# To a newb: Linux is like....



## Atnevon (Oct 16, 2007)

Hey Ya'll. 

I sure felt dumb today when some sorority girl asked me what Linux is like. I really honestly told her it is another opporating system, like Windows or OSX. Then she asked what makes it special. 

"I" know its special because it is open source. But How could I explain that to her on a level she, or for any computer illit out there, how Linux is special.

Thanks everyone for your help, so lets finish this sentence:



Linux is like:____________________________


-Andrew


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Oct 16, 2007)

Atnevon said:


> Hey Ya'll.
> 
> I sure felt dumb today when some sorority girl asked me what Linux is like. I really honestly told her it is another opporating system, like Windows or OSX. Then she asked what makes it special.
> 
> ...



either painful or pleasurable 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





ok seriously .. its free, its opensource, you can make your own distro, its more secure, its more efficient with resources ... ill leave teh rest for someone else.


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## kwchang007 (Oct 16, 2007)

Atnevon said:


> Hey Ya'll.
> 
> I sure felt dumb today when some sorority girl asked me what Linux is like. I really honestly told her it is another opporating system, like Windows or OSX. Then she asked what makes it special.
> 
> ...



Well....since this is to a girl (I'm going to assume hot) you could say, Linux is like me in bed with you.  

Now for real: Linux is like great if you know how to use it.  If you wanna talk about the GUI version....Linux is like Windows but has lower requirements, has less viruses, and is just better but not as many apps use it which is why most people use windows.


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## panchoman (Oct 16, 2007)

i agree with change for the first bit  

as for the right thing to say: 

Linux is an operating system similair to windows and its very customizable and is easy to use once you get used to it. Linux also has less viruses then windows.


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## Atnevon (Oct 16, 2007)

kwchang007 said:


> Well....since this is to a girl (I'm going to assume hot) you could say, Linux is like me in bed with you.



The only time a Trojan comes to my rescue. Pray to god no worms, Malware, Spyware, or Virus.

Oh no, I just compared STDs to computing. God help us...


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## hat (Oct 16, 2007)

you are not the first one


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## [I.R.A]_FBi (Oct 16, 2007)

hat said:


> you are not the first one



rofl?


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## kwchang007 (Oct 16, 2007)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> rofl?



It means hat's done it numerous times...j/k

Actually it'd probably help people understand viruses and spyware protection (like dumb blond type people).  You could be like...imagine the condom as your firewall....


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## panchoman (Oct 16, 2007)




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## Gruelius (Oct 16, 2007)

http://www.linuxscrew.com/2007/10/07/fun-linux-unix-windows-os-x-and-dos-airlines/

Nice comparison


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## ChaoticBlankness (Oct 16, 2007)

Gruelius said:


> http://www.linuxscrew.com/2007/10/07/fun-linux-unix-windows-os-x-and-dos-airlines/
> 
> Nice comparison



ROFL    Nice!


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## MilkyWay (Nov 18, 2007)

For serious its just an open source operating system which is basicaly software like MS DOS, Windows, Mac OS and Unix ect. Open source as in its free and is written (programmed) by anyone who wants to add a peice of code or just anyone for free. Its fully customisable and comes in many different distrobutions for example Ubuntu or Red Hat. Comes in Text based os or GUI (graphical user interface). It can be dual booted with windows or any other OS. Runs Open GL as opposed to directx, has difficult extensions and dosnt run .exe boo who you sometimes need to use the command terminal to install stuff.

Is murder for newbies to use because dosnt have one common extension, package installer or even type of file system.

Is even more murder if it dosnt even have a GUI and is text only.

Wont run any of your windows programs but its programs are generaly better programed.

Is light on resources and can is programmed to perform better.


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## Spunky (Nov 19, 2007)

It's like two sides to a coin. On one side, you have Windows. On the other, Linux. Explain it that way. 50% of the world uses Linux, while the other 50% use Windows. There's like 2 people who use Mac, but those are the guys who can't figure out how to turn their computers on, so they don't get a side on the coin.


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## hat (Nov 19, 2007)

They do get a side. They get the edge. For every time a coin lands on it's edge, you get a Mac user :lol:


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## panchoman (Nov 19, 2007)

Gruelius said:


> http://www.linuxscrew.com/2007/10/07/fun-linux-unix-windows-os-x-and-dos-airlines/
> 
> Nice comparison



LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! even bookmarked it, its so freaking true...


