Just curious as to how many people we have here running Linux on either a secondary or main system of theirs and how they are finding it - especially those that are using it on their main.

I've tried out several distributions and favor Fedora, as it tends to have the newest software and I'm mostly just playing around anyways, but I'm not sure I could see myself switching to it cold turkey any time soon.

Even with gaming aside there always seems to be some critical piece of software that keeps me from being able to use it fully. For instance web development is something that interests me and I do as a part-time job, but I don't think I could do it without the use of Adobe Photoshop. I've used The Gimp through several versions of it over a couple years, and it just doesn't work for me.

Anyways, it's a slow day here and I thought Linux could use some attention as it seems to be overlooked so often here.

Hear hear!

I tried once a few years back and I never got it to work. I suppose I might be more interested in it if I didn't have alternative ways to *purchase* Windows OS'es.

I had a course on linux. Didn't like it much.

Honestly. It's a sturdy OS. The sturdiest. But i just used windows too long.

I've used linux for years as a primary OS. I run Fedora currently, but for those looking to have a nice fresh "try" at linux I suggest Ubuntu.

Flama, I also do web dev, and graphic design as well and I have no problem running photoshop under linux, or any other windows application (including games). I use a program called WINE and it is free and open source.

http://www.winehq.org/

I really REALLY suggest everyone have a real good "try" at linux as I was once like you all, and very stubborn about switching from Windoze, but I forced myself to use it for a month and haven't looked back since!

I run linux as a primary OS on my laptop. I use Linux Mint. It's based on the latest Ubuntu. It's essentially the same, but looks nicer, and has some extra stuff, like codecs installed by default. Much more usable from a fresh install, imo.

Ya, I've heard of WINE, and other virtualization programs, but the last time I looked into them the performance hit was pretty big. I suppose I should check into it again though.

I have a spare desktop so when I move I might check out Fedora 10 on it as I usually try every couple of releases of it to see how things are progressing. I'll try out WINE as well this time to see how it actually is for myself.

WINE is not an emulator. It is a translation layer. It merely translates the windows application into something readable by linux, with almost ZERO performance hit.

Ya I read that on their site right after my post. Definitely worth checking out then because I hated having to open up an emulator and then from there open the program I wanted.

When running games with it does it just translate the software (the actual game) and use the Linux drivers for your video card or will it all get translated?

I set up a dual boot with backtrack and XP on my laptop. This way I can boot to what ever OS I need at the time.

WINE is compatible with a ton of games after initial compile, but some games need extra little tweaks to get them to work. All that stuff can be found on the website. For example, you need directx dll files for some games, and these can all be found easily online or thru the DX9 redist.

If you play COD4 there is a bit more work that needs to be done, but its also pretty easy.

You should be easily able to find documentation on running just about any program or game under WINE with a little bit of searching.

I bet my Fallout 3 nude mods wouldn't work though.