Day One On Linux: What Would You Miss?
by Lee Mathews Sep 18th 2008
I've decided once and for all that I'm going to make a serious effort to make Linux my primary operating system. Am I dissatisfied with Windows? No. In fact, I'm quite happy with it. It's just time for a change, that's all.This isn't my first attempt to switch. I've made several others before with various distros: Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Mandriva, Fedora, Slax...There's always been something early on that made me bail out and head back to my trusty old Windows XP install.
Now, I'm not blaming Linux. It's more to do with my comfort level with the programs I have installed. Certain apps that I've been using for ages in Windows aren't available in Linux, and that's held me back. For me, it's always been Photoshop (CS2 in Wine has never worked very well for me).
Recently, however, I've been testing out so many other similar apps that I don't think I'll notice it missing this time. I'm getting comfortable with GIMP's UI, and I can always use Drpic.com for really quick edits.
Which brings me to the larger point: how much does your OS really matter any more? I use Firefox and a handful of addons and a number of web apps now, so switching ought to be relatively painless. So far, the only thing I've missed is being able to install a Windows app to review it for DownloadSquad, and VirtualBox will take care of that soon enough.
What about you? Could you switch to Linux and not miss a beat, or are there still some apps you just can't live without on your desktop?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
j said 10:19AM on 9-18-2008
I've made the switch. It takes time to learn Ooo vs MS office if you've been using it for a time. TV support is lacking and in linux you have to check compatibility more so than in windows when it comes to hardware. Overall linux is easier and more fun to use.
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Todd said 10:21AM on 9-18-2008
"Could you switch to Linux and not miss a beat, or are there still some apps you just can't live without on your desktop?"
This ain't 1991, there are "Windows only" apps that cannot run in emulation on Linux.
It's the hundreds of million of dollars spent on FUD by Microsoft that is the barrier. Every hour on the hour there is some subliminal blog post, television commercial, corporate IT press release that sounds like this:
"...study show that Linux is 6 times less secure than Windows...the total costs involved in switching from Windows Server 2005 Ultra Premium Enterprise Edition with Plus Pack to Linux will ruin your company's bottom line...Its a known fact that Al Qida uses Linux, so stand up for America and renew your Exchange Server license seats..."
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James said 10:50AM on 9-18-2008
I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, but maybe I just don't read the right publications. The only reason I don't use Linux at home is that I have to administer Windows boxen at work so I know my way around a bit better.
Linux does a lot of things right, but a lot of things wrong too. Example: every distro has a different way to set what time zone you're in, and some programs check the place for Distro A even when installed on Distro B -- I spent like 3 months with MythTV thinking it was running in the UTC/GMT zone (not EST) because I had an incompatible version of the glibc package installed. Windows may be harder to tweak and customize, but it's also harder to totally bork if you're not a guru and screw while changing something.
Still, I'd consider at least running a dual-boot box, but I want to play the latest PC games, and support just isn't there (with e.g. Wine). If we ever get a truly platform-independent library set that everybody migrates to (ironically, .NET looks like it's got the best shot right now), I'd be happy to run Linux as my main OS. Until that happens, I'm stuck with whatever runs Steam -- and I don't see it changing any time soon.
Peter said 11:32AM on 9-18-2008
I'm in the same boat as James. I'm a Windows network admin at work, so I know my way around Windows VERY well. I've played with Linux a bit and I run a Linux NMS systems at work.
But every time I consider running Linux on my desktop and start into the learning curve, I can't stop feeling that any time spent learning Linux is time not spent learning Windows, which would be a better use of my time and better for my career.
kojo87 said 12:49PM on 9-18-2008
Todd i've read a lot of your posts over my time on these blogs and im starting to think you don't know nearly as much as you think you know.
eponce said 8:43PM on 9-19-2008
Spending time learning new things, ever new OSes, is time well spend. Learning something different expands your knowledge and your possibilities and why not your opportunities. May be You can lose great opportunities just for don´t try something different.
My personal experience taught me that the best way to learn Gnu/Linux is to avoid dual boot installations and try to find alternatives. Sooner than later You will become a Gnu/Linux and Free user.
Lee Mathews said 10:22AM on 9-18-2008
Have to agree with you on fun. I love multiple desktops ootb, and the visual effects are great.
The Linux community is great, too. Help is easy to find, and there's so much excellent, free software.
