So long Windows. Hello Linux!
 

So I decided to take the plunge and try to use Linux as my main operating system. I chose Ubuntu since it has such a large community and you can Google "Ubuntu $problem" and get an answer for anything that could possibly go wrong.

The only reason it has taken this long to switch is the lack of Smart Blur in Gimp. Not to mention Photoshop is just so fucking awesome and Gimp is a distant second. I got my copy of Photoshop CS4 to load in Wine so there went that hurdle.

Next, I so much prefer Dreamweaver over anything Linux offers. Again KompoZer, the Linux equivalent, fell way short of my expectations. No matter how hard I tried I could not duplicate others success in getting it to run under Wine and I ultimately ended up running Windows in VirtualBox. I had a spare XP disk I never used. This also meant I didn't have to switch my Stats Remote license over to the Linux version just in case I ever want to switch back. And it means I can still get my stats on my Laptop which runs Windows 7. I am not ready to try and get a laptop working under Ubuntu yet.

The final piece of the pie was my multifunction printer. After about 40 minutes of Google searching and reading I got all of its functions to work correctly.

One aspect of the switch I seriously enjoyed was my Google apps. No need to do anything special. Just login and Email is back up, Wave, Analytics, etc, etc... Some hate the big brother idea of Google, but I can't be happier!

Oh... One last reason to keep windows... Windows Live Writer. I am so fucking grateful to Rochard for introducing me to WLW! Unfortunately Linux has nothing that even comes close to this Microsoft made application. Not even in the same universe. The closest thing would probably be the Firefox plugin. But then that isn't Linux native... So yeah... I run that in the VirtualBox too.

So why did I make the switch? I was using my license copy of both Windows 7 and Photoshop CS5 to create my own tour for a web site I promote. I was about 4 hours into my project and dozens of layers deep when it occurred to me, I haven't saved this fucking thing yet! I decide to edit the opacity of one more layer before the save and guess what? Photoshop has encountered an error and needs to close!

Without skipping a beat I went to Ubuntu's web site, downloaded the installer and began the install. About 4 hours later I was sitting in front of an extremely fast machine with all of my essential apps and functions working correctly.

The first thing I noticed, Firefox works VERY fast in Linux! Chrome was already fast in Windows so no big speed rush there. Setting up my servers as network drives was very fast. Both Linux and VirtualBox Windows are set up to use my old Documents folders from Windows 7 and basically piggy-back on my Windows 7 drive for downloads, scratch disks/folders, etc.

If you ever wanted so fuck you to the BSOD and all other problems in Windows, but didn't know if Linux had progressed far enough to allow you to, I am here to tell you it has. But only if you are a computer savvy person or can just follow directions since there is a howto for just about everything.

Time to go do some blog posts!

a little off topic but how does WLW beat out blog desk... if you know...just curious

I once wanted to be a rebel too and drove in reverse for two months straight - it took me five times longer to get from point A to point B, but what the heck, it felt good

I am already breaking speed records under Linux... So much fucking faster... Especially FF. I used to think, well, I did put like 15 plugins into it and I do have 15 tabs per window with 10 windows open... So I guess it's just overloading the system... Was slow as fuck! Not under Linux... It's like using Chrome.

Good job. I love Linux and especially the Ubuntu distro.
Still, I love gaming in my spare time so i'll stick with VM for my Linux kicks.

Looking at the screen shots and trying to do a comparison on what I remember from Blogdesk. I used it a few years back I believe...

1) Auto linking. If Blogdesk does in fact support this feature, I can already tell that WLW is lightyears beyond in how it handles this function.
2) No need to use an image wizard. You can adjust the image directly in the post with a much easier interface. Also WLW will upload the image (if need be) to an alternate server.
3) Selecting and adding tags is easier and categories too. As in, I can add a category to the blog from within WLW very quickly by just entering the intended name and hitting the +
4) Themes. WLW downloads my blogs theme and shows me a representation of that theme so I can see width wise, color wise, layout wise what my post will look like without even having to hit the preview tab.
5) Switching between the source view, edit view and preview is just switching tabs.
6) Spell checking is done while you type like it is in other Microsoft products.

