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What OS do you use?

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What OS do you use?
Poll ended at 18 Sep 2015, 10:23 am
Linux 43%  43%  [ 27 ]
Unix 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Mac 11%  11%  [ 7 ]
DOS 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Windows XP 3%  3%  [ 2 ]
Windows Vista 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Windows 7 27%  27%  [ 17 ]
Windows 8.1 13%  13%  [ 8 ]
Total votes : 63

Kurgan
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19 Jul 2015, 2:45 pm

Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


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morslilleole
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19 Jul 2015, 3:33 pm

Tollorin wrote:
I do have Linux Mint installed, but I mostly use Windows 7 as I like video games and I can watch videos online. (Since Flash don't support Linux anymore, watching video as become difficult on it.)


There are ways to get around that. For Youtube you can enable HTML 5. As for flash stuff I'm not sure about Linux Mint, but on Arch you have something called pepperflash ( I think ) for Chrom(ium). That'll enable you to watch stuff on twitch. Only thing that doesn't work for me is Netflix.


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saxgeek
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19 Jul 2015, 9:27 pm

I know Linux Mint and Ubuntu have an option during the install process to download Flash and other common proprietary software. I think it's also available from the nonfree repositories if you didn't choose to install it. Although it's no longer updated on Linux, it still works with the majority of sites.
Fortunately, Flash is a dying technology these days. It seems to be following the same fate as Java in web development, and is being replaced by more open alternatives like HTML5. I normally just turn it off in my browser anyway.

BTW, does anyone here have a lot of experience with any of the BSDs and can compare its stability and package management with Linux?



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19 Jul 2015, 10:17 pm

saxgeek wrote:
BTW, does anyone here have a lot of experience with any of the BSDs and can compare its stability and package management with Linux?


Although I've only played with BSD in VM's You can get the same experience with it's package management system by using Gentoo, or any other Linux based on Gentoo as they use Ports based package management. It may be worth it if you like to compile your own system. --Other than that, an advantage of BSD is the implementation of Jails, which allows you to run apllication in semi-protected space that will not impact your system.


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eric76
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20 Jul 2015, 12:22 am

saxgeek wrote:
I know Linux Mint and Ubuntu have an option during the install process to download Flash and other common proprietary software. I think it's also available from the nonfree repositories if you didn't choose to install it. Although it's no longer updated on Linux, it still works with the majority of sites.
Fortunately, Flash is a dying technology these days. It seems to be following the same fate as Java in web development, and is being replaced by more open alternatives like HTML5. I normally just turn it off in my browser anyway.

BTW, does anyone here have a lot of experience with any of the BSDs and can compare its stability and package management with Linux?


I mainly use OpenBSD and consider it to be at least as stable as Linux. It is less efficient than Linux, but considering the concentration on security in OpenBSD instead of trying to make it do everything, that's not surprising.



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25 Jul 2015, 6:52 am

Windows 8.1 at home, Windows 7 at work.

I used to mess around a lot with Linux when I was a teenager, but I don't really have the patience for it anymore. Or the extra computers laying around. My distro of choice was gentoo back then, which was kind of reminiscent of FreeBSD because of its use of the source based ports system (which they called portage). Never was a fan of the binary based packages of all the popular distros like Debian or RedHat.



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25 Jul 2015, 6:49 pm

Kurgan wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


FreeBSD has a much smaller (and friendlier) community than Linux. This means it has far less support. It is described as Linux-based but it is technically UNIX and a subset of the BSD Unices just as Linux is UNIX based.


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19 Aug 2015, 10:40 pm

I use Windows 10 on my desktops and laptop and Windows 8.1 on my mobile device (which will get Windows 10 when it's released). Prior to Windows 10, all my machines at home ran various Linux distributions for the last 15+ years. I'd have to say my favorite OS is Slackware running XFCE or Blackbox, but it's far too much trouble and lacks a lot of features I want to use on a modern laptop/desktop. The last version of Windows I used before switching was '98. I skipped 2000, XP, Vista, and 7. I dual-booted Windows 8.1 alongside Linux, but I only used 8.1 for when I needed to take notes in classes using oneNote (my Lenovo ThinkPad came with and has a slot built-in for a Wacom pen) or wanted to use the laptop as a tablet. With the release of Windows 10, I completely removed all Linux partitions and now use openSUSE occasionally in a VM when needed/wanted). Windows has come a really long way since '98 and its UI is actually pleasant to use nowadays, and is a big step up from Linux DEs with regards to touchscreens.

Cygwin (GNU/Linux tools for Windows) completely removes my need for Linux as a primary desktop OS. Any kind of server on the other hand... well...



eric76
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24 Aug 2015, 3:23 am

Rudin wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


FreeBSD has a much smaller (and friendlier) community than Linux. This means it has far less support. It is described as Linux-based but it is technically UNIX and a subset of the BSD Unices just as Linux is UNIX based.


Who would describe FreeBSD as Linux based? It isn't LInux based at all.

For that matter, the terms of the BSD license with which FreeBSD is released could not possibly exist if it was Linux based.

FreeBSD is a variant of BSD which was already a mature operating system before the first line of code to create Linux was ever written.

Also, while Linux, along with GNU, is written from scratch to be compatible with UNIX, Linux is not at all based on UNIX.



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24 Aug 2015, 6:59 am

eric76 wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


FreeBSD has a much smaller (and friendlier) community than Linux. This means it has far less support. It is described as Linux-based but it is technically UNIX and a subset of the BSD Unices just as Linux is UNIX based.


Who would describe FreeBSD as Linux based? It isn't LInux based at all.

For that matter, the terms of the BSD license with which FreeBSD is released could not possibly exist if it was Linux based.

