When did you come to use Linux as you primary OS?

[Rakeswell]

I've been using Red Hat 7 for about a month now and reading all I can find on using Linux. The command line is coming along, I think (I like the I/O redirection and piping you can do, but not yet at the stage where I can really use it). I think that as soon as I get confortable with vi and emacs, I'll try putting Red Hat on my Windows system (with all the nice hardware) and set up a windows box as a secondary machine.

So, I'm just kinda curious how everyone else made the transition. Was it gradual, or did you just say "I'm just going to use Linux from now on"? Or did the use of a Windows emulator or Wine make the transition a no-brainer?

Interested to hear what others have done before I dive in...

[binaryDigit]

i just dove in. i still think that's the way to go, but some people may not be able to.
as for watch you've done... good move learning the command line.
let me give you a few examples of the pipes that you could be using now:

cat /var/log/messages | grep 'Packet log:'

in the /dev directory
ls -l | grep 'cdrom'

ps aux | more

i'm still learning this stuff too, but it gets better and better as you move along.
you're doing fine. :)

[Lend273]

I'm not quite there yet, but making progress. I have resolved most of the critical issues and goals that I set for myself when I first installed Linux.
I had to be able to:
*Mount all drives and understand fstab.
*Burn Cd's
*Play mp3's
*Use a text editor
*Log onto the internet
*Use email
*Configure all hardware
*Investigate several distros
*Find suitable alternatives for all of my
favorite windows programs
* Install programs
* play 3d games

So far I have accomplished all except the gaming issure, which I expect to resolve with Libranet 1.9.0 which includes 2.4 kernel and Xfree4.0.2. I need to have support for my Nvidia
Geforce 2 MX card which I understand is included in the above.

I also want to be able to upgrade the kernel on my own at some point. I have
recompiled the kernel a few times to add support for various devices.

I fully expect to be windows free within 3 months.

Len

[scott_R]

about a year ago, when many of the peices that made linux into a complete system (and easy to use) began to fall into place.

[ethereal]

It was a gradual process for me. First I got Redhat 6.2, but I never could get it to boot correctly, and always had to use a boot disk.Next came mandrake 7.1,7.2, then back to redhat with version 7. Complete windows independance did not come until my change to Slackware 7.1.

Still didn't happen till the kicker finally came. My brother got rid of windows, and I couldn't stand to be left behind :).

Everything's going good, had some problems switching to the 2.4.2 kernel (And still do). so I'm in 2.4.0. Quake 3 runs better than it ever did in Windows. I'll now refuse to use any windows except 2000, which actually has some stability.

[whitehorse]

I began using linux 2 years ago and it's been a gradual changover. Work and family life slows down the process, but what can you do?

I need a machine that is productive...WP, spreadsheet, FAX, database, etc. I have one box set up for this. Another box I use for process control...alarm system and home automation. Still another box for development.

The changeover couldn't happen fast enough, but as I got each piece of hardware or software installed and configured, I would sit back with a sense of accomplishment.

Guess what...that process doesn't end.

[DavidHaze]

Went to install Linux MD 7.2 back in December 2000. Was going to dual boot with win98 but choose the wrong HD and ended up formatting and just intstalled Linux. Rather than reload windoze I figured I'd play with Linux for awhile until I had time to do it all over. I have had time but see no reason to. Linux can do everything I need to do and no *crashes*. Mostly used for Internet (email, surfing) and word processing, etc.

My question is; "If the internet has no walls and fences then why do we need Gates and Windows?"

[Rakeswell]

Thanks for the encouragement, binaryDigit.

I can see the issue with needing certain aps -- at least in the interim. I figure I need to learn Gimp and a some text editors, then I'll take the plunge; but then again diving right in will make you learn it more quickly...

But every day, there is some small accomplishment; learning something, figuring out how to set the path variables for the java interpreter -- and its fun to muck around with the system, I think.

As far as games are concerned, I'm actually really suprized -- it looks like I can play all my favorite games (especially Fallout1 and 2) under WINE, and looks like new ones are being released for Linux all the time.

I really do have to say that Linux is turning out to be much cooler than I ever imagined. And the Linux community is not too bad either.

[Coral Sea]

Linux became my most used OS about a year ago (if you exclude my use of Windows at work where I have no choice). Up until then, I was playing around with it to see what all the hype was about.

Every new distro of Linux gets so much richer that it won't be long before Windows has nothing to offer me for personal use.

On top of that, the Linux community -- as exemplified by this Web site -- seems to be a breed that appeals to my sense of adventure and tinkering.

When I was a kid, I used to take my motorcycles apart and put them back together again for the sure fun of it. Linux (and all the stuff that comes with it) reminds me of that. :)

[sincka]

The only reason why I still have Windows is because of the games and because I can't configure my :mad:&%$#*@(#@ :mad: printer in Linux. (Thrust me, I've tried pretty much everything and gave up on it)

I am 90% of the time in Linux though :)

[Frawg]

linux has been my primary os since i installed it a month ago. My Diablo 2 playing has decreased to about 1 hour a week. the rest of my computer time is spent with linux. tweaking out on it.. I am having a ball! It has been a LONG time since anything on a computer was NEW to me..

