Gaming How many of you use or have used Linux at one point

[Nimbus]

This should be fairly straightforward.

-If you happen to be using Linux on a Virtual Machine running in Virtual PC, VirtualBox, or some other OS Virtualization application, please list that in your post. Also, unless your host Operating System (Eg, the one that VirtualBox, Virtual PC, etc is running on) is Linux, in which case please answer the poll under distros, etc, please don't list it. I hardly care that you can run Fedora 13 in Windows or OSX under virtualbox, that's not the point of this poll.

-You can still list the distro that you are Virtualizing, if that happens to be the case

-Please only answer the Distro question if you have actually used Linux at some point. I do not want to skew the results.

-Please do not select a distro you haven't actually used before even if you eventually plan to use them at a future point.

-If you plan to use Linux but do not currently, please don't answer this poll.

-You can select more than one Distro. However, in a seperate post please list the Distro you use/have used the most.

-BSD Operating Systems, whether they are free (OpenBSD, FreeBSD, PCBSD, etc),or not free (Such as OSX) do not count.

-Solaris-based Systems also do not count, this includes Solaris, OpenSolaris, and any other derivatives

-Points to anyone with the guts to use Slackware.

-Not so many, but still some Points to PCLinuxOS users. That distro has an independant code base, but yet It used APT from Debain and Ubuntu but with RPM packages instead

-You may list which Desktop Environments you use in an actual post, as well as any enhancements you feel are significant. Please though, do not post an entire list of all of the packages that are installed on your system on an individual basis.

-If you answer the 2nd question with the 4th choice, Tux would like a word with you, then you need to read this!

- Finally , if you select openSUSE on the Distro Question, I might get enraged just enough to fry you with my third arm.

*Insert long flashback here*

Ever since I learned that Novell made that backstabbing patent deal with Micro$oft back in 2006, I've absolutely hated Novell.

Back when I initially tried Linux that same year in high-school in my A+ and Network+ Concurrent enrollment classes. I used it for at least 3 weeks to maybe a month as a sort of "for fun" thing. Back then I had no idea that they had made such a deal. I only learned of this deal last year.

I guess in retrospect that openSuSE was probably not exactly the distro I should have tried first. I found OpenSUSE so complicated, cluttered, and unfriendly that I spited it for all it was worth.

As of trying it out again for the past week to see if things have changed, nothing has changed in OpenSUSE, it's still overly cluttered, still has bad package management system, having to install the broadcom wireless drivers using NDISWrapper. I hate using this, less half the time the drivers I use through NDISWrapper which I know are exactly the ones for my Broadcom Wireless card, don't work. I've configured these same drivers just for kicks in another fedora 13 installation just as a test, and in Fedora guess what....they work just fine. It's like Novell and those in charge of the openSuSE project are developing it specifically to fail in as many aspects as possible.

Either way if I may be honest I much prefer native drivers, Ubuntu and Fedora both provide an easy way to install them (Ubuntu's method is BS easy), granted they are made by Broadcom and the source code is not available for the Ubuntu or Fedora Devs, they still work better than ones used in NDISWrapper

I could go on and on and bash SuSE some more, but it's not fair on their mascot, I mean Geeko is like the only good thing about openSuSE.

Thankfully back in 2006 I had a Disk of Ubuntu 5.04 or 6.0x or something. Which I ran in a Virtual Machine to try out. Little did I know I'd fall in love with the distro in a number of years. Had I not, I may have been put of Linux for life, cause OpenSUSE had a really bad first impression on me. Thankfully that never happened (eg, I was not turned off of Linux.)

*End long Flashback*

So, with that flashback over I can move on to my main post

Currently, I have been using Linux on an everyday basis for about 1-2 years, and before that I had been playing around with every release of Ubuntu in Virtualized environments since version 5.04 I believe. Linux is currently my Main OS of choice, despite the fact that I use a Macbook.

