Linux

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I use a PC for the same reason I use an Android phone: I like having control over what I use. I've found my PC to be infinitely more customizable than the Mac that we got.

You might be interested in Linux, in that case. If you think Windows PCs are infinitely more customizable than Macs, Linux is ∞! (infinity factorial) more customizable than Windows. Seriously, it's crazy how you can tweak pretty much anything you want to. You don't have to, mind you (especially if you pick a distribution like Ubuntu, which is aimed to simplify and have good defaults), but you can.

(If you're not ready to switch all the way, you could always try either dual-booting or, my recommendation, running it in a virtual machine.)

Hey, LJ. Just thought I'd let you know: I installed Ubuntu. And I'm loving it. I used wubi installer (not sure about the site for that. Sorry), and it was positively painless. No partitioning, no CDs, no jump drives. Just straight up installation like any Windows program. And I can dual boot too! So if you know anyone that is wary because of perceived effort, I highly recommend wubi.

PS, I love linux, and I've only been playing for 15 minutes.

[Laser Jock]

Hey, LJ. Just thought I'd let you know: I installed Ubuntu. And I'm loving it. I used wubi installer (not sure about the site for that. Sorry), and it was positively painless. No partitioning, no CDs, no jump drives. Just straight up installation like any Windows program. And I can dual boot too! So if you know anyone that is wary because of perceived effort, I highly recommend wubi.

PS, I love linux, and I've only been playing for 15 minutes.

Awesome! I haven't tried the WUBI route before, but I'm glad it's working. I'm also glad you're liking it so far. Let me know if you have any general questions. (Technical support is usually best answered by Google, but I could try to help with that too.)

[bismark]

PS, I love linux, and I've only been playing for 15 minutes.

Hmm, that's like saying "I love this hammer because the handle looks pretty." Try hitting a few nails first.

You need to live with an OS before you can learn to love what it does best: make your productive. As someone who has to switch between Windows/Linux/OS X quite often, I have stopped caring about fanboy arguments: OS X is plain and simple the most frictionless and productivity-enhancing OS experience for me.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

So far (and it's been a couple days), I still like Linux best of the three. Our Mac regularly freezes, which absolutely ticks me off, and the Windows UI seems clunky compared to Ubuntu. So far, I'm finding it waaaay easier to find not only settings, but also what specific applications I want.

Don't get me wrong: there are some things I miss about Windows, but for the most part (actually, I think totally and utterly) these are simply a matter of getting certain programs to work.

I don't miss OS X at all. I feel that Linux, while not necessarily easier to use, per se, is more interesting to use (for example, I'm learning all sorts of fun stuff about the terminal that OS X never taught me. Heck, I don't even know if OS X has a terminal.)

Also, Linux hasn't frozen on me/slowed down on me yet. Regularly, our Mac lags and ticks me off, making me switch to the PC right next to it.

Also also, "not a fanboy?" What's this about you owning an iPhone, a Macbook, etc. etc.? (That last statement was meant purely in jest, by the way.)

[Marduk]

Wasn't this an introduction thread? Not a "debate the virtues of Linux" thread?

Just sayin'.....

[Giovanni Schwartz]

It's not my fault this time! Blame Laser Jock!

And no one else besides me and C4 have actually introduced ourselves. I can't really make an on-topic post in this thread anymore. that's your job, now.

[C is for]

There, I moved it. I do like on-topic threads.

[bismark]

Heck, I don't even know if OS X has a terminal.

OS X is full on UNIX through and through, so basically anything you do in the Linux terminal you can do in the OS X terminal.

Also also, "not a fanboy?" What's this about you owning an iPhone, a Macbook, etc. etc.? (That last statement was meant purely in jest, by the way.)

1) I want a smartphone
2) Since I don't use Google services for everything, Android has marginal value
3) There are no other viable options right now for modern smartphones

[Giovanni Schwartz]

OS X is full on UNIX through and through, so basically anything you do in the Linux terminal you can do in the OS X terminal.

Yeah, but you don't have to use it. I'm mostly using Linux as an educational experience.

Also, Linux is free. So I can play with it without spending $1,000+ on a computer that I would only use to play with.

1) I want a smartphone
2) Since I don't use Google services for everything, Android has marginal value
3) There are no other viable options right now for modern smartphones

1) I love me a smartphone.
2) So? Android is still useful. You don't have to actually use Google things. All that it does is connect to your email address, and you don't ever have to actually use that email address on your computer. Also, I think I can use any email address I want. I'm not positive, though, because I use gmail for my main email address.
3) Yeah. Android or iPhone is the only way to go. I had a BlackBerry. That's not a mistake I'll make again. WinMo 6 was just gross. WinPho 7 may be pretty good though, but it's not out yet. WebOS is... dead and gone. Didn't they get bought out by HP or someone?

Also, I'm not a fan of Apple's App Store policy. I mean, come on. Their rules are so... subjective. Remember that one cartoonist guy whose app got rejected for "mocking public figures"? What's with that? I just don't like the App Store nazis.

And Steve Jobs is an a$$.

[bismark]

Yeah, but you don't have to use [the terminal]. I'm mostly using Linux as an educational experience.

Nothing wrong with that, but I've gotten to the point where I want my computer to do useful things instead of having to fiddle with Xorg config files.

Also, Linux is free. So I can play with it without spending $1,000+ on a computer that I would only use to play with.

Understandable.

2) So? Android is still useful. You don't have to actually use Google things. All that it does is connect to your email address, and you don't ever have to actually use that email address on your computer. Also, I think I can use any email address I want. I'm not positive, though, because I use gmail for my main email address.

To me, the major practical advantages of Android (being slick integration with Google services) are useless. Anything else is either equally as good/worse as on the iPhone or it is of no use for me. There are a number of apps on the iPhone that I cannot get on Android (Instapaper, Things).

Also, I'm not a fan of Apple's App Store policy. I mean, come on. Their rules are so... subjective. Remember that one cartoonist guy whose app got rejected for "mocking public figures"? What's with that? I just don't like the App Store nazis.

Yeah, it's lame. I do hope Android gains enough market share to push Apple to open things up. (FWIW, the cartoonist's app was accepted and Steve Job's said the rejection was a mistake)

And Steve Jobs is an a$$.

After listening to my boss at Intel go off about how obnoxious the dude at Google who gets to decide which devices get the "Android with Google" seal of approval is, I'm quite certain the Steve Jobs is not the only one.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Eh. "Android WITH Google is nothing." Have you ever seen any of the Steve Jobs emails floating around the intertubes? The man is never even close to approaching polite to anyone.

Also, besides Gmail/Gchat and the things on the Gmail homepage, what services does Android integrate with Google? Not meaning this as a jab, but an honest question. I really don't think I've found any.

Also also, do you really believe Steve when he said it was a mistake to reject that app? I don't. I think he just got a little too much media pressure and reversed his decision.