ID:35573
 
More gigs than sense, yo
Installing Linux under Windows XP? That's totally backwards.

UR DOIN IT RONG.
Actually I could make up a good/average reason why I'm doing it- one, because it's fun, two, because I plan to do up my mum's old PC and put Ubuntu on it to make it run faster on old, clapped out hardware. So this way me and her can get more used to how it works.

Also I can't figure out how to increase the resolution past 1024x768. :(
Okay: what the hell is root and how do I become it?
Root = Administrator.

The latter I does not know. :( :( :(:(:((((
Installing linux as a VM makes way more sense than the other way around on a desktop machine.

Don't let the linux idiots say otherwise.
To execute commands as root do:

sudo [command]


To become root do:

sudo su

And enter your password, from there you can change the root password with the 'passwd' command and use root by typing 'su' and entering the password you set for it.

It's recommended that you don't directly login as root, but use sudo instead, it's more secure.
Thanks Nad- I was trying to install some graphics drivers and it wanted root access. sudo got it working fine!
Repiv wrote:
Installing linux as a VM makes way more sense than the other way around on a desktop machine.

Don't let the linux idiots say otherwise.

Oh, so now I'm a "Linux idiot". That's nice.

It's a fact that Linux is more stable than Windows. It makes sense to put the less stable OS in the VM, because it doesn't matter so much if the guest OS crashes.

FYI, I'm running Linux on my desktop machine right now and it suits me perfectly.
Crispy- rather be an idiot than humourless, eh? =P
There's nothing funny about baseless FUD.
Yeah, windows FUD isn't funny. :P

Linux is good for two things: servers and old machines.

Otherwise good luck using your computer for anything other than incredibly basic tasks. I use my computer for more than browsing the web. If Linux had the support Windows has this would be different but it just doesn't.

Also, I didn't even read your comment before posting and it wasn't even directed at you.
Neither is Linux FUD, which is what you're spreading. At least I'm being truthful. It's a fact that Linux is more stable than Windows.

Linux is good for two things: servers and old machines.

Bullshit. I use Linux on my desktop machine (Athlon64 3500+, 2GB RAM, GeForce 6600GT; not the beastiest of machines but it's certainly not old) and I'm very happy with it. I browse the web, read email, do 3D animation, edit movies, watch movies, watch TV, play music, play some games, program, do word processing and spreadsheet stuff for university (with full support for Office formats, so compatibility isn't compromised), and do the small amount of graphics editing that I need to do using The Gimp. That's everything I use my computer for.

The only reason I ever have to boot Windows is to play the occasional non-Linux game. When I do so, I feel horribly hamstrung. How do you people cope with such a limited desktop environment???
I haven't used Linux is a few years but when I did it wasn't incredibly user friendly. Sure, it is stable, but only as stable as the user can keep it.

Vista has crashed for me a grand total of two times in 6 months. Don't get me wrong Linux is a wonderful OS and i'm sure it is fine for you but I just don't think it deserves such high praise as a desktop OS.

I enjoy being able to do everything I do under one OS and the majority of the things i'd want to do with Linux can be done just as well under a VM.

My original post mainly comes from the fact I really hate all the antiwindows opinions from within the Linux community when the fact is windows is a great OS and it has the support linux lacks. Even Vista if you have a high end machine. :P
Ubuntu has done wonders for user-friendliness. I won't pretend there aren't still a few rough edges, but it's miles ahead of what it used to be like. And of course power users like me can still tinker under the hood as required. =)

IMO it's pretty hard to crash a Linux system; I've never actually managed to do it. They tend not to accumulate cruft as much as Windows does; I always found that Windows needed reinstalling every few years, and I like to think I maintained it pretty well. It's true that it's possible to trash any OS, but I think it's easier to do it accidentally with Windows.

I can do everything under one OS, almost - games is the last hurdle. But I don't play that many games, and in fact having less-easy access to games has made me more productive, so no complaints there. =)

I'll agree that Windows has somewhat better driver support than Linux; that's what happens when you're the dominant platform! Still, I was quite impressed by Ubuntu's driver support; it all just worked when I installed it. Nice. It even had a decent graphics driver by default, which Windows doesn't. (At least XP doesn't - I've never been through a Vista installation, but I hear it's basically the same.) I did end up installing another driver to get full 3D support, but it was pretty painless.