jakeslife
December 16th, 2004, 06:03 AM
So, I am very impressed with Ubuntu. Back when Suse 8.1 came out is when I first started playing around with linux. I was on a 256 DSL so I bought the install DVD's from a store, and over the next few weeks I was both pleased and displeased with linux.
I browsed Distrowatch for hours, trying to find a distro that fit me. Since then, I've played around with Slackware, Mandrake, and Suse, and lots of Live CD's; Mandrake Move, Linspire Live, PCLinuxOS, Slax (and it's offspring), Beatrix, and week before last I found Ubuntu. I have to say that it is the most pleasing linux experience I've had so far.
My main gripes with other distros isn't just one thing, it's many: GUI (or lack thereof), package management, gaming, hardware support, and media support being the predominant woes.
The GUI's are either extremely bare (which I know some people love), or extremely bloated. Honestly, this is the first time I've ever played with Gnome. I always liked the tasty GUI of KDE, but I find that the Gnome desktop in Ubuntu is the right combo of minimalism and slickness for me. Hardware support has always been hit or miss for me (from my nVidia video card to my wireless keyboard/mouse and Bluetooth devices).
I am one who doesn't mind having to use the command line for certain things--it's the repetition that I hate. It's the same fight between Notepad enthusiasts and WYSIWYG people. I will do it if I have to in order to make something work just the way I want to, but overall I shy away from it. From system configuration, to hardware issues and program installation, this is something that has turned me off from Linux in general. :-({|=
The reasons I am primarily using Windows is because of the things I must have: Adobe and Macromedia software, media support (dvd, wmv, avi, divx, asf, mov, mp4, etc.), and program installation. I know that with the right amount of tweaking, you can play most if not all media types on linux, and when I started learning more about package management I saw how easy it could be, albeit a few minor things here and there. Obviously, Ubuntu has opened my eyes a lot to the gripes I had about previous linux experiences.
The one thing I am not comfortable with though is leaving the programs that I love. Dreamweaver is what I use in my design business (I've used NVu and Bluefish before, but they don't quite hit the spot for me), Photoshop (most likely because I am most comfortable with it and not the Gimp), and lots and lots of games.
This has turned out to be an interesting post! I guess I am more cautious about my system now because before my apartment building burned down this year I had four computers, so who cares if I throw linux on one of them and screw things up--all my important files are on my Windows box. I really want to switch to linux--and I think Ubuntu is what I have been waiting for--but there are those few things still nagging me. I am all for spending an hour or two backing up all my data and reinstalling Windows, but not when I don't have to.
I browsed Distrowatch for hours, trying to find a distro that fit me. Since then, I've played around with Slackware, Mandrake, and Suse, and lots of Live CD's; Mandrake Move, Linspire Live, PCLinuxOS, Slax (and it's offspring), Beatrix, and week before last I found Ubuntu. I have to say that it is the most pleasing linux experience I've had so far.
My main gripes with other distros isn't just one thing, it's many: GUI (or lack thereof), package management, gaming, hardware support, and media support being the predominant woes.
The GUI's are either extremely bare (which I know some people love), or extremely bloated. Honestly, this is the first time I've ever played with Gnome. I always liked the tasty GUI of KDE, but I find that the Gnome desktop in Ubuntu is the right combo of minimalism and slickness for me. Hardware support has always been hit or miss for me (from my nVidia video card to my wireless keyboard/mouse and Bluetooth devices).
I am one who doesn't mind having to use the command line for certain things--it's the repetition that I hate. It's the same fight between Notepad enthusiasts and WYSIWYG people. I will do it if I have to in order to make something work just the way I want to, but overall I shy away from it. From system configuration, to hardware issues and program installation, this is something that has turned me off from Linux in general. :-({|=
The reasons I am primarily using Windows is because of the things I must have: Adobe and Macromedia software, media support (dvd, wmv, avi, divx, asf, mov, mp4, etc.), and program installation. I know that with the right amount of tweaking, you can play most if not all media types on linux, and when I started learning more about package management I saw how easy it could be, albeit a few minor things here and there. Obviously, Ubuntu has opened my eyes a lot to the gripes I had about previous linux experiences.
The one thing I am not comfortable with though is leaving the programs that I love. Dreamweaver is what I use in my design business (I've used NVu and Bluefish before, but they don't quite hit the spot for me), Photoshop (most likely because I am most comfortable with it and not the Gimp), and lots and lots of games.
This has turned out to be an interesting post! I guess I am more cautious about my system now because before my apartment building burned down this year I had four computers, so who cares if I throw linux on one of them and screw things up--all my important files are on my Windows box. I really want to switch to linux--and I think Ubuntu is what I have been waiting for--but there are those few things still nagging me. I am all for spending an hour or two backing up all my data and reinstalling Windows, but not when I don't have to.