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## Ongaku (Nov 19, 2007)

Well, I´m a girl and I use Ubuntu 7.10...and well Linux is like....not for a stupid newb  haha

It is special because it´s open source, itś smaller, and you can configure and modify any program you have on it  

It is not simple to use really, Ubuntu is about the simplest you can get lol I´m upgrading to Debian though


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## Ripper3 (Nov 19, 2007)

Well, I feel, as the first male responder after Ongaku's post, and also being a total retard, as soon as I open up an online game, I think it's justified to say this:
OMG!!!!!111!!!1 Ag1rl!!!11one! Ur h07 l3t5 Cyb3r!1 LOLZ!!11!! ROFL!!11

okay, the stupidity partially out of the way, lemme start picking out everything to be changed, or explained better, in this post conveniantly located below, in a quote, to empty out my stupidity quota:


kieran_fletch said:


> For serious its just an open source operating system which is basicaly software like MS DOS, Windows, Mac OS and Unix ect. Open source as in its free and is written (programmed) by anyone who wants to add a peice of code or just anyone for free. Its fully customisable and comes in many different distrobutions for example Ubuntu or Red Hat. Comes in Text based os or GUI (graphical user interface). It can be dual booted with windows or any other OS. Runs Open GL as opposed to directx, has difficult extensions and dosnt run .exe boo who you sometimes need to use the command terminal to install stuff.
> 
> Is murder for newbies to use because dosnt have one common extension, package installer or even type of file system.
> 
> ...



Yes, it runs OpenGL as opposed to DirectX, primarily, because DirectX is a closed platform, not just because it chooses to do so (I guess the name *Open*GL is a bit obvious it'd be used by an *open-source* OS.

It's not really murder to use, it's a piece of piss most of the time, unless you wish to modify something yourself, at which point, of course it's difficult, if you don't understand the code, frameworks, etc.
It has plenty of common extensions between Linux distros, to the point, most if not all, Linux distros are quite compatible with each other. If they weren't, then Linux would really be lost, and there would be no non-technical users with it installed 
The package installers are another matter, there is a possibility of using packages across distros, for example, rpm packages can be used on Debian based OSs, they jsut require conversion, which is a simple command, if you have the correct things installed... actually, yeah that is a bit of a problem there though 
File systems for Linux distros are supported commonly between the ones I've seen. ReiserFS, Ext2, and Ext3, are the three most common, while Ext3 is the one most used, by the latest releases of Distros. Also, basically all distros I've seen have brilliant support for NTFS, FAT, HFS, etc. which are older, or proprietary file systems. NTFS, being the only one that's still a bit risky to access and write files to, from within Linux.

The command prompt is actually quite calming IMO 
Has very very good GUIs about though. KDE is brilliant, although I prefer the simplicity that is GNOME, a bit more atm. The smaller GUIs are reall quite something though, FluxBox coming to mind, brilliant GUI, without being heavy, and still intuitive.

Correction: *WILL* run some Windows programs, just not natively, needs Wine installed, to get things working. Either way though, works a lot better now, and allows for some of the bigger, most used programs to operate. And if they don't run, there are plenty of free alternatives, that quite possibly are better, including the features you actually want and need, rather than random useless crap, you sometimes get given.

Light on resources; depends, use DSL, or Puppy, or Feather Linux distros, and they are light on the system's resources, but it can really vary greatly.


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## Behemoko (Nov 22, 2007)

Ongaku said:


> Well, I´m a girl and I use Ubuntu 7.10...and well Linux is like....not for a stupid newb  haha



That pretty much what I was going to say.

Linux is: not for a person who has to ask!


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## Wile E (Nov 22, 2007)

You guys are thinking about some of these aspects a little wrong. For a newb, Linux IS NOT easy to use. It is not for the average user at all. Power Users and above need only apply. Until they make it user friendly like Windows, where you download a program, double-click it, and it installs, with no worrying about dependencies (for the most part), or no going to the command line (command line= death for a newb), it will remain for Power Users. The community really needs to come together on a unified standard.

I have Linux, and know my way around it, but I rarely use it, because it's a PITA. Sometimes I just want easy. I want to point and click to make most changes, not have to type in the console to achieve my desired results. Even changing display settings can be a painful process. All that said, I still like Linux, otherwise I wouldn't use it at all, it just needs to be made even easier.


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## Mussels (Nov 22, 2007)

Atnevon said:


> Linux is like:____________________________



Linux is like: Stripping a car of parts, and because it weighs less it can go faster. Having no radio/cushions isnt for all, but for someone who just wants fast, linux is for them.


