I hear that it has NO sound at all? I know there are good alternatives to help linux work more with windows like software, but if i wanted to run linux primarily, would i be able to do most everything i do in windows?

Main things i do:

- Music (MP3 from Winamp and such)
- Videos ( whatever, lol)
- I use applications such as Photoshop, Flash, 3dsmax 5, and Frontpage.
- I play games (obviously)


I would also need good hardware support, i have so many USB things its insane... and id need good internal hardware support too. If i cant get everything to work as well as windows would i guess i'll stay with it but... id really like to switch.



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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

Anyone who told you that there's no sound needs to put down the pipe...

I didnt understand it either, but ive never messed with linux so...

me = teh major n00b

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

The only thing you have to do to get the sound to work is go into your BIOS and disable 'Plug and Play' for one boot. You can put it back anytime after that (on the next boot).
Once Plug and Play has been disabled, Linux will recognise your sound card.

You can do pretty much anything you want in Linux that you would do in Windows.
As you will se on my other thread, I will only use Windows to game and for Macromedia's software (although I might be able to get them to work using WineX).

I will have to give up some of the apps that I have gotten used to but I will quickly get used to the new ones. :/
That's OK.


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To artificial life, all reality is virtual.

Well can you let me know how you like it when you use it? Cuz I want to switch, Im tired of Windows...

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

Music = XMMS
Videos = XINE, Video Lan, Aviplay
Photoshop = The GIMP
Flash = umm . . WineX?
3dsmax 5 = Blender
Frontpage = Quanta Plus
Games = WineX

Hardware support = Mandrake, Suse, RedHat, etc. In reality every distro supports all hardware, its just a pain in most to get it configured.

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Fight the future.

3DSMax = POV-Ray

Mandrake took only 30mins to install and configure all my hardware.

I'm bored so I rebuilt it using with Gentoo - complete compile of EVERYTHING! mmm, runs nice and quick now, but I'm still fighting with my BTTV modules.

Raynar

I just saw on The Screen Savers last night that SuSe has the best hardware support out right now.
Next is RH and Mandrake.

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To artificial life, all reality is virtual.

Easy hardware compatibility. There are modules and drivers out there for every build for virtually every piece of hardware. But you have to configure and often compile them yourself, which can be a pain, especially for a newbie.

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-=I'm the wang of this here site, and it's HUGE! So just imagine how big I am.=-
1337Yectiwan
OSC Returns!!
10 of 14 -- 27 Lives On

Yeah... see NEWBIE I AM!!! lol, any other advice before i do switch? I proly wont switch soon because Im gonna goto a 24hour lan party this coming friday.


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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

Oh, Linux has sound alright! Back in the days when I had WinME, I used to boot up into Linux, just so that I could listen to three songs in a row without a crash!

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GhostOfYoda - General doer of stuff.

GoY, I agree, although I don't use linux and never have. I've got Slack 9.1 burned, and just waiting for a night free that'll let me get a friend on the line to walk me through it. Tutorials take time, but if i ask a friend, "Was ist das?" they react immediately...after using babelfish ;D.

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There is no signature

Slackware is very easy, just as long as you pick full install.

It talks you through everything anyway. Just make sure you remember this: startx starts your GUI. Slackware doesn't like to do that for you like most distros do.


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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...

Bah, Slackware doesnt have a package system.

Get Suse. Its powerful, and its easy to use.

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Fight the future.

is suse free?

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"Ahhhh!! I'm Burnin'! I'm Burnin!!!" - Cleaner from Max Payne 2

Gentoo, although you might want to wait for them to finish Portage 2

*.tgz works for me.

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<scribbly handwriting barely resembling name>

SuSe is free but there are no iso's to download. It's a net install IIRC. If you want the iso's you have to buy them.


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To artificial life, all reality is virtual.

I use Redhat... and as far as I knew, most versions of Linux are free-
but I don't use sound on Linux anyways, because I use the command line...

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"I must find somone... to
send to Riven."
-Atrus, 'Riven'

Because, naturally, no command-line program could ever produce sound...

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Fight the future.

Last I heard SuSe came on 2 dvd's.. and considering i only have a 4G linux drive, i'll stick with Gentoo thankeeverramuch

What is this portage 2 of which you speak and why is it so waitful-for ?

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[Blue Mink Bifocals !] [fsck -Rf /world/usr/] [<!-- kalimonster -->] [Capite Terram]
Applecore scowled. "What does that mean, 'real'? Amn't I real, you? If you cut me, do I not bleed? If you piss me off, will I not kick you up the arse?" -War of the Flowers
NPC.Interact::PressButton($'Submit');

FreeBSD has the best package/ports system.

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[This message has been edited. Deal with it.]

Who said you have to install all packages for suse?

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Of war, we don't speak anymore

You are relying on The Screen Savers/TechTV for your linux information? *cough*

I would strongly suggest you download, burn, and try out the Knoppix Live CD ( http://www.knoppix.net/ ). Knoppix automatically detects and configures all your hardware and everything and gives you a good idea of how much of your hardware linux supports. It also runs directly from the CD so there's no reason to install it on your HD if you don't like it.

Also, you will have a very hard time getting 99% of windows games working on Linux. It's a serious Pain In The A**. Please consider dual booting windows and just using windows for your games (as I do - even though I *am* an anti-microsoft person).

2 DVD's?? That's 9.4 GB! What the hell is included??

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<scribbly handwriting barely resembling name>

Well TSS is a good show and they seem to be on top of things.
Although they don't talk about Linux much, they get thier info from Chris Dibona ( www.dibona.com )( www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/619 ). This guy knows wht he's talking about so I assume the info from TSS is good. :/


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To artificial life, all reality is virtual.

[This message has been edited by Darth Evad (edited December 19, 2003).]

Quoted for truth. Gentoo is wonderful. It's very intimidating at the start, as it has no automation of the install process of any kind. The intsallation guide that comes with it, however is incredibly detailed and throrough. The official Gentoo forums are also an incredibly friendly environment. I've never seen anybody get flamed, no matter how stupid the question. If they do, the person who did the flaming gets burned instantly. The Gentoo install LiveCD is internet-ready, so you can use Links to get on the Gentoo forums and search for answers if you need to. Again, it seems daunting, but I've honestly had fewer troubles with Gentoo than I have with Redhat, Mandrake, or SuSE.

Edit: Games are pretty hit and miss. Newer games you're almost assuredly out of luck. Wine and WineX don't support DirectX 9 yet. I run Call of Duty, BF1942 (which I had some problems getting working), Half-Life/Counterstrike, JO, and JA without problems. WineX supposedly supports Max Payne 2 now, but I don't know that for sure. So, you might be able to play some games under Linux, but I'd keep Windows around if you want gaming.

[This message has been edited by fourwood (edited December 19, 2003).]

I used to watch TSS, until I realized they really didnt know what the heck they were talking about. Especially when they started reccommending using Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, for security reasons. No, Ill not lower my IQ by subjecting myself to such ignorace.

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Fight the future.