ubuntu and linux pros over mac ? READ ME

[Cew27]

hi there
im just looking to arm my self with some information about linux and how it is better than osx and windows
1. i understand that linux has no boundaries, but exactly do people mean when they say this? what can be changed that cant be in windows and osx?
is it faster than osx?
i know its free :lolflag: before anyone says

[NEUR0M4NCER]

As far as I can tell, different people find different pros and cons with Linux. For me, the first two are main points, but they all count.


It's free (as in beer) - and so is most of the software you'll want to run on it.
The support forums are so much better than any MS/Apple help you could ask for - six months ago I knew nothing about Linux, now i'm flying through the terminal as fast as I ever did with DOS.
I like knowing what's going on in a piece of equipment that stores so much personal stuff - from music & video to financial details and contacts. Ubuntu is truly (loathe to use business speak...) 'transparent'.
I like to tinker. Changing wallpaper is one thing, but changing everything about my desktop experience means a lot to me.
My computer is not powerful enough to run Vista, yet happily chucks around wobbly windows, 3D desktops and other tasty effects in Linux.


Regards

p.s. and yeah, I know you said about it being free, but being able to simply use the supplied search tool (Synaptic) to find new apps, games & other stuff, download it, install it and run it all in one go is just... well, it's invaluable. Most of my friends' biggest worry when I tell them they should switch to Linux is compatibility with MS progs... but there's an equivalent that is usually just as good for the average user for everything. AND THEY'RE ALL FREE. Not that i've broken copyright law before... but one of these friends actually went and spent £100 in WinXP over Christmas. XP!?! Why pay for (still better than Vista) a piece of software that's god knows how many years old. Linus is slightly behind the cutting edge of MS/Apple, but if even older versions of their OSs cost so much, why not just support the free route, and then support will come even faster.

[Cew27]

thanks for that input
what can be customised in linux that cant be in mac ??

[pytheas22]

i understand that linux has no boundaries, but exactly do people mean when they say this?

In Linux, because we have free access to the source code, our capacity for modifying things is literally infinite...you could rewrite any feature of the entire operating system that you want, whether it's low-level kernel stuff or code that's closer to the human user. In OS X and Windows (and OS X is even worse than Windows when it comes to this, because Apple is notoriously proprietary about everything), source code is a closely guarded secret, so that only people working for those companies have access to the resources necessary to modify a lot of things. Of course, Apple and Microsoft release some information allowing third-parties to write software for Windows and OS X, but it's still Apple and Microsoft who have the ultimate decision over what a third-party is ABLE to do. In Linux, you're limited only by your programming skill.

Of course, it's true that a lot of people, like me, have no idea how to program and can't directly take advantage of access to the source code. Nonetheless, we still benefit from the rapid innovation driven by the openness in Linux. Think about how often OS X and Windows get new releases--every 3-5 years. A brand new version of Ubuntu, we loads of new features, comes out every six months. This is due to a large extent to the ability of free-software programmers to readily develop new features, without having to deal with the technical, legal and political obstacles involved in proprietary software development.

In addition, the extreme customizability made possible by open-source means that your operating system can be whatever you need it to be, as opposed to what Microsoft or Apple decide it should be. OS X and Windows give you one choice, tailored to what the "average" computer user supposedly wants, as well as the corporate agendas of Microsoft and Apple. Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, for the most part, are free of all these entanglements on software usability.

[pytheas22]

what can be customised in linux that cant be in mac ??

For one thing, the fact that you can run Linux on almost any computer you can find, as well as lots of other devices (cell phones, tivo...), while OS X will only run on the narrow range of machines sold by Apple, attests to the infinite customizability of Linux. No matter how much you might want to install OS X on your Dell computer, you can never do it because you don't have access to the code necessary to know how to write drivers and so on in OS X for stuff like that.

[Cew27]

your right
in a world without walls and fences who needs windows and gates

[TheWizzard]

is it faster than osx?



yes. especially on multi-core processors. that's the reason most supercomputers run linux:
http://www.top500.org/stats/list/29/osfam

[Salpiche]

1. i understand that linux has no boundaries, but exactly do people mean when they say this? what can be changed that cant be in windows and osx?


Just to give you a visual idea as well as a light one just go here: February Desktop (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=683957) and just look at what people do to their desktop looks, this will only give you an small idea of what you can do..

enjoy

[macogw]

If I want to keep one window in front so I can refer to it while working on a larger window (like referring to an email to decide what to type into Firefox), I can do that in Linux with "set above." I can't do that in OSX.

[misfitpierce]

In mac you need shapeshifter (a program) just as in windows you need a program just to edit the theme. A restriction that is dumb considering it is your OS and should look and feel the way you want it to. On a side note I have seen macs go so slow they crawl so saying macs are always fast is false. Every OS has the ability to slow down i've just seen less of it with linux. Linux can be customized to the performance and look you want.

[days_of_ruin]

Workspaces.And a powerful command line.

[aaaantoine]

Mac OS has workspaces. And I would guess the same command line as Linux, as it's BSD-based.

[Cew27]

thanks all, just what exactly is bsd ??

[dnns123]

bsd is another type of unix-like kernel , just like linux.

What I like about linux is that it behaves the way i expect it to behave. No sudden unexpected hangs and stalls. The boot up and shut down time is consistent, unlike windows. I feel more free ( as in me zipping around my computer files ) using linux over Mac.

[Cew27]

i feel the same althaugh firfox is freezing alot for me :(

[Bölvaður]

i feel the same althaugh firfox is freezing alot for me :(

Try Opera, it has seemed a little bit faster and more stable than firefox2

[Cew27]

but i have such a sweet logo for ff :(

[macogw]

Mac OS has workspaces. And I would guess the same command line as Linux, as it's BSD-based.
Yes, and if you ask Mac-fans, Leopard's Spaces are an amazing new invention...not a copy of X Windows at all :p I've heard complaints from some Mac fans that Leopard's Spaces aren't nearly as good as Virtue Desktops was.

The shell depends on the version of OSX. Up until 10.3, it was tcsh by default. As of Tiger, they went to bash.

[corney91]

but i have such a sweet logo for ff :(
You could try Firefox3 (http://www.ubuntugeek.com/howto-install-firefox-3-beta-2-in-ubuntu-710-gutsy-gibbon.html) but be warned that it is still in beta, so don't expect the stability (although I, personally, have found it much more stable than firefox2)

[Mary.Riley]

To put it simply:

In Linux, you can edit the code. All of the code. Imagine a version of Windows where you could reprogram the Start menu to work the way you want it (in 3D, with wallpaper, and horizontally across the screen, maybe?) and Microsoft wouldn't try to sue you for doing so. Even more exciting is the collaboration that comes from GROUPS of people trying to do that.