What Operating System(s) do you use and why?

[Bluehaze]

What Operating System(s) do you use and why?

Right now I switch between Windows XP with SP2, FreeBSD Current Stable, and my bootable P.H.L.A.K. 0.2.1. OpenBSD is more stable for networks but since I dabble with every new Longhorn beta that comes out, I could care less is my network crashs, because it most likely will on its own anyways. : ) We're forced to use Novell at work with Windows Server 2K3 and XP but luckily no script kiddies or outside intrusion in common--so Novell doesn't murder my sanity, yet. Used to mess with Linux back in the day of SuSe 4.3 and Redhat 7, but never was quite sold. I have messed with Mandrake 10 and Redhat 9--along with some of the newer varients--for a bit and the stability has drastically increased, yet I feel more limited compared to the prior builds. So for my personal needs BSD still seems best. But as with any open sourced environment, the more the merrier--however, the developement speeds always suffer thus lacking better hardware stability etc. : P

*Edit* I also run a *Nix-esque shell on most of my windows OSs; that is one feature I couldn't easily live without. : )

[file cabinet]

I use XP Pro + SP2. I really really want to get more into Linux but my work computer is my own that I brought in.. so until I get a computer to put Linux I think I'm SOL. I did have a shitty box at home I installed Slack on but I tried booting it up yesterday and nothing appeared on the monitor, I think the video card is fried. I SSH into the server and do a lot of development through SSH(shudder), I prefer doing it local + gVim. No syntax highlighting makes me cry inside.
Since we're discussing OS', could someone tell me if I were to install Slack on my current box.. (I would swap hard drives).. would I be able to easily connect to the work network? How long do you think I would get back into the 'groove' of my normal tasks? I am not totally unfamiliar with console commands so that part shold be ok. Would you recommend Linux for development? I am interested in Slack because it is minimalist and the screenshots I've seen of some of the ones out there remind me a little too much of XP.. advise me...

[Partisan]

Fedora Core 2 currently. I used to run my special customized version of XP Home, but I had to reboot at lest once every three/six hours which got me flustered at times. The memory management with m$ sometimes gets me angry. :rant: This is on my laptop.

Desktop: Windows 2000 Workstation. My parents use it, so I picked something a bit more secure than candyOS.

P1 Server: SCO Unix. Never has to be restarted. It's old, but it's dependable.

At Work: Two 2U, one 3U, one 4U, and two standups all running 2k +/-Advanced Server.

[Partisan]

As far as networks go on my Redhat Box, it's a piece of cake. Getting back to normal from an XP machine? Might take a little longer than expected, I know it did me. When it comes to development, I thought Linux was THE development OS? Correct me if I'm wrong. When it comes to the GUI, I think they are imitating M$ CandyOS with the new Gnome to allow more people to migrate to Linux. You will be okay.

P.S. Don't forget, if you are doing wireless, make sure you have the right chipset for your card if you decide to go Linux.

[file cabinet]

is X windows a generic GUI to use ? or am I off track?

> I thought Linux was THE development OS? Correct me if I'm wrong.
it can be argued both ways.. depends what kind of programmer you are, but I know MS Windows isn't for me. I also often prefer non-mainstream stuff.

[Misty_Kye]

Work: MS 2000
Home: Primary HD is XP Pro because I am most familiar with this OS; Secondary HD varies to whatever OS I'm working on/testing; Third HD is MSDOS (love those old games) :D

[Arcael]

XP pro + sp2 just because I like to game :D
otherwise I would be running some flavor of linux

[Melody]

Yes, X Windows is a good general thingie. For example, it is also available on Windows and Mac.

I use XP. In general, Linux is a more productive programming environment because of its simpler nature. Just don't listen to people who will tell you to 'not reinvent the wheel; use existing software' because ppl will have to download a bunch of bullshit just to run your crap piece of code. This is one of the aspects I dislike most about Linux. And the idiots tout it as an "advantage." :nerd:

[int]

Win XP and 2K since the audio stuff I use won't run on Linux quite yet.

Occaisionally I'll run Linux on a test box I have. Right now it has 2k on it though.