So, here's my quick summary.
Linux Usage: Everyday, it's my Main OS of choice
Distro Used Most: Ubuntu
2nd Most Used Distro: Fedora
Distro's Used Previously:

Debian (Tried a month ago)

Linux Mint (Before Switching to Fedora)

OpenSuse (Grrrr, hate you SuSE. *RAGE* Hate you even more Novell!)

Berry Linux (Based on Fedora, I had not realized it used RPM's either) main theme appearance wise seems to be Cats and Kittens. I Virtualbox'd it about 3 months ago. It's cute and all that, and I have to give the creator credit. However I think it's too hobby-like, it doesn't seem totally built for everyday home or bussiness use)

Ultimate Edition (Based on Ubuntu, but with lots of really, and perhaps too many flashy effects and stuff. Comes with lots of stuff main distributors won't include due to patents, etc. Personally, I found it to be too riddled with too many special effects, gaudy themes, etc to impress me.

Why did I switch from X Distro? (Not counting any that haven't been used for at least a Month on end)

OpenSuSE: See my flashback a ways up. Something about a backstabbing deal about Patents between Micro$oft and Novell (Novell who distribute openSUSE). Can you believe M$ actually thinks that they own Intellectual Rights over Linux to the point which they thing racketeering other businesses is ok.....OH WAIT!? That and everything in openSuSE seems to have to automatically be made to be too ****ing complicated.

Mint: Mint was fine and all that, I actually like it as a Distro, but the release cycle is way too long. They also do not tend to coordinate the community editions well. For that simple reason, I switched to Fedora. When I did use Mint, I used Gnome and KDE as my Desktop Environment. Not quite sure why I used KDE though, it doesn't always rub me the right way.

FYI, Community Editions are like editions with alternate Desktop Environments such as KDE, LXDE, XFCE, which may have extra utilities or features that you would not normally get by just installing the Desktop Environment in the standard Gnome release with your package manager).

Why do I use X Distro?

Ubuntu: I have used Ubuntu for several years, if I include the on and off usage through high-school through virtualized machines. As far as I'm concerned, it has been the most user friendly distro I have used, and it's easy for me to understand. Alot of people bash it for not being bleeding edge like some other distros are. Here's a good point to make as a counter-argument to that statement. Would you rather have bleeding-edge and unstableness, or would you rather have something that isn't bleeding-edge but gets the job done and is stable.

For the most part though, I use Ubuntu because it's stable enough, it does what I need to, it's user friendly, and I understand it due to the fact that I have been using it even before it became my everyday OS.

Fedora: Well to be honest, I had not tried an RPM distro since OpenSuSE. I guess SuSE scared me off of them originally. However life with two Linux Distros that were both RPM based got to be too boring, and Ubuntu was definately there to stay. Since Mint wasn't keeping up-to-date like I had thought it might, I decided to give Fedora a spin.

I loved it, just as much as I love Ubuntu. It didn't even take a week and I've already gotten mostly used to it. Installing stuff is for the most part not much different, only instead of typing "sudo apt-get install insert-package-name-here" I instead type in "sudo yum install package-name-here" and most everything else is the same.

On Both Distros, I have
-Compiz Effects Enabled/Configured, including
+Neat Rotatable cube/shape with 4-8 Desktops on them
+Awesome Skydomes that rotate in conjuction with the cube
+Cute wobbly and snapping windows, Coverflow Effects on two of my accounts for my active windows, Ring Selector in my main Ubuntu account which reminds me alot of the Secret of Mana styled menu
+Annotations, which allow me to highlight or annotate parts of my desktop
+And more cool other effects/features than you care to shake a third leg at!
-Emerald Window Themer/Manager with various snazzy themes

-Ubuntu Restricted Extras

-Avant Window Manager, which I will take anyday over tacky Cairo Dock
-Three Desktop Environments for Ubuntu, Gnome, KDE, Xfce.
-iPod Touch support, even though I use my iPod only with OSX
-NTFS R/W support, HFS Support
-Burg Bootloader (A very nice and pretty version of grub)
-Wally, a wallpaper changer
-More things than I could possibly list

Btw, I am no programmer/coder. I've written maybe one or two simple shell scripts in termial, so I don't need people bashing me for being kinda basic...well I shouldn't really say that. I am going into Network Systems Engineering in college. I guess I prefer Distros that are not-so-totally-bleeding-edge but are still up to date with current trends and technology.