More big name games would be a big help in attracting new users. Will it happen...?
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bobbywigs said 10:26AM on 9-18-2008
I'd miss visual studio, since that's what enables me to bring home the bacon, but other than that...
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jaxspider said 10:29AM on 9-18-2008
all my video games.
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kojo87 said 3:01PM on 9-18-2008
i know i've posted it on this site before but i'll say it again: get Steam and my graphics card drivers to run the same as in Windows and i will switch that day. games are really the only thing i do on my desktop anyway. i already run Ubuntu on my Eee 701 and thats my only/main laptop.
dazzlindonna said 10:36AM on 9-18-2008
I made the switch and really had no problems, which surprised me. There's only one app that I can't get to work, so I just installed it on my little XP laptop, and run it there when I need it (which isn't often). Otherwise, I've completely been able to realign myself to using all the great alternatives that are available. I'll never go back...
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Jenny said 10:36AM on 9-18-2008
Replay Media Catcher
I've not found anything like that for Linux.
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laligood said 10:41AM on 9-18-2008
While I have been using Ubuntu at home & work for over a year now, what helped in the transition is that probably a year before that I took the time to configure my laptop with XP but the only other applications I installed on it had to be open source (OOo, Firefox, Vim, GIMP, KeePass, Pidgin, GnuCash, etc.) So not only was the transition easy because I was already familiar with the applications, I could even take my data with me :)
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Timothy Collins said 10:51AM on 9-18-2008
When I switched, there was only one thing I missed - the full version of Civilization IV won't run on Linux using WINE. It's the only game I have ever been close to being addicted to and it is the one program I miss...
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Harsh Shah said 11:23AM on 9-18-2008
I tried to make the switch to Ubuntu about 3 months ago. The biggest thing I missed on the first day were nice fonts. After installation, the first thing I did was option iGoogle in Firefox, and cringed at the horrible looking fonts. It took me a lot of searching and changing config files to get the fonts to a comfortable level, and even then not as good as firefox in windows.
After I got comfortable with the display, I was actually surprised to find I didnt' need windows at all. I was perfectly happy with Ubunut. And then suddenly one day, it wouldn't let me log in. I just don't know what got messed (it's been a while and I can't remember the error message). That's when I missed a critical feature any OS must have: System Restore. At that point, I wasn't ready to reinstall Ubuntu and go through the fonts and other configuration all over again, so I went back to XP.
So these are the two features I missed: nice fonts out of the box and system restore. Not a lot to ask from a modern OS in my opinion.
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wirenik said 7:55PM on 9-18-2008
1) Ubuntu does have system restore; it's called Single User Mode. Google it.
2) Speaking of Google, did you post on the Ubuntu Forums? Did you search the Web? Did you visit the #ubuntu IRC channel? Did you post a message to one of the Ubuntu mailing lists?
This is probably the single most important thing for Linux newbies to understand. The people who built the OS you are using are hanging out at the same message boards and websites you are. They know how it works; they know how you feel. They might have even had the same problem you do. When it comes to open-source software, especially distros, someone will always, ALWAYS help you if you are willing to be helped. ;)
Ronald McDonald said 11:32AM on 9-18-2008
I switched to Ubuntu last year. The only thing I really miss is Photoshop, since I absolutely hate Gimp and have yet to find an alternative on Linux that appeases me. Fortunately there's Wine.
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DiRT said 2:25PM on 9-18-2008
It's not just Photoshop (I'd be happy with Paint Shop Pro X) but it's the filters and Plug-Ins. GIMP absolutely can't touch what PS and PSP can do with those added programs and scripts.
More importantly though, I work with my scanner every day. Linux is ass for scanner support.
Lucas said 11:32AM on 9-18-2008
Notepad++
It's one of the apps I use the most and even though it supposedly runs over Wine, it's not the same thing.
There is just no similar for Linux that I'm aware of... not will all the awesome features.
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wirenik said 11:08PM on 9-18-2008
Notepad++ is one of my favorite Windows-only apps. What are you looking for specifically in an editor? There are tons for Linux. Post on some Linux forums or search Google for 'em. If you're looking for a good Notepad++ replacement some of the ones I'd suggest from personal experience are SciTE (my favorite), Geany (another good one), gedit, and medit (gedit sans all the GNOME dependencies).