Linux Mormons

[richlittell]

Just wondering how many of you are using Linux?

I have two laptops with Ubuntu and NO Microsoft Windows at all. I don't even use my computer that the University gave me at my school (with Windows, of course), it's just sitting there gathering dust ( I tried to give it away, but they won't let me).

I know Linux is very popular overseas (I'm in Taiwan), but don't know if it's caught on in the States yet.

Anyone Else?

[miztrniceguy]

Isn't Linux Lucy's little brother...the one always dragging around a blanket?

[pam]

haha that's Linus.

[Moksha]

Are Linux Mormons a true subset of Internet Mormons?

I have used Ubuntu before. I would use it exclusively except I couldn't get it to work with my internet provider, and of course there is the issue of all those Windows first person shooter games that beckon me to either win the war or save the world.

Otherwise, Linux is superior to Windows in so many ways.

[richlittell]

Are Linux Mormons a true subset of Internet Mormons?

I have used Ubuntu before. I would use it exclusively except I couldn't get it to work with my internet provider, and of course there is the issue of all those Windows first person shooter games that beckon me to either win the war or save the world.

Otherwise, Linux is superior to Windows in so many ways.

Oh, truly, the games are the best reason to have Windows. Actually, I used to dual boot (or should I say "duel" boot haha) so that I'd have Windows for my Madden NFL game. But for my everyday school/business affairs, Linux wins hands down. Do you know in four years I have NEVER had to reboot my system because of lock up. Can you Window users imagine that?

[Spacemecha]

I run ipcop as a proxy server/content filter. Other then that I have a desktop that I never use which runs CentOS.

[Still_Small_Voice]

For those of you who don't know what a Linux operating system is here is a brief overview:

Unix is an operating system used to control networks and to support applications used on the Internet. There are several versions of Unix which are referred to as flavors or distributions. Chief is used to control networks and to support applications used on the Internet.

Linux is an operating system that is a variation of Unix. Linus Torvalds is credited for creating the Linux Kernel when he was a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Many basic versions of this operating system are free. All the underlying programming instructions (called source code) are also available (programmers can use the source code to customize their software to work with Linux operating systems). Linux can be used both by servers and a desktop computers, but its greatest popularity has come in the server market.

Network services such as a Web server or E-mail server often are provided by a computer running a Linux operating system.

Because Linux is a very stable operating system and does not require a lot of computing power from hardware, it is also used by many users as a desktop operating system (though it is not anywhere near the popularity of Microsoft Windows). A drawback of Linux is there isn't as much software available out there for the operating system as most software is written for Microsoft Windows. Some popular distributions of Linux are: Ubuntu, RedHat, SuSE and TurboLinux.

[Still_Small_Voice]

The reason I really like the Linux operating system called Ubuntu 8.04 is because of its security features and its FREE.

Linux is much more secure than Microsoft Windows against malicious software. If you don't have anti-virus programs for Windows the Internet will rip your computer apart.

[scdoyle]

I run Linux (Ubuntu and Mandriva)and Mac OSX as VM on my Dell laptop. I must say that my favorite Linux distro is Mandriva. Ubuntu is not bad though. Tried SUSE 10 and didn't care much for it.

[MikeUpton]

I use Windows Xp/Ubuntu Linux/OpenBSD and an ipcop or pfsense firewall, depending on my mood. IPCop works better with Snort IDS for some reason. I don't get good results using it with PfSense. Someday down the road, I think it would be extremely cool to learn to create a nice openbsd firewall. I'm a huge fan of that OS.

these guys are fans of open source and linux.

LDSTech Web Site - LDS Technology Site

[Jbs2763]

no , i use the far superior operating system...MAC OS Leopard

and a mac is very much gooder than a PC

[MikeUpton]

no , i use the far superior operating system...MAC OS Leopard

and a mac is very much gooder than a PC

Much of Mac OS X is Unix as well.

Architecture of Mac OS X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[scdoyle]

no , i use the far superior operating system...MAC OS Leopard

and a mac is very much gooder than a PC

MAC OS superior? For your home they're fine, but put them in a multi-user environment and they're terrible. I work it IT for the local High School District and our school's Mac's have WAY more issues that our PC's.

