Some Cool Linux Distros

Linux is one of the coolest OS's I have played with in a long time.

I started with Commodore 64 and moved to DOS. After a while 3.11 Dos was one of the best and then it moved along for a while then it was not until 6.0 Dos. Then Windows 95 showed up on the scene. Then Windows 98 then Windows 2000 then Windows 2001 Then Windows XP then Windows Vista Now we have Windows 7 on the edge. If you are a windows user you have moved from one Windows to another Windows time and time again.

Well if you grew up on UNIX there is LINUX out there for you UNIX users. But of course unless you lived in a hole for the last 20 years you already know this. Did you know that UNIX has not changed much in the last 40 YEARS...... Linux has changed much over the last 20 years but if you learn UNIX or LINUX you don't have to change unless you want to. You are not forced to move on. Best of all if you go with the free versions you can get it free. Yes I said FREE.

What versions are out there. Well we have Red Hat but thats not free.
We have Mandriva but that is not free.
We have Linspire but again that is not free.
Now we have PCLinuxOS - not free. SUSE - not free.

Debian is free, Knoppix is free, Mint Linux - free, Ubuntu - Free. Fedora - Free, Open Suse - Free, Freespier - Free, as you can see there are many pay and many free.

But If you want Linux you can down load free versions of Linux. Learn how to use Linux. Learn how to install and uninstall programs. Know the difference for zip, tar, RPM, YUM. Know the different Desktops. Gnome, KDE, being the most popular and several other Desktops. You can try out all these different Desktops, Learn text mode. (Like DOS) Once you learn the ins and outs of the basics. You will keep learning because of scripts and pipes, languages.

There is one draw back. Getting Linux to run like Windows may take awhile and may require you to reinstall Linux from time to time. But once you get it. You will have a Computer that is yours. Set up the way you want it. Doing what you want.

Once Linux is up and running Windows will start looking bloated and buggy. Everything you would like to do you have to pay for. So after Windows $200 install and then you buy the programs that you want to load. Games run about $50 a pop. Applications run between $25 to $1000's. Linux is free most of the programs are free. There are several nice games (not great) but fun stuff. Free. Sound and video, Cad, Drawing, Art, Publishing, Office suites. the list goes on and on. FREE.

Now you have Open Solaris and Solaris. UNIX you can get. You can have a great time playing with UNIX. Learning how to do all this stuff you do on Windows for a price you can do on Linux for free.

It may take some of your time. But you will learn.

Now let's talk about MAC. MAC is like Windows in that it is way more expensive than Windows and you have to buy MAC hardware. You can't buy off the shelf hardware unless that it is for MAC. Higher cost for that. The great thing about that is just plug it in and go. No set up like with Windows or Linux. But the cost is so much more.

So do you want a very expensive MAC. A buggy Windows system or a Linux system. By the way Linux will run on your old computer that will not run Windows anymore. I can get a 512K computer system to run Linux with no problems. The only problem I have is stuff that loads into memory, if it is too big then it will lock up.

Linux and Blogger

Trying out blogger in Linux ubuntu. So far its working great.

Freespire - Linux

I just downloaded the latest Freespire 2.0.8. This version is based on Unbutu. This version was about the only one I have come across that will run everysite I went to. Video and Audio all worked fine.

There are lots of different versions of Linux. Some are based on Red Hat, some on Shareware, but most I find are on Debian. Playing with Linux and learning the different commands. How to use the shell.

Back to Linux

Now that the elections are now over and before the world ends lets talk about Linux.

I have used lots of different versions. Most of them as live CD's.

The only ones that I have installed are Red Hat, Debian, OpenSUSE and Knoppix.

The Live CD's are many. Some have Apple like commands, some like windows 95 and up. The latest one I used was OpenSUSE Gnome menu system. This one I like. The KDE version I don't like as much. Then there are several more windowing systems. So you and play to your hearts content. The software is fun to explore as well. I just downloaded OpenOffice.org 3.0. I like the notes that are able to be added. Firefox, Thunderbird, and Gimp. There are so many great opensource software out there.

Go out and explore. VMWare and lots of linux distros to play under windows. Live CD distros is another way to explore Linux. You can also put those live CD distros on thumb drives. (also known as flash drives.)

I am not a great fan of Apple. I have lost lots of intrest in windows. Linux is one of the oldest and still growing strong operating systems. I think that in five years Linux will have the share over windows. Windows is trying to buy Linux.

Enjoy.

Is Linux OS better than Windows?

Is Linux OS better than Windows? Is it? I think it is. If you use one of the window replacement versions of Linux you wind up with a great OS that will allow you to do almost anything that windows can do. I have only found one item that did not work but that may have been due to the fact that I was using a live CD version vs a installed version.

I enjoy Linux for the fact that I can get it free. I don't have to give Bill Gates and Microsoft money for something that never works right. If you think it is a great OS. Think of all the crashes you have suffered. All the documents you have lost. I like bash. Being able to do things like DOS only better. Think of bash as DOS on steroids.

So lets talk about about more things that Linux can do. How about a server. How about having a personal version of Linux. Yes you can. Build your own Linux. Put in all the security updates. Compile it and run it. Build your own Live CD. The possibilities are almost endless. If you doubt me, give Linux a try. You can install Windows and Linux on the same machine. Dual boot system.

So pull that old computer out of the closet, download a version of Linux. Pick one. One you like. Time to spend a little time with your new OS. Within a year you will know how to use Linux.

Have fun...

More things to notice.

I find that Linux is fun. Something new to learn. I have downloaded several different live CD versions. Most of what I download now works. The only one I am having a problem with now is Ubuntu 8. It will not load. Ordered a copy did not work. Downloaded a copy did not work. Got a magazine with Ubuntu 8, did not work.

PCLinuxOS, Simply Mepis 6.5, Freespire, and OpenSUSE 11. These work fine. No problem with audio, video or internet. They all read the laptop. Setup the files so that it will work. One problem last year, most distros could not read the audio. That seem to have been fixed. KDE, Gnome and the other desktops. I love the different desktops. I like KDE, and Gnome. Some of the other desktops still learning. Also learning Bash. Coming from DOS I really enjoy bash. Scripting is fun. Learning all the different aspects of Linux is where I get joy from. Always learning something new.

I have only found one type of stream that would not work under Linux. (That is a live CD. I think if I had it installed it would have worked).