Why not Linux?

[BlackPig]

I gave my wife my old laptop for her work. She stopped using it as it was getting very slow usual windows stuff updating added software cookies etc. Anyway I had thought about having a backup Linux computer (my desktop one is windows7, my laptop Vista) so asked if I could scrub it and put Linux on it. Quick research and I chose mint 15. It boots up quickly, no updating every time you start it. This got me thinking is Linux on an old cheap (free) laptop better than windows for the boat. The cost of unnecessary data transfer, power/time used against potential compatibility problems (you can use "wine" a windows emulator).

I'm no computer geek and have found Linux mint quick and easy to use. The Linux laptop is now the first to be used if doing household stuff, emails, video, mp3s etc. I have even found a spell checker. You could have dual boot on the comptuer Linux for web, windows when not connected.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I gave my wife my old laptop for her work. She stopped using it as it was getting very slow usual windows stuff updating added software cookies etc. Anyway I had thought about having a backup Linux computer (my desktop one is windows7, my laptop Vista) so asked if I could scrub it and put Linux on it. Quick research and I chose mint 15. It boots up quickly, no updating every time you start it. This got me thinking is Linux on an old cheap (free) laptop better than windows for the boat. The cost of unnecessary data transfer, power/time used against potential compatibility problems (you can use "wine" a windows emulator).

I'm no computer geek and have found Linux mint quick and easy to use. The Linux laptop is now the first to be used if doing household stuff, emails, video, mp3s etc. I have even found a spell checker. You could have dual boot on the comptuer Linux for web, windows when not connected.

At last count I used Linux on three desktops (all Xubuntu), four laptops (also all Xubuntu) and two netbooks (Lubuntu). The only downside to using Linux on a boat is that as far as I now there is no source of UKHO charts for use with OpenCPN on Linux.

 

[prv]

Where I work, nearly everybody uses Linux. A few lucky people managed to get the company to buy them Macs. Only the writer and one of the testers uses Windows, and the tester spends most of her time remotely connected to Linux machines anyway.

Personally I think Linux and Windows are objectively about the same in terms of annoyances (but Windows is much more annoying to me personally because I'm not very familiar with it). The Mac, however, is way out ahead of them if you just want a computer to use as a tool. My personal machines have been Macs for nearly ten years now.

Pete

 

[paulm299]

all lap tops , one win 8.1 ( Until it goes wrong ) , One Linux mint 15 , One for experimenting on ( Tonight I am going to try Android ) Oh and one that hates windows but runs Ubuntu .

 

[lustyd]

Having just finally bought a Mac after many years of Windows and Linux for work and "pleasure" I would have to disagree that it's better as a tool. For someone doing a single task, the traditional Mac type stuff like Photoshop then yes it's a nicer OS. For anyone doing productivity type stuff I think Windows is now the better choice as Microsoft have done a lot of work on Windows 7 and 8 to make this type of thing easier. Linux is lovely and stable but has far too many issues to be the best choice for most people but can be a reasonable OS if you know what you're doing.

 

[Storyline]

Having just finally bought a Mac after many years of Windows and Linux for work and "pleasure" I would have to disagree that it's better as a tool. For someone doing a single task, the traditional Mac type stuff like Photoshop then yes it's a nicer OS. For anyone doing productivity type stuff I think Windows is now the better choice as Microsoft have done a lot of work on Windows 7 and 8 to make this type of thing easier. Linux is lovely and stable but has far too many issues to be the best choice for most people but can be a reasonable OS if you know what you're doing.

I agree. Even my brother in law who is a graphic designer is now getting fed up with Apple. They have focused on the mobile market and the support for older hardware is appalling.

 

[ralphmalph]

run whatever Linux you want in VMware Player (free download) and then you have the best of both worlds. You can just swap between windows and linux by switching between windows.

For the non techies VMware Player runs as an application on windows and provides what is called a virtual machine to run another operating system on.

 

[lustyd]

run whatever Linux you want in VMware Player (free download) and then you have the best of both worlds. You can just swap between windows and linux by switching between windows.

For the non techies VMware Player runs as an application on windows and provides what is called a virtual machine to run another operating system on.

