Linux

Nor*Cal · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 9479 City: Sac

I just converted my old computer to a full Linux system (Red Hat 8 ). The Red Hat package made the install go very quickly. I'm still figuring out some little things but so far so good. No restarts or frozen screens so I'm stocked.

I still need to play around with the media stuff and see if that screws things up. I'll be getting some linux based video editing, file sharing (gnutella), and media players. We'll see if this screws with things.

If I find everything to my likings I might be Microsoft free a month or two.

Mike Isler · Moderator Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 718 City: New York

Nor*Cal,

Linux is awesome. Is this your first linux box?

I worked as a sysadmin for an internet company for a while, which is where I learned all about Linux. Since then I've always had at least one Linux box at my place. Right now I have a Linux machine setup as a fileserver (with 6 drives, 3 of them setup in RAID-5), firewall/router and webserver. Except for when I've shut it down to do hardware upgrades, it's NEVER crashed...I've had uptimes of over one year between restarts.

I haven't used it that much as a desktop workstation...but in the limited amount that I have used it as one, it worked great. Look into Enlightenment and WindowMaker as window managers. StarOffice is a good office suite. The GIMP is a decent photo editor; similar to Photoshop but free.

Hope you like it...once you get used to it, Linux can't be beat.

Mariognarly · Addict Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 853

Linux is amazing, Im a student and I plan to go into the webdesign business, I have Red Hat 8 on my comp as well...im working on getting a seperate box to put my webserver on. I could wakeboard and do web design for the rest of my life.

Mike, you worked as a System Administrator? Do you have a degree for that, or how did that come about? I didnt know you were that interested in computers, just mostly photography, but right on man, I love it too.

Nor*Cal · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 9479 City: Sac

So far I'm stocked. The box I'm running it on now is only a 850mhz but its moving better than when I had Win 98SE. I dunno if I'll be able to do the video editing on here but it looks like Cineralla is a sweet program similar to Premier. I have Gimp but haven't played around with it yet. I'm still learning the new system and trying to figure life out. Should be cool once I learn more about it.

Mike Isler · Moderator Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 718 City: New York

Mario,

Yeah, I worked as a system administrator for awhile in like 96-97. Way before the dot-bomb crash. It was a small ISP in Connecticut, serving like 1,000 users. I don't have any degree in it at all; I just came in and worked tech support for a bit, then worked my way up. I learned a lot along the way about terminal servers, Cisco routers, CSU/DSUs, PRI lines, Linux...the works. I left when I moved down to Orlando. I wasn't too interested in photography at that time...that came around when I moved down to FL. It's fun stuff! I kind of left the computer thing because I didn't want to spend my life in a cubicle...but I found my computer knowledge is very helpful in my photography business, especially with the advent of digital. Right now I have a Perl script chugging away on my Linux machine, resizing 24,000 digital photos to prepare them for submission to the copyright office. So, the two fields of knowledge work well together.

I did website design for awhile. It was a side business while I was working at the ISP. I did pretty well in that business, but stopped doing that probably in 2000. Business dried up, competition drove prices down.

Sean · Newbie Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 25 City: SF Bay Area

Linux.. Blah! Solaris and BSD are the way!

Just kidding......... maybe! Laughing

What versions of Linux are you guys runnings? For those of you just starting out with Linux, one of the guys I work with has a pretty informative site on getting things setup and running, especially on the network side of things. Check it out...

http://www.linuxhomenetworking.com/

Dave Barousse · Addict Joined: 11 Jan 2003 Posts: 546 City: Eugene

Linux is a lot of fun. You will enjoy it NorCal if you are that into it.

Are you planning on going into the IT industry professionally or just wanted to break away from Microsoft? Either way, learning your way around a Linux system will definitely be worth your time. Good luck!

Mariognarly · Addict Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 853

Thats pretty sweet Mike, Id love to have a job in systems admin or web design. But ya cubicle from 9 to 5 wouldn't be my ideal job either, Id much rather be out in the boat Cool

jumalian · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 7625 City: san diego

You Linux guys, do you have Lindows? Tell me about it, please.

Thanks!

Mariognarly · Addict Joined: 14 Jan 2003 Posts: 853

I dont use Lindows myself or know much about it for that matter, but if you like you can go to this site to learn more about it.

http://www.lindows.com/

Nor*Cal · Ladies Man Joined: 12 Jan 2003 Posts: 9479 City: Sac

Dave- I'm just playing with it because I hear its more stable than Windows. I don't really plan on being in the IT or computer industry but the ability to work with computers is a necessity and this extra knowledge may help me. It's just kind of a winter project or way of killing time instead of watching TV. I am kind of trying to break away from Microsoft though. Might just be a phase because of the things I've learned about Microsoft in some Business classes.