Tag: LINUX-SWITCH

Please, allow me to explain. This week's FTLS was not at all what I intended it to be. For weeks now, I've been toying with idea of dual-booting a Debian based distro with a RPM based distro. Ubuntu Hardy (now reasonably mature enough for day to day use with minimal bork ups) was the obvious choice for a Debian flavor, as it already existed on my hard drive. I am not a big fan of RPM based stuff, ...

Linux is great to use at home. It can be handy at work. It's a great server operating system. But there's one other place that Linux is really worth its weight in gold: public, or semi-public, computers. There's nothing quite as nerve-wracking as seeing someone on a computer you're responsible for, and wondering what exactly they're up to. Except for maybe seeing someone you're responsible for on ...

Do you remember our youth? The good times we had, the games we played, and that great discussion we had about what makes a window manager different from a desktop environment? Then our relationship sort of got stuck on desktop environments. It's understandable, of course. Most new Linux users feel more comfortable with something a little heavier than a window manager like Fluxbox or WindowMaker. ...

Last week, we walked through installing Ubuntu Linux. digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/03/21/flipping-the-linux-switch-disturbingly-easy-installs-now-with/"; It's not a particularly hard process, and Ubuntu is great because it clearly illustrates the basic steps every Linux distribution goes through when it installs on a hard drive. Even if you don't use Ubuntu or a derivative, ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/03/16/flipping-the-linux-switch-installations-are-disturbingly-easy/"; All right, the headline is a little bit of a lie. Some Linux installs are hairier, take longer, and just aren't as soothing as the one we're about to show you. They do all work approximately the same way, however, and that's just fine for us as a point of illustration. So ...

What do Linux gaming, jumbo shrimp, and government intelligence have in common with each other? Think back to your English classes. (We're not responsible for any traumatic memories that surface from this exercise.) Got it yet? Anyone? Oxymorons. No, no, wait, we're not insulting you. Those little phrases are all oxymorons. If the memories of your English classes were too painful to bear, the ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/02/26/flipping-the-linux-switch-the-distribution-maze/"; Who doesn't love choices? You can "have it your way" at fast food restaurants. No two cars ever cost the same, because of add-ons and price negotiations. We like choice. It's a good thing. Right? Choice, really, is a double-edged sword. We get too many choices, and we can get easily ...

Photo management software for Windows makes us weep. For most people, photo management consists of loading the software (and drivers) that came from the camera manufacturer. So you've got a Nikon camera, and the photo management software is really different from your significant other's Kodak software. It looks different. It acts different. It's easier to set up some ways, or more inflexible in ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/02/14/flipping-the-linux-switch-the-anti-virus-question/"; We were at a major electronics retailer a few days ago, gazing lovingly at the little ASUS Eee. We were not alone. There were three other people poking, prodding, and tapping the tiny machine. We watched as a couple approached the little machine with a salesman. They jiggled the keys. ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/02/08/flipping-the-linux-switch-envy-no-longer-a-deadly-sin/"; We're taking a little departure this week from our sometimes successful attempt to be non-distro-specific, and looking at a neat little program that runs on Debian and Ubuntu flavors (including Ubuntu-derivatives, like Mint). Have you ever had the joy of installing restricted or ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/02/04/flipping-the-linux-switch-damn-small-linux-not/"; Last week we took a look at Puppy Linux, a small Linux distro optimized for installation on a flash drive. There are (many) others, of course. One of the most well known, Damn Small Linux, has been around for quite some time. Over the years, the developers of Damn Small Linux (DSL), have ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/29/flipping-the-linux-switch-penguin-on-a-usb-stick/"; Ever wish you had your whole desktop on a flash disk? You know what we mean, you take a spreadsheet up to your 'rents, and you realize that they have no program to actually open your spreadsheet with. Or maybe you hop from computer to computer in several offices, and hate the fact that ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/24/flipping-the-linux-switch-myths-about-linux/"; There are a lot of funny, preconceived notions about Linux (and Linux users). Some ideas fall in to the realm of FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt). Some ideas have an inkling of truth to them, and have grown and mutated into full fledged myths. Sort of like how Vlad the Impaler became Dracula, ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/21/flipping-the-linux-switch-misplace-a-file-find-it-quick/";It happens to the best of us. We forget where we put things. Car keys. Flash drives. Yes, sometimes we even forget where certain files are on our computers. We can't really help you with the car keys and flash drives (although we inexplicably find things like that in the refrigerator ...

digg_url = "http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2008/01/17/flipping-the-linux-switch-new-users-guide-to-the-terminal/";The command line. It strikes fear in the hearts of many a new Linux user. They open their terminals reluctantly, and there the prompt sits, with the cursor blinking in rhythm with their racing hearts. What does that blinking cursor want? It's expecting something... It wants ...