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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... =]
You must be joking...Quote:
Originally Posted by doubleanti
Why would he(she?) be joking? I'd definitely agree with that statement.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sipher
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by CommonTater
Well, yes, that is the logical opposition to my point and thus valid. We don't know, do we?Quote:
Originally Posted by Perspective
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.
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?
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Perspective
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.
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 :) )
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Perspective
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 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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dante Wingates
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.
Or just install Linux on a virtual machine. VMWare or VirtualBox.
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!
20 years ago, I tried Linux. Had problems with drivers and lack of apps.
So I said "I'll try again in 5 years time. By then things should improve".
15 years ago, I tried Linux. Had problems with drivers and lack of apps.
So I said "I'll try again in 5 years time. By then things should improve".
10 years ago, I tried Linux. Had problems with drivers and lack of apps.
So I said "I'll try again in 5 years time. By then things should improve".
5 years ago, I tried Linux. Had problems with drivers and lack of apps.
So I said "I'll try again in 5 years time. By then things should improve".
This year I tried Linux. Had problems with drivers and lack of apps.
So I said "I'll try again in 5 years time. By then things should improve".
Will update in 5 years.
That interests me. Not sure why you choose Linux for that, though. Any algorithm or library you could use or create on that field should be cross-platform anyways. Choosing to do this in an operating system you are not familiar with will just be increasing your project time and for no real benefit, I guess. Unless, for some reason, you have no choice.Quote:
Originally Posted by doubleanti
But anyways, what are you planning to use/do? It's a vast field that I nurture a lot of interest in. Unfortunately, I don't have an academic background (which here proves fatal), so as much as I would love to develop something in this field, I found NLP quickly goes beyond my abilities. Perhaps if I invested more time into it... In the end, however, what little I have done in that field, I have been doing it by using existing libraries/algorithms, sometimes in unrelated areas. For instance, some months ago I used the Damerau-Levenshtein Distance algorithm (altered to fit my needs) on a program that required a list of postal codes possible matches to update as the user entered a street address.
Unfortunately, on those areas that are more dear to me, I cannot seem to find the skills; Speech processing and also natural language understanding.
Which Linux did you try and what hardware are you using? When I install Ubuntu I never have any driver problems (except for the RAID on my motherboard which Linux didn't even see).Quote:
Originally Posted by happyclown
What apps is it lacking? Games? Who cares about games; that's what Windows is for.
I use 100% Linux & Solaris at work and have no problem getting things done.
At home I use Windows with Linux in a VM whenever I need it.
@cyberfish: yes my old research partner also used to be a very hard core linux purist and used a more low-level (if thats the word?) distro, but now uses one that 'just works'.
@Mario: I have used Unix at school roughly one quarter at a time for several project classes so, on a user level I am familiar with the system. Also from 2004 to 2007 I used Kubuntu in the lab.
As for cross platform compatibility, this is in Java so quite literally back in 2004-7 I used to sneaker-net my code back and forth from home (Windows) and the lab (Kubuntu), and no problems. Then, after working at home on Windows for three and a half years, until these past three weeks, I ran my code in a Ubuntu system, and all is well (since I kept up with the new JDK).
As it turns out I didn't use any of it's changes, but yeah I guess that is one of the strengths of Java. And at a certain level, as with any language, it just allows you to do stuff that in a more hard core language like C/++ I'd have to find libraries for or roll my own. Even then I get lost in details that aren't algorithmic even, or don't serve to drive directly the overarching analyses relevant to my dissertation. But then, if I had to start over I can't name a better language for computational linguistics. By the way, NLP is a part of CL, and CL consumes other topics which don't include modeling language processing tasks. I work in semantic models for distributional information.
Ah, CL. Definitely a discipline I could chose if I decide to go back to university... which I actually do :)
I would agree, except that I ended up forcing myself to use linux for two weeks and learned that its advantages outweigh the disadvantages. I tried it several times before that and just thought it was stupid.Quote:
Originally Posted by happyclown
To everyone who says that linux is crap for whatever reason, then why does linux rule supercomputers?
Supercomputer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Let me play devil's advocate and ask you what the hell does one thing have to do with the other?Quote:
Originally Posted by Epy
Because supercomputers don't need drivers. Supercomputers don't need apps. Supercomputers don't use X11. Supercomputers don't have wifi. Supercomputers don't use pulseaudio. Supercomputers don't sleep/hibernate. So on and so forth.Quote:
Originally Posted by Epy
If toothpicks are such poor building materials, then why does everyone use them to pick their teeth?
You've really never seen the amazing things people build with toothpicks?
they build completely normal things with toothpicks, it's only amazing because toothpicks are such a poor building materialQuote:
Originally Posted by whiteflags
Yeah I'd have to agree with Mario on that one, different OSes can handle different user requests, so servers need less interaction and OSes geared towards that offer modes as such.
Does anyone know how many people use *nix on the desktop? I've heard numbers ranging from 5 to 15%.
It's not really the difference between a server and a client desktop, although indeed the same could be said. It's that supercomputers are highly specialized machines with absolutely no interest in providing a kernel beyond that which necessary to perform the tasks the supercomputer will be assigned to. It can at best be said that Linux adapts well to many types of computers, including supercomputers because it makes a clear distinction between the kernel and the OS, because it's open source and thus highly customizable and because it's free (tada!).
This however doesn't mean Linux is just a good operating system for the general consumer and their desktops. Despite the fact I do like Linux, it's not. Not yet. And this reflects on the fact it's only marginal represented on the desktop market with a probable share no higher than 1.5%. To put it in another way, nobody cares if Linux is used on the overwhelming majority of supercomputers today if they find it hard to use or impractical due to a culture of "you got it for free, so fix it yourself and STFU".
Linux stands on its own, instead. It's not better, or worst, good or bad. It's exactly what it is meant to be by its user. On my case, it's a good operating system that has been enriching my experience and curriculum alongside with Windows. For others Linux is unnecessary and indeed they will be right.
Well, if you own a supercomputer, then go ahead.Quote:
Originally Posted by Epy
It seems to me that the Linux world is not really oriented to a graphical interface. So I think that Linux is a good thing, but just not something I'd do my everyday things on. I do use a Linux server through SSH a lot, to write network applications or sometimes I simply prefer to compile apps on Linux (I edit in Windows and an application automatically syncs the files).