[Aryan]

Well i Started with XP
Then got myself Mandrake Linux 7
Then I replaced XP with win98 (i am sick :nerd: but XP even sucks more. It has got nothing but all those glitzy graphics, of no interest to a programmer.)
My win98 and Mandrake7 existed for about sometime until my win98 box crashed 3 times due to some virus research I had been doing.
I used XOSL for dual booting.
Then I went onto Linux Mandrake 10 ( at present ) and win98.
LILO works fine now.

Well I use Linux because I love it and it is OpenSource.
And win98 because well ... err... just showing some sympathy to micro$oft.

For some time I also used DOS for 16-bit virus studies, in fact I also boot my win98 in DOS mode often.
And then I used MenuetOS (just for fun) which is a GUI OS that fits in a floopy.
You can check it out at www.menuetOS.org .

Well I plan to use OS/2, anyone has anything to say about this operating system.

[Dunearhp]

Yes, X Windows is a good general thingie. For example, it is also available on Windows and Mac.

I use XP. In general, Linux is a more productive programming environment because of its simpler nature. Just don't listen to people who will tell you to 'not reinvent the wheel; use existing software' because ppl will have to download a bunch of bullshit just to run your crap piece of code. This is one of the aspects I dislike most about Linux. And the idiots tout it as an "advantage." :nerd:

It is an advantage, reinventing the wheel is the source of 90% of windows related bloat and non-interoperability. (Under Linux, the problem is deciding whose wheel to use.)

I run Debian Linux Unstable
Decent package management (such as from apt) makes the installing of dependancies almost trivial.

I hate searching for rpm dependancies however. I suppose that is why I don't run Redhat anymore.

I prefer programming under Linux because it is more complex, the path is correctly set, I can easily process the output of my program or compiler using any number of text mode tools, I know what every process on my machine is for, my computer has two dozen programming languages installed , the Unix approach to threads is generally safer, good memory management, bash :banghead: , make, gvim, and the fact that all of the above are both free and guilt free. My list is a bit short, but since nobody really cares, I didn't think it would matter.
:zzz:

Still here? Ok, I admit it, I also use Windows 2000 to play games. :D

[Melody]

i wouldn't consider bash or gvim and advantage =b

[Jezebel]

Windows XP. It's a bunch of little personal preference things I like. I like all those glitzy graphics. I like the new start menu. I like being able to group similar taskbar buttons. I like not having to open additional software to view images. I just in general like the feel of Windows XP. But I don't like it how it is as it's installed, I usually do a lot of modifcations to get it how I like it.

[hemanthraz]

windows xp for music and Fedora c2 for messing around.
Though i feel that both of them suck.Thinking of switching to BSD

core2 doesnt have mp3 support built in!! [ i know i can put the rpms and get it, but the question is why should I do it?? and not them]

[cloakable]

windows xp for music and Fedora c2 for messing around.
Though i feel that both of them suck.Thinking of switching to BSD

core2 doesnt have mp3 support built in!! [ i know i can put the rpms and get it, but the question is why should I do it?? and not them]

Hmm, I use SuSE for music. I used to mess around on XP, before I kicked it off my HD. If you take a look at my desktop in the 'post your desktop' thread, you'll see media controls built onto the panel. Very useful.

[Dunearhp]

i wouldn't consider bash or gvim and advantage =b

To each their own. :)

When I am programming, they save me a lot of keystrokes.

I even use gvim for writing documents in Latex.

Latex makes writing Maths a lot easier. :nerd:

[Krogie]

I use Solaris 9 on machines that *have* to stay operational and running every second of every day.

I use Rocky Mountain Basic on a few other specialty machines.

[Mealz]

I use mandrake 10 on my laptop (alternation between kde, gnome and fvwm for desktops).
I use linux 87.23% of the time and the rest of the time I use winxp.

My server in my cupboard also runs mandrake 10 although I believe debian is the way to go for rock solid servers.

I forgot to mention why.

I am quite anti microsoft for a start. I especially hate their latest "Get the facts" campaign which is a load of deceptions. The whole windows OS seems like a bloated mess to me. I liike pretty much any *nix. I do however still use windows somewhat for one or two exellent (non MS) programs that happen to run on that platform.

