Which [non-Windows] OS do you use?

[Revoltingest]

Nope. First I thought you meant DOS, but I googled it and I was wrong, lol. How was it like?

Think of it as Unix Lite.
It's portable, running under DOS, DEC VAX, Apple 2e, & others.
I used to use it in native mode until PCs got fast. Running under DOS slows it down a lot.
It's multi-tasking, with no memory conflicts & little memory required.
It's menu driven & text based.
It's absolutely bullet proof, which is why I've been running business software under it for almost 30 years.
It's poorly documented, & the support is even worse.
It's rare in the US.

 

[Stella Polaris]

I have Ubuntu on my netbook.

It originally came with Windows XP, but eventually it died. Something crashed and all I'd get was a Black-Screen-of-Death at start-up. I tried flashing the BIOS, no help. I thought it was a lost cause until my brother mentioned trying Linux. So I put Ubuntu on a flash drive and started it up, to my surprise (and joy), it worked. I have it as my main OS now as the Windows is dead and useless. I like it.

 

[Rakhel]

Odin, have you heard of Virtual Box? If not I recomend it. It is basically a PC emulator, so you can install and try out an operating system without installing it on your harddrive. Its slow, though, since its emulated.


How is Slackware? I have mainly used Ubuntu and I feel a little disappointed at the direction it has been taking (not unity as much as feeling a bit... dumbified... and that it lacks the configurability I would like).

Slackware works for us. or it does until he gets bored with it and changes the OS. He has configured it to his liking and when there is something we are lacking on our puters, he puts there.

 

[Breathe]

Odin, have you heard of Virtual Box? If not I recomend it. It is basically a PC emulator, so you can install and try out an operating system without installing it on your harddrive. Its slow, though, since its emulated.

Yeah, I've got VB installed on my PC in my Windows partition; I test out different OSes on it. I usually don't use it though since as you've said, it's slow. That and I'm usually on Mint. I can go about a month or two without using Windows. My computer is still a dinosaur and only has 2GB of RAM.

 

[Rakhel]

Yeah, I've got VB installed on my PC in my Windows partition; I test out different OSes on it. I usually don't use it though since as you've said, it's slow. That and I'm usually on Mint. I can go about a month or two without using Windows. My computer is still a dinosaur and only has 2GB of RAM.

The one time I used VB, I was talking to a TimeWarner guy about my internet. It was kind of funny, or at least I found it funny.
We had one of the non-windows OS(not sure which one right now) and I needed technical help. Netrexx...screw it. Yosi was off working, so I had to call them. Well, as most people know, Cable techies don't know jack about how their system can possibly work on anything but Windows.(I know, I was sent from tech to tech, to no avail)
So I pulled up the VB. (I also don't like using it because of it's speed issues.)Then I called TW. I sat there and watched him remotely work my VB as if he were working a Windows.

I started laughing at the thought that they thought their system was superior to anything out there. I am not sure if he got what I was laughing at, cuz I told him he was accessing my computer through a VB. But I don't think he got that it wasn't his VB I was referring to.

 

[s2a]

MacOS since 1988 <not a typo

 

[Breathe]

The one time I used VB, I was talking to a TimeWarner guy about my internet. It was kind of funny, or at least I found it funny.
We had one of the non-windows OS(not sure which one right now) and I needed technical help. Netrexx...screw it. Yosi was off working, so I had to call them. Well, as most people know, Cable techies don't know jack about how their system can possibly work on anything but Windows.(I know, I was sent from tech to tech, to no avail)
So I pulled up the VB. (I also don't like using it because of it's speed issues.)Then I called TW. I sat there and watched him remotely work my VB as if he were working a Windows.

I started laughing at the thought that they thought their system was superior to anything out there. I am not sure if he got what I was laughing at, cuz I told him he was accessing my computer through a VB. But I don't think he got that it wasn't his VB I was referring to.

Lol, awesome.

You know; I just realized I've never had any remote technical support. I don't even know if they offer it in the UK.

 

[Kerr]

Yeah, I've got VB installed on my PC in my Windows partition; I test out different OSes on it. I usually don't use it though since as you've said, it's slow. That and I'm usually on Mint. I can go about a month or two without using Windows. My computer is still a dinosaur and only has 2GB of RAM.

You should try one of those minimal linux versions, like Damn Small Linux, just for fun. They are so small they are fast even under VB (if I remember correctly) .

 

[Revoltingest]

Yeah, I've got VB installed on my PC in my Windows partition; I test out different OSes on it. I usually don't use it though since as you've said, it's slow. That and I'm usually on Mint. I can go about a month or two without using Windows. My computer is still a dinosaur and only has 2GB of RAM.