Of course on Windows you can also use the built in and free Hyper-V

 

[ralphmalph]

Of course on Windows you can also use the built in and free Hyper-V

If you want and you can also use VirtualBox from Oracle as well. Competition is a wonderful thing.

Edit: Also does Hyper-V only run on Win8? The alcohol is kicking in and I can remember 100%.

 

[lustyd]

I thought that was canned a while ago?

And no, Windows 8.1 as well, so almost all of the current Windows versions.

 

[ralphmalph]

I have no clue, I have used Player for years and it works so I have not looked at the alternatives

 

[BlackPig]

run whatever Linux you want in VMware Player (free download) and then you have the best of both worlds. You can just swap between windows and linux by switching between windows.

For the non techies VMware Player runs as an application on windows and provides what is called a virtual machine to run another operating system on.

I don't see any advantage in running Linux from within windows, you still have all the updates and windows problems then any Linux anomalies.
For boat use, I would think the main points would be:
Quick boot up
No updates (using up data allowance on phone)
Run quickly on an old computer (less concern if damaged/lost)
Reliable, no hassle.

Usage on board (me):
Contact emails
Get weather
Back up video and pics

(Others)
Navigation
Music
Video Player
Internet.

 

[chal]

I think Linux and Windows are objectively about the same in terms of annoyances ... The Mac, however, is way out ahead of them if you just want a computer to use as a tool.

Interestingly (well, ever so slightly):

Linux is a unix clone that shares none of the original codebase and is not allowed to use the name, but works in the same way and achieves much the same level of stability. FreeBSD (my O/S of choice, both at home and work) does have a connection with the original unix codebase but is not allowed to use name either. Both have "unix-ish" names that make the connection obvious.

Mac OS X is mostly FreeBSD code and has full unix certification, Apple just don't advertise the fact. Almost anything that will run on Linux will run on a Mac too, but might have to be compiled from source.

The point is that it comes down to what is supported: Word for example clearly runs on a Mac and could just as easily run on Linux but Microsoft don't want it to. Linux will run on old and slow machines, and so could Mac OS X, but Apple don't want it to.

It often surprises me what customers will put up with from computer companies - nobody would buy at tv that wouldn't work with BBC, say.

 

[prv]

Interestingly (well, ever so slightly):

Linux is a unix clone...
FreeBSD does have a connection with the original unix...
Mac OS X is mostly FreeBSD code and has full unix certification...

I'm well aware of all that - once upon a time all my "work" computing was Solaris, more recently I worked on a product that spanned Linux, AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, USS (the Unix-like part of zOS), and the old card-walloping parts of zOS as well. Plus Windows, but I tried to avoid that

Not really sure what the point is, though. From a user's point of view what matters is the interface, and that varies entirely independently of the exact ancestry of the kernel.

Pete

 

[grumpy_o_g]

My basic guide I used to give out to the internal business areas when I was in charge of Technology Sourcing for a VERY large company (or something very close to it).

1. First define your requirements (i.e. what do you want to be able to do, not what app do you need)
2. Then shortlist the apps that meet your minimum functionality requirements
3. Next look at the reliability, maintainability, performance and additional functionality of the shortlisted apps and the vendors of them and give each a rating out of 10.
4. Weight each of the above factors where 1 is not important and 10 is very important. Don't go back and change the answers to step 3 after you've done this.
5. For each app multiply the rating you gave for each factor by the weighting and then add then all up.
6. List each app by it's total score and see which one "won".
7. Now sit own and try and work out why you're unhappy with the position of each app that you think finished in the wrong position.
8. Write down a precis of that reason against each app - if you want to be subjective feel free to do so.
9. Email me the list to me and then pick up the phone and call me (AFTER you've checked you've got an approved business case and funding).

No mention of OS's, RDBMS's (or any other databases), hardware or anything.

• Define the requirements
• Choose the app based on them
• See what OS's it will run on and choose the best one for you
• Then see what hardware you need

In that order...

 

[chal]

I'm well aware of all that

I guessed you probably were and hesitated to quote your post - the info (ranting!) was just for the thread in general really, but seemed to hang off your comment. Not much of a point other than that we, the public, do get pushed around a lot by the "computing industry" imho

once upon a time all my "work" computing was Solaris

me too - I miss Solaris now Oracle has effectively taken it away from us by making it too expensive, but I did start with BSD and the SunOS so FreeBSD is almost like a homecoming

From a user's point of view what matters is the interface, and that varies entirely independently of the exact ancestry of the kernel.

