I am a computer geek. I have been for a thousand years. I like to think of myself as a lover of all operating systems. I've run pretty much everything at one time or another. I once had a computer that I could multi-boot with a half-dozen operating systems. Windows, DOS, OS/2, the vast number of Linux flavors, BeOS...they all have their uses and they all have their strong and weak points.
My favorite OS (no flames, please) is MacOS. I'm old school... OSX is great and all, but the best was System 7 through MacOS 9. They will always be near and dear to my heart. In high school I was a volunteer in our school's very advanced Macintosh Lab, commanded by the always lovely Charlene Campbell. She is the person that kickstarted me into the computer industry and my love for old-school Macintosh. I still have a PowerMac 9600MP (upgraded to a G3 processor) that I like to use, and it runs MacOS 9.2.
Mrs. Campbell, if you ever read this....thank you.
But I digress, as per usual.
I have played with a lot of Linux distributions. My favorite has been the Fedora Core series, based on the RedHat Enterprise series. All of the servers I run at home are running Fedora Core 6 (as of right now). It, to me, seems to be the most stable and easiest server Linux to deal with. I have never had any serious problems with this distro, and it is very easy to configure for a headless server with no X-windows or other unnecessary packages.
I have tried Fedora Core on my laptop as a desktop to dual-boot between Linux and Windows XP. I use both quite a lot for a variety of tasks. Fedora Core was just not "IT" to me. I could never get it to connect to my wireless correctly (I use WPA security on my home wireless, which requires additional packages and configurations). It just didn't have a great look and feel, and programs that I would install from packages would not run or would not run correctly. It is just not ready for prime time as a desktop operating system, in my opinion. It just doesn't "feel" right.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not an idiot, I can follow directions, I know how to compile programs in Linux. I run seven servers at home connected in some fashion to the internet, for everything from web services, database management to voice-over-ip with Asterisk.
Last night I downloaded the install CD image for Ubuntu Linux. I installed it just this morning. I tell you this was a the easiest installation of any distribution I have ever used. The installation was quick and the Live CD installation environment recognized all of my laptop's hardware. The system is very easy to configure to your liking, and it has fully integrated international language support, even in the terminal. Support like this is part of most Linux distributions, but I have never actually experienced it as completely as I have with Ubuntu.
Installing software is a breeze...and the packages actually work once installed. The installation recognized all the hardware, including the "WinModem" which required special drivers. The Intel 2200b/g wireless card in the laptop was instantly recognized, and the WPA access on it works like a charm.
Ubuntu is the most polished distribution of Linux that I have ever used. If you are interested in trying it out, I recommend that you download an iso and burn it. You will not be disappointed.
My favorite OS (no flames, please) is MacOS. I'm old school... OSX is great and all, but the best was System 7 through MacOS 9. They will always be near and dear to my heart. In high school I was a volunteer in our school's very advanced Macintosh Lab, commanded by the always lovely Charlene Campbell. She is the person that kickstarted me into the computer industry and my love for old-school Macintosh. I still have a PowerMac 9600MP (upgraded to a G3 processor) that I like to use, and it runs MacOS 9.2.
Mrs. Campbell, if you ever read this....thank you.
But I digress, as per usual.
I have played with a lot of Linux distributions. My favorite has been the Fedora Core series, based on the RedHat Enterprise series. All of the servers I run at home are running Fedora Core 6 (as of right now). It, to me, seems to be the most stable and easiest server Linux to deal with. I have never had any serious problems with this distro, and it is very easy to configure for a headless server with no X-windows or other unnecessary packages.
I have tried Fedora Core on my laptop as a desktop to dual-boot between Linux and Windows XP. I use both quite a lot for a variety of tasks. Fedora Core was just not "IT" to me. I could never get it to connect to my wireless correctly (I use WPA security on my home wireless, which requires additional packages and configurations). It just didn't have a great look and feel, and programs that I would install from packages would not run or would not run correctly. It is just not ready for prime time as a desktop operating system, in my opinion. It just doesn't "feel" right.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not an idiot, I can follow directions, I know how to compile programs in Linux. I run seven servers at home connected in some fashion to the internet, for everything from web services, database management to voice-over-ip with Asterisk.
Last night I downloaded the install CD image for Ubuntu Linux. I installed it just this morning. I tell you this was a the easiest installation of any distribution I have ever used. The installation was quick and the Live CD installation environment recognized all of my laptop's hardware. The system is very easy to configure to your liking, and it has fully integrated international language support, even in the terminal. Support like this is part of most Linux distributions, but I have never actually experienced it as completely as I have with Ubuntu.
Installing software is a breeze...and the packages actually work once installed. The installation recognized all the hardware, including the "WinModem" which required special drivers. The Intel 2200b/g wireless card in the laptop was instantly recognized, and the WPA access on it works like a charm.
Ubuntu is the most polished distribution of Linux that I have ever used. If you are interested in trying it out, I recommend that you download an iso and burn it. You will not be disappointed.
2 comments:
I, too, am a big fan of Mac OS 9 (and 7-8 though they were less stable). I waited five years to finally transition to OS X because I was so unhappy with it. People constantly touted how great Mac OS 9 was until X was on the horizon, then, all of a sudden, "rock solid UNIX (base)" became all people could say and there was a lot of pooh-poohing of OS 9's supposed instability because of extension conflicts and the like.
I haven't really tried Linux though because my years of having enough free time to change my operating system based on mere interest seem to be well behind me.
OS9 unstable? Hah! That's a good one! I used to get in quite a number of arguments over issues such as that. My personal favorite is that MacOS (pre-OSX) is a kiddie operating system because it doesn't have a command line. Oh, puhleeeez! That was the whole point...it didn't need a command line!
Apple has always had a good, solid operating system. One advantage they have is that they have complete control over the hardware it runs on. They know what to program for as there are few variables. Microsoft, on the other hand, had to write Windows for a lowest common denominator of hardware, and depend on vendors to write drivers that actually work for chipsets and video cards and the like. Not to stick up for Microsoft, but the inherent instability that some people experience is not because of Windows but the drivers for the core hardware...or the hardware itself is flaky. (VIA Chipsets, anyone?) I have servers at work that have run for YEARS without a restart or shutdown on Windows 2000 Server, and I have some that crash weekly. One addage is true with a lot of operating systems, "your mileage may vary."
I remember the good old days of using System 6 with MultiFinder (the precursor to System 7's built-in multitasking) on a Mac SE writing a HyperCard stack for a school project or just for fun. Aaaahhh...those were the days.
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