IGX

I got the distro on a DVD from a magazine currently on the stands ("Ubuntu Special" from Linux Pro Magazine), but you can get the Live/Installation CD free for the asking from Ubuntu.com or by downloading the ISO image and burning it to CD.

Ubuntu is the shiznit. It's one of the most "Windows like" of the current Linux distros (so all my old Windows reflexes mostly work), but it's far less bloated and buggy than Vista (or even XP) and has none of those security holes. It comes with Firefox, the Open Office suite (which produces and processes files compatible withthe vast majority of all MS Office suite software), the GIMP for image processing, etc. It runs like lightning on any fairly recent machine, even an underpowered laptop like my old Toshiba...and the ext3 file format is supposedly far more efficient than NTFS, so a smaller harddrive isn't quite the handicap it might be with Windows.

I had a little trouble with initial setup, mostly because the ethernet card on this salvaged IBM Netvista desktop seemed to be fucked, and I couldn't get to the Internet.But I plugged in the USB port from my cable modem (supposedly the Motorola Surfboard modem USB outputs are compatible with all Linux, Mac and W2K/XP/Vista machines) and it works like a charm. In fact, I'm running Ubuntu right now.

I have to use Windows for my job...in fact, my job is supporting Windows PCs for city and county government. But so far, Ubuntu, Knoppix and a couple other Live Cds are making Windows look like a retarded mongoloid by comparison. Yes, you have to do a little trouble shooting now and then...but it seems to me that I spent half my time as a Windows user trying to get it to do things that should have been easy and simple...so I don't mind.

Just say "no" to Microsoft. Especially If you can't stand the thought of moving to Vista (I still sort of like XP because I am used to it, and I'll keep in on my laptop because my roommate will panic if she is forced to use a new OS).

At the risk of sounding stupid, if I wanted to run a program written for PC, how would I go about doing so on an Ubuntu machine? Out of the question?

No, you don't sound stupid...it's a perfectly reasonable question.

I think the answer is WINE, a Windows Emulator that runs on Linux machines. I have only read about it, haven't actually used it, so I can't personally vouch for it yet. But I will be digging into it sometime soon.

UNIX is wonderful. Linux was and is a grand idea. A UNIX based machine will solidly run and stay stable for very long periods of time. I once had a Linux box that did not reboot for over a year.

But for the casual user, I am not sure Linux of any flavor is the answer, unless you want to become a hobbyist.

If you want the elegance and power of Unix and the option of flying blindly and not having to learn a ton of shit, get OS X.

I switched from Linux to OS X. Windows sucks and have not used it on a single machine of mine since 95(?). But when OS X came out; I jumped ship. I no longer had the responsibilities in IT for something so configurable and elegant as Linux.

A lot of the command line love and Unix utilities are live in OS X. OS X is also beautiful and and wonderful to use.

You can use Emacs to all your hearts content, grep like mad, have 60 virtual desktops, etc. and grandma can use it as well.

Linux might be justifiable to the casual user if you want to avoid paying for something like Photoshop and your morals are against stealing it. GIMP is a great (but not perfect) substitute.

FWIW.

A caveat to my statement above. If you want to become a scripting / programming madman, Linux offers a wonderful place to do it. But said person prolly ain't a casual user.

onealjn wrote:A caveat to my statement above. If you want to become a scripting / programming madman, Linux offers a wonderful place to do it. But said person prolly ain't a casual user.

Agreed and agreed. Macs are great, and if all you want is typical home PC stuff, then the ilife suite is all you really need. But if you have a desire to dig in and really learn shit, and you have access to some old, relatively underpowered PCs, then Linux is a good way to go if you can't bear to part with the bucks for a Mac.