Dungeon Master Forum

I've experienced some irritations with drivers for Windows OS.
I tried out the Ubuntu OS from Linux, as well as the Gnome Mint.

The difficulties with locating and installing the internet and sound drivers are much less of a difficulty.
(forgot to un-mute the sound, on one occasion )

Finding my way around the Linux world will be a challenge, being mostly familiar with Windows.

I eventually switched to a Mac because I was completely fed up with both Windows and Linux.

Unfortunately, I'm using some software at work that can only be used under Windows. Or, there are other versions too, but my institution wouldn't buy them. No fun.

Jan wrote:Unfortunately, I'm using some software at work that can only be used under Windows.

Unfortunately, I'm using some software at work that can only be used under MVS (or VM/CMS, more fun)

Developers can never target all existing systems.

I would say the positive point of linux is its stable core architecture, which allows the system to work on plenty of environments, from small ones to biggest (app servers), through smartphones (e.g. android).

There, for the end user, it will be more a choice of linux distribution to have something packaged coherently (and looking friendly).
Also, it depends on what you're going to do with it since you won't have the same applications you have in Windows. For an individual use, you will find all basic stuff (desktop apps, media, network, dev tools, games, databases ..).
If you have the need of some devices (since you complained about drivers), maybe some won't be available for linux if you don't have the drivers.


On the other hand, you could have both systems. A dual boot for linux and windows.
And if you have a computer powerful enough, you could have use of virtual machines (vmware, virtualbox ..) for running both windows and linux at the same time.

(thinking of this, I should try to run DM2 with a freedos machine).

I've played a bit with Ubuntu and Mint as well and haven't encountered any driver issue, except for graphics card which requires additional non-free constructor drivers to have openGL working properly. But that part is silently done when you enable fancy effects on Gnome desktop. If you notice sound driver problems, that means that you have bought a specific sound card and you don't use the chipset included in your motherboard, which means that you are some kind of musician, and for that... just buy a MAC !

What i really like in Ubuntu/Mint is speed : boot, connection, everything that you may launch runs fast or doesn't run at all, but you know where you are.
What i dislike is default visual design : quite obsolete, but you can obtain very nice results if you take some time for that (and i did !). Check for fake MacOS or Win7 packages.

For personal use, i haven't kept that kind of operating systems but i use it everyday at work (it is SLES btw).

linflas wrote:If you notice sound driver problems, that means that you have bought a specific sound card and you don't use the chipset included in your motherboard, which means that you are some kind of musician, and for that... just buy a MAC !

Oh oh, I thought Atari ST was the must for music
And you can really be some kind of musician without having a MAC. VST(i) are well working as dll.
But I am going off topic here.

At this point, I like Ubuntu better than Gnome Mint. Mostly for for way it looks, as well as the 'seeming' smoothness of it.

Question: I understand Gnome Mint works better when RAM and processor speed is involved.
How can I check this out?

Oh, and I want to thank a couple of you, for the information and suggestions.

What do you mean by "Gnome Mint"? I know of a Linux distribution called Mint, and it uses Gnome, but a lot of other distributions use Gnome as well. Gnome Mint sounds like some kind of flavor of green gnome hats. Are the red ones Gnome Peppermint?

Anyway, I'd think any OS would work better with more RAM and a faster processor, at least to a point. Otherwise I guess I don't understand your question.

I still think you'd like a mac even more than either of them.

Sophia wrote:What do you mean by "Gnome Mint"?

I think it was in the Secret of Monkey Island, together with the rubber-chicken-with-a-pulley-in-the-middle, and the rhino-repellent. I just don't know why MW mentions it here, or why do I mention it here, asking for being banned for bringing another thread OT.

So to bring the thread back on track (without actually knowing anything about the subject), I'll just state that my brother uses Linux. *coughs*

MasterWuuf wrote:At this point, I like Ubuntu better than Gnome Mint. Mostly for for way it looks, as well as the 'seeming' smoothness of it.

Question: I understand Gnome (er, Linux) Mint works better when RAM and processor speed is involved.
How can I check this out? ...

My question was whether Mint works better than Ubuntu, when there is limited RAM available.

I have noticed that both Mint and Ubuntu pick up drivers better (at installation) than the Windows operating systems.
So far, Linux has picked all drivers up, except for the sound drivers for the IBM IntelliStation Pro computers.