Which Linux Distro?

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#47499 4-Oct-2006 11:39

So far I've just been playing with Kubuntu on the Live CD, but will look at Virtual Server for a more permanent setting.

So far I can't say its blown me away. Sure it looks nice and has some nice apps but, it still doesn't look as nice as Vista and for ease of use it is found lacking in a big way. Did a monkey design the folder system?

barf

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Ultimate Geek

#47583 4-Oct-2006 21:23

Using Linux (or any OS for that matter) in a virtual pc is far from optimal, you'll miss out on 3d acceleration, compiz, real hardware support and etc. If you want to go down that path, instead try paravirtualistaion with something like colinux or Xen.

compiz is beta still, but checkout this video of it!

[Moderator note (tonyhughes): vid is 58mb]

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bradstewart

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#47596 4-Oct-2006 22:57

I was using Kubuntu is VMware... until when i shut it down I got a nice memory BSOD, the first I've ever encountered in Vista. Anyway everything was lost, of the VM config was corrupted so a waste of time.

Will wait until Virtual PC 2007 beta is launched next week and give it another go then.

juha

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#47612 5-Oct-2006 08:44

Barf has a point... you shouldn't judge the OS based on how well it interacts with VMWare/Virtual PC alone, unless that is your sole criterion.

Juha

inane

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#47616 5-Oct-2006 09:28

for hairy chested geek cred. run x86 solaris.

juha

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#47617 5-Oct-2006 09:38

inane: for hairy chested geek cred. run x86 solaris.

Solaris has some nice stuff in it, and the x86 version is heaps better than it was (years ago, Sun shipped Solaris x86 with a Java-based HTML reader for the man pages... took five minutes to load a page on my PIII-500). It's a full operating system, which would probably suit a Windows user better, but you'd probably still want to add some of the easier-to-use OSS tools to it.

Not sure about Solaris as a desktop OS though. The hardware support is pretty limited still.

Juha

bradstewart

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#47639 5-Oct-2006 12:52

juha: Barf has a point... you shouldn't judge the OS based on how well it interacts with VMWare/Virtual PC alone, unless that is your sole criterion.

Well it seems to work just fine in VMware, very fast. I'm waiting for Virtual PC 2007 to be released next week.

If all I'm missing is 3D acceleration then its not a big loss since games dont work. Other hardware works fine. Audio etc.

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juha

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#47640 5-Oct-2006 12:56

bradstewart: Well it seems to work just fine in VMware, very fast. I'm waiting for Virtual PC 2007 to be released next week.

If all I'm missing is 3D acceleration then its not a big loss since games dont work. Other hardware works fine. Audio etc.

Well, you'll miss out on the 3D GUI too. I'd still recommend that you do a normal installation to start with, if you want to get a feel for what Linux can do. Running it in a virtual machine isn't going to be the same. Up to you though.

Juha

bradstewart

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#47643 5-Oct-2006 13:05

Im getting a new PC in a couple of weeks so will be installing Kubuntu on that for a decent look at it. But for the time being, the virtual thing is just to get a look at how it all works and get myself familiar with it. It still works the same 3D acceleration or not.

barf

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#47684 5-Oct-2006 17:42

works the same yes, but it will run like an elephant on roller skates. would you run vista in vmware? diddn't think so :-)

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bradstewart

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#47690 5-Oct-2006 17:55

barf: works the same yes, but it will run like an elephant on roller skates. would you run vista in vmware? diddn't think so :-)

Actually it runs very fast in VMware. I tried Vista as well, it was a wee bit sluggish but not as bad as I thought

barf

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#47700 5-Oct-2006 20:59

you're crazy - vista in vmware!! when I did that it took 10 or 12 hours to install

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bradstewart

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#47701 5-Oct-2006 21:08

Nope. Kubuntu installed in 15minutes. I thought it was a very fast install. Don't know how long Vitsa took. But it would've been under 2 hours.

This was all in the VMware player. I used http://www.easyvmx.com to create the config files. I find it very fast

juha

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#47704 5-Oct-2006 21:20

Hmm... I've found Linux distribution installs take a lot longer than that. Interesting though, and I guess it validates the point of virtualisation.

Juha

barf

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Ultimate Geek

#47721 6-Oct-2006 00:10

Although, having a celeron probably doesn't help

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