Why Linux?

[PoweMACuser]

Sorry to those who love linux. I have to say that I hate linux. Why?

Linux has a lot of developer, but they behave like unix developer. The software is not compatible to all version of linux. Currently Red Hat is said to 90% compatible to Mandrake. This is already the best compatibility.

OSX is very much slower than Linux.(I agree) Linux is very fast in PPC. But OSX is based on UNIX, not linux. And in the future, I think is compatible to all the version. If 10.2 is out and it can't run 10.1 application. Then I have to say, I hate OSX.

 

[fryke]

Erhm... Why does nobody tell him that Yellow Dog Linux is for PPC and *WON'T* run on VPC?

Virtual PC is a X86 emulation environment, thus you'll need a Linux distro for X86 like RedHat, SuSE etc.

My partition comment, Admiral... I think you should do a *real* Linux instead of a VPC one because you learn how to (not) mess up your harddrive, while with disk image files on VPC you do not really learn that. Linux is a bit nearer to the hardware in my experience, so every 'virtual' experience in Linux is not worth that much. Also learning anything about performance of Linux in VPC isn't really possible.

And furthermore, if you don't have a specific reason to learn about Linux, you won't learn about Linux, I say. Make issues. 'Can I use Linux as a very cheap file server?' - Yes you can, and I'll be glad to show you how. 'Can I use Linux as a very cheap webserver?' - Same answer. 'Can I play a bit around with YDL on my PPC?' - Yes, you can, but I won't help you when you delete files at random just to see how the system behaves.

 

[unlearnthetruth]

Haha, thanks fryke. I'm mostly looking for a speedy alternative to run on my Performa 6400/200 back home. The ungrateful family members that use it constantly complain about how slow and unstable it is, so I was hoping to find at least a more stable solution in linux, but i wanted to "test it out" so that i could get used to it.

 

[fryke]

Originally posted by bighairydog
Now as you have a G4 I assume you don't need to get linux because you can't afford another OS. The only reason you might want linux therefore is to deal with essentially text based things, like webserving. If you ditch OSX for linux, prepare to kiss goodbye anything resembling multimedia goodbye. )

Oh, by the way, bighairydog troll: If you want a flame, you get it.

1. Nobody was talking about replacing OS X with Linux.
2. The X Window System was invented long before Mac OS X came around, so your comment is quite... dumb and ignorant.
3. You mentioned 'goodbye' twice, is that like "- & - = +"?
4. Doing 'textbased things like webserving' is quite a good reason to try Linux, but Mac OS X can do 'textbased things like webserving' very well, too.

The real reason for getting to learn Linux is saving money. As soon as you have a group of like 3 or 4 people, a cheapo PC with a network card and a big harddrive makes a very nice fileserver for Mac OS X clients. And it doesn't cost a third of what Apple charges for a G4 Server, but less. You don't even need a monitor with that. Only for the first installation, afterwards you control the server via SSH.

 

[RacerX]

posted by fryke
My partition comment, Admiral... I think you should do a *real* Linux instead of a VPC one because you learn how to (not) mess up your harddrive, while with disk image files on VPC you do not really learn that.

I find that comment to be completely false. Unless you buy (or someone makes) a drive image with Linux pre-install, you have to make all the same choices during the installation that you have to while installing on hardware. What this seems to show is that you are looking at this based on your belief that the installations are very different and not from experience (which I happen to have a ton of for both hardware and emulation, and for numerous operating systems to boot).

And furthermore, if you don't have a specific reason to learn about Linux, you won't learn about Linux, I say.

I don't think I could agree with that one either. Curiosity can infact be a very powerful incentive for learning. Everything that I have and have done with regards to both Linux and Solaris was out of knowledge for knowledge sake. To date I have not found anything in either Linux or Solaris that I haven't been able to do (in many cases better) in the Mac OS, Mac OS X, Rhapsody, OPENSTEP, and IRIX (which make up my primary work environments). I own actual Sun equipment for Solaris and have Linux installed on actual hardware (dual boot with OPENSTEP on one of my PCs) and have both as VPC environments. All for the sake of learning more about them so that I can have that knowledge ready if I ever find my self in the position of needing it.

2. The X Window System was invented long before Mac OS X came around, so your comment is quite... dumb and ignorant.

Granted, there is more to Linux than just command line, but X Windows has been under cut by years of developers finding ways to work around it's limitations. What this has done is weaken the graphical environment for applications. What would have been better would have been to continue developing X Windows over the years. Forcing the environment by adding a window manager on top if X Windows has made for more head aches than any other problem in nonproprietary Unix variants (all though I do like some of the work arounds, talking about making lemonade out of lemons).

Again, why the big push for hardware for someone just getting started? A hardware only solution may be the perfect fit for you, but that doesn't mean that it is for everyone.

 

[bighairydog]

Originally posted by fryke
Oh, by the way, bighairydog troll: If you want a flame, you get it.

Yeah, this is what I like in a forum (flame flame!!)

The X Window System was invented long before Mac OS X came around, so your comment is quite... dumb and ignorant.

Dumb *and* ignorant! wow... That doesn't make my comment dumb, and ignorant, I never implied that OSX came out before X Windows. I just said it's better. The diversity of multimedia formats viewable immediately in OSX with no add-ons is amazing - whichever way you look at it, linux has it's but kicked.

You mentioned 'goodbye' twice, is that like "- & - = +"?

Good point - grammer never was my forte - also the only point in your post that stands up LOL ;o)

Doing 'textbased things like webserving' is quite a good reason to try Linux, but Mac OS X can do 'textbased things like webserving' very well, too.

This is why I like linux (I have to use it at work), it's just soo much faster than OSX when it comes to things that don't require all that complex multimedia engine. Linux totally rules for text-in text-out, like I said.

The real reason for getting to learn Linux is saving money

My point exactly.

    What I was trying to get at is that Linux is a tool to get technical things done well, fast and cheaply. In my opinion however, a Personal Computer it is not. It's just not up to scratch when it comes to doing all those things that you should be able to do, like Audio sequencing, video editing, graphic design, and powerful word processing.
    Here's a challenge for all you Linux-heads: tell me of a single linux application that is as good as the best Mac competition, and isn't a techie tool.

Bernie )

 

[kenny]

Originally posted by bighairydog

My point exactly.

    What I was trying to get at is that Linux is a tool to get technical things done well, fast and cheaply. In my opinion however, a Personal Computer it is not. It's just not up to scratch when it comes to doing all those things that you should be able to do, like Audio sequencing, video editing, graphic design, and powerful word processing.
    Here's a challenge for all you Linux-heads: tell me of a single linux application that is as good as the best Mac competition, and isn't a techie tool.

I think that if you're looking for someone to argue this point, you may be at the wrong website. Such an argument might get more responses at a place like slashdot.

Another downside to running Linux on Mac is the lack of the JDK (Java2). Somebody, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there's a JDK for Linux on PPC right now. This is a pretty big deal for me as I'm involved in the development of web applications (servlets, etc) for use in things like Tomcat (or WebLogic/WebSphere/iAS if you prefer). Putting all the right bits on my iBook with MacOSX makes a really slick little development machine, and is something that I couldn't do if it was running Linux.