Linux Vs Windows

[Cruncher Pete]

I am curious as to who likes Linux better than windows and why.

Years ago, I had a go running a version, I don't even remember which version, but gave up on it after I could not work out some features, could not fix a problem when it occurred, and I found it not user friendly.  I am thinking of giving it another try.  If I remember correctly, Linux Mint is a version that resembles a windows usage the closest.

Should I or should I not....???

[tazzduke]

Gday Peter

Myself am running 5 servers and 1 PC all have Linux Mint 20.2, which is based off Ubuntu, which is based off Debian. 

Reason I just found Linux Mint easy to grasp and easy to navigate around, especially with the command line interface, have been running it for at least 6 years or more, especially when I was running Seti@Home Linux Special App.

Dabbled with Fedora Linux (based off REDHAT), just to see if I could get BOINC up and running on that, took me a bit, but I succeeded, this is also a nice one to try out as well.

Note, I don't use these machines as daily work machines, these are just for BOINC.

2 servers will soon be running Proxmox only, so they can run Truenas. 


I still have 2 Windows PC's in the household, one if for my Wife and the other is for the kids to play their windows only games, ie Star Stable, Animal Jam, but also they are at that age where the Nintendo Switch is more liked.

Kind Regards

[Dingo]

In that case I shall install it on my system of 8 PC's as a dual boot system.

Why not just start with one then if it is not what you want then you just need to fix one machine.

I have been using Ubuntu for years mostly just the command line but the GUI is very good.  It is still a long way from Windows and does take a lot of work sometimes.  Windows is so easy to install and run programs as apposed to Linux but it keeps the grey matter active.  Google is your friend but add the version of Linux in the query as the answer for another branch of Linux might not fix the problem you have in yours.  Most if not all the posts in this board by me are for Ubuntu.

Good luck and take a picture of your hair as it will be less when you have finished lol

[Abruraspingi]

Linux has less overheads and doesn't have the bloat that Windows has.
I've got a high end Windows machine that I use for work and gaming. I run BOINC in the background
I have a Linux server that I use for making virtual machines including hacking labs and Active Directory setups where I test and deploy environments. Again I run BOINC on it when I'm not busy toying with it.

I also have a ASUS Tinkerboard (Raspberry Pi SOC device) with Debian on it. Linux is fun to learn but most people are used to Windows and I would suggest sticking with it. If you want to learn and broaden your horizons then use Linux especially if you want to cut down on the bloat but Windows is quite literally point and click. As mentioned Tazzduke Linux Mint is great as it's basically an Linux environment that looks like Windows

[Abruraspingi]

P.s. I should note. Try Ubuntu Live CD. Basically put the ISO onto a bootable USB (use the software called Rufus to do this), restart your computer and boot from that USB. It will load Ubuntu into RAM but won't overwrite your Windows. This way you can test Linux without actually installing it. You can also easily set a portion of your USB as a hard drive so that way you can install BOINC and just have it running to test or just plug in another USB and Linux will pick that up. You can also run proper updates and save some files.

A try before you buy kind or situation

[Dark Angel]

I've been running Linux of various flavours since the early 2000s
Besides being free to download and install no matter how many machines you want to put it on, it has a number of distinct advantages over Windows.  That doesn't mean it's without any down sides though.
Your average distribution is more secure than Windows, and there is far less malware in the wild for it.  Note I didn't say "none", just "less".  I even game in Linux using Steam and it's Proton compatibility layer.
Currently I'm running Mint 20.3 but I've run Ubuntu, Debian, and Slackware on my desktop in the past.

Linux also typically performs better on given hardware due to less overhead in the user interface.  You can also cut that overhead even further by not having a graphical user interface at all and running it from the terminal.  A typical Linux based server has no desktop, just a terminal prompt.  There's a bit of a learning curve but once you get your head around it the terminal is actually faster to use for administration tasks than a GUI.

If you want to crunch with your GPU you have to download and install the proprietary drivers from AMD/nVidia.  This isn't overly complicated but it's an extra step or two that puts some people off.

If you want the very latest version of BOINC you'll also need to compile it yourself from source.  If you don't care about that most distributions (the various linux "versions" ) usually have it in their repositories which allows you to download and install it with a few keystrokes or via one of the graphical package managers.

Certain projects like LHC (via native app, this is NOT trivial to set up however), Cosmology@home, and I think Universe is the same, run WAY faster on Linux than on Windows.  Others like ClimatePrediction have entire sub-projects that ONLY run on Linux (but then you have to sort out issues with the 32bit libraries, doable but not trivial).
By the same token there are a couple that only run on Windows.

Linux also has the capability to do full system upgrades in place, handling all it's own downloads and installation, and regular updates happen very quickly instead of waiting till a designated "patch Tuesday".  Most updates in Linux also do not require the system to be restarted.  Some do, certain kernel modules and video drivers, but not all.

[jave808]

Hi Peter

I switched over from Windows to Linux Mint nearly 3 years ago, and haven't looked back.

Currently running LM 21 Cinnamon on my Ryzen 9 5900X. I use Firefox as my browser, Thunderbird as my email client and of course, BOINC.

For office stuff I use LibreOffice. It's not quite as good/powerful as Microsoft Office (as you'd expect) but if all you want to do is write a letter or prepare a spreadsheet it's ample.

I would only consider going back to Windows if I had to run a specific piece of software, say like AutoCAD or something like that that only runs on Windows. Or if I was a hardcore gamer (which I'm not), but you can install Steam and play some decent games on Linux.

Try a distro and enjoy. Like Dingo said, it keeps the grey matter active by getting you to do some research when you need to solve a particular problem.

[chooka03]

I'm a Windows person due to the simplicity. I've had to learn to install Linux on a VM just so I could crunch Universe, LHC and Cosmology but the credit reward is less for using a VM rather than native Linux :(

I just find Linux too confusing for a non pc kinda guy. Windows "just works" It's a shame that Windows doesn't crunch as well for some projects. That's why I've given up on Rosetta.

A duel boot pc would be great but even that's too complex for me to work out so I'll stick with my current method.

[ryzenmulti]

Thanks for that Tazzduke.  In that case I shall install it on my system of 8 PC's as a dual boot system.  I hope you don't mind me asking you for help when I need it.

I'm happy to help out also mate if you need. Linux is proven 10-15% faster than windoze. I use Manjaro linux with XFCE desktop personally. Don't store nuclear codes on them since they are running online every day - but Linux is excellent for older hardware (laptops, PC's, servers) and Nvidia graphic cards. UFW is the uncomplicated firewall that comes with it. Use Rufus to load USB installs for every flavour of Linux you want.

Manjaro - https://manjaro.org/download/
Rufus - https://rufus.ie/en/

note: the desktop comes in many flavours, the more graphics intensive (prettier) the slower generally I find. XFCE is common and does a good job. I can do basic bash scripts and config to help you get started.