So... why Linux?

[Axel-P]

(I'm not sure if I should post this here, move if necessary)

Dear *buntuers,

I have a question for you all: Why Linux?

I'll put thin in context

So, starting in august, I'll be the head of the Linux team at my college. Our team make many projects in order to learn about various topics and in order to help others. As the president of the team, one of my duties is to get more members, so each trimester, the president and another member visit the classrooms of the department of computer science in order to find potential members. And I need some help .

I just would want some questions to be answered.

1)Why did you tried/installed linux in the first place?
2)Why should a student in computer science dualboot or flush Windows?
3)Which distro would you recommend to a newcomer?
4)Any other advice you may find helpful

Notes:
I know that I may find the answer to some of these questions with Google, and that's what I'm doing, so if you know of some thread, blogpost, etc. that may be helpful I'll appreciate it.

In our college we are pretty much platform independent. There are 1 or 2 softs that can't be run in Linux, like the flash IDE from adobe , but it's no big deal. I'm pretty much sure that the students will dual boot and I usually run a virtual machine if necessary

We do have a linux class, but just one, and it's DAMN boring. The last thing you want to know is read trough the man pages in order to learn the obscure options of grep. I'm just happy to know that it doesn't affects the interest in Linux

Thank you all!

[jerenept]

Why is this here? it should be in the Community Cafe.
I installed Ubuntu Lucid bcuz-

1)Because I can't afford to buy a Windows Product Key
2)My computer is too old to run Vista or Win7
3)NO D@MN VIRUSES AND ANTIVIRUS!!!!
4)Lucid runs unbelievably fast!!!
5)#3 AGAIN!!!
6)Opensource software is amazing!

A Computer Science student should do what is most beneficial to him/her. If you need Windows, keep it. If not, get rid of it in all its buggy, virus-infested glory.

I would recommend Ubuntu 10.04 or Linux Mint 9.

Other advice... Donate, maybe? You can help out in this way.
You could spread the word about Ubuntu, show off how fast your computer starts,etc.
Keep your computer updated!!--VERY IMPORTANT! It is very simple and gets you the latest and greatest from the FOSS community

[WorMzy]

1)Why did you tried/installed linux in the first place?
I believe that software should be free, and preferably open source, so Linux was an obvious choice. I also like how stable Linux is, frequent crashes were the bane of my Windows experience.

2)Why should a student in computer science dualboot or flush Windows?
I dualboot so I can play games on Windows and get the most out of my hardware while doing so. Also, if the student needs a program that only exists on Windows, then flushing it is probably not the best idea!

3)Which distro would you recommend to a newcomer?
Probably Kubuntu if the newbie is coming from Windows, I think that KDE would appeal more to them than GNOME.

4)Any other advice you may find helpful
Don't give up! Windows is ridiculously easy for the typical end user to use, and it likes to hold your hand through the entire experience. Linux is a lot less user friendly in that regard, as someones signature on here says: Linux assumes you know what you're doing. If you don't know what you're doing: ask for help! But don't rely on others help, try to understand things for yourself too.

[TBABill]

1. Windows Vista got infected with viruses too many times to invest my time in it. I ran the latest and greatest software to prevent it, but you can't stop kids from clicking the wrong .exe file. Windows causes me a lot of work as a parent and owner of 5 computers.
2. Doesn't matter what they do, but keeping Windows is a good idea if you ever may have a situation where something only works with Windows. Everyone has their own opinion, but nothing wrong with having whatever you need when you need it. Dual, triple, whatever....boot to the OS you need for what you need.
3. I would recommend PCLinuxOS or Mint to a newcomer. Ubuntu is easy for sure, but those are even easier and all the codecs are just setup for you. Makes life easy to get going when you have no idea what you are doing.
4. Distro hopping is fun, great for learning and a test of your skills at setting up various Linux systems, desktop environments, etc. Take the time to learn several and understand the differences, both good and bad. And take the time to answer others' questions when they are new...giving back is what a free OS is all about.

[SweetShadow]

1)Cause i had an appetite for destruction and my first installation ever was a Slack 7 or something.talking about s&m.Cause i knew windows could satisfy my needs but i knew i had another option available.Much tougher but still an option.

2)Because everything comes down to choices.I can use both Oo or MS office to write a .doc or make a presentation.Games i choose to play (EVE Online and log in wow couple times a month) work great (FOR ME) under wine and windows.Some apps don't though so i still cant get rid of the win7 im dualbooting.

3)Something *light* in terms of functionality.Having a newcomer bump his head against the wall cause his new all shiny OS cant play mp3's or dvd's is a no go but as long as the procedure is a couple of clicks to get the job done is acceptable.Ubuntu/mint would be my *proposal*.As everything else in this field,its a matter of choice.

