Thread: finally switched to ubuntu from windows...

  1. #1
    Linguistic Engineer... doubleanti's Avatar
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    finally switched to ubuntu from windows...

    I finally switched to ubuntu from windows. It didn't really take that long to convince me after using it on the desktop for about 4 days.

    It is quite the efficient OS. Though I had some trouble with drivers for a brand new laptop in the 10.4 and 9.10 versions, 10.10 worked like a charm.

    It is truly an OS designed by programmers for programmers... =]
    hasafraggin shizigishin oppashigger...

  2. #2
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by doubleanti View Post
    It is truly an OS designed by programmers for programmers... =]
    You must be joking...
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    Crazy Fool Perspective's Avatar
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    Why would he(she?) be joking? I'd definitely agree with that statement.

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    Programming Wraith GReaper's Avatar
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    Considering that ubuntu is freeware, meaning that many different programmers may have worked to bring that piece of art to you, i agree completely with doubleanti.
    Devoted my life to programming...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sipher View Post
    Considering that ubuntu is freeware, meaning that many different programmers may have worked to bring that piece of art to you, i agree completely with doubleanti.
    Freeware isn't necessarily "Open Source"... but I take your point.

    Simply put... "Too many cooks spoil the broth".

    We can only wonder how much better it might have been if worked on by a cohesive team rather than a loose alliance of amateurs.

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    Crazy Fool Perspective's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    We can only wonder how much better it might have been if worked on by a cohesive team rather than a loose alliance of amateurs.
    We can also wonder how much worse it might have been if it didn't have the diverse input and influence of many different people, but was driven by the views of a small group.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Perspective View Post
    We can also wonder how much worse it might have been if it didn't have the diverse input and influence of many different people, but was driven by the views of a small group.
    Well, yes, that is the logical opposition to my point and thus valid. We don't know, do we?

    I don't even want to guess how many times I've tried Ubuntu and other flavors of Linux only to end up "bug on a windshield" when I needed a bit of help and couldn't find anyone who could answer my questions... I know it's slowly getting better but the near total lack of information about such things as driver installations, configuation, etc. is a deal breaker.

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    The Autodidact Dante Wingates's Avatar
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    I came here to ask if its a good idea to switch (completely) to Linux.

    So, since we have this thread started Im going to ask. Is it a good idea to start using Linux now, after years using and programming for windows? I dont know much about Linux (almost nothing), but it looks pretty good.

    I have experience with Qt(I use it a lot actually). I just want some "light". Should I switch to Linux? Not really interested in programming for Linux, and I know I can still program for Windows using Linux. The real question: is it a good idea to switch to Linux while willing to program for Windows?
    2B OR !2B? That is the question!

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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Perspective View Post
    Why would he(she?) be joking? I'd definitely agree with that statement.
    Because it suits your extensive knowledge of Linux. But Ubuntu hides too much of the OS to just so easily fall into "an OS from programmers to programmers" for anyone coming -- I'm assuming -- into Linux for the first time.

    And I speak for myself. It was only when I got rid of the idea of learning anything about Linux through any of these take-your-hand GUI intensive distros, and decided to choose instead a build-yourself distro, that I finally was able to learn anything deeming useful and eventually became comfortable enough to actually develop for the Linux operating system.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    Registered User NeonBlack's Avatar
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    I couldn't disagree more. I think Ubuntu might be one of the worst OSes for programmers. If you're talking about hobbyist programming, just about any other Linux OS would be simpler and more hackable. If you're talking about doing work, the development tools available are far inferior to what you could get on Windows. (Sorry, emacs+gcc just doesn't cut it )

    Quote Originally Posted by Perspective View Post
    We can also wonder how much worse it might have been if it didn't have the diverse input and influence of many different people, but was driven by the views of a small group.
    Well since Ubuntu was written by a large number of people and is now being maintained by a small group, you get the worst of both worlds.
    I copied it from the last program in which I passed a parameter, which would have been pre-1989 I guess. - esbo

  11. #11
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    Here's another one: Imagine how much better Linux would have been if they didn't try to copy UNIX or some other OS, but created something brand new that is intuitive and user friendly?
    "I am probably the laziest programmer on the planet, a fact with which anyone who has ever seen my code will agree." - esbo, 11/15/2008

    "the internet is a scary place to be thats why i dont use it much." - billet, 03/17/2010

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    I used to get my hands dirty with Gentoo and Debian.

    Now, my interest shifted and I'm not all that much into computers anymore, so I picked an OS that "just works". That's Ubuntu. Best of both worlds IMHO.

    Polished and easy to use, but you still have all the power should you decide to get "down there". I am a command-line heavy person. Usually have 5-6 terminal windows open at any given time. Ubuntu doesn't stop me from doing that. On the other hand, it also has nice polished GUI programs for things that GUIs do better (web browsing, image editing, multimedia, IM, etc).

    The repository has just about all open source programs under the sun, and forums are full of information/tutorials for Ubuntu, just because it's popular.

    When I face a problem that I don't have time or am too lazy to look into, I can usually just Google "ubuntu [my problem]", and the first result will probably be a nicely formatted and annotated tutorial with a bunch of commands I can type into my terminal to do exactly what I want. There are some perks for using the most popular distro.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dante Wingates View Post
    I came here to ask if its a good idea to switch (completely) to Linux.

    So, since we have this thread started Im going to ask. Is it a good idea to start using Linux now, after years using and programming for windows? I dont know much about Linux (almost nothing), but it looks pretty good.

    I have experience with Qt(I use it a lot actually). I just want some "light". Should I switch to Linux? Not really interested in programming for Linux, and I know I can still program for Windows using Linux. The real question: is it a good idea to switch to Linux while willing to program for Windows?
    I'd suggest you dual boot rather than switching cold turkey... Get used to Linux before you decide to whether to ditch windows or not.

    And even before you do that, find a "live" linux CD... one that boots but doesn't change your existing system and play with it for a while.

  14. #14
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Or just install Linux on a virtual machine. VMWare or VirtualBox.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

  15. #15
    Linguistic Engineer... doubleanti's Avatar
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    Maybe I should say it differently... it's just that I'm impressed that *nix is more efficient that Windows. And I've only been using it for about two weeks, but I'm happy with the results.

    I am only using this because it gives me a clean environment to develop in, and I want a certainly level of abstraction that Windows does not provide. But I'm not so hardcore that I'd want to go any deeper? I'm not sure I'm still learning... Dreaming about building your own distribution of *nix, for me, would detract me from the purpose of me programming at the moment: to analyze natural language data. So maybe it doesn't have to do so much with the OS as I made it sound...

    Either way I'm happy with the switch and it has made me more productive! Glad to see a lively discussion!
    hasafraggin shizigishin oppashigger...

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