Well, so much for Windows now. I've decided at that time I should try something new, something exciting, something revolutionary. That's when I saw the come of one of my lecturers, he uses Linux. I remembered that I read an article about Linux sometime back in secondary school but heard nothing else since then. I thought they were just gonna succumb to Window's domination of the Operating System(OS) market.
I was SO wrong. Not only did they survive, they even evolved. Just for starters, there are so many distributions of Linux out there. And a lot of them provides very nice frontends and desktop environment.
For those who don't understand what desktop environment is, take a look at your Windows. That's a desktop environment.
Here's a screenshot of my desktop.
Now why do you think Windows has triumph over all the other Operating systems? Because they have such a nice and easy to use interface, and that's what the desktop environment is about.
Linux's strength isn't in this though. It's in the kernel, the supposedly powerful kernel that is customisable to do anything to your liking. While I'm not at the pro-level yet, I could already feel the power of the kernel.
Just think about this. You can run any program, any function, integrate any type of programming language into this thing. This little baby is a monster I tell ya. MONSTER!!!An example of me running R(a statistical program) in it.
Basically there are two major types of desktop environment you can choose if you want to run Linux: GNOME and KDE. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. I chose GNOME because its name appeals to me more(:D)Also there are so many distributions of Linux out there and the best thing is that they are all free.
The bad thing about it is they are updated so often, and you can choose to use the latest available version (what we call the bleeding-edge version). I personally use SUSE Linux 10.1 but if you're a beginner, there's a distribution called Ubuntu, which is very user-friendly.
So why am I writing this article now you ask?
Well, I've been browsing around looking at new things and I came across this other FREE but not open source OS called Solaris 10. Solaris is developed by Sun Microsystems, the same company that brought java to us and changed our lives forever. Apparently Solaris 10 uses a java-based desktop environment, which could be interesting. A screenshot for all of you, introducing Solaris 10, using a GNOME environment too I see, well bits of it.
Anyway, if you're interested in testing this out, go over to their website here. Place an order and they'll deliver the DVD-image to you FREE!!! ANYWHERE in the world. Oh did I mention Ubuntu is doing this as well?For more info why they deliver it for free, read this article by Jonathan Schwartz, our tai ko in blogging.
p.s. Jonathan Schwartz is also the CEO of Sun Microsystems. Yea baby, Sun Microsystems you have my support :D
p.p.s. WINDOWS I'M NOT GOING BACK TO YOU, NOT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
12 comments:
I thought you were about to refer Mac like Boss did.
hehehehe
NOway man, i hate the Mac more than i hate windows
I thought Solaris was open source...
Winblows got popular not because of usability. Give a computer dungu person a *nix and windows, I believe the learning curve for both would be the same.
However, this will not be the same 10 years ago, where the DE are not so mature yet.
I thou have to disagree with you that the linux kernel are much more stronger. Not out of the box, compared to the BSDs. There are too many flavors of linux around, thou linux is getting popular, as different flavors. cheers
starwing: hahaha, good stuff, well i think the with the improvements on DE in linux, it appears to be as attractive as windows.
There is of course disadvantages in linux, like support of hardware and games issue, and compatibility.
But since I've start using this, I thought this is good, as in not THAT bad and i really learn a lot more compared to when i use windows.
anon: you're right, it's open sourced now, sorry for the mess up, i just saw solaris today :D
You are so right, Boss Lepton. Windows does suck and the only reason I stick to it is because my company is stuck on Windows.
G-MORNING BOSS. TQ. MAY I ASK WHAT OS SYSTEM IS LINUS? I HEARD ABOUT IT BUT I USE COMPUTER MAINLY FOR GAME SO IS IT SUPPORTIVE? LIKE U, MINE WINDOWS CASH SEVERAL TIME RESULTING IN LOST OF GAMEING DATA, HENCE I HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAINST. THAT IS NOT ALL, WHAT REALLY PISS ME OFF IS THE LOST OF IREPLACEABLE DATA LIKE PIC/MOVIE WHICH I HAVE COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS. YOURS ADVICE IS APPRECIATED.
i am stuck with Windows :(
but would love to try MAC someday.. the notebook look so cute!!! xD
p/s love your desktop look. comelnyaaaaaa the cartoon. :D
hehehe, you could get nice wallpapers from deviantART which is a brilliant source of art forms.
Hor ny: Linux is an open-source OS and but sadly it's not too supportive for gaming. COnfiguring a game to work on Linux is possible though it depends a lot on the popularity of the game. And also it depends whether NVidia gives full support to your graphics card, issuing the correct drivers for Linux. So not too advisable, you could always install it as an alternative boot to windows.
Tip on not losing your data: Make regular backups, no alternative already
You are using R for what project?
hahahah, I use R for my monte carlo work
Post a Comment