Linux is like: buying a car frame with an engine, and having to add the rest yourself (radio/seats etc) - not for all, but for those who want to get it 'just right'


Linux is like: the skinny blonde in the corner after not being fed for 2 weeks. Still  more attractive than MS-fatchick, without the annoying personality of Vistagirl and Macwoman, but a bit bony and rough around the edges


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## xfire (Nov 22, 2007)

Any one who has used ubuntu will say linux is very easy.
Installing ubuntu is very easy and takes half the time windows does.
The synaptic package manager makes it easy to install softwares. One doesn't need to search for softwares it automatically downloads and installs it.
It beats Windows in every aspect except gaming.
Edit:- Linux is like a windows killer
Linux is an operating system like windows  to explain to newb's.


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## Shyska (Nov 23, 2007)

Wile E said:


> For a newb, Linux IS NOT easy to use. It is not for the average user at all. Power Users and above need only apply.



Ehem, have you tried Ubuntu recently? It dead simple to install, simpler than Windows anyway and takes less time. It has intuitive and good looking interface, and all programs one can need for normal PC use. And its free...


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## Wile E (Nov 24, 2007)

Shyska said:


> Ehem, have you tried Ubuntu recently? It dead simple to install, simpler than Windows anyway and takes less time. It has intuitive and good looking interface, and all programs one can need for normal PC use. And its free...


Yes I have, and Windows is still easier to use. Install ATI drivers on Ubuntu and come back and say it's super easy for a noob. Regardless of what distro, Windows is easier to use, period.


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## xfire (Nov 25, 2007)

Wile E said:


> Yes I have, and Windows is still easier to use. Install ATI drivers on Ubuntu and come back and say it's super easy for a noob. Regardless of what distro, Windows is easier to use, period.


When was it that you tried to install ATI drivers. I know it was hard earlier but now ATI has created a Wizard to install linux. Even CCC is available in Linux.


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## Wile E (Nov 25, 2007)

xfire said:


> When was it that you tried to install ATI drivers. I know it was hard earlier but now ATI has created a Wizard to install linux. Even CCC is available in Linux.


I haven't tried to install the last 2 releases. But regardless, it's still not a simple double-click affair. Regardless of how much easier they made it, Windows is still easier.


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## xfire (Nov 25, 2007)

Nope, Linux is easier if you ask me.


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## Wile E (Nov 25, 2007)

xfire said:


> Nope, Linux is easier if you ask me.


You're not a newb. This thread is in context to newbs. Windows is still easier to use for them. The command line is intimidating to those not familiar.


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## xfire (Nov 25, 2007)

Don't get fooled by the website, it's my friends. I am just a writer for it.
The first Linux that worked properly was Ubuntu 7.04(the previous version). Mine was a Ati X200 chipset.
Just try the latest one then you will see why I say it's easier than Windows.


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## Mussels (Nov 26, 2007)

Question, for the linux users. Anyone know a good linux that can...

Boot from USB
Play media easily (without needing to do too much to it)
play MKV files
possible have hardware acceleration for the video? (Nvidia cards, 8600/8800 lines)


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## MilkyWay (Nov 26, 2007)

Any linux can run from flash drive really theres a program to be able to do it but cant remember what its called, id do Ubuntu because when you go to play music files it asks you to download a codec package to play it for example when you go to play a mp3 it open the program and says you need the codec to play it then brings up a check box so you can decide to download the codecd package and it does it for you!

Beware to run videos sounds online you need the package that contains the mp3 codec so just run an mp3 get it to install it and then run a mpg video do same for that!

BTW its easy to get some stuff on ubuntu working i just hated it after a few days when i couldnt do stuff.

Oh and go to the adobe flash player website download the tar.z file right click extract it to desktop and then go into the file and theres a file where it will  install the flash player for you using the command line but its step by step all you haveto do is press y when the command line says install blah blah Y(yes) or N(no), would you like to install again Y(yes) or N(no)

not really difficult just annoying but difficult when something isnt compatible have to search for a program!


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## Ripper3 (Nov 26, 2007)

The simplest ones to look for: GeeXBoX, it's got large codec compatibility, but you'd have to get them yourself, and it's bootable from CD, DVD, flash drive, or can be installed on HD.
There's also the MythTV liveCD, but it's a CD, so, yeah...


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## xfire (Nov 26, 2007)

Just use Kubuntu
Install VLC and MP3 codecs and get latest drivers of Nvidia.


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