I use mandrake because it works well for everything I do, I dont like fedora's lack of multimedia support and I can't be bothers going through 'rpm hell' to fix it. I think debian is the way to go however because I'm in my last year of highschool and quite busy, I didn't want to spend the time to get used to debian's way of doing things.

PS. About music on linux. Have you used ardour?? It seems a mighty good multiitracker to me. Rosegarden seems pretty good too.

[file cabinet]

I am now `officially` on Slackware 10 with Fluxbox.

[atypical]

I'm running debian unstable, with dual-boot into windows XP for the odd game or bit of design work.

apt is great, especially with uncapped LAN access to my university's mirror.
KDE3.3 is really nice - lots of little things that make things so much easier - like keyboard shortcuts for everything, drag and drop everywhere (like being able to drag any picture on to the desktop and have it set as wallpaper) , and loads of options.
I like gnome's philosophy, but it seems a little bloated and bug-ridden, at least for the moment. KDE just works. but I will be very excited when enlightenment dr17 comes out...

I guess the main reasons I use linux rather than windows are:
*lyx - beautiful little "document processor" which I imagine would be very appealing to other INTPs
*3ddesk - OpenGL virtual desktop switching - cheap and nasty way to get "1337 ha><><0r" cred from other people at college
*being able to customise everything, and make my desktop(s) look really perrrty

[Melody]

i wouldn't consider bash or gvim and advantage =b

To each their own. :)

When I am programming, they save me a lot of keystrokes.

I even use gvim for writing documents in Latex.

Latex makes writing Maths a lot easier. :nerd:

i wasnt talking from that perspective

gvim is available on windows; http://www.intpcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=931&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=21 (12th icon on right toolbar)

bash...

bash is a shell >_>

though maybe ur talking aboot piping
though i have yet to use piping other than to see output pagebypage

texmacs is good for editing math
http://www.intpcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=931&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=21 (5th icon on right toolbar)
though in general i hate latex
ugly ass unscalable fonts

[heeroyuy]

On my personal workstation FreeBSD-4.10, custom kernel etc, a few patches to make it work better for what I use it for. Fluxbox developer version, XMMS, GAIM, etc.

http://travis.travisbsd.org/media/screeny2.jpg

I use BSD because it is easy, VERY stable, and just nice and clean in general.

[INTrPosr]

Still using Windows 98. :huh: I can't afford anything right now, but when I do change, it will mostly likely be to Linux, or I will buy a MAC. Unfortunately my family hates change when it comes to computer usage.

[Sam172]

I use XP Home (sp2)......which I keep kicking myself about :rant:. I would use Linux, but I have no idea how to use it after installation and I keep getting confubbled. I havn't got the time to learn either.

So from time to time I slide in a Knoppix disk and play around :).

[Boneca]

I use Mac OS X (Panther). Mostly because I know it inside out (used to work as a software tester for Apple), but also because it is practical. I like the fact that I can go down to a Unix shell if I feel like, but I don't have to if I'm lazy.

[Mysticforce]

Dual boot:
Windows XP Pro - Productivity optimised GUI and Gaming.
Debian 'testing' Linux - Customisable, Fast and Free.

[Zero Angel]

Windows 2000. I've had this installation for about 2 1/2 years and havent yet had to reformat/reinstall.

Thinking of getting Linux, but my CD-Burner is on the blink.

[HackerX]

I use Fedora Core 3 and XP+sp2 dual on this machine. Only recently switched from Suse 9.1 to FC3(I really like 9.1), and so far its going well

[Sackanaka]

Q: Operating sys/ why?
A: WinXP / n00b and currently indifferent.
*checks dictionary.com for "indifferent"... yup. indifferent*

[jimkopelli]

Windows XP Professional... don't have many problems with it, and it's what I'm used to.

[franzgold]

FreeBSD. It's great and easy to administrate for server machines, and it makes a decent desktop/workstation too.

[prometheusdestroyed]

Suse 9 because I resent the marketing drive of Microsoft.

[cloakable]

Suse 9 because I resent the marketing drive of Microsoft.
Hear, hear! And it's inaccurate.