[ale] Greetings and introduction

Tue Apr 18 23:17:54 EDT 2006

I don't want to scare you off, but I have to make this observation. It
sounds to me like you are looking for some magic distribution that is
going to "let" you do everything you did in Windows exactly the same
as you did with that operating system. I have seen this sort of
mentality among my personal friends and watched it fail. When people
talk about the "Linux desktop" they are, most typically, not talking
about the same sort of "desktop" most Windows geeks are familiar with;
that being a business system that excels at playing games and various
other "home" applications (e.g. iPod management). No, the "Linux
desktop" is one where work is accomplished. Casual surfing, writing
papers, developing programs, etc. There are a select few big name
games that have Linux ports (UT2004, Quake 3/4, Doom 3, etc.), but for
the most part it isn't a gaming platform like Windows.

Your video card(s) should work well because the manufacturer provides
decent drivers. Your sound card, I don't know. I have SB Live!s in my
machines (first generation Live!s). They work as well as I need for
them to.

Basically, my point is this. It doesn't matter what distribution you
pick. With the attitude (for lack of a better word) you are
approaching it, you will just be disappointed [again]. None of them
are going to do all the Windows things, the Windows way, out of the
box, if ever. However, if you can come up with a reason other than "it
isn't Windows" I think you will be pleased. I have a Windows machine
for gaming and a machine with some Linux distribution (currently SuSE
10.0) to do all of my work. When the semester is in, my Windows
machine doesn't get powered on very often.

That is just my opinion based on what you gave me.

On 4/18/06, David Nixon <nixond at gmail.com> wrote:
> I am an avid gamer/geek that has been firmly entrenched in the windows
> world for eons.  I tend to upgrade constantly and I game quite a bit,
> and so always had trouble with Linux.  I have spent more than $1000 on
> various distros, but in the end have always been forced back to the
> Mother Ship due to an incompatability, lack of driver support, or the
> inability to play a particular game.  I tried dual-booting, but hate
> maintaining two OS's.
>
> I have dabbled with Linux for many years, learned some things, had some
> fun, but never got to the point that I could stay with it full time.
> Off the top of my head, I have used(usually multiple version numbers):
>
> Mandrake, Lycoris, Lindows, Suse, Red Hat, Fedora, XandrOS, ubuntu,
> eLive, Mepis, PCLinuxOS...And many more.
>
> I want to learn more about it, and get it to the point that I can make
> it work for me and not have to go running back to Windows for
> something.  I do not like the issues with Malware and the direction that
> DRM is headed scares me.  I want to attend some meetings or shows and
> dive into this and see if I can get it right.  I am in sales and
> consulthing and so there are things that I need Windows for, but I have
> a laptop with XP and a second desktop PC with XP as well.
>
> The machine that I wish to run Linux on has the following hardware:
>
> Coolermaster Centurion5 w/Antec NeoHE 550W
> Abit AN8-SLI / Opteron 175 dual-core at 2.5Ghz
> 2GB Patriot Extreme Performance PC3200 DDR
> 2x Geforce 7800GTX in SLI mode
> Creative Labs X-Fi / Logitech Z680 speakers
> 74GB WD Raptor / 400GB Hitachi SATA
> Samsung 16x Dual-Layer DVDRW / Liteon 16X DVDROM
> Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20.1" widescreen flat panel
>
> I am sure that the sound card will give me trouble, but I can swap that
> out for an Audigy2 or something if needed.  Basically, I want something
> 64bit, robust, full multimedia support, some modern gaming ability(FPS),
> 3D support and SLI enabled, etc..  I have always been attracted to Suse
> in the past.  Anyway, that's the hardware in question, so the distro
> needs to be appropriate for it..
>
> Anyway, that's my background and situation.  I know that this is not an
> advice forum, just wanted you to know where I am coming from and what I
> would like to get out of the Linux community in general
>
> I plan to come to some of the meetings to educate myself and to meet
> others like me, as I am sure that I am not the only one in this boat.
> If anyone has any advice, shoot it my way, but in the meantime I hope to
> check out the group and see what you guys have to offer, and hopefully
> in time I will be able to find a distro and learn to make it do what I
> need and I can leave Windows behind for good.  I want to be a convert, I
> have just not yet been succesful at it.  If you guys feel that this is
> not the group for me or is not what I am looking for, shoot me an email
> and maybe point me in the right direction.  I found this site by
> Googling for Atlanta Linux users groups.  Thanks!
>
> Dave
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>

--
James Sumners
http://james.roomfullofmirrors.com/

"All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts
pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it
is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become
drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted."

Missionaria Protectiva, Text QIV (decto)
CH:D 59