Linux

[C-Chan]

That is kinda cute.  *v*
But I wonder if.... ^__^

....

*giggles*
*plots and schemes*

Added after 11 hours 59 minutes:

SCHEME COMPLETE!!!!!!



Granted this is the most surreal image I've ever drawn, I think it makes the right two points I'm looking for:

1)  There's always a bigger fish.  ^___^

&

2) HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AURORA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^V^

[Kami-Tux]

Happy Birthday Aurora!

BTW: I saved the soul of my laptop which was running FreeDOS before. I eventually managed to install Linux on it. Okay, I needed to invest more money for it than the laptop is worth*, but now it runs a nice, shiny** damn small Linux. It is quick if you take into account that it  is running on a P1. And even in X, I still have ~10MB (of 40MB in total) free RAM.

* 9 Euros for a adapter to install notebook harddrives on stationary computers
** if shiny includes 4-bit-colors, that is

[Bella]

So I downloaded the Zenwalk *non-live* edition...

Oh man, what an ordeal installing that was (I thought it would be similar to the liveCD, boy was I wrong >///<). But I followed what is said and used my good judgment. It even froze when it got to the point where it asked me what services I wanted started at startup.

But...voila! I got it installed.

[C-Chan]

I think the name of this Chili's dish sums up what I'd like to say about your success story.  ^^

[Bella]

I wouldn't even do the autoinstall. I was pretty much just following what it said, but I should say I probably wouldn't have been so hap hazard if that was a real computer I was dealing with and not a VM

But the darned thing won't go online. And yes, the adapter is enabled and everything -___-

So...I guess Ubuntu still holds the record for being the most useful distro I've tried

[C-Chan]

Have you given MiniMe 2008 a try?  It's really mostly for advanced users, but does give one a taste of what the future PCLOS 2008 release will look like.  ^^

http://linuxtracker.org/torrents-details.php?id=5101

[Bella]

Ooooh...Vista-esque...XD

Meh, if I was going to go through the trouble of downloading all over again, I'd at least try PCLOS or whatever : |

[Ruuku-kun]

lol...I used linux once...I liked it and i want to develop my own variation of linx lol. I think i used backtrack 2 and Knoppix and i had a hunt for the ghost writter linux distro.

[C-Chan]

Well howdy stranger!  Where'd you come from?  ^^

Not sure just how long ago you used Linux, but it's grown exponentially in the past 3 years.  ^v^

Knoppix was a real trendsetter, though,... still a great system that ages well.  ^.^

[NekOSaka]

Hey guys, how strongly would you recommend using Linux?

[C-Chan]

*ponders*

That depends on several factors, mainly what you currently use (operating system-wise and hardware-wise), what you use it for, what would you LIKE to use it for, and perhaps, more importantly, how much are you willing to learn about how computer and computer programs work in general.  

Linux, as you may know, is part of the Free and Open Source Software movement, and requires a huge paradigm shift in the way traditional computing is approached -- and as illustrated in this article (and personally vouched by my own similar experience) has the tendency to change a person's outlook on many things:

http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/osrc/article.php/3720506

Case in point, I used to be a very timid Windows user, uninspired and uninterested to look past my horizons, generally scared out of my wits of data loss and dependent on 3rd party apps to take care of me, willing to purchase computers based on how game-friendly its specs were, and not at all apprehensive to using pirated software, even if I hardly ever used it.

After having used Linux and FOSS software for over a year, I feel each and every one of those traits has been reversed entirely, and without as much work, effort or sacrifice as I had thought I would need to endure.  Sure, it wasn't always a point-and-click affair (especially when handling new or beta software or distros), but the power to actually do something about it came as a bit of a culture shock at first, but then as a matter of pride once I became more and more adept at fixing things or discovering other solutions I would never have conceived of.  Moreover, Linux has evolved to the point where it can cater both to power users and new, point-and-click users -- a good case in point is the popularity of the EeePC and the gPC, which both come prepackaged with user-friendly systems and backed by strong community support.

If you, as a user, use your computer only to check email, chat or browse the internet, or if you're one of those power users that MUST have a server environment at home, then the Linux is actually ideal due to the more enhanced security and the emphasis on net-based solutions.  If in addition to that, you also need an office suite, image editing programs, sound editing programs and video editing programs, we can cater to that as well as long as you're willing to learn new applications.

If on the other hand you're a heavy gamer, and also locked into essential but proprietary software such as TurboTax, iTunes, Office 2007, and other applications that have no free equivalent (or legally bar them entirely), then I'm afraid it would be a lot more difficult to make the transition, if only because you would need to establish a dual-boot environment or a virtual desktop environment, or tinker with Wine in order to get that stuff working properly in Linux.

So again, let me know what your needs are, and we'll see what we can do.  ^^

[NekOSaka]

... I knew I was walking in front of a firing squad when I asked that question. Should have known that C-Chan would be more than likely to bring out a cannon. XP

[C-Chan]

Fufu... you should see my 12-gun salute.  I actually use Paris Guns for those.  ^___^

So what says you?  Interested, or not yet?

No rush really.  There are a lot more commercial Linux products popping up every day now, so even if you don't give it a try now, you'll probably have a wealth of cheap and easy Linux systems to try out in late 2008, 2009 and beyond.  Many small portable devices, like cell phones, are now powered by a Linux kernel of some sort.

[NekOSaka]

I'm very interested in everything Computer related. I would happily become a Linux user, I would probably buy a mac and continue to buy PC given the option. My currency income however doesn't really warrent the option of collecting all OS's and Compy's.. I have the same principal with Anime, I watch comedy, I'll watch horror, I'll watch drama, hell I've been talked into watching tokyo mew mew futa. (Well reading) I wish to collect all Anime.

[C-Chan]

Well yessiree bob, you look like someone who loves Anime more than anything else.  However, Anime is expensive by nature, and so is computing if you're not careful.  ^___^

Fortunately, we have "Open Source Anime" which is free (and you're basically registered in a forum about it.... ^^'), and there's Open Source software which is also free as in beer.

So I think Linux, more than any other system (except, of course, BSD), allows you to try out as many as possible for the comfortable price of $0.00 USD.  

Sure, you might have to buy a spindle of CD-Rs if you plan to try them out on a separate machine; but it's also possible (and user-friendly) to try out Linux from the comfort of XP, without burning anything to any kind of plastic.  

Consider downloading and installing this handy little [free] tool:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

And then go here to pick out a Linux distro that sounds interesting, and just download its ISO file:

http://distrowatch.com/
[look under "Page Hit Ranking", not OSDisc.com]

Or if you want me to pick a nice, small one for you....  

ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/puppylinux/puppy-3.01-seamonkey.iso

Not the prettiest distro around, but packs every program you could possibly need, plus the OS, into a 100MB package, and is still perfectly customizable.

Instructions for using Virtualbox are floating around, but I can provide an overview if you're still interested.