Why can't I stick with linux?

[CyberCat]

I just don't understand what my problem is. I've been a linux user for about the last five years, and I love it. Linux is a great operating system.

Why can't I stick with it? I find that I install Linux with Windows on the HDD and I happily use linux for a few days- weeks... but I always stip back.

Everytime I reinstall some distrobution of Linux, I get a different (newer) one. First was Redhat 7, then Redhat 9, Fedora Core 1, SuSE, DSL, Redhat WS 4... and with each newer version I'm met with a more plesant installation, a prettier desktop environment, a better selection of included programs, but regardless of how good it is I always find myself slipping back into booting Windows again. And eventually just formating the disk again back to Windows only.

It's like the Firefox/IE syndrom, you know you want to use Firefox, and you do love Firefox while you're using but you just find yourself slipping back and clicking the big "E" on the desktop.

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem? What did you do to get over it? What advice would you give to someone like me?

Sincerest gratitude for your time.

[serz]

Me, I've experienced that, I'm still! I'm posting this from WinXP.. heh.

:(

I'm thinking of going back to Slackware, that's what I used for a long time (I've always run it on my server as well, since I started using Linux).

Maybe you can do the same :)

[LNXchd]

I feel your pain....I love using linux and would love to use linux and linux only. I think the biggest hurdle for me is the fact I have used windows so long....kinda like the teaching an old dog new tricks thing. I however.....am starting to lean more heavily on linux. I am searching for replacements for all my current software I use in windows. I am a automotive service technician and definitely don't work on comp's for a living, so everything I have learned about computers has been from my own experience. I can build 'em, tweak 'em, built my own website, networked multiple computers at home; etc. etc. So, with that said; linux has been a challenge for me.....I love a good challenge. In my opinion M$ Windows is made for the masses that want to be hearded around like sheep; those that want to click and drool. I for one am tired of being one of those sheep, plus all the drooling has given me some serious cotton-mouth:D. Linux has given me the freedom to choose. What web browser I use, what desktop environment or window manager to use....the list is endless. As soon as I find replacements for all my warez I will indeed move permanently move to linux. Until then, I will keep plugging away. Good Luck

[CyberCat]

Yes, it's a mystery to me. I have, however, always had FreeBSD for my lovely server. I wouldn't even *think* of trying to run it on Windows. :)

But that's not exactly the same as the workstation since the workstation is what I use daily, and that's WinXP, sadly.

I want to be free!

I am however, looking for free, open-source, replacements for my current software. Software that also available for linux. About two weeks ago I install OpenOffice.org 1.1.4, and it's wonderful! I've had absolutly no problem migrating all of my files over to it's native format. And just yesterday I finally decided to completely un-install Microsoft Office. I suppose I won't even be tempted to use it now. :D

So I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue doing this one program at a time until finally I'm ready to say, "goodbye" to Windows for good.

That will be the day. :)

[serz]

Originally posted by CyberCat
But that's not exactly the same as the workstation since the workstation is what I use daily, and that's WinXP, sadly.
Haha, it looks like we are having exactly the same problem :p

I've been very Windozed lately, but that's because I was using Photoshop, Flash and some dj stuff that doesn't exist in Linux. However, I always ended up using Windows as a workstation, don't know why really.

Now that I'm not using these applications very often.. I'll probably install Slackware and see what it feels like.

Hope you do something similar, mate! ;)

[je_fro]

I've been windows free for a long time.
Ever since gnumeric grew up and replaced excel. Been about a year and a half without using windows.
It's around somewhere because I think I'll need to use Reference Manager someday, but it hasn't happened yet.
I say use the best tool for the job, philosophy aside. If that's windows, then go for it. Myself, with a bit of work I've been able to make my machine work for me however I need it to.
Then again, I don't have much experience with windows, so I don't know what I'm missing. Not much, I'm betting.
:D

[serz]

Originally posted by je_fro
Then again, I don't have much experience with windows, so I don't know what I'm missing. Not much, I'm betting.
:D
And you're right, you are not missing anything.. believe me.

[CyberCat]

And you're right, you are not missing anything.. believe me.

