AppleInsider › Forums › General › General Discussion › Looking for a Linux...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Looking for a Linux...

post #1 of 8
7/21/06 at 8:07am
Thread Starter 
Hi everyone,

I'm stuck in limbo here. About 6 months ago, I satisfied the itch that has been bothering me and built a cheap-ish PC. I love it, but windows is making me go mad. So, I'm waiting for a Mac Pro or updated iMac, but when they drop, there's no guarantee of being able to fund it.

So, I'm looking for an alternative OS. Might a good linux be it? I've never learnt more than a few unix commands, and those have long been forgotten. Is there an option that will make me slightly less desperate for a Mac?

Thanks for any help,

David
_ ________________________ _

I have no signature - Doh!
Reply
_ ________________________ _

I have no signature - Doh!
Reply
post #2 of 8
7/21/06 at 12:02pm
Linux isn't very good as a desktop OS. It has very few commercial apps for it and it's much harder to use than Windows or OS X if you don't know what you're doing.

If you are unhappy with your PC, I'd say sell it on. I've seen Tiny selling a machine with a pretty bad spec for over £900 so I'm sure you could sell your PC for a decent price to someone who doesn't know different.

Of course, you could try putting a questionable version of OS X on your PC but this place would be better if you consider it:

http://www.osx86project.org/

I'd say sell the PC and buy either a Mac Mini Duo with 1GB Ram for £600 and live with the fact that Apple made a stupid mistake of using integrated GPUs or save up some cash for an Intel imac.

One thing I wonder is whether or not they will get OS X running in a virtualization software under Windows. You'd use your 3D stuff in Windows and apps in OS X.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 8
7/21/06 at 2:50pm
As much as I love linux (I have two servers running RedHat and one running Yellowdog), I have to agree with Marvin. Linux is a viable OS only if you really like fiddling with your machine. Just getting mundane things like sound working can be a real nightmare. Considering your experience with unix/linux and the reasons marvin outlined above, I'd make the same suggestion.

Maybe there are other distros that are better, but it's still not going to compare to OS X.

I gave RedHat Fedora Core 3 a shot on my wife's PC. After getting everything working, it was just a hassle for her to use compared to a mac. After a month of constantly fiddling, I broke down and bought her a mini.

Now she's more of a mac zealot than I am.
The secret of life: Proteins fold up and bind things.
Reply
The secret of life: Proteins fold up and bind things.
Reply
post #4 of 8
7/21/06 at 5:52pm
why not run all three OSs at once like my buddy Lance did...
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
Reply
You can't quantify how much I don't care -- Bob Kevoian of the Bob and Tom Show.
Reply
post #5 of 8
7/21/06 at 7:03pm
If you're using a Mac, there's not as much reason to run Linux, but if I read you're post correctly, you're using a PC right now.

What are you looking to do with your computer? Linux is definitely worth having as a dual boot option. There's a lot of relatively unique software available for linux, and usually it's free. SuSe is easy to install, so why not give it a shot?
Cat: the other white meat
Reply
Cat: the other white meat
Reply
post #6 of 8
7/22/06 at 6:17am
Ubuntu? I d/l it and it seems pretty good.
You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
Reply
You think Im an arrogant [expletive] who thinks hes above the law, and I think youre a slime bucket who gets most of his facts wrong. Steve Jobs
Reply
post #7 of 8
7/22/06 at 11:29pm
Quote:
Originally posted by DHagan4755
Ubuntu? I d/l it and it seems pretty good.

Beat me too it.. and by a mile but I agree!

At some later date I plan on trying out Linux for learning reasons mostly I love my OSX but never hurts to learn something new

Anyways heres the site http://www.ubuntu.com/

If you don't have fast internet they will ship you a CD free of charge (I don't think you have to pay for shipping)

Anyways let us know what you choose and how well it works out
MacBook 1.83GHz, 1GB of Ram --> A more elegant notebook, for a more civilized age

An apple a day, keeps Microsoft away
Reply
MacBook 1.83GHz, 1GB of Ram --> A more elegant notebook, for a more civilized age

An apple a day, keeps Microsoft away
Reply
post #8 of 8
7/23/06 at 2:05am
Thread Starter 
Thanks all for the advice - I'll have a play with a couple of free linux variants, but it seems like I'll have to save for a decent Mac - here's hoping for a good iMac bump soon!

David
_ ________________________ _

I have no signature - Doh!
Reply
_ ________________________ _

I have no signature - Doh!
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: General Discussion
AppleInsider › Forums › General › General Discussion › Looking for a Linux...