Hi All!!

[FergatROn]

Hi Everyone,

I guess, since we're being encouraged to post on the introduction forum, I'll talk a little bit about my adventure with linux. I've been using Windows since DOS 6.0. I remember Windows 3.1, 95, 98 and the jump to stability with Windows 2000/XP - I never liked NT.

So; after many years of pirating applications, I heard about this operating system where everything is FREE! I dibbled and dabbled with Red Hat 9, but I couldn't get acclimated with the open-source linux environment and my regular day-to-day tasks. So; I gave up and went back to boring Windows.

Now that I'm feeling some withdrawals, I'm back on linux with openSUSE 10.2. I'm forcing myself to work with it every day and make linux acclimate to my every day-to-day tasks. It's not easy, for me, but I know linux is the future of computing and open-source is here to stay. So; I better get in on it!

Oh; before I forget, I love the layout of this message board. It's so clean and organized. I use www.linuxquestions.org and www.justlinux.com, but this one looks like it'll be a great home site for me.

[capybara]

ThaNK god it not either/or and we can all use both m$ and nix. Linux is not always as easy as windoze. click on this, click on that in the windoze world.
Research first
in the linux world, which is why forums and wiki's are sooooooooooo important.
I learned by just adding one app at a
time as i needed them.
Apache, bittorrent, p2p ....its all doable one step ata time.

[peter]

Welcome to the community! Capybara is right, Linux isn't as easy Windows, but sometimes a direct comparison isn't exactly fair. There is so much cross pollination now.

The two desktop environments are now fairly similar, and the increased use and availability of packages for the main distributions have made software installation, an early criticism of Linux, much easier.

The OpenOffice suite is a close contender with MS Office, but I haven't had much luck with OpenOffice's compatibility with the calendaring of Exchange. I've heard WINE may fix this. How easy is that? Anyone had any experience with it?

I primarily use Linux as a server where mainstream applications seem to be much more stable. I've also seen VMware being used with each Windows instance running only a single application. Now the same server can run multiple Windows applications, but the chances of one application affecting another are reduced.

Some of Linux's scripting tools have been ported to Windows (eg. PERL), so there is less differentiation there.

Yes, there are constant debates about the GPL system, but the reality seems to be that Open Source applications will slowly continue to invade Windows, so GPL hybrids will probably flourish in unexpected ways.

With any new system you have to learn it one step at a time.

Windows is strong in the marketplace, but the way we'll use it will change.

For example, there has been a lot of talk about web based SaaS applications where people subscribe to a web service like Yahoo! Mail. There is a place for it in the corporate world when departments want to get some application up and running quickly.

I also see where SaaS will reach the home desktop when people don't necessarily want to have a Web connection to access their private files. I'd love to see Open Source create web based versions of Open Office, with files stored in a database and exported in a common interchange format. I think there'd be a lot less development headache. The onus would be on the webserver to be platform dependent, but the rest would be plug and play. Who cares if it runs on Windows or Linux in that case? As long as the web backend and the database work OK on the OS, why should I care?

MS won't die suddenly. It will either fade away, or it will change itself into a data manipulation company with Windows becoming Open Source. This may be wishful thinking, but in either scenario, get familiar with Linux it will be a significant part of the future.

[peter]

What you think?

[fruit]

hi im a newbie...............

[Larry]

Hi fruity newbie

[tanvisha]

Hey i'm also a newbie... Glad to join here...

[bebe]

hi everybody .

me too i'm new here

happy to join the forum

[Larry]

Hi bebe...Just by chance are you a spammer ?

[redhead]

I'm guessing it is, thus removed link from post.