[MikeUpton]

MAC OS superior? For your home they're fine, but put them in a multi-user environment and they're terrible. I work it IT for the local High School District and our school's Mac's have WAY more issues that our PC's.

Definitely true. They're very nice for home use, for servers or firewalls, definitely straight BSD for me. (or linux)

[Spacemecha]

*nix based systems are great, but there is a lot of software that isn't available for them and so I still use Microsoft.

[DigitalShadow]

I have to use Windows for my work (since I develop software that targets the Windows platform) and at home I use my computers for games (the majority of which aren't available for linux). I have nothing against Linux, but personally I don't have much use for it and frankly I don't have much issue with my Windows machines since I keep them very clean from crapware and don't go around installing programs from popups. The reason there are so many known security issues and viruses for Windows has less to do with the quality of the software (though believe me, I get frustrated with Windows a lot) and more to do with the fact that it is the dominant OS and therefore the biggest target for people who want to hijack your computer for other uses.

Windows is far from perfect, but I find that a lot of people don't give it enough credit for what it does do.

[richlittell]

. . . I have nothing against Linux, but personally I don't have much use for it and frankly I don't have much issue with my Windows machines since I keep them very clean from crapware and don't go around installing programs from popups. The reason there are so many known security issues and viruses for Windows has less to do with the quality of the software (though believe me, I get frustrated with Windows a lot) and more to do with the fact that it is the dominant OS and therefore the biggest target for people who want to hijack your computer for other uses.

Windows is far from perfect, but I find that a lot of people don't give it enough credit for what it does do.

Believing that Linux is a good FREE system does not undermine Windows, though in jest we Linux users sometimes poke fun at it (and, yes, some Linux users are a bit fanatical). There are just some things you can't do on Linux. However, Linux is starting to be taken more seriously by more software companies and you can buy some good applications for Linux if you can't find anything for free. Some people are also good at running Windows inside of Linux so they lose nothing when they convert to Linux, but you have to be pretty committed to tweak things enough to get it all to work together, and that's no picnic. However, that should show the potential of a completely free operating system. Potentially, It could do what windows does and more.

I disagree just a little (though there would be some truth in it) about the junkware (crapware) point and Windows being a bigger target. First, Linux is free and I don't have to pay to get software that is free of junkware. I have Firefox and Thunderbird (which is excellent at cleaning out the junk mail), and Open Office (spreadsheet, word processor, database) and as University professor I have to edit Word documents at publication quality. There are also some excellent graphics programs like Gimp. Basically, an entire quality production system for free without any junkware. As I said before, not a single reboot in 4 years, and I have installed and tested over one hundred different FREE apps/games without any problems (not single piece of hidden junkware). I can't tell you how many times I did a System Restore in Windows when testing out apps.

As far as security, Linux is a UNIX based system that was from it's inception a networking system. Windows was first and foremost a single user desktop system and that's why it has inherited so many troubles (security, freezing up) as it has grown. For Linux, a lot of security is built into it by the nature of its design, flaws rarely show up, and when they do, they are much simpler to deal with; and since it's open source, there is an entire army ready to meet the task.

How does Vista compare? The last I used was XP. Anyone?

BTW, this from Apple.com Apple - Mac OS X Leopard - Features - 300+ New Features :

UNIX® Certification

Mac OS X is now a fully certified UNIX operating system, conforming to both the Single UNIX Specification (SUSv3) and POSIX 1003.1.

I guess that makes Linux, BSD-unix, and Mac OS X siblings. (does that make MS Windows the proverbial stepchild?) :)

Also, I have always assumed that while some major corporate or government agencies may use Windows as administrative desktops, I have always assumed that the core mainframe/server system for most major organizations is a Unix based system. Anybody know? What do agencies like FBI and DOD use? Any one work at IBM? What is your mainframe/server system? Anyone work at a Bank? What do you use?