 

[Magoo222]

I've messed around with Linux a few times over the past 6-7 years or so, mostly just as something to do. I started off using Red Hat dual booted with XP, had RH set to be the default operating system so I used it quite a lot. Eventually the hard drive went and when I replaced it I just didn't have the time to mess around setting it all up again, so it fell by the wayside a little. Most of my experience has come from Ubuntu, and it's my weapon of choice when it comes to giving spyware-riddled XP machines a new lease of life.

I've tried other distros on and off, I've got a small EEEPC that runs Mint, previously I ran Puppy Arcade on there but found that a bit...bland.

These days I've got a main desktop running Windows 7, mostly for gaming and the ease of wireless networking, it seems like every time I install a new distro I've got to spend a week camped next to the router with a 1ft ethernet cable trying to confgure the wireless drivers properly. I've also got a laptop that runs Ubuntu (with wireless!!), but as I only tend to use it to browse the internet when I'm too lazy to go upstairs and turn on the main machine I'm not sure how much this counts as 'using' Linux. I've got Backtrack linux installed to an SD card too. Not really sure why, I got suckered in by the hype and a flashy website, but once I'd installed it, it doesn't seem much different to any other distro.

Essentially, having typed this up I've come to realise that I probably spend more time and get more enjoyment from installing and configuring linux (except bl**dy wireless drivers!) than I do from actually running it. Once it's up and stable then it's just like any other OS to me.

 

[DunkrWunkah]

I use Linux Mint 8 on a laptop, and I must say that it is incredible. So much better than windows. I also Triple boot Linux Windows and Unix on my Tower. A lot of Oses here.

 

[elimist]

Add backtrack to the list. I just reformatted my hdd and have windows but when I get time, I will tri-boot win7 ultimate, backtrack, and ubuntu server

 

[gameboy13]

I have used, but don't currently use, Ubuntu and SUSE linux. I have also used many other distros, but I don't remember which ones.

 

[FAST6191]

I would list distributions but I would be here all day (such things generally fall under my generally a good idea to know how just about everything works remit), I will say though I am no evangelist for any one operating system (or kernel as the case may be).

Things I have done with linux
servers
-web (basic HTML to full on corporate)
-file (rarely as just linux file servers although I will note I have been spared anything major here)
-intranet (usually as an addition to webservers)
-distributed workload (mainly video encoding)

desktops
-thin clients/virtualised networks terminals
-fat clients, office, home, secure terminals, I tried multimedia studio type things a few times but ended up back on windows, laboratories and once or twice as development terminals but developers can usually sort those themselves. I usually prefer to pervert something that exists rather than rolling my own.
-liveCD type arrangements- you can have your desktop to resemble whatever horror you like as long as I have my portable CD for this one.

portable hardware
-automotive diagnostics
-media players

handheld devices for all manner of things (SSH was a big one) and other times just to fiddle with something that is not X86. With the rise of small low power devices but with all manner of hardware niceties I am back in this world in a big way but have yet to invest in anything.

embedded hardware- many things use it and as such many things have felt my touch when it comes to messing with them (something I look forward to far more in the future). I would not even consider myself informed layperson in this arena though at present time.

virtual computers aside from the terminals I mainly use to test things out when it comes to linux (windows is another tune entirely), I have not really found a need for it myself yet.
media players- mainly XBMC but I have pushed other distributions towards this side of things in the event of "more than just a media player" being needed.
rescue discs*- assorted distributions but mainly puppy linux and knoppix for rescue and ophcrack for passwords (although offline NT password and registry http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/ is more often my first port of call).
forensics/security auditing/hacking (mainly hardware)- anything really but for proper work I go with the staple of backtrack.

