which linux distro

[HJ]

Sorry but I do enjoy winding Mac users...

 

[Carwash]

Sorry but I do enjoy winding Mac users...

It can indeed be good sport.

 

[Riding in Circles]

It can indeed be good sport.

I don't have a blue screen saver and was using Unix in 1979, Linux is just a poor copy for people who really want Unix and Windows is for the sheep.

 

[Carwash]

I don't have a blue screen saver and was using Unix in 1979, Linux is just a poor copy for people who really want Unix and Windows is for the sheep.

Well la-di-da, get you. I'm pretty sure that if they really wanted Unix as you suggest, they'd be running Unix. The demise of e.g. IRIX (now there was an operating system!) suggests that most people are content with Linux or one of the BSDs.

 

[Abitrary]

I don't have a blue screen saver and was using Unix in 1979, Linux is just a poor copy for people who really want Unix and Windows is for the sheep.

Unix is for students, linux is for working people who's time is less valuable than software savings, and windows is for people who haven't started caring... or have since stopped caring.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I must say, I am liking CrunchBang. I have it on a little 4G USB slotted into my PC. It's good for watching DVDs and listening to music. I found Fedora a real pain for that. I've just bought a Linux magazine and installed Debian over Fedora. It looks pretty similar to Ubuntu, although I gather it's also rather a pain for installing music and video codecs. I've read there's a scientific version of Ubuntu called Scibuntu, which has intrigued me. I think I will install it on my laptop, once I worked out how. Interestingly, there is also a Christian edition of Ubuntu which is automatically set up to filter web-pages for adult content. I also want to give Puppy a try, which I will probably also install on a memory stick. Then I may install Mandriva on my PC, because it's supposedly handy for programmers. OTOH I may install Linux Mint or OpenSUse because that comes with the Wine Windows emulator. This presumably means I can get rid of my improperly installed Windows XP operating system, which prevents me installing my Microsoft Office applications. If I can install my Microsoft Office applications on Wine, this would be brilliant.

 

[yello]

I've just installed Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jakalope) on my laptop... brave aren't I! So far so good but, as it's still beta, one must not be surprised if one finds problems.

CrunchBang on my Asus Eee, solid as. Does everything I want with an economy of space.

 

[Carwash]

...I've just bought a Linux magazine and installed Debian over Fedora. It looks pretty similar to Ubuntu...

That's because Ubuntu is downstream (derived) from Debian.

...although I gather it's also rather a pain for installing music and video codecs.

Depends on your point of view. Debian includes only Free Software by default.

 

[FBOAB]

Must admit to liking Ubuntu too. Loaded it onto laptop (SWMBOs) on a separate partition alongside XP. As a complete numpty in the world of Linux; I find it easy and intuative to use and will do nearly everything I want it to do (apart from reading .pub files). Plus, it will connect to my wireless network where XP will see it but refuse to go past "aquiring network address" no matter what I do. Screen effects are nicer (wobbly windows - sweeet!) and the whole shebang feels just that bit snappier.

Loaded it onto my netbook (HP2133 - £197 from PC world) but can't get it to work with graphics card (there is a way round it but it involves programming - scared!).

One problem though is that it totally refuses to load up on the main 'puter. No matter what I do it goes so far then switches my monitor off so I can't see if it's working or not!

In the applications screen, I can find a program that will do whatever I want to do and If I couldn't, Wine allows me to run a MS programme anyway.

The best bit? FREE! and supported. So far, can't recomend it highly enough.

 

[Carwash]

That is irrelevant, it is still a Unix core not a Linux one. It was pure Unix from Tiger on, before that is was Apples own brand of Unix, Apple Unix was first launched in 1988 still before Linux was thought of. I'm a long time Mac user.

You know what they say: 'Linux users use Linux because they hate Windows. BSD users use BSD because they love Unix.'

 

[Dan B]

That is irrelevant, it is still a Unix core not a Linux one. It was pure Unix from Tiger on, before that is was Apples own brand of Unix, Apple Unix was first launched in 1988 still before Linux was thought of. I'm a long time Mac user.

Can you provide any references for A/UX code in Mac OS X? That's contrary both to my recollection and to what Wikipedia says. My understanding is that it's based on XNU (BSD ported to the Mach microkernel) plus Apples own driver infrastructure and, well, whether 4.3BSD still contained any Unix code was debatable
[*] but the situation was definitely cleared up by 4.4 and the *BSDs based on it. Agreed that it has a stronger cultural claim to the name in a general sense than Linux, but you still can't exactly call it "pure unix"


[*] http://www.google.com/search?q=bsd+lawsuit

 

[Dan B]

You know what they say: 'Linux users use Linux because they hate Windows. BSD users use BSD because they love Unix.'

Hmm. I dislike Windows and the modern Linuxes that wish to imitate it, but I don't exactly think Unix is a paragon of good design either, at least for the modern world. On hardware of 30 years ago it was a sensible compromise but anyone who still thinks it makes sense has never really thought, for example, just how insane ptys are.

No, I don't have a better alternative

 

[Carwash]

Hmm. I dislike Windows and the modern Linuxes that wish to imitate it, but I don't exactly think Unix is a paragon of good design either...

What do you run then?

No, I don't have a better alternative

Plan 9? (An attempt to update and fix the ageing Unix paradigm.)
BeOS? (If it hadn't, y'know... died.)
Or NeXTStep? ...wait a minute!

 

[Yellow Fang]

I am posting this post from Puppy, loaded from a USB memory stick. First impressions are that it's a bit trickier to set up than some of the others.

 

[HJ]

Just loaded up the new Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope, stupid name but it runs faster! and I am talking about a six year old laptop here!! I LIKE!!!