Re: [OT] Trying to change my OS from Windows to Linux/Mac

Selon Sam Kong : 
Hello, Ruby people!

This is not about Ruby itself but about OS.
The reason that I ask this question in this group is that I've been
motivated to use other OS's than Windows by this group while I learned
Ruby.
Thus the people in this group can answer my question very well.
Also, I feel very comfortable with people in this group, even if I
don't know them personally.
(I feel like they are my friends.)
This question is not meant to bring flame wars!


So far it has been quite a civilised discussion :) .

I use Windows at my work and home.
Of course, I tried several linux OS's (RedHat, SUSE, Debian, Gentoo,
Ubuntu) and this year I even purchased Mini Mac.
However, I haven't succeeded to make myself used to these OS's.


Force of habit is difficult to beat. I know the problem. After using an Amiga 1200 for years I've never been able to acclimate to the Windows desktop ;) .

I have some questions to linux users and Mac users.

1. When you use Ruby on Linux or just in general on Linux, do you use
text-mode or graphic-mode?


I personally have a Debian desktop with GNOME (graphic mode thus), but I'm thinking of trying something more lightweight. I'm lazy though and the performance I get is enough for my use. I use quite a few x-terms but they hardly ever stay up when I don't use them. I have no problem with the command line (my first computer had a BASIC prompt). I just use what I feel most comfortable with for the task at hand.

2. I've never succeeded to make my laptops work perfectly on Linux.
Sometimes, network card is not working, other times, USB is not
recognized, or Sound card is not working. I've tried on 5 different
laptops with different Linux but none was perfect. How do you overcome
this problem? Well... if you use just a text-mode, this might not be a
problem.


I don't have a laptop, but I can just repeat everyone's advice. You should check if a laptop is compatible with Linux before buying it. Unlike with Windows, hardware vendors still don't usually make drivers for Linux, and with laptops keep their specifications often secret. The only possibility is then for developers to reverse-engineer and build their own drivers. Of course, this way is difficult and error-prone. Given the uphill battle, the fact that you *can* get Linux to work on some laptops is already quite a feat :) . The sites you've been pointed out to are great, and you can find plenty more by googling "linux compatibility" ;) .

3. For Mac users, do you feel OK with the simple mouse? Probably I'm
too accustomed to Windows mouse. Whenever I use Mac, I miss the
right-button and scroll-wheel.


I don't have a Mac, but I'll talk about this here as it fits the subject. I ditched my mouse quite a while ago and took a trackball instead, and so far I'm thrilled. I only move my thumb and two fingers, so the rest of my arm can rest comfortably and I don't ever get RSI symptoms (I used to have some with my mouse). I also think with a laptop a trackball could be a good acolyte, as you don't need a big surface next to your laptop to move the mouse anymore. No forced to use the impractical tactile screen anymore when you are on the train ;) .

If anybody has experience of moving from Windows to Linux or Mac,
please share the success story.


I've switched last August (although I've wanted to do it for years, just too lazy to actually do it ;) ) so my success story is still fresh :) . I've installed Debian GNU/Linux in dual-boot with the original Windows ME of this computer. Installing was a bit of a problem, but only because I've had issues with the Nero burning my CDs wrong, and with the fact that the ADSL network in the Netherlands uses PPTP, a rarely used protocol, and I have an old ADSL modem which isn't a router, so I don't have DHCP (I'm moving to cable next week so that problem will be solved ;) ), thus I couldn't use the netinstall.

But I eventually got the two install CDs to work, and it was a breeze. All the hardware of my Dell Dimension 4300 was recognised on the spot, I immediately got a graphical login manager (GDM), and logged into the GNOME desktop. There I added the finishing touches, like installing the pptp client I had downloaded earlier from Windows and configurating it (took a bit of googling to find the right way, because once again the Dutch ADSL network is anything but standard, but I eventually got it running).

Once Internet was on, I surprisingly never came back to Windows anymore. I still have to log on the Windows partition when something goes wrong, but for actual work and pleasure I exclusively use Debian. The change was overnight and I was myself astonished by it. Everything just makes so much sense to me! I've had since a few problems, but they are all to blame on myself tinkering things when I don't know enough about what I'm doing ;) . However, I've always been able to repair my mistakes without a reinstall (and I have a Knoppix liveCD handy for if I ever break my GRUB conf file again ;) ).

I've since done quite a few things, like compiling the NVIDIA support (a surprisingly painless experience on Debian, once you have installed module-assistant from Synaptic), adding the repositories to get mplayer and great multimedia support (better than what I had on Windows, and I fought for four years there to never get good support), switched to Xorg and installed a bunch of applications from Synaptic. I also update my Unstable box nearly every day, without a problem. I just pay attention to what I'm doing, but that's hardly more than 5 minutes a day.

So all in all I'm more than satisfied with the result. I get a more responsive box, great software, and can use a distribution whose ethics fit mine best. What more could I want? ;)
--
Christophe Grandsire.

http://rainbow.conlang.free.fr

You need a straight mind to invent a twisted conlang.


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