30
edits
Changes
Linux
,→Students running Linux
A few concrete advantages:
# No viruses, spyware, or weather bugs.
# Installing new software is really easy. Like, in many cases it takes about 20 seconds, and you don't even have to visit a web site to download it.
# Linux is open-source, and so a lot of people have built cool extensions to the software that's out there.# There are free With the most popular distros, there's frequent updates to ensure security and decent clones of Microsoft Office products. You save $$$usability.# Absolutely essential if you desire any sort of geek cred.# Many OS's are packaged with practically anything you'll need off the bat.
Drawbacks:
# There's a slim chance your [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-L-0s-7-Z0&NR hardware isn't supported. Really, it's slim. I've installed a half-dozen Linux computers on laptops and desktops and never had a problem].
# It takes time to become familiar with Linux.
# It's not as purty as Mac OS X. However, with a bit of tweaking (and Beryl) it really can look better.# There are a lot of choices, making it daunting to [http://www.distrowatch.com choose] one at first glance. With that are two competing interfaces, KDE and GNOME. GNOME strives for simplicity while KDE is geared towards user customization and control (as well as effects).# Installations are more involving than a simple double click.
== So where do I go? Linux Install Parties==
* Back up your important files first. If you don't know how, stop by the [[WSO cage]] between 1 and 5 on Saturday, October 8. We have a few gigs of space you can use.
* Pick a distribution. Members of WSO can help you with [http://www.gentoo.org Gentoo] and [http://www.ubuntu.com Ubuntu]. Ubuntu is really easy to install and get going. Gentoo is highly configurable, and is recommended only for masochists.
* Decide if you want to keep a Windows partition so you can boot into Linux or Windows, or if you want to go whole-hog Linux. If you're dual-booting, decide how much of the hard drive that you want to dedicate to Linux, and how much to save for Windows. Remember: The number and type of partitions on your hard disk will determine how you can exchange data between Windows and Linux. If you store your data on a Windows NTFS partition you will be able to access your Windows files from Linux, but not the other way around. A lot of people leave space for their music on the Windows partition, so they can listen to it from either operating system. However, if you create a separate FAT32 partition for data then both Windows and Linux will be able to read from it and write to it. ==Listserver==