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Edited Date/Time
1/27/2012 2:14pm
I have Windows 98 on my computer and my friend told me that it is outdated and that I can have linux on my computer. He said to get ubuntu and I emailed him back but he has not replied. How do you install linux. Is it like a CD rom where you put it in your computer and a screen comes up and you click next? I searched for ubuntu and went to their website but I don't quite get what it is or what you do. Any help?
http://fedoraproject.org/
http://www.ubuntu.com/
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Linux will run just fine on older systems with limited resources but for the best "desktop" experience you would want a machine that would be capable of running XP nicely if you are new to Linux. If you are already familiar with Linux you can run other distributions with lighter weight GUIs on older slower systems but keep in mind that takes a little more knowledge to install and use.
First of all, get rid of that computer.
Second of all, Linux is UNIX. The only reason why it is considered "safe" is because nobody gives a fuck about linux (or unix.) Unless you are in the enterprise environment, there really is no need to implement a linux machine. The fact that people don't write malware for these machines, doesn't mean they are safe. In fact, the mac OS snow leopard has been hacked in seconds. Oh yeah, mac operating systems are based on a unix kernel.
Also linux implementations are getting better these days, but be prepared for some incompatibility issues.
I also bought a used retired desktop computer from my work for $60, added a little RAM, a bigger hard drive I had lying around and a DVD burner (maybe $120 total into it) and shipped it to my mom and dad over a year ago with Fedora 12 on it. I got tired of dad calling me all the time with problems with his Windows computer. He was always getting malware, viruses, screwing stuff up and couldn't figure out how to fix his problem. I kept telling him he wouldn't have those kinds of problems with Linux and I wasn't going to be able to help him much with his Windows because I no longer do Windows.
He's never had any problems with the system I sent him. He doesn't have to run Virus software which slows the system down and is only as good as the last update. He doesn't get malware. He doesn't screw anything up system wise because his user account doesn't have permissions to screw anything up. I should have set him up 10 years ago. He couldn't be happier.
Pit Row
http://www.mandriva.com/en/
It is a pain to have to completely re-install just to test and use for learning on my second laptop which I use for various projects.
Once installed on your system it stops the flow of funds to poor folks like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
Linux is not free, btw. It means freedom of choice, rather than lack of cost. If you have a high end video card, like a GTX 570 in your machine, it is just going to suck up power because you won't be able to use it unless you can write drivers and basically port the DirectX protocol.
Lastly, Void you're a programmer, right?
EDIT:
You can play games like this (with a GTX 570) on a linux box without the DirectX API.
http://sathyasays.com/2008/01/12/25-top-3d-linux-games/
What you can't play are games like this: (from a crysis mod, a gtx570 can render this at 25-30fps.)
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/3562/screen13cj.jpg
Would you want people to pay you for your time and effort in writing code? Yes, you can download linux distros for free, but there is a point of limitation that you would need to hire a professional to either script or code solutions (cost.)
I always ask people what they do with their computers. The 3 magic words that i listen for are web, email, and chat. If these are the only things that people want to do with their computers, then I give them linux. Windows is so much farther advanced and supported in every area, including the mentioned above, It's hard not to suggest a hundred dollar investment.
For example, openoffice can't hold a candle to microsoft office. The list goes on....when the guy said he was using windows 98, that was a red flag right away. Now he says he has a GTX 570, and that's a card for playing video games or a PPU using CUDA.
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