4)You should be really patient since no one is obligated to do anything in this community driven project.Do your part, feel good about it and in the end of the day one more pc will be running a linux dist.All you have to compete against is yourself not MS.

[frappe1]

1. I dumped Windows because I was fed up with the constant overcommercialization harming the quality of the software. When Vista and 7 passed for poor excuses for innovation, I knew the time had come to completely purge myself of Windows. With OSS, software that works takes precedence over mandates from the marketing department. OSS devs can focus on real innovation, rather than ginning up something "new" so people have to buy all over again.

The software in the repos was another huge motivating factor. Almost everything in the repos is quality software produced by devoted people. Some of it might lack functionality or not be fit for a specific task, but those issues can be worked around by trying different packages until I find the right one. With Windows, I would waste hours looking for programs that were overhyped commercial crap, then waste hours more making sure the software didn't phone home or contain spyware. I never knew how fit those programs were, because all of them had been dressed up and hyped by marketing. Marketing gets in the way of honestly communicating program capabilities. OSS devs are very upfront about what their software can and cannot do, because they aren't going for a hard sell.

I also value software which is free and whose source is open for inspection. I can modify and extend OS software as I see fit, which allows for an unparalleled level of integration and usability that isn't possible when commercial developers are doing everything possible to wall people off from making better use of software.


2. With the exception of highly specialized programs for (usually) professional use, OSS will do everything that proprietary will, and it does it better. Anybody who does not rely on one killer app has no need for the crappy closed source commercial software. Ubuntu, out of the box, does everything an average user needs, and can be greatly extended by opening Synaptic.

Science students have a brain, which means they don't need software built on the idea that a Visa card can substitute for a brain, as commercial software "support" believes.

Students might as well rip the band-aid off and get the transition over with sooner than later.


3. Ubuntu Karmic. There are better distros for other purposes, but for an out of the box system which works, Ubuntu fits the bill. Lucid still has too many bugs for anyone who doesn't want a bunch of issues.


4. The Internet is a valuable resource. If you have a problem with OSS, chances are that 100 other people have already found that issue and collaborated on a way to resolve it. That level of support just isn't possible with commercial software, since the average "customer" (not user) will call tech support, pay for their answer, then move on without helping document and correct the problem in the code base at large.

[zacktu]

Does your computer science use Linux for any courses? If that's true, then in my experience you've got a hard sell. Is there at least one course where it's more natural to use Linux?

[smellyman]

1)Why did you tried/installed linux in the first place?

A lot of people hate this on this board....,but I bought a Mac and realized how much better an OS can be other than Windows. It pushed me to Linux as well.

2)Why should a student in computer science dualboot or flush Windows?

Well a computer science student should dual boot out of intellectual curiosity. It is their future field afterall

3)Which distro would you recommend to a newcomer?

Mint, Ubuntu, PCLOS

4)Any other advice you may find helpful

One of the things I love about Linux is repositories/package managers. No longer do you have to spend time researching/searching/evaluating/buying/praying there is no spyware in apps. Hit the package mangers, find the software and try it. There are so many programs available (which was one of the surprises to me) and often far superior to any Windows counterpart.

[linden940]

1)Why did you tried/installed Linux in the first place?
To try something else other than just windows because at that time windows was starting to drive me nuts (got another bug and the whole system crashed) so went googling and found ubuntu so before I reformatted I gave it a try...ended up switching BACK to windows for about 8months (during that 8months I learned what i could about linux as a system.

2)Why should a student in computer science dualboot or flush Windows?
Linux in short is more stable and can last longer than some window systems because of all the bugs that are out there for windows. If the person has some computer know how (from the computer science classes/labs) they should be able to learn Linux pretty fast.

3)Which distro would you recommend to a newcomer?
Ubuntu and the reason being that its wide used is many country's and the help that a person can get per the system is of up most.

4)Any other advice you may find helpful
As to learning anything that is new, you should READ about it first before you go trying to do anything so you know what you are getting into. This website would be a very good place to read up on Ubuntu but going to the other sites that are on the world wide web would be great as well. Another site that would be good to check into would be Youtube.com

[frappe1]

Does your computer science use Linux for any courses? If that's true, then in my experience you've got a hard sell. Is there at least one course where it's more natural to use Linux?

On the flip side, most CS degrees aren't utterly dependent on Windows, specifically. The few courses that are can be easily complied with inside a virtual machine. If your degree is in Windows API programming, then maybe Windows is a necessity, but other than that, 99% of college, including CS, is fairly OS neutral.

If Windows were such a big deal there wouldn't be Macs all over campus.

I would think it's most natural to use the best software overall, and worry about handling the 1% exceptions with exception handling, not by choosing software entirely around them.

OpenOffice + GIMP out of the box, for the half of the degree that is GenEd, makes more sense than constantly trying to finagle student keys for Office and Photoshop that, even with generous academic discounts, represent money that indebted students shouldn't be spending.