FreeBSD is a variant of BSD which was already a mature operating system before the first line of code to create Linux was ever written.

Also, while Linux, along with GNU, is written from scratch to be compatible with UNIX, Linux is not at all based on UNIX.


Not based, based is the wrong word.

Linus is Unix-like I'd say. The comment about FreeBSD was a statement that lots of people think BSD is Linux.


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eric76
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24 Aug 2015, 12:05 pm

Rudin wrote:
eric76 wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


FreeBSD has a much smaller (and friendlier) community than Linux. This means it has far less support. It is described as Linux-based but it is technically UNIX and a subset of the BSD Unices just as Linux is UNIX based.


Who would describe FreeBSD as Linux based? It isn't LInux based at all.

For that matter, the terms of the BSD license with which FreeBSD is released could not possibly exist if it was Linux based.

FreeBSD is a variant of BSD which was already a mature operating system before the first line of code to create Linux was ever written.

Also, while Linux, along with GNU, is written from scratch to be compatible with UNIX, Linux is not at all based on UNIX.


Not based, based is the wrong word.

Linus is Unix-like I'd say. The comment about FreeBSD was a statement that lots of people think BSD is Linux.


Or maybe UNIX compatible.

When he was in college, Linux wanted to install UNIX on his computer but couldn't afford the license fees so he set out to create his own. The result is an operating system that is written from scratch.

Keep in mind that the various utility type programs that accompany Linux are actually GNU. It is probably most appropriate to refer to Linux as Linux/GNU.



Rudin
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24 Aug 2015, 1:45 pm

eric76 wrote:
Rudin wrote:
eric76 wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Kurgan wrote:
Rudin wrote:
Seriously, no FreeBSD users here. 0% of you use Unix, what a shame. I rarely use FreeBSD but sometimes it's nice to boot it up.



FreeBSD is very powerful, stable and secure, but it's also much more difficult to use than Linux. It's used when you need to squeeze a lot of power out of your hardware (both the Netflix servers and every Playstation console since PS3 are using it). While Linux is the jack of all trades and the master of none, FreeBSD is not a general purpose OS, but superior in specific tasks.


FreeBSD has a much smaller (and friendlier) community than Linux. This means it has far less support. It is described as Linux-based but it is technically UNIX and a subset of the BSD Unices just as Linux is UNIX based.


Who would describe FreeBSD as Linux based? It isn't LInux based at all.

For that matter, the terms of the BSD license with which FreeBSD is released could not possibly exist if it was Linux based.

FreeBSD is a variant of BSD which was already a mature operating system before the first line of code to create Linux was ever written.

Also, while Linux, along with GNU, is written from scratch to be compatible with UNIX, Linux is not at all based on UNIX.


Not based, based is the wrong word.

Linus is Unix-like I'd say. The comment about FreeBSD was a statement that lots of people think BSD is Linux.


Or maybe UNIX compatible.

When he was in college, Linux wanted to install UNIX on his computer but couldn't afford the license fees so he set out to create his own. The result is an operating system that is written from scratch.

Keep in mind that the various utility type programs that accompany Linux are actually GNU. It is probably most appropriate to refer to Linux as Linux/GNU.


I know it's proper name is GNU/Linux, I refer to it as Linux because it's shorter.

By the way the creator of the Linux kernel is not named Linux, I thought his name was Linus Torvalds.

The converse of Linux being Unix compatible is not true, you can't install Google Chrome on Unix. I think you can only install it on Arch, openSUSE, Ubuntu and Debian.


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"There are two types of cryptography in this world: cryptography that will stop your kid sister from looking at your files, and cryptography that will stop major governments from reading your files."

-Bruce Schneider


eric76
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24 Aug 2015, 1:57 pm

Rudin wrote:
By the way the creator of the Linux kernel is not named Linux, I thought his name was Linus Torvalds.


It is. I didn't proofread close enough.

Don't get too picky -- you earlier wrote "Linus is Unix-like I'd say" when you clearly meant Linux. I noticed the error but overlooked that because such minor mistakes are easy to make on the Internet. Keep John 8:7 in mind.



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24 Aug 2015, 2:30 pm

Asus for my tablet. And 7 starter, dumb beta...will possibly get newer laptop.



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24 Aug 2015, 2:39 pm

Windows 10, still somewhat undecided though so might go back to windows 7, but I will have to decide soon before 30 days. So far I don't really see any real issue with it, my computer seems to run it a little better than windows 7, I mean some people said stuff about how ridiculous spying would be but it seems it extends to the computer doing a better job of communicating problems and data it already collects to microsoft which it collects anyways...basically its no more invasive than any other Microsoft OS. For me all I really do on the computer is post on forums, read articles/informational pages, play games, listen to music and watch t.v shows or movies on free streaming...I don't see how any of that is really going to put me at risk for anything. I do keep my webcam covered unless I want to use it which is rare just in case but that is more for harmful hackers and such, may not be necessary but I feel better that way.


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Last edited by Sweetleaf on 24 Aug 2015, 2:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

madmick
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24 Aug 2015, 2:40 pm

I use ubuntu based distros as I like to use xampp. It is difficult to set up with opensuse etc. I did like Crunchbang a lot. I am using ubuntu mate just now. I can't stand unity for some reason. Solydx was quite nice but I had some problems with it.
I like xfce progs. Linux lite was my favorite for a while.
I just got windows 10 on another laptop. I had to put 4 gigs ram and upgrade the cpu.
My wife's laptop came with vista with an upgrade to 7 so it is 32 bit. She has just upgraded to win 10 but it is 32 bit. I recently changed her motherboard so she will be stuck with that for a few years.