*my folder of discs is very large here and it is by no means a complete list not to mention they are not all linux based.

 

[Diablo1123]

I use linux mostly for the Live CD and all that.

Like I think Clonezilla counts, and I use that install Windows.
And Ubuntu formatting my hard drive on my computer when for some reason it caused the computer to be stuck at the splash screen at boot.

Other than that, not much. I'll probably try more when I get a laptop.

 

[Slyakin]

I have Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed on my Netbook.

It's really there because it runs really fast AND it actually boots in under a minute.

 

[ThatDudeWithTheFood]

Ubuntu and Arch I like linux perhaps one day Ill have a whole machine dedicated to it

 

[Fudge]

I used Ubuntu for a little bit, but I don't have it installed anymore. It didn't do anything that Windows did (that I used).

 

[trumpet-205]

Fedora LXDE Spin. Very fast comapre to Windows 7. And somewhat faster than Xubuntu. Plus no need to install anti-virus program.

 

[airpirate545]

Used to run a Windows XP/ Linux Mint dual boot with Linux Mint as my main OS. Then I deleted Mint for Windows 7 and haven't looked back since.

 

[N4RU70 FR34K]

Oh no I'm the one vote that said what's linux and I did not understand the 3rd question.

 

[liquidnumb]

"-Points to anyone with the guts to use Slackware."

Lol, that was my first install. It wasn't that bad. I started with a live CD, then found an old HD to repartition and gave it a proper install. It was great, I loved the environment, but since I mostly game I didn't have much use for it. I would have kept it around but at the time my video card did not support 1st party linux based drivers. The only ones available were commercial third party drivers, and I was not ready to pay for drivers that cost almost as much as the hardware they were meant to run. I wish I could dump windows, but directX will remain king for the immediate future.

 

[Defiance]

Lol, how are we supposed to be able to vote no and not choose a third option?

That being said, I plan on using Ubuntu somewhat when I build my own computer.

Also, doesn't Linux itself have its own operating system/kernel you can run on? So why isn't that in one of the options?

 

[Am0s]

Main OS linux mint 8 Helena with a dual boot of arch.

I moved to linux because windows bored the hell out of me, I also felt like the OS is increasingly being dumbed down (idiot proof) for use by the end user so I switched to linux, linux mint I use gnome and arch I use xfce4 and LXDE.

Tried alot of other distro and could not really get to grips with them

 

[GutsMan.EXE]

Linux FTW. Been using it since 2001, Fedora; Arch; BT; centOS; Debian; Ubuntu; Debian and Slackware but now i have a HDD with Fedora, BT4 and Arch with 2 other windows OS.

 

[DarknessxD407]

I used linux a few times through a boot disk on my sold mac. it was a nice os but I did not want to write it as my main os cause I was not sure how well it would work with my hardware.

 

[Delta517]

I have used Linux twice. One for try, and another to check if my HDD was broken (loaded Linux through RAM).

 

[Kusiga]

My first experience was with Red Hat many many years ago...I think 14 or 15 to be more accurate. Have been wanting to try it out now that it's been Fedora for a few years. I actually bought my Red Hat in the store because I only read a few things about it but wanted some books with it to help me out a little. Confused me at first because I thought there was only 1 Linux at the time and saw two different programs being sold on the store shelf. After some troubles installing it finally gave up with getting Gnome to work so used use the shell to learn some C++ on my own then waited till it was updated to support my igp on that computer before trying again.

About 10 years ago I was living with my brother at the time and he gave me a spare computer to use so messed around with it having it running Mandrake which worked without a hitch on it that surprised me and played mostly emus on it while and some more messing around with C++. Now here I am recently I had tried a few other distros but mostly Ubuntu that on my last PC I dual-booted into till the PC died lol. I did an instance of virtual pc on my current computer a couple years back but needed the space for other things. Hoping to try it out again sooner then later.

The little knowledge of experimenting with C++ in Linux shell helped me have such an easier time with taking C++ classes in college years later and am glad I did that.