Nah. He's missing that lovely blue glow of a fatal exeption error.

http://www.dansdata.com/images/io005/bsod.gif

But to tell you the truth that's one "feature" I can do without. ;)

[CoffeeMan]

I found myself booting to windows (back when I dual booted) because I had a winmodem that mandrake didn't like, it would not speak with this deranged piece of hardware. So I got a serial modem and said goodbye to windows, then I got a DSL connection and said hello to Gentoo.

[copeja]

I decided if I can't do it with linux I didn' want to do it anyway. No windows for over 2 years now.:p

[mrBen]

For me the turning point was when I started reading my email in Linux rather than Windows. Suddenly I was booting into Windows less and less. Then I dumped it altogether about 2 years ago. I basically made the decision that if Linux didn't have it, then I didn't want it, and I haven't regretted it at all.

(I do, I confess, have a copy of Cedega at the moment to play Counter Strike, but I generally prefer to play native Linux UT and ET. )

[Parcival]

So you have a Windows/Linux dualboot? Is the glass half full or half empty? It's yours alone to decide. :)

I am MS free for two years now and I never looked back although I had to abandon quite a few things, especially games. I really like my new powerbook, though, as OSX sort of combines the best of two worlds. Since last December OSX is on my main box and everything else is running Linux. :)

(cybertron, you know where to find me :p )

[mrBen]

Originally posted by Parcival
as OSX sort of combines the best of two worlds.

Ooooo - controversial ;)

[Parcival]

Originally posted by mrBen
Ooooo - controversial ;)

Did you note the invitation for cybertron? :)

[JayMan8081]

At work, I have only linux installed with no more Windows. I do have Office XP installed under Crossover though. Our company uses Word and Excel so much that there was no alternative that provided everything we needed. I dumped Windows at work as soon as I learned how to install the CDT for Eclipse so I could have a decent IDE for developing and debugging our C/C++ programs. I haven't regretted dumping Winodws at all. Unfortunately I may have to go back to dual-booting since I am getting into the hardware part of company.

[quip]

I have a dual boot set up on both my laptop and desktop from a while ago. However, I am hardly ever boot into Windows anymore. Like mentioned above, I set out to find replacments for my Windows software. Most of the time, I have been able to find replacements that either match or exceed what I was using in Windows! I do not need "extreme" software; i.e. The Gimp does all I need and more, so I don't need Photoshop, but I understand when someone says that they do.

The biggest hindrance (in my view) is just drivers for hardware. Although this has improved greatly, too, and I've always had broadband since I started using linux, so I never had to deal with a winmodem...

[psych-major]

I also dual boot, but unlike the thread starter, I would rather "slip back into Linux" rather than the other way around.

At work I have to boot my laptop to Windows for now, but the only remaining obsticle to being M$ free is Exchange, but the administrator got fired and I haven't had time to figure it out on my own. In my office I also maintain a Linux only workstation that I use for Mp3's, CD burning and interfacing with our Unisys mainframes.

At home, I boot my laptop to Linux and use it for email, internet, papers for school, etc. Firefox and T-bird have been extremely accomodating to this setup. I use Bookmark Sync (http://extensionroom.mozdev.org/more-info/booksync) to keep bookmarks updated between the 2 environments, documents are on a shared fat32 partition, and T-bird allows me to change the local folder to the fat32 partition. Therefore when I boot either OS, "My Documents" internet and email all look the same.
I also maintain a Windows box for my wife to do graphic design on, and a Linux only box that is a 1) spare internet/email machine, 2) file server, and 3) place to back up the Windows workstation to.
(BTW, the T-bird local folder trick works via a shared network directory also, and makes the inbox stay synced on any machine on the network, Linux or Windows.)

So I guess my feeling is, if I could totally get rid of M$, I would, but I still have a couple of issues preventing that right now.

[Calipso]

I still dual-boot. However, the only reason I boot into windows is when I have to print something, Canon MultiPASS F10(mpc190) doesnt work in Linux :'(

And the second reason why I boot into Windows is to either check my school schedule or grades online because for some reason damn Campus Pipeline only works properly while using IE!!


Oh and family uses my computer sometimes too so they need Windows. Oh and lets not forget the occasional, very rare, time I have time to play some old games like AOE2.