Absolutely agree: again, it's just that since particularly in the case of Apple it's not just the kernel that's unix but the whole userland that's BSD it would be easy for them both to enable far more stuff to run on a Mac (and their software to run on much older machines) and things like iTunes to run on anything, but they won't. Thus my iPod won't talk to any computer that I own (I've put Rockbox on it, but why should I have to?).

I think that if, say, Ford sold cars with special wheels that would only take, say, Michelin tyres but no others, there would be an outcry and public pressure would force them to change their policy, but we accept similar policies from the likes of MS and Apple without so much as a whimper.

 

[DaveRo]

I gave my wife my old laptop for her work. She stopped using it as it was getting very slow usual windows stuff updating added software cookies etc. Anyway I had thought about having a backup Linux computer (my desktop one is windows7, my laptop Vista) so asked if I could scrub it and put Linux on it. Quick research and I chose mint 15...

What laptop is it?
Does it suspend (sleep) and recover OK?
Does it have bluetooth, and if so can you turn it off and on?
How is wifi management - does it connect from boot and recover from suspend?
Just curious; these are issues I've had over the years and keep coming back.
Battery management is also not as good as under windows I find (on a ThinkPad) - you have fewer options and I think, but can't prove, that my battery didn't last as long as under XP and Lenovo's own drivers/utilities.

You can use 'powertop' to check/reduce power, BTW. I used it a lot when I had it on the boat.

 

[charles_reed]

Since 2001 I've dual booted all my computers a total of 12) into a Linux distro. In the early days Linux didn't cover as many bells and whistles as the then Microsoft system (NT4) that I used.
In its present configuration Suse 12.3, does everything that Win7 does (don't ask for an opinion on Win 8.1 IMHO as bad as Vista), is considerably more stable and boots in about 45% of the time - depending how you set it up power use is about 60% of a comparable WinOS.
The reasons I still have a Win OS is due to one programme - Adobe Photoshop.
My log, primary plotter, music/ audio-book playback and internet use (3.5Gb/month on cellular) are all on laptop whilst aboard the boat in Greece 6/12.
If I could buy a laptop that matches my functional spec free of an OS, I would do so.
In fact, on 64-bit machines, Linux is well ahead of WinOS, causes far less annoyance and the complete package (OS + Office suite) is free and downloadable over the internet (about 4.7Gb).

 

[jakeroyd]

I have an old 10" laptop running Vista.
Celeron processor. Its grindingly slow.
I put Ubuntu on it as a dual boot.
Ubuntu runs quickly and slickly on it.

Have not used it much but have compatible word excel and power point running and web browser etc.

So to me it's a solution to an old slow machine to give it a longer usable life.

Depends pn what you use your machine for of course.

 

[BlackPig]

DaveRo;
What laptop is it? The computer is an Acer aspire 7000

Does it suspend (sleep) and recover OK? Yes

Does it have bluetooth, and if so can you turn it off and on? No old computer I had lying around.

How is wifi management - does it connect from boot and recover from suspend? Don't know, don't care, it works I switch it on and it is conected to the house modem even after sleep/suspended.

Just curious; these are issues I've had over the years and keep coming back.
Battery management is also not as good as under windows I find (on a ThinkPad) - you have fewer options and I think, but can't prove, that my battery didn't last as long as under XP and Lenovo's own drivers/utilities.

You can use 'powertop' to check/reduce power, BTW. I used it a lot when I had it on the boat. No idea


As with so many people I don't want to waste time learning, loading this and that, tweaking codes on what is suppose to be a time saving device. Hence the choice of Linux mint (for those that don't know/care Linux started off as an open source operating system for computer nerds and was very command line based, mint (there are loads of versions of Linux) is more user friendly not unlike windows. It loaded with no problems, came with libraoffice (all your word stuff) Firefox for internet, (this covers 90% of what I need on the boat) some graphic packages, sound video, players and editors. Cost me nothing and is 100% legal (may be useful if I go abroad).

So far the only downside seems to be (keeping with ON THE BOAT only) is as back up navigation.