I’ve used various different Linux distros and even PC-BSD on secondary machines for several years now with almost universal success, but I always kept a machine with one or more Windows versions installed, since I regularly consulted with folks on their Windows woes, and that machine just kind of stayed my default. In attempting to make the switch completely to a Linux box as my “one-and-only” computer for daily use, I’ve found some joys and some woes to bless and plague my transition.
Some of the joys:
I’ve not been able so far to cause the equivalent of the (in)famous Windows BSOD. From my experiences with other ‘nix boxes, this is no surprise, but I have tried to “break” this thing by doing loads and loads of stupid things–often all at once *heh*–with no success so far in doing so.
All the web applications just work, and work well. I am particularly impressed with Evoluion email client. It has a few rough edges (archiving emails and exporting addressbooks not so slick, but do-able), but overall, it’s the equivalent of Outlook, complete with calendaring and Palm integration (using a helper app–JPilot and KPilot both work well).
Burning ISOs–two clicks. Easy-peasy.
Updates: simple as pie, and not one has failed yet (quite a contrast to Windows Updates).
Most (note: most) hardware has been recognized and set up right “out of the box” with little or no intervention from me. My venerable (8 years old) hp deskjet 5650 was simply installed in the background when I plugged it in, for example. Not even a CLICK from me. Do that in Vista.
Middle of the road:
Networking is no more transparent or easy than in Windows. A push.
Hardware management is all over the place. There’s no “Device Manager,” although there are several different applets that do allow one to achieve equivalent management functionality.
File system. Where is stuff installed? Just a re-learning curve-let.
Linux commands. It’s not DOS and it’s not Windows. Some things are still best done from the command line, and that requires re-learning what little I once knew and learning more about the ‘nix command line. Not a downer, just a learning curve-let. 😉
The woes:
Midi implementation is spotty and somewhat complex. The tutorials and howtos available are often contradictory or end up compounding the complexities rather than simplifying them. I suspect the spotty midi implementation (works sometimes in some programs and not others, etc.) is the reason for my midi issues in WINE/Encore. Reminds me a bit of early midi implementation in DOS, though I don’t recall that being quite so complex and obscurantist. Still working on making midi a consistent “Can do” in Ubuntu.
Video woes. I’ve mentioned this before, but when I installed Ubuntu Studio and went back to square one with a 640X480 screen and no way to change that (because installing Ubuntu Studio had scrambled the config files and UNinstalled my video chipset’s drivers). Reinstalling the drivers was only a partial fix, of course, since I then had to reinstall my monitor driver as well, find the lil applet that let me specify which monitor I am using, etc., etc. Not good.
While I can read and write data DVDs easy-peasy, playing a DVD is hit-and-miss, still. Working on that one, too. The problem seems to be region recognition on some DVDs, but only on some. Strange. Yep. Solved. Found some “strange brew” stuff that removed the region-specific barriers, so now any region DVD should play. So now all my DVDs (they’re all the same region anyway) seem to be problem-free, play just fine. Thanks, Google. Note: removed “strange brew” stuff as caused other problems and simply reset the CSS stuff on the drive’s firmware to Region 1. Works.
Two pieces of hardware–an IR receiver and an IR remote–need drivers that I cannot find. Learn to write drivers for ’em? It seems simpler and more cost-effective (considering my time) to simply purchase a new remote, preferably an RF version rather than IR. (Yep, available, anywhere from $25-$100. Have my eye on a Creative pair priced under $40)
Hmmm, for now that seems to be the story. I’m able to install various Windows versions in VirtualBox sessions and have everything work well, so Windows-only boxes can (for the most part) be decommissioned, now. I may, in the end, set up a headless Windows-only box to run Encore on, access it remotely and run things that way, perhaps. ll depends on if/how a midi keyboard can be configured on this box to control a remote box the same as one directly attached. Might work. May need to upgrade my nework, though (que triste! Buy more tech toys? *heh*) We’ll just have to see on that one.
On balance, it looks like this will work out well. Rock solid computer for daily grinding away; virtual computers to keep some Windows boxes virtually handy for references. Maybe one separate box just for Encore-related use… and maybe another inexpensive Ubuntu box (MythUbuntu?) for a frontend media pc, stuck by the main TV/stereo equipment. Heck, with a decent RF remote, might not even need that.
Sidebar: My dad seems to like his 85th birthday present. I get phone calls–usually via his MajocJack phone hooked to his new computer–that tell me he’s really getting the hang of transitioning from Windows Muppet Edition to XP pretty darned well. On balance, in his case, I’m really glad I made it an XP computer rather than a Linux box. Sure, all he really needs is is email and a word processor, but no… he’d bought that MagicJack that requires Windows XP or Vista, and getting it up and running so he has virtually free phone calls has been a Very Good Thing.