Edited September 12, 2008 by richlittell

[DigitalShadow]

I disagree just a little (though there would be some truth in it) about the junkware (crapware) point and Windows being a bigger target. First, Linux is free and I don't have to pay to get software that is free of junkware. I have Firefox and Thunderbird (which is excellent at cleaning out the junk mail), and Open Office (spreadsheet, word processor, database) and as University professor I have to edit Word documents at publication quality. There are also some excellent graphics programs like Gimp. Basically, an entire quality production system for free without any junkware. As I said before, not a single reboot in 4 years, and I have installed and tested over one hundred different FREE apps/games without any problems (not single piece of hidden junkware). I can't tell you how many times I did a System Restore in Windows when testing out apps.

I use open source and free software all the time. I can't stand Microsoft Office in general so I use Open Office, the company I work for doesn't think a UI programmer needs a copy of photoshop so I became very proficient with GIMP and have grown to like it quite a bit and I often switch off between Firefox, IE and Chrome depending on what I'm doing on the web. My point about junkware was not that you need to pay to get something good, it was that many people don't have very good judgement in what they install on their computer and get software from some shady sites that quickly bogs their computer down with adware and viruses, then they blame Windows for their own poor judgement.

As far as security, Linux is a UNIX based system that was from it's inception a networking system. Windows was first and foremost a single user desktop system and that's why it has inherited so many troubles (security, freezing up) as it has grown. For Linux, a lot of security is built into it by the nature of its design, flaws rarely show up, and when they do, they are much simpler to deal with; and since it's open source, there is an entire army ready to meet the task.

Windows WAS first and foremost a single user desktop system, around XP they integrated a lot of their server platform into the consumer product and stability increased quite a bit. I do agree that Linux was built more with security in mind with its framework and overall it is probably 'better' with security, but keep in mind that Microsoft has an army of (well paid) developers to fix holes as they are found as well. Also there is next to no market for adware/malware/spyware that targets linux since it is such a low market share that it wouldn't be worthwhile to spend the time developing it (that may change soon though).

How does Vista compare? The last I used was XP. Anyone?

I switched to Vista Ultimate a few months ago (it was free with my MSDN subscription) and have been pretty underwhelmed. It's not that bad, but it is pretty much XP with a new face on it and a few annoying 'features' that I had to turn off.

Also, I have always assumed that while some major corporate or government agencies may use Windows as administrative desktops, I have always assumed that the core mainframe/server system for most major organizations is a Unix based system. Anybody know? What do agencies like FBI and DOD use? Any one work at IBM? What is your mainframe/server system? Anyone work at a Bank? What do you use?

I could tell you but then I would have to kill you

Just kidding, the company I work for isn't a bank or the DOD or anything interesting, but we do maintain a fairly large infrastructure that is powered by Windows Server 2003 and it has been pretty stable for us. I imagine most government agencies have a custom unix derivative built especially for their needs though.

[kona0197]

It's a wonder that you all even know about Linux. I wonder how soon we see the Vista bashing start.

[Moksha]

I wonder how soon we see the Vista bashing start.

You're right. Ususally it starts during the install process.

[Still_Small_Voice]

Windows Vista installs faster than Windows XP. It is one advantage Vista has over XP. Overall, Windows XP is a better operating system in my opinion. Vista takes options away that you had in XP.

[richlittell]

I could tell you but then I would have to kill you

....

Oh great, you just told me so now you have to kill me. And believe me, a male Caucasian Mormon English Professor in Taiwan is not hard to find

[kona0197]

You're right. Ususally it starts during the install process.

And we have a winner...

[kona0197]

Windows Vista installs faster than Windows XP. It is one advantage Vista has over XP. Overall, Windows XP is a better operating system in my opinion. Vista takes options away that you had in XP.

XP nor Vista can hold a candle to my OSX...

[richlittell]

XP nor Vista can hold a candle to my OSX...

speaking of installs, Ubuntu is the fastest I've ever seen. It asks only a couple of questions or so and does the rest, I can't remember, I think about 15 minutes.

but that's not the cool part, If you have Windows on your system, it automatically sets up the dual boot and everything, and I never had a Windows get corrupted (I've done about nine Window dual boot installs with about 4 different versions of Ubuntu. You can also opt to have Ubuntu wipe out windows and install itself as the only operating system, I've done that about three times without a hitch.