[pilotgi]

I started out on Macs, then built my own X86 machine. I didn't want to run windows so I bought a copy of Mandrake. This was about 3 years ago. I've never owned a computer with windows on it and there are no windows programs that I want or need.

I guess that puts me in a minority group, but if I *needed* to run a windows program, I suppose I would live. But running Mac OSX and Linux is really a pleasant computing experience. And I'd really rather not send any of my money to Redmond.

[psych-major]

Originally posted by pilotgi
And I'd really rather not send any of my money to Redmond.

You already did by buying a Mac...

[shakin]

I started on Linux full time when I decided not to install Windows. I think most people would do better in that sort of forced environment because it means you can't say "forget learning how to do this in Linux, I'll just boot Windows for a few minutes".

Tips for other people trying to ditch Windows for Linux:

1. Get your email setup on Linux. You can select not to delete from the server if you still want them available in Windows.

2. Get replacements for all your apps. Even if you install Wine or Cedega or Crossover, make sure you don't have a good reason to boot Windows. You can run Photoshop, Dreamweaver, IE, MS Office, Media Player, DVD Decrypter, etc in Linux very easily.

3. Pick a distro with a kick-*** community that wants to help you with your problems. The Ubuntu community has tons of how-to documents for doing everything you can imagine. (In fact, Ubuntu is the best distro community I've ever seen).

4. Pick a distro that won't require you to format every six months to get a new version of everything. Pick a distro that will let you upgrade Gnome or KDE easily, as well as the rest of your software. Ubuntu, Debian and Gentoo are very good at this.

[The Linux Kid]

I havn't posted here for a while....

Anyway, I have 3 boxes on my desk (plus a few servers in the rack)

2 of the boxes on my desk run win (1's the box that only has word/outlook/excel etc for work) and the other one is my gaming box. The other one runs Slack 10.

Then in the rack I have 2 slack 10 boxes and 1 win2k server.

It just depends on what i'm doing as to what comp/os I will use.

If I want to work i'll only boot up my work box. The reason its not linux is because I spent too much time tweaking it instead of doing work.... etc.

[pilotgi]

Originally posted by psych-major
You already did by buying a Mac...
I have no idea what you're talking about.

[ev8r]

im happy using linux....until i run across my old copy of homeworld 2 or age of empires......sadly, they dont run quite the same in cedega....

[psych-major]

Originally posted by pilotgi
I have no idea what you're talking about.

You can read about it here (http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/17244/17244.html)

[pilotgi]

Originally posted by psych-major
You can read about it here (http://www.windowsitpro.com/Article/ArticleID/17244/17244.html)
Please don't ever give me a link to a Paul Thurrott article again. Especially one that's eight years old.

As far as I know, Microsoft sold their shares in Apple a long time ago.

[thedreampolice]

I actually think they still own a bunch, this should be public record however.

[irlandes]

with Crossover 2.0. Or, so I read not long ago. So, if you want PhotoShop and want linux, it will cost you the price of Crossover 2.0. Another down.

[enshum]

So, I'm wondering if anyone else has had this problem? What did you do to get over it? What advice would you give to someone like me? This what I did. I removed Windows from all three of my hard drives. then I removed all Windows/Microsoft related software to my wifes computer area. I keep and only use Linux on my computer and Linux related software and material in my computer area. It works for me.

ed

[JediFonger]

big reason i don't use *nix fulltime is video editing. with vegas, premiere, etc. all on win platform. i know there is cinelerra but it's still not as good as vegas.

[glasdave]

Been using linux since mandrake 6.1...And I like it a lot. Also have noticed that win XP pro has a kinda NT / linux look feel going on. Maybe It's getting better!

[WhiteKnight]

hmm.. having the same problems...
im dual booting.. winXP is there for games mainly...
however, i sometimes run things in the background while playing.. thus my work is kindof splited up... some in windows and some in linux...

happy with linux, yes... but cant get windows games to run well inside... only hope more publishers will go the NWN, doom3, UT way.. cross platform

[Sgood1971]

I dual boot on my main desktop (For games and my USB video capture device.) All of my other machines dual boot too, but they don't have Windows on them. My problem is not sticking with Linux, it is sticking with one distro. I always have to download every distro that looks interesting.

