Ahira's Hangar

A year and a half ago I switched to Linux from Windows and haven't looked back. My first distribution was Mandrake Linux, a very newbie friendly distro, which was perfect for me in the beginning. Later I grew to look for an alternative because I was bored with most everything working well and wanted more of a challenge, and the failures of the package management system were becoming very apparent. I deemed myself experienced enough to go with a distro with less hand-holding. I started looking for a non-rpm based distro and seriously considered Debian but rejected it because I wanted a more up-to-date distro in general and KDE3 in particular.

A while ago I installed Gentoo Linux 1.4 and it's fast fast fast! KDE is really snappy now on my old machine (k6-2 with 450 MHz and 192 MB RAM) and the heavy graphics on this site scroll much smoother. Gentoo is a source based distribution, which mean I get to compile everything. There is a very useful utility called Portage for it however, so it is automated and actually works better and simpler than rpm stuff. It takes time, but the end result is worth it, IMHO. The change has been surprisingly radical, although I'm not sure how much is creditable to optimizing everything for my machine and how much it is the new compiler version, gcc 3.2 versus 2.96. <i></i>

Ah, whats this Linux you speak of? Some alternative program to Windows? I run Windows 98...its OK Further up, and further in!<i></i>

Linux is a different operating system rather then Windows. I use XP.
The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.
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Linux is a free/open source operating system. It comes in many flavors called distributions. They are aimed at specific niches and you can download nearly all of them freely on the Internet. The difference is mainly in things like installers, bundled software, and the package management system. Unlike Windows Linux doesn't force all users in the same mold. For example, you can choose what window manager to use (or even be without one altogether). You can also install several and change between them when you feel like it. KDE and Gnome are the most popular. Because of their full-featuredness they are classed as Desktop Environments. Several window managers are lighter on features but are great if you have aged hardware or don't want to waste processor cycles to unessential stuff. There is a lot of neat software too you can install, some of it superior to its Microsoft equivalent. For example you can get those annoying popup windows blocked in your browser without external programs - something Microsoft would never do because it is on the side of the advertiser, not you the consumer.

You may have heard that Linux is difficult to install but that is not really true any longer. Mandrake and many other distributions aimed at common people have simple graphical installers with hardware autodetection. It shouldn't be harder than installing Windows.

My brother's computer running Windows XP has twice the megahertzs and a third more memory than my computer, but my computer runs about as fast with no useful features missing that I can see or care about. Under load the performance difference becomes apparent - for the benefit of Linux. <i></i>

That sounds great N! Oh 2 keep $ out of Bill Gates' hand...no popups, 2 cool! I have Windows ME and it's a pain--but I prob cauz most of the pain since I'm 2 lazy 2 reset Earthlink email (after the virus killed the 1st one) and figure out how 2 set my modem 4 continous connection. I wish I could find the promo 4 Internet Boost again--didn't cost a thing--and really put some spark in2 the net. Since ezboard swears up and down that all these improvements they'r making are worth it--I have noticed some speed pick up on this board, by itself, and Earthlink has just made some interesting upgrades--they really do try 2 take care of me. I'm just lazy--I could use a scanner and some more memory--but then again who couldn't? The true human being is the meaning of the universe. He is a dancing star. He is the exploding singularity with infinite possibilities. <i></i>

I need a new printer...damn it mine doesnt seem to want to work for me! Further up, and further in!<i></i>

Mine works but it's internet color copy stinks! The true human being is the meaning of the universe. He is a dancing star. He is the exploding singularity with infinite possibilities. <i></i>

I don't even have a printer! <i></i>

Ok here's the plan guys! Instead of contributing 4 the upkeep of this site I say we start a small fund 2 buy Nerdanel a printer! The true human being is the meaning of the universe. He is a dancing star. He is the exploding singularity with infinite possibilities. <i></i>