Selfsufficientish.com

thanks Mike
I am sure it is not as bad as it sounds written down...will read it all up and maybe go for it!! if I mess up my son can sort it out! But it does seem to be faster (at least thats what the converts tell me!) My son explained why it is better but lost me halfway through the very enthusiastic monologue! Maybe it will be me doing the speech soon!

I've always been a big fan of Linux especially Debian based distros like Ubuntu my current favourite is Linux Mint which is always based on the current release of Ubuntu (no link as this is my second post but remove the space and stick .com on the end ) it's a British distro started by a French guy living in Ireland

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux!!

In my first two years here I 'lost' my laptop regularly to viruses.
Last summer, my laptop 'lost' windows, so my sister sent me a ubuntu USB stick. I've stuck with linux ever since. No viruses have hit and I haven't lost everything yet :)

well, you all know that I am full on geek.

I use Ubuntu on my main machine and my kids machines and I have a few customers that also use Ubuntu.

I also have loads of old computers that I rebuild give away/sell to anyone that asks, I mainly use Ubuntu but a few weeks ago a friend asked for "any version of windows" on a machine due to a program that her work uses. You can't believe that hassle just to get a computer working, product keys, licences,activation, approved hardware and the updates! oh my god the updates! then surf the web to find the software like the anti-virus and anti-spyware, then update them. Then install a browser that works, then word processor suite, something to play music with that don't crash the machine when you try to play a mp3 without DRM, a PDF reader that doesn't freeze or load a million plugins while loading a simple PDF and then update that. (Adobe reader, same program for 10 years, updates daily ? WTF? )

yet, with the same hardware, bung a Ubuntu CD in, answer 7 simple questions about the machine (my kids can do this since they where 6 years old) sit back, one reboot later and you have a machine that is fully working with everything installed.

I find Microsoft windows a waste of time and effort.

::end of rant

Well, I'm a year and a half in - or so - and I'm absolutely with you, John. I would NEVER consider going back to Windows. My one gripe (if you can call it that) - that Reaper wouldn't run on Linux - was wrong. I soon found a way to do it on the net. The open-source world is fantastic.

LibreOffice, which is fully compatible with MS Office, is actually an improvement over it. GIMP (now available in an all-in-one-window version) does everything I ever wanted to do in Photoshop. Inkscape, for the vector art fans, is racing ahead of its commercial competitors. Blender3D is fast catching up with Maya/3DSMax and is already better in some areas. And they're all free. There's loads of free software by default, but once you learn how to open up other repositories, there's loads more (literally thousands of open-source programs).

I haven't had a hint of a virus even though I don't run anti-virus. My sidebar is still quirky but - so what? Getting rid of ALL Windows quirkiness in exchange for one tiny bit is well worth it. Oh - and my machine is showing no signs of slowing down over time, so I'm not going to have to do the dreaded Windows clean-up.

Oh - and it's faster, by a factor of

Best thing I ever did.

Mike

So - five years on and no further replies. Does this mean that everyone and their mum is now on Linux?

Nope. Too idle to learn.

Flo!!! The things I could teach you! The complete release from the Microsoft hegemony (not sure what that means). You KNOW it makes sense. Look into my eyes ... you KNOW it makes sense .. You KNOW it makes se ... You KNOW ...

Long gone are the days when I want to fiddle with computer operating systems. So long as it works when I switch it on ....

My technical support has always been teaching how to use all sorts of end applications - you'd be amazed how many office admin folks are not in control of the things they are supposed to use for work.

I have a love/hate relationship with Linux.
The main problem with me is that I use several computers for my radio work, and although there are some programs ported to Linux, the vast majority are Windows only. They work very well, but I'd be the first to admit that Windows programs need a fast processor and loads of memory.
I do have a couple of old laptops that are Linux only, one with the new fangled Linux Mint, which works very well, but they are not used very often.
I suppose I really ought to use Linux for this laptop I'm typing on now, it's pretty much just used for Internet and mail, but the laptop came preinstalled with Win 7 and I got no disk, and I've corrupted too many MBRs in the past to make me think twice about dual boots.

I recognise the 'problems', although they're not always really problems. Odsox, it may open your eyes if you look at a program called WINE. I have several Windows bits and pieces running happily under that (one of them a game with some heftyish graphics requirements - which I run, of course, for research purposes only). Also, if you're on Mint, have you got the Cinnamon version? That makes your Linux machine look and feel a bit more like Windows - although with vastly lower resource requirements.
However, I'm not going to preach too much - if you're happy with a system, stay with it. But zero cost, virtual immunity from prying or destructive infection, and regular updates appeal to my Scroogeish nature. Oh - and, of course, the Internet runs mainly on Linux.

Yes I tried Wine a long time ago, but the problem is emulating Windows is not quite the same as Windows native.
My radios are totally controlled by the computer, controlling all the features, transmit and receive sequences, polling the frequency and generally using commands that are relatively unique to the hobby. Plus some of the programs I use may only have a maximum of 20 - 50 users, and they barely run on Windows.

I do use Ubuntu for a radio beacon set up, because of all the benefits it gives me .. ease of networking, other programs running at timed intervals, but mainly NO DAMNED UPDATES AND REBOOTS without my say so.
Also the software I use on that was written for Linux

My main problem though is I've used Windows for too long (since 3.1) and too set in my ways (who me? )

I don't think I knew you were a bit of a ham, Odsox. I used to be the proud owner of a wartime (or possibly just pre-war) HRO monster which I attempted to rebuild. Unsuccessfully - but it kept me amused for a couple of years.

Yes, been licenced now for about 40 years, still have my old UK callsign as well as my Irish one and it keeps me off the streets.

Ah the National HRO, I remember it well although I had the RCA AR88 which also literally weighed a hundredweight.
Quite glad those days are gone though, my newest transceiver fits in my coat pocket and still outperforms just about everything else.

Been using Ubuntu for the last 12 months since the Windows 10 telemetry backfed into Windows 7. It is faster, it doesn't auto-update when it wants to and I can manage most things. It dual boots so i can revert to Windows if i need to. (usually takes 20 minutes running its enforced updates before you can do anything). Remember every Windows Update is an admission of failure (to get it right), not a good thing. every Windows Updates slows your machine down.

Still on a 12-year-old Optiplex 745 (scrapper from work)