[tlyons]

Originally posted by CyberCat
Linux is a great operating system. Why can't I stick with it? I find that I install Linux with Windows on the HDD and I happily use linux for a few days- weeks... but I always stip back.

CyberCat
Junior Grasshopper

Registered: Apr 2003
Location: Redmond, WA
Posts: 26

(1.) There's either something funny in their air out there in Redmond (does the M$ campus have a smokestack /incinerator anywhere on it?), or,

(2.) There's something about living under the watchful eye of Evil Bill, every minute of every day.

I think all the advice so far has been good. If you think you need a Windows computer, get a second computer. I run XP on a 400 MHz Celeron with 256MB RAM. The only time I use it is to print directions from Mapquest (XP works nicely with my laser printer -- Linux is flaky with printing in some of my apps).

Anyway, I do all of my web/internet stuff in Linux, and haven't missed Photoshop for graphics as much as I thought I would (GIMP is great). I'm on this box about 98% of the time. So figure out what Windows apps are essential to you and install their equivalents in Linux.

http://linuxshop.ru/linuxbegin/win-lin-soft-en/table.shtml (kinda dated).

Google for "linux equivalents".

- T.

P.S. I noticed you haven't installed Debian yet. Get Sarge (link below). Updating software is absolutely effortless.

[thedreampolice]

Adobe is what kills me. I use Photoshop, Indesign, After effects, Premiere pro, and Illustrator. They all work so well together. If Scribus, Gimp and Cinerella all got together and could work with each other that would be the first step.

[CyberCat]

(1.) There's either something funny in their air out there in Redmond (does the M$ campus have a smokestack /incinerator anywhere on it?), or,

(2.) There's something about living under the watchful eye of Evil Bill, every minute of every day.

Yeah, it does suck. Only about a ten-minute drive to the M$ campus. I've been their a couple of times... notexactly a happy place to visit. Surprisingly they do have Macs... :eek:

I think that part of the problem that Linux has, is that unlike Windows, if you want to install something (and installing isn't terribly straight forward either) you've got dependacy hell! I think these two things make switching to Linux much harder.

[enshum]

" is that unlike Windows, if you want to install something (and installing isn't terribly straight forward either) you've got dependacy hell!" Which is quite the opposite of Windows that usually left you in dependacy hell on uninstall. However this is much less an issue today then it was a year ago or two for that matter. After sampling Autopackage a few times I think this is the best answer to install/uninstallshield for the Linux distro. They are doing good work at autopackage now its up to us and the packagers to support them.

ed

[CyberCat]

After sampling Autopackage a few times I think this is the best answer to install/uninstallshield for the Linux distro

This is what Linux needs. A unfivied cross-distrobution single-click installation system, it would make switching sooo much easier.

[Parcival]

Originally posted by CyberCat
This is what Linux needs. A unfivied cross-distrobution single-click installation system, it would make switching sooo much easier.

Well, we probably won't see this happen because diversity is one of the strengths of Linux. However, some distributions come close to it, maybe you just haven't found your distro yet?

[enshum]

"Well, we probably won't see this happen because diversity is one of the strengths of Linux" And exactly how would this package kill diversity. It would seem to expand it.

ed

[CyberCat]

However, some distributions come close to it, maybe you just haven't found your distro yet?

Yes this is definitely true. Package managment has come a long was since I first tried linux. The Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) certainly eases the process of installing software, but it still has dependancy problems. That's one reason I like the new "pkg_add" system in FreeBSD. When combined with the -r option (get and install missing packages from remote server) you're pretty much free of dependancy troubles. Linux needs a feature like that.

[Tjoh311]

I lost my Win disks, and don't feel like looking for new ones. To tell you the truth every windows setup I had came from "borrowed" cds. So I feel much more honest now that I've been win-free for the last year and a half. I've been playing with Libranet 2.8.1 lately and it works wonderful. Synaptic is the pakage management messiah and savior!:D

[nuttron]

I never feel i need to go back to windows , got 2 machines ,this here 700mgz celeron-slackware 9.0 , and the wife's ,amd sempron 1.5g -winxp and slack 10.1 on another drive.

