RipLizarD_ Report post Posted February 2, 2005 could someone tell me what linux exactly is and if its better than windows? tnks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kamoricks Report post Posted February 2, 2005 It's a open sorce operating system operating off of the linux kernel code. If you know what you are doing, yes, it's better than windows. Only problem is that it isn't compatible with most of the stuff they have out there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RipLizarD_ Report post Posted February 2, 2005 so basicaly if i downloead it i can use it all the time. it will be just liek normal when i use windows except for...could u guys tell me what the changes would be? tnks Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Placid Report post Posted February 3, 2005 (edited) Linux is a free, open source operating system developed by Linus Torvalds about 13 years ago. It is losely based on the POSIX operating system. It originally started as a 'hobbie' and has, rapidly grown into a very useable operating system. Linux's advantages are that it is stable, secure, quick and poweful. Windows is slow, insecure, instable and too high level. Kamoricks I believe you are wrong. Linux is compatible with a huge array of hardware, it is behind Windows in hardware compatability, but that is purely because hardware vendors will not allow programmers any decent specification or information about their particular hardware. In answer to your question RipLizard, it would be a very big change. It looks and behaves different. I would certanily suggest having a good understanding of computers before delving into Linux. However, there are some distributions (Lindows, Mandrake) that can be used by someone who isnt very knowledgable or Linux itself. Edited February 3, 2005 by Placid Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kenneth916 Report post Posted February 3, 2005 It is very different from Windows. Many modern versions have tried to look as much like Windows as possible (to broaden their appeal to Windows users), but Linux operates differently (this can be a benefit or a detriment). If you are very used to Windows, the adjustment to Linux could vary from easy to extremely difficult, depending on what you want to do. Linux is much more configurable than Windows, but that can mean that it takes more thought to do some of the stuff you take for granted... If you just want to try it out I would recommend getting one of the versions that runs from a CD and doesn't have to be installed on your computer first. That way if you just cannot handle it you can just take the CD out and pretend it doesn't exist. I may be a little out of date, haven't played with Linux in a couple of years, and I'm actually about to give it another shot to see how far it has come. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RipLizarD_ Report post Posted February 3, 2005 so if i were to download it onto my computer, and i dont like it, can i easily take it off and return to windows? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nikor Report post Posted February 3, 2005 so if i were to download it onto my computer, and i dont like it, can i easily take it off and return to windows? If you just download it, it won't do anything. You have to install it, which means you have to make some partitions on your hard drive to install it on. Probably you won't have any free space (not taken by any other partition) on your hard drive. To just try linux and look what it's like, it's a lot of changes to your computer. My suggestion is to try Knoppix. It's a linux distribution that boots from a CD, doesn't make any changes, and lets you try and see what it's like. I haven't tried it myself recently but it's supposed to have very good hardware recognition. Just take a look at the ->Knoppix homepage<- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