2GB? Hah! That still sounds huge.
I used to run BOS on 512K of RAM. And that was more than I needed. Still have the same OS that I bought in 1985 (but with some upgrades).
I ran about 4 or 5 dumb terminals simultaneously.
I remember spending extra $ to get the 20MB hard disk instead of the standard 10MB.

 

[Breathe]

You should try one of those minimal linux versions, like Damn Small Linux, just for fun. They are so small they are fast even under VB (if I remember correctly) .

I've tried a few of them for it, although I like them to have a nice user interface; I prefer GNOME and similar ones. I've used DSU, PuppyLinux, Lubuntu, and Unity Linux, as well as a few others on VBs, but out of them I prefered Puppy and Lubuntu, siding more with the latter since I have experience with Ubuntu. I've not really bothered with DSU as it'd been dormant for months when I tried it.

2GB? Hah! That still sounds huge.
I used to run BOS on 512K of RAM. And that was more than I needed. Still have the same OS that I bought in 1985 (but with some upgrades).
I ran about 4 or 5 dumb terminals simultaneously.
I remember spending extra $ to get the 20MB hard disk instead of the standard 10MB.

You still have the same OS you bought in '85?! How have you managed to keep it more or less the same?

 

[Revoltingest]

You still have the same OS you bought in '85?! How have you managed to keep it more or less the same?

A few upgrades here & there.
- Going from single to multi user (not networking, but mainframe style)
- Getting concurrent processing
- Getting a version ported to run under DOS. This lets me use Win 98, so I can use USB drives. I also use DOS macros for back-up functions.
I've yet to see a system that works better (for ease of use, longevity, reliability).

 

[HiddenDjinn]

DSL is no longer being maintained, if you want a minimalist Linux these days, Puppy is the major game in town.

Either that or RYO(roll your own)

 

[Kerr]

DSL is no longer being maintained, if you want a minimalist Linux these days, Puppy is the major game in town.

Either that or RYO(roll your own)

Possibly, I really dont know because it was a while ago and it was the first thing that crossed my mind. Might check out Puppy again sometime, to see how it has evolved since last time I looked at it.

Would be interesting to make my own (mainly for the learning experience), but I dont have the time or knowledge atm. Do you know any place where I could learn that? For future reference.

 

[illykitty]

Well I'm browsing on my iPad so I guess it is another OS. On my laptop though I was quite fond of using Ubuntu, because it was a nice looking OS and simple to use. Now though my laptop is rarely used, only for watching movies upstairs in bed.

 

[HiddenDjinn]

Possibly, I really dont know because it was a while ago and it was the first thing that crossed my mind. Might check out Puppy again sometime, to see how it has evolved since last time I looked at it.

Would be interesting to make my own (mainly for the learning experience), but I dont have the time or knowledge atm. Do you know any place where I could learn that? For future reference.

Oh, and if you want, you can try slax, but I don't know if it's still being maintained.
As far as making your own linux, there's this project called Linux From Scratch that allows you to make a custom linux install. For use with it, I'd recommend you also read the syslinux documentation for setting it up for booting from a cd or a usb chip.

 

[croak]

I've been using Arch Linux for a few years; I've cycled through a couple. Might end up changing my mind again.

I'm planning to update to 64-bit, in any case. I think when I first installed Arch, there were still issues with 64-bit.

 

[Kerr]

Oh, and if you want, you can try slax, but I don't know if it's still being maintained.
As far as making your own linux, there's this project called Linux From Scratch that allows you to make a custom linux install. For use with it, I'd recommend you also read the syslinux documentation for setting it up for booting from a cd or a usb chip.

Ok, thanks .

 

[Î Î¿Î»Ï Ï€Î­ÏÏ‡Ï‰Î½ Γʹ]

I have Arch Linux.

I can also run Mac OSX in a virtual machine within Windows 7.

 

[AdityaMookerjee]

One has to do serious work, to understand Linux commands to operate Linux, is what I seriously understand. I gather people use Linux, because they have to. One doesn't normally use the OS just like that.

 

[Breathe]

One has to do serious work, to understand Linux commands to operate Linux, is what I seriously understand.

Sometimes; not always.
My wife uses Linux along with myself for basic things (browsing internet, writing emails, typing up letters, etc), and she doesn't know the first thing about coding or commands. If I told her to "go into terminal and become root" or something similar, she'd ask me to speak English. I know, I just asked her to do it.

I gather people use Linux, because they have to. One doesn't normally use the OS just like that.

Actually, I use Linux because I like it. I'm not obligated to use it, I just like it. I use it especially when I want to do things without distractions (like avoid playing games) and get things done.