Well I was thinking about changing my os it Ubuntu. And I was thinking if I should. I am going to use it in the servers side programs because I might change my servers php version. All I want to know is the benifists and the disadvantages. My os at the moment is Windows Vista Home Premuim.

 

Thx all!

 

Alexander

 

 

PS

 

Dizi / Ben if this in the wrong topic can you move it, thx.

Get your self a copy of the Live CD. Either request a free CD or download and burn it yourself.

Then just insert the CD and reboot, you'll then be testydriving Ubuntu without having to install it.

I used it for a bit and just couldnt get a hang of it, i like the idea of all the free software tho. If you could figure it out i think it would be able to replace windows.

I have used it in the past and its very user friendly (for a Linux distribution). Its picked up a lot of momentum over the last few years and has regular new releases, six monthly release cycle I think. Its never been quite user friendly enough for me. Never the total solution I am looking for. I am a great believer in open source software, but I'm a little too entrenched in Windows and the Mac OS to switch to Linux at the moment. That may change however. Its probably just a case of using it regularly enough that you become familiar with how it all works.

If you have the patience (say 5 or 6 hours to play around in) to learn a few things, then Ubuntu can be your primary, and indeed, only OS.

 

A couple of points about Ubuntu (and GNOME/Linux in general):

- there is software to do almost anything you want, but it may not look great

- if there isn't software, the tools are all there to write it yourself

- installing software is easy, thanks to various package managers

- installing groups of software is easy (eg a LAMP setup is about 4 clicks away)

- the whole thing is completely skinable, well nearly... there are 100's of free themes for your desktop, window borders, and login screens

- if you neeeed a Windows native program, chances are that WINE will run it.

- if you want to run a game, then don't get your hopes up.

- SUDO (root) rules all...

- you WILL need to use the terminal - basically the command prompt - on a semi-regular basis.

- it will break at least once in your first few months of fiddling, mostly because you screwed up somewhere (edited a .conf file)

- if it does break, you can generally undo it in the CTRL+ALT+F1 safe mode, using the terminal

 

 

So who shouldn't run Ubuntu (or any other Linux):

- someone who play the latest games and can't afford a custom rig.

- someone who likes to pay for their OS's

- someone who is really used to their current OS or program setup.

- someone who needs Dreamweaver or Photoshop to create a website (pussies, the lot of ya)

since you use linux wat do you use to create websites?? I now probally gimp instead of photoshop.

since you use linux wat do you use to create websites?? I now probally gimp instead of photoshop.

Apache/Mysql/Php (or whatever language you want to use)

Gimp instead of Photoshop (No matter what photoshop fans say it can do anything required for web sites print is where it lacks)

Bluefish/Komposer/NVU/Quantas instead of Dreamweaver

Firefox plugins - Fireftp, Firebug, Web developer Toolbar, Screengrab

Opera - for testing

IEs4Linux - for testing (currently 5.0, 5.5, 6 on mine)

As many other browsers as you want to test on.

 

Once you get the hang of your set up it is very easy to build sites locally and test them before ftping them to a server. If you are used to a setup like wampserver then you could also install phpmyadmin to help you administer Mysql.

The key thing your looking for is one that uses the least system resources (thats why you chose linux), in my opinion its centos but iv'e only tried: centos,ydl,ubantu. Fedora has had a big name in hosting servers but iv'e never tried it.

The key thing your looking for is one that uses the least system resources (thats why you chose linux), in my opinion its centos but iv'e only tried: centos,ydl,ubantu. Fedora has had a big name in hosting servers but iv'e never tried it.

I've been using Fedora for a while now, after having a spell using Ubuntu, and have found it to be the best option for me. It's fantastically quick on my old Inspiron 2200 laptop (much quicker than my main pc running xp).

But that's the beauty of Linux; so many distros to choose from!

Definitely give the linux a whirl. I agree with everything php_penguin said

I used Ubuntu for almost a year, but have now moved onto puppy linux, as I found Ubuntu a bit heavyweight for my needs. Puppy is very fast on my old 1998 machine, so I am a happy bunny!