that i''ve never even thought of before?

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Probably. There is lots and lots of really cool and really free software available, and easily attainable, for Linux/BSD.

Linux/BSD is best suited for servers, users who want full control, or users who like to tinker. If you don''t fall into one of those categories, don''t bother. I fit all 3; I have a BSD server, I want full controll of my BSD router/firewall, and I like to tinker with my other BSD/Linux boxes.

Additionally, they don''t cost you an arm and a leg for every upgrade, as MS does. MS does excel at delivering a quickly useable product, at the expense of money, control, and sometimes security. I don''t thing stability is a valid expense anymore, MS, has (at least desktop and desktop apps) nailed since 2000. If you don''t want to mess with it, then you won''t enjoy the time commitment needed to get going. But they are fun. I say run em all.

If you have to ask then you shouldn''t bother with it. Its a matter of taste, pure and simple.

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laziness is the foundation of efficiency
retrospiral.net | llamas! | megatokyo | FreeBSD | gamedev.net | google

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Original post by OrangyTang
Convince me its worth my time

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It''s not worth your time unless what you currently have is inadequate. It''s not worth our time, either, to convince you it''s worth your time.

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Original post by OrangyTang
Convince me its worth my time

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Linux is different... That should be enough.

If what you are using isn''t broken (don''t sound like it is) then why are you trying to fix it?

lol... yeah, you should use linux because its different and so that you can be cool!

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laziness is the foundation of efficiency
retrospiral.net | llamas! | megatokyo | FreeBSD | gamedev.net | google

Maybe you should try it out and decide whether you like it before you actually repartition your hard disk. You could get one of those bootable CD Linux distribution things like Knoppix where you don''t have to install it. It would just help you get used to the interface so you could make a more informed decision.

By the way, most Linux users are pretty... unfriendly... as you can see here. Make sure to get out the asbestos undergarments.

Wow.. from previous attitudes and posts i was expecting a flood of replies telling me how superiour linux is, and flaming me for even questioning that it might not be a good idea, instead i get a few half hearted responses of ''meh, it''s alright. nothing special''.

What happened to the ''linux is going to take over the desktop'' mentality that i''ve been bumping into with regards to linux over the last couple of years?

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Original post by OrangyTang
What happened to the ''linux is going to take over the desktop'' mentality that i''ve been bumping into with regards to linux over the last couple of years?

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One word: Oluseyi.