Switching to Linux? [Open Poll]

[AntiZig]

Hey OP, sorry to say but, ATI/nVidia only responsible for 1 piece of hardware in a PC. What about the drivers for the rest of the hardware? Have those manufacturer's already signed up to make Linux drivers?

In order for Linux to gain traction with hardware support and software support, it needs to gain market share. Unfortunately, it cannot do so without the above mentioned hardware and software support. It's a catch 22.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

@tr2012 Ubuntu is the only distro that Steam is coming to, to start.

Wrong. Gentoo users can install it from Portage.

 

[mactronix]

So the question is IF everything was going to have exactly the same support as windows then would I switch to Ubuntu.

Um let me think for a micro second. Hell yes.

I have dual booted on and off for about 3 years now and to be honest there are plus and minus points to either Windows or Ubuntu. I have tried different distro's and find that the ease of Ubuntu for running everyday applications and programs fits with what I want.
After having the Raspberry Pi for a while now I may dabble with one of the more technical distro's that require a little more user input.

Cost really does have to come into it for me as breaking it down to a per year cost seems disingenuous. If you were building a PC the extra money you are not spending on a new M$ OS would make a huge difference in the budget and would mean you could afford a much better set of components.

Mactronix

 

[sam_p_lay]

Cost really does have to come into it for me as breaking it down to a per year cost seems disingenuous. If you were building a PC the extra money you are not spending on a new M$ OS would make a huge difference in the budget and would mean you could afford a much better set of components.

Do you mean 'would not make a huge difference'? I'm getting a Raspberry Pi too (well, already have it but it's a Christmas present), can't wait to try Android, RiscOS etc on it :-D Raspbian seems to be the way to go to best make use of the learning materials though so I'll settle on that after trying out some of those more unusual options. BSDs might be interesting too - they're not much use on my desktop because of the situation with AMD cards and Unix drivers, but I'll take another look at BSD when I'm back on nVidia graphics.

 

[mactronix]

Do you mean 'would not make a huge difference'? I'm getting a Raspberry Pi too (well, already have it but it's a Christmas present), can't wait to try Android, RiscOS etc on it :-D Raspbian seems to be the way to go to best make use of the learning materials though so I'll settle on that after trying out some of those more unusual options. BSDs might be interesting too - they're not much use on my desktop because of the situation with AMD cards and Unix drivers, but I'll take another look at BSD when I'm back on nVidia graphics.

What I mean is that if I'm building a new PC and I don't need to put £70 of the budget aside to pay for a Microsoft OS then I can get a £70 better CPU for instance, or a better GPU or an SSD.

The Microsoft operating system is on average 15/20% of the cost of an average build.

Mactronix

 

[sam_p_lay]

I suppose, but what could you play without Windows? No need for graphics muscle in Linux! Nexuiz and Blob Wars are pretty cool though 🙂

EDIT: Was the % an estimate or statistic? Would make the average build around £400?

 

[mactronix]

I suppose, but what could you play without Windows? No need for graphics muscle in Linux! Nexuiz and Blob Wars are pretty cool though 🙂

EDIT: Was the % an estimate or statistic? Would make the average build around £400?

£462 to be exact 😀 and the figure is based on an estimated educated guess.
I fully realise that some builds cost thousands but the vast majority do not. Average means "typical" in this instance and not an average of all build costs.

Its not meant to be a cast Iron fact or anything.

Mactronix