It's filling me with a sense of wonderment and excitement... Wierd.. This only happened a few times before..

when i first learned gwbasic..
when i did Acid the first time
when my baby was new and everything was so new...

and when i installed linux.

hehehe

[prince_kenshi]

Linux became my primary operating system a few weeks ago when I installed Debian. Debian is the only distro so far that seemed to encourage me to figure out stuff. It installed with a lot of stuff unconfigured which was easily configured when I got ready for it. This gave me a sense of hope, perhaps made me feel better at Linux than I was, and I haven't since then felt like I couldn't handle a problem if I worked on it some. And so far it seems to be true. It's probably true of other Distros but they didn't give me that good feeling in the beginning. Now I only go to Windows when it's necessary.

[bdg1983]

Got to linux a couple of weeks ago - reading a book about the early hacker/cracker scene which inspired me to try something new and so i jus went to the next shop and got cigarettes and a magazine with a linux distro on it - and since then iam trying .
Deleted my win2000 right away and didnt regret it !

David

[Liqwid Sm0k3]

Ok , I was about to go to sleep when I noticed this post on the board. I just felt all the love , so I had to post.

Well I started with linux about 2.5 yrs ago. I did the dual boot method. It all started with Mandrake7.0. I liked it from a GUI point of view , it was ok. It came with all the stuffings. A little too much meat that is. So I used that && windwoes for about a yr. . Then I decided to try something diffrent. So I chose Redhat 6.1, but I did'nt get to use that either because of hardware/installation problems. So then I chose Debian. I encountered the same problems from it (2.1) slink I beleive. After struggling with it , and never keeping anything on my hdd for a solid week. I chose to go with slackware 7. I had trouble at first , then I got it to dual boot correctly booting the way I wanted. So I used slackware 7 for a while still dual booting windows. The only thing that boggled me was sound in slackware. The driver for my card ESS Allegro pci did'nt have a driver invented. So finally despite the sound I made the Switch about a year ago. Then six months later a give/take a alpha driver was built , thanks to zabbo.net. I don't regret anything about it. I love the way it handles on the road , I love the user steering , and most of all I love the stability. That was my biggest problem in win****. I have total control over my system. The software is free , plus it comes with most common utilities , wp , mp3player , ftp , web-server. What more could you ask out of a system. Plus I burned it , and all my hardware is compatible now. I love it , with out my slack7.1 I don't knwo what I would do. Plus I learn a new command every day. The most recent new command learned was && which is the same as ; . You just can't go wrong win choosing *nix .. :cool:

[cage47]

About two years ago I started hearing about Linux and since it was one of the only distros with a Floppy install I got Debian loaded and tinkered with it long enough to get a Working X server. But didn't do much more than that until I bought Mandrake 7 and Corel from cheapbytes. I spent two months fighting with Corel and was about to give up all when I tried Mandrake. LOVED IT. Then I upgrade my system from a DX4-100 to an AMD k6-2 450 and a via chipset mobo. needless to say Windows 95 threw a fit and after two more months, and buying Maximum Linux (Miss it much :( :( :( ) I migrated my work files to Linux format (Easy since I used WordPerfect in Windows anyhow) Since then I've been learning more and more the inner workings and have reverted my dual boot to a 350 meg Windows 3.1 for the few games I still have. (since that was the last Windows I had a liking for)

[Rakeswell]

Originally posted by cage47:
Then I upgrade my system from a DX4-100 to an AMD k6-2 450 and a via chipset mobo. needless to say Windows 95 threw a fit...

Heh heh...that's exactly what I am running Linux on right now. That Mainboard causes so many problems under windows, but so far, no problems under Linux. Its amazing what a difference an OS can make in terms of how well certain hardware can run.

[rppp01]

I started with RH 4.2 two and a half years ago. I was moving in the direction of adopting it, but couldn't due to the games/apps problems of the time (oh how I pined for a word processor -any word processor- at that time). Linux moved to my server and has been thier pretty much since RH5.0. I kept trying to want to use linux more, but I wasn't comfortable with any gui's available (I have now tried them all), I even tried WindowMaker (my current, and favorite WM) and didn't like it.
At one point, I removed windows completely, but missed the games too much. Linux and BeOS were my OSes, and while they were fine, they lacked too much.
I didn't place linux on my desktop as a permanent home until I achieved broadband a year ago. Then the split was 30(linux)-70(windows). The ability to download iso's and other apps quickly changed everything for me. At this point, linux began to consume more and more of my time on linux partition. HelixCode helped me get comforatable in the linux gui, and then when I re-discovered WindowMaker, I fell in love and now rarely boot windows (probably won't any more on my major systems at home as I have another one with windows on it solely for the purpose of work). As linux supports more and more games, and media formats, I will be spending less and less time in windows. :)


And I must say.......linux has come a looooooooong way since redhat 4.2 with kernel 2.0.36. BTW, I still have that CD lying around.