Is it true that Linux is better than Windows?

i have no doubt linux is easier to maintain, but its teh setup that i dislike.

 

My 2 cents.

Overall theres nothing in it between XP and current linux running gnome.

Linux is based on better design ideals, but there is no doubt that the design of NT, NTFS etc works very well.

NTFS might fragment more, but it supported journelling in a stable way before linux. Built in security is better with NTFS and the MTF is a wonderful idea.

Linux can be harder to setup, but conversly Windows defaults are too liberal for users for example. Linux is a minimalist setup, requiring fiddling to get more features, Windows loads too much and can cause conflicts and security issues.

With Ubuntu and ready configured distros, for basic use, both are pretty even.
For advanced use Linux is definatly the harder, due to a bigger learning curve, but windows definatly is the more dificult when it comes to diagnosing and fixing errors.

Games, Windows definatly has the market.

System requirements Linux makes a comeback here, runs better on older machines, on newer machines difference becomes insignificant.

But the killer for Linux is it does it all for free !
If cost is a factor (my employer pays for my software so is a null point for me), then this is a major factor and is why IMHO Linux is better than Windows.

 

sweater,

Have a look at this very recent article, " Six Things You Didn't Know About Linux: A Beginners' Guide", here:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188701144

Lots of good information.

Enjoy!

bktII

 

In a commercial environment the documentation is done using Microsoft office. Open Office, does not handle Microsoft documents well. Too many formatting issues and other limitations. Microsoft Office and other specialized applications such as Quickbooks are a big reason why people are held to windows.

The other is install of software or drivers. Took me a while to install the Linux ATI driver. There was a lot of conflicting web advice on how to install with the result that my Linux machine broke. With Windows, you just install and its done. Some people argue that with patience it can be done, but in a business environment you just don't have that time to waste.

 

Recently tried Linux myself. I'm only moderately competent with windows and had little trouble getting a multi-boot system working (98se, 2kpro,Ubuntu5.10,Suse 10)
If you're familiar with partitioning you should have little problem. I ending up using both the partitioner from Suse and the one from Ubuntu.
I also swap hard drives around a lot. Just means I have to unmount/mount them.

I'm using the Suse over Ubuntu because it's easier to logon as admin. Ubuntu has some funny setup whereby if you do/don't enter an admin password during setup you may have trouble - one of the attempts I made I couldn't get admin rights even with su, maybe 'cause I don't know quite how to do it, but it seemed to me Ubuntu was designed that way.

Picking the appropriate distro has so far been the biggest challenge. I want one that works, not one whose update include new bells and whistles and introduce new bugs. Seems those ar ethe ones "designed by experts for experts"- I'll get there.
-any tips anyone?

And one other thing seems to be the case:
ATI doesn't make drivers for Linux, at least not ones that work easily. Never been an ATI guy, because of driver issues, this is just another example.

Main reason I've taken the plunge? That reason a fellow posted above, hard to control and getting worse.

Get on it man!

 

In Ubunutu you don't really need to log in using su. The sudo prefix to commands will give you root rights. The first user you added to ubuntu, by default has rights to use sudo. You will be prompted for a password, so just enter your password.
So if you want to copy a file and you need root user rights you would enter "sudo cp file1 file2". If you add additional users, you need to set their profile to allow sudo or admin rights.

But you can add the root user by entering "sudo passwd root" command. You'll be prompted for YOUR password and then you will be given two prompts to add the root user password. Then go to
System->Adminstration->Login Window->Security and check the "Allow Local Admin Logon" box.
Reboot and you should be able to login as root.

But I never found a use for adding the root command since sudo works really well. Also, any admin graphic screens you call up automatically have root rights provided you are running as a user who has admin rights (you have to enter your password again).

ATI - I know. Unlike Nvidia, ATI did a lousy job. Too late for me since I have an ATI card.

 

Interesting:

" Reliability Survey: Windows Servers Beat Linux Boxes " here:

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=188701946

"But standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Linux distributions from "niche" open source vendors, are offline more and longer than either Windows or Unix competitors, the survey said. The reason: the scarcity of Linux and open source documentation."

bktII