Linux people, sound off

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I've recently made the full-time plunge to Linux.  My poor Macbook is lonely there on the corner of my desk, giving me nasty looks...

Anyway, 
What are you people using for your desktop environment? Gnome? KDE? XFCE? Fluxbox? Ratpoison?
I've been bouncing back and forth between Gnome and KDE, but I think I'm leaning KDE.

[mtnbkr]

I use KDE on my server (when I run a WM) and on my Linux desktops in the past.  I used Blackbox for a lightweight and fast WM for slower systems.

Chris

[BrokenPaw]

I run Fedora Core 6 with KDE as my main development box here at work.   Of the 5 boxen in my office, 4 of them are Fedora Core with KDE.

At home I run two Debian Servers and a CentOS server, with no graphical environments at all.

-BP

[AZRedhawk44]

I used to work in a school district based on Novell Networks, so I am partial to SuSE linux.

I used KDE for my WM.

At my current employer we are 100% microsoft now.

I miss linux... I am toying with the idea of introducing a hylafax box just to have an opportunity to get my linux "fix" on occasion.

[roo_ster]

Depends on the resources available, to a great extent.

If hardware is fat & happy, I use gnome.  Not because I gotta have it or love it, but because I touch so many of the boxes & gnome is standard for fedora & Redhat Enterprise.

If hardware is lean, I usually prefer fvwm2 or icewm, with fvwm2 being more to my tastes.

[tyme]

XFCE, with minimal gnomification (the only Gnome app I use regularly is eog, which totally sucks.  It's unstable, so I suspect it's swiss cheese for security)

If my hardware were better, I'd be using Beryl, too.  Won't be long now... just waiting for Penryn.

[Regolith]

I had Ubuntu with the Gnome desktop environment installed as a second OS on my XP machine for a while, but I never really got into using it, so I zapped it and am using straight XP now.

Eventually I plan on having a dedicated Linux machine (in addition to my XP machine and possibly a Mac, as I tend to work with all three - I'm a Computer Science/Multimedia major) but I don't have the cash for it right now.


Edit: I chose Ubuntu because that is what my university's Computer Science lab uses.

[lee n. field]

My poor Macbook is lonely there on the corner of my desk, giving me nasty looks...

So?  Put Linux on it too.  Or, I'll give you $50 for it.

What are you people using for your desktop environment? Gnome? KDE? XFCE? Fluxbox? Ratpoison?

Gnome.  Something about KDE I find irritating, every time I try it.

Windowmaker, back when I was running less than adequate hardware.

[JimMarch]

My tuning and install guide for Ubuntu Feisty:

http://www.equalccw.com/marchtoubuntu.pdf

Still a few rough spots but it'll be a big help.

I'll do more cleanup over the weekend and add in a virtual machine management section - how to get REAL Windows XP compatibility.

[Iain]

Plain ubuntu at the moment, plenty of power on the machine so gnome is fine. Previously I was using fluxbox as hardware was an issue. Really liked fluxbox, may use it again soon.

[Mabs2]

I downloaded Ubuntu!
It's...still in my downloads folder!

[brer]

Mandriva and kde

I have kids, they have a bad problem trashing windows. Linux is kid proof.

[Mabs2]

Mandriva and kde

I have kids, they have a bad problem trashing windows. Linux is kid proof.

REALLY?  That's fascinating because I'm even more destructive than kids.  The only problem with Linux is that I'm a gamer, and from what I can tell, it's hard getting most games working on Linux...as well as some hardware.

[Manedwolf]

I've recently made the full-time plunge to Linux.  My poor Macbook is lonely there on the corner of my desk, giving me nasty looks...

So...you've abandoned a system with a fully developed GUI and solid application support atop BSD Unix (OSX) in favor of an undeveloped version of Unix with no developed UI or standardized application support.

That doesn't make much sense to me.

If I want to play Unix with my MacBook Pro, I just open Terminal and get a shell prompt, and I have Xwindows on it, too...

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I haven't abandoned it, just using it less.

[lee n. field]

The only problem with Linux is that I'm a gamer, and from what I can tell, it's hard getting most games working on Linux...as well as some hardware.

You need a scratch computer for gaming.

[Mabs2]

The only problem with Linux is that I'm a gamer, and from what I can tell, it's hard getting most games working on Linux...as well as some hardware.

You need a scratch computer for gaming.

Pretty much.
That's one of my goals.  Have a machine that I can browse the internet with, try out software with no worries of messing anything up, and having my pride and joy isolated and safe.

[tyme]

If I want to play Unix with my MacBook Pro, I just open Terminal and get a shell prompt, and I have Xwindows on it, too...

You think an OS/X terminal approaches a real unix environment?  Apple's upcoming Leopard is allegedly SUSv3 and Posix compliant.  Until then...

Granted, the OS/X GUI is very pretty, but linux's gui interface is hardly "undeveloped."  There are a bazillion gui options, and some people actually prefer them to Cocoa.  They're just not as pretty out of the box.

[AZRedhawk44]

The only problem with Linux is that I'm a gamer, and from what I can tell, it's hard getting most games working on Linux...as well as some hardware.

I had that problem a few years ago... There is a fantastic Linux compatibility library out there called "WineX".  It is a windows emulation library package, including core windows dll compatibility for 2-D applications like Office or Lotus Notes, coupled with DirectX 9.0 support for playing windows games.

About the only thing you can't do is run Exchange or SQL Server... service level applications.  All your "userland" applications run pretty darn well.  There's even an "add/remove programs" feature that makes installing windows apps easy.

[JimMarch]

http://www.theregister.com/2007/09/28/bofh_episode_33/print.html

[lee n. field]

http://www.theregister.com/2007/09/28/bofh_episode_33/print.html

 

Actually, I'll likely be aquiring an iBook today, a cast off from a school I do tech work for.  I'm torn between leaving OSX on it (and wrestling with how to sync what needs to be synced) and putting Debian for PPC on it.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

What are you trying to sync?  Would rsync do the trick?

[CNYCacher]

"WineX".  It is a windows emulation library package,

  WINE Is Not an Emulator

An emulator would be emulating windows, so a copy of windows would be running for the program in question to run on top of.  Wine allows windows programs to run natively on linux, by providing an api layer so that all the system calls that the windows apps makes are translated into something that makes sense to linux.

It is pretty common for windows apps running with wine to actually run faster/better than they do on windows.

Granted, some windows apps do not run well on top of wine, but wine is constantly improving.

PS.  3D apps work in wine as well, wine does a great job of providing openGL support to the windows app.  Did you know that google earth for linux is esentially google earth in wine?

[lee n. field]

What are you trying to sync?  Would rsync do the trick?

At the very least, a Thunderbird mail profile.

Would rsync do it?  Probably.

[lee n. field]

What are you trying to sync?  Would rsync do the trick?

At the very least, a Thunderbird mail profile.

Would rsync do it?  Probably.

Got the iBook ("late 2001" model).  I do believe I will keep OSX.  I've got it just about where I need it to be.  Only remaining glitch is syncing the Palm -- it wants to work with a Palm brand USB serial adapter, not my offbrand exact same thing.  Got one on order.

Rsync, however, has been a problem.  OSX's native rsync keeps glitching on some files when I syncronize my mail (.5GB worth of stuff, going back a good while).   Googling on "OSX rsync problem" tells me I'm not the only one with "issues".

The latest rsync, installed using fink appears to work properly.