Richard Forth wrote:
Well, actually, I think from what you say there I am probably a good
30% (if you can visualise a progress bar from "Windows only" to "Fully
migrated to Linux"...)
As one of the relatively long term members here I don't know where I'd
claim to be on that progress bar; at home I'd say about 70% (up from
about 5% only a week ago, so good progress - that's when my Win2k PC
died again and got an Ubuntu 7.04 (beta) makeover!).
At work, all our servers are Linux and have been for a long time. All
our desktops are Windows. At present there's too much I have to do in
Windows for work, but I'm going to move a lot over to virtual machines
on a Linux base as and when I can. But at present, servers: 100%,
desktops 0%. Even then, to be fair, the servers have always been Linux -
I've never administered a "real" Windows server, so its not fair to see
that as a migration.
What I will say for the change at home: lots of things work better, lots
of things don't work at all, and lots of things work just plain
differently. But the thought of re-installing Win2k again, and catching
up on all the updates, was just too painful (I don't like XP and don't
have a licence for anything >2k anyway).
> Ditched Photoshop Elements - now using "the Gimp"
I've used Gimp on Windows a lot recently: I needed something I could use
for making graphics changes whilst on site and anything proprietary
needed a licence for installation on the server there and for short term
use that was pointless.
> Ditched MS Office (even on the XP box) - now using "OpenOffice.org 2.0"
I much prefer OOo anyway. It is much better at handling non-MS files, it
exports to PDF, its search functionality in Calc is vastly superior to
what Office can do, it doesn't cripple the PC, etc etc.
The biggest thing I am going to miss is Windows' InstallSheild
Wizards, all this "make install", "apt get" and "yum update" still
terrifies me a little bit,
Installation stuff needs some work in some areas, but in many cases this
is so much easier. I challenge anyone to run a command on their windows
box (or let the GUI do it for you) which updates your OS, web browser,
office software, etc etc etc all in one go. And then doesn't need a reboot.
- Uninstalling Windows 2000 (yes scary I know hehe)
Didn't have to: mine committed suicide (for the Nth time).
- My biggest love - Battlefield 2 + all the expansion packs
- several other games, and how to overcome DirectX issues in Linux -
ie is it possible to play DirectX games?
Gaming is an area I know little about but as a LUG we need to know the
state of play (geddit?) with this stuff - it is probably the biggest
hard to answer FAQ.
- Video Editting and using firewire with my camcorder
Not tried it, but I would expect firewire support on Linux to be better
(or at least as good) as on Windows, and there's probably some pretty
capable editing software around too. On Windows I like playing with
Muvee (www.muvee.com) and would love to see a free (as in speech)
alternative to that. One day I'll give it a go under Wine.
- DivX Conversion Software (Currently using registered version of DivX
Converter v6)
XviD is preferable in my view (more open); there are several transcoding
packages around although I don't know what to suggest.
- SATA drive support
That's there and has been for some time (my home PC is running on a
500GB SATA). For some reason this isn't always a default option, though;
no idea why. Ubuntu never had any problems with it.
[...] and the fact the Vista looks to be the biggest waste of money yet,
Now that I'm running the silly GUI effects that come with Compiz/Beryl
on my home PC (which is *not* a powerful PC by any stretch), I find it
really weird moving windows around on my Windows desktop and not having
them resist the pull then spring into place. If I had a spare Vista
licence I'd have a laugh and see what it could do on the same hardware
(doubt it would even install!).
Anyway enough of my rants, i should be popping along with Malcolm,
from work. he introduced me to the LUG.
Look forward to meeting you!
--
Mark Rogers
More Solutions Ltd :: 0845 45 89 555
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