Those are off the top of my head.

thx for that :thumbsup

seems 2, 4, & 6 are where it excels. not sure what 'auto-linking' is but maybe there too. if its what i think it is, i believe i made that work in BD with "frequently used phrases"...

but i digress. back to OT.... i thought about going linux but a) i'm on a laptop and b) i'm dead without my CS3 programs and then some. if using virtual box on linux, are you basically just defeating the purpose?

Over all my system is way more responsive. And it should be. I have 4 cores and 6 gigs of ram. There is no reason FF should have been so f'ing slow. Other weird things also happened like certain programs slowing down after being open for a day or two. Then there is Photoshop dying for whatever reason. Why? Two billion dollar companies created Windows 7 and CS5. They should work flawlessly!

Auto linking... When I type I have stuff like this happen, small tits.

But I can also specify the title text too. And adding or removing this action is done from the same popup that comes up when I click the hyperlink button. So no need to edit them inside another screen. It does have the ability to do so though.

Linux is good

What did Windows 7 get right?

Grouping the bar at the bottom...

did the dreamweaver work for ubuntu? how about photoshop cs5 and flash? and what ftp are good for ubuntu?

if that 4 things were work fine for ubuntu, i'll definitely switch with it.

i once installed ubuntu before and i love it.

i love suse., its very user friendly
everything is gui based., very few times u have to fire up xterm.

Chicks dig nix...

I just wish someone would come along and create a solid, reliable and fully functional video editing software. I'd settle for something along the lines of vegas pro.. doesn't have to be up there with adobe's stuff or final cut or anything.. but it should be about as functional as vegas pro at the very least. So far, all of them suck.

I would switch to linux too,but idea of running virtualbox windows to cover apps which doesn't work there wont work,since i using roboform and that means i would need to run firefox in virtual machine.

Hello Android ;)

Now you can be like a cool mac user and experience compatibility issues with software all while enjoying the bliss they like to rant about that is "living virus free".

When people start with Linux usually they end up running virtualbox or wine but after a while you are often able to find a native Linux application which does the same thing or is good enough to replace it. I used to use Roboform on Windows. Now I use this https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4775/ and it does all that I personally need it to do.

There are a lot of replacements... Not sure what it is about roboform you like most and need in the replacement.

http://lastpass.com/ is $1 a month I believe... so $2 or $3 more than Roboform is per year.

Free ones don't come close to Roboform's robustness: Sxipper, Keypass, autofill/secure login

As for lastpass, it is free with ads... That $1 premium which is probably billed once for a year adds in the ability to use it with your smart phone.

I heard more and more people using Linux.

Trying out Lastpass now...

Good for you. Windows sucks. I prefer OSX over linux, but will give the ole thumbs up to anyone choosing some type of *nix OS. ;)

Ubuntu - nice chaise for desctop

Yep, windows suck, but Photoshop and Gimp is two big differences. Still use windows because Adobe products is out of competition.

Actually prefer Ubuntu to Mac OSX... I think OS X is a tad overrated.. it's saving grace is that its unix under the bonnet.

Found a fix for this...

http://www.blogsolute.com/windows-7-...-ubuntu/13103/

Hmm... seems Ubuntu also does this now so the above link is overkill. Just right click on the dotted portion of the task bar and select preferences. Group windows when space is low.

Did you get it working easily (simple installed Photoshop CS4 with Wine), or you spent some hours on various boards before you were able to use it?

Actually the lack of Photoshop for Linux is a main reason why I haven't yet switched.

There are two ways to install it.

1) Just install it... Wine has been tweaked to install it. There are some steps like running some command line stuff to install various Windows stuff and you have to register some dll's with Wine.

2) Install it on a windows box and go through a tutorial on how to make it portable. Then you can just plop it right into the Wine program files directory and call it from there. You will still need to register a dll and use winetricks to install various shit like fonts and shit, but there are plenty of tutorials you can find just by googling photoshop and winetricks.

So it's wasn't easy and instant. Thanks for the info.

You found any good ftp client for unix? I tried quite a few of them and they all looked too simple. I've tried running flashfxp through wine, but it sucked.

So now I use ubuntu just for browsing (to avoid all malware site atacks), and everything else on good old windows 7

Awesome, keep us posted on your experience. Sooner or later Linus will take over, but it's a slow process.

The absolute easiest thing for working with your server is click Places | Connect to Server and set it up with your server. Then it is part of your file system and you can use it as such.