Linux feels my needs ,i feel safer browsing the net with the pingouin.....i am not a gamer nor do any video stuff....i like the philosophy of linux and it is getting better all the time.

If i use windows ,that's o.k too ,i paid for it....but my first choice is linux....if i was alone on the comp...it would be only linux anyways..my two cents :cool:

[Parcival]

Originally posted by enshum
And exactly how would this package kill diversity. It would seem to expand it.

You misinterpreted what I was trying to say. I didn't say it would kill diversity. I'm neither trying to say there should be no standards as any OS needs standards, of course.

CyberCat was talking about
A unfivied cross-distrobution single-click installation system

which wouldn't kill diversity if implemented, but not every distro would implement it either. A unified cross-distribution package manager may be desirable by the enduser, but from Linus' perspective it doesn't matter; it's not low-level enough to call for a Linux-wide standard.

Furthermore, we are observing de facto standards when we look at successful examples like Debian's apt and how it's being copied by other distributions. With a grain of salt I am tempted to say that package managers in Linux are a wonderful case study for any evolutionist and/or capitalist. ;)

[WhiteKnight]

easy install? try gentoo
emerge/portage is great. it resolves dependencies and dl them accordingly. USE flags are great too, compiles it according to watever u need.

[infiniphunk]

You can set up portage to install programs from precompiled binaries vs. from source right?

[enshum]

"but not every distro would implement it either." I agree however those that choose to use it would have the larger more stable user base.

[hard candy]

Why can't I stick with Linux?

No adhesive present? :)

[MorphiusFaydal]

Originally posted by infiniphunk
You can set up portage to install programs from precompiled binaries vs. from source right?

Some pacakges (GNOME, KDE, X.org, OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla-classic) are available as binaries, but the majority of packages, it's just source.

That's why a lot of people like gentoo, we like the satisfaction of knowing that we compiled everything on our systems.. if not ourselves, then at least we did it.

if you're looking for binary only, go to Debian or one of its ofshoots. I would recommend Debian itself.

[Hayl]

Originally posted by MorphiusFaydal
Some pacakges (GNOME, KDE, X.org, OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Mozilla-classic) are available as binaries, but the majority of packages, it's just source.

That's why a lot of people like gentoo, we like the satisfaction of knowing that we compiled everything on our systems.. if not ourselves, then at least we did it.

if you're looking for binary only, go to Debian or one of its ofshoots. I would recommend Debian itself.

to add to this. the main reason to compile from source on gentoo is that you can omit or add support for various things as you like. for example on most binary distros you will find that all the kde stuff has the optional gnome support and all the gnome stuff has the optional kde support, things like that. so if you know you are never running kde then you can omit all that code from being compiled when you compile gnome, etc. it's totally not a "speed" thing like many people seem to think.

[LNXchd]

"Hi, my name is Chad and I have been M$ free for 2 days now!". I finally decided to say piss on it, and got rid of windows all together. Running Debian "Sarge" on everything I own. The wifey likes the nice GUI of KDE on her comp, and I don't care for the GUI and stick with just the Fluxbox wm and hammer away at the CLI. Problems have been minimal so far can't seem to mount my dvdrw or cdrom so I can put my 5,000 mp3's and pictures back on. Other than that is has been fairly pain free. Don't be chicken....make the switch!!:D

[retsaw]

Originally posted by Parcival
which wouldn't kill diversity if implemented, but not every distro would implement it either. A unified cross-distribution package manager may be desirable by the enduser, but from Linus' perspective it doesn't matter; it's not low-level enough to call for a Linux-wide standard.The beauty of autopackage is that it is self installing and is capable of installing any necessary dependancies if they are available in autopackage form, so it doesn't need to supported by any distro. The next thing they need to do is to get it to integrate with the major package managers so it is able to use them to install dependancies and record the packages it installs, which would decrease the chance of any breakage or conflicts in the package management and also allow the native package manager to uninstall autopackages.

[tlyons]

Originally posted by CyberCat
I think that part of the problem that Linux has, is that unlike Windows, if you want to install something (and installing isn't terribly straight forward either) you've got dependacy hell!

I had bad luck with Mandrake in that regard, but Debian's APT package manager has handled dependencies for me flawlessly.

- T.