Dying to ask, so how about a poll?

[Madscientist267]

I know it isn't related to RE. And it isn't even about Non-RE. But it does provoke thought about an interesting theory I have about the community here.

You all seem to be a fairly mixed group based on pokes and jabs I see here and there in diaries/stories/comments. Much more so than in other societies I encounter, so I had to ask. I have a feeling that its for the same reason many of you are here looking for a way out of paying 'the man' - You can do it yourself, make it better, and its cheaper in the long run. Only one way to find out.

Even if you don't get my thinking behind the poll, I guess just humor me on this...

Tinkerers love to tinker. A good portion of Linux (and it's ancestry) is about tinkering. Making it do what you want it to do. If you need it to do something specifically, that nobody else has thought of, it's just a matter of how, not if. Same thing if you just want to 'make it yours'.

Windows is more for the user. Cookie cutter programs that you can't really do much with if you don't like a particular feature, unless you have a bachelor's for your master's in registry hacking and the like. Even then, you're still somewhat stapled to the cubicle's divider. You can always write your own from scratch, as there are plenty of tools available to do so, but a majority of the time, this just isn't the case.

So, which OS do you use?

[hiker]

win98se--450mhz cpu- 250ram-56k modem-3d card-8gig hd-dvd player-faster than my sisters xp pc--works great for just surfin the web...picture storage-and other bs...

[bj]

  windows XP-2.5G CPU 1G RAM 1 TER hard drive.  Fortunate enough to be on

a local satellite link that runs at 10 MB/sec. That change was like making

the day four hours longer.

  bj

[AbyssUnderground]

Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit, Core2Duo 2.66GHz overclocked to 3.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 2x80GB SATAII hard drives in RAID0, Radeon HD 3870 graphics, 19" monitor. 10Mbps un-metered cable internet connection.

Hard drive is small but I have 3.8TB of network storage =)

[gizmo]

Main PC is WinXP, 3gig P4, 2gig RAM, 200gig HD, Dual screen. I develop business software, so need the Windows environment. The install is about 3 years old and runs like new, I don't install anything unless I need it for work ( though I do play HalfLife alot ), never had a virus. I do have a couple of Linux machines, but they don't get switched on much. I like Linux, but I need to earn a living.

Glenn

[TomW]

Talk about ingrained prejudice.

I don't see one Apple product in there.

Its your Diary so I will keep it short.

Where is "Mojave" in there? Commercials claim it is treat.

Sorry to see such lack of knowledge and the effects of Redmonds' brainwashing still exists.

I use Debian 4.0 "Etch" on servers, and I use an old tank Emac with OS X 10.2 on it as my daily driver.

I guess I vote none of the above for my desktop needs.

Because you asked...

Tom

[RogerAS]

I notice the complete lack of mention of the Mac OS. How sad, considering the newer Mac  OS's is built on unix, and is a rock solid OS. I suppose it's all a matter of lack of exposure. I would rather do work with my computer than to get under the hood and work on the computer. The Mac OS is so much easier to use than any windows OS I've ever seen it is silly. Since Mac has switched to the Intel processors the options to run Windoze or an alternate OS is very real and easy, and can run at the same time.

iBook 14" 1.33 Ghz PPC, OS 10.3.9, 1 Gig RAM, 60 gig external ATA HD, 60 Gig ATA internal HD. Wildblue metered satellite net. Used as the main tool for graphic and web site design using Adobe CS2 and Flash 8 Pro. 25+ years work experience in graphics.

Work example: robrobertsgunworks.com (work in progress).

[Spdlmt150]

Windows XP Pro on Dell laptop (1.6Ghz Centrino) used for proprietary software for work. Everything else running Slackware - Asus eee Celeron 900, P3 700Mhz Toughbook, 2Ghz Pentium 4 Shuttle, 7Tb storage.

[ghurd]

"Mojave".  That's me.  It is not so bad if the expectations are not too high.  Don't expect it to work well, and you won't be disappointed.

Wife kicked me off "the good computer" (Vaio XP) after a virus I caught.

She mostly uses Leopard now (work supplied MacBook Pro 17" with ALL available upgrades (even Windows)).  She uses Leopard and XP at work to check compatiblity of website issues.

"the good computer" sits mostly unused.  At least it doesn't have a virus.

G-

[Madscientist267]

Hehehe I didn't actually mean to leave them out, but I suppose in one way, you're right. In one way tho, its kinda covered... OSX is more or less a BSD distro under the hood...

If you can edit the poll answers, put it in the UNIX/BSD category for me?

Steve

[RandomJoe]

At home, 100% Linux.  The closest I come to Windows is Win2K set up in a VMWare session that gets treated as an "application" for a couple of scanner-setup programs!

I do have to use Windows at work, that's what all the software we use runs on.

But I'm not a rabid anti-MS zealot like many Linux users.  I just prefer the freedom to do what I want with my system!  If I could get the total customization in Windows or OS X that I do in Linux, maybe I'd still be running one of them but I really miss things like "focus follows mouse"... :-)

As to which Linux, I started with Slackware back in the dark ages (something like 1993-94).  Fiddled with Red Hat a bit for desktop use, but by the time they went to Fedora I wasn't happy with it.  Now I use Ubuntu for desktops, and Slack on my servers.  

I would even stick with Slack on the desktop, except I also like to just randomly try apps here and there and got tired of having to track down some random library (or ten!) that the author wanted to use every time I did it.  Synaptic makes it easy, and has an incredible number of packages available at a single click.  Only thing I had to compile myself is the software that interfaces with my shiny new weather station!  When it comes to the servers, though, I hand-configure them so I know exactly what's going on.

But I think your premise may be a bit flawed.  I would NOT necessarily expect tinkerers of the windmill-making variety to necessarily be tinkerers of the software variety.  There can be some crossover, but in my experience those who are very skilled with fabrication (I work with lots of fitters, welders, so forth) are frequently not computer people.  They may use one, but they aren't all that into it.  On the other hand, many true computer geeks wouldn't know first thing about welders and machining and woodworking.

I'm somewhere in the middle.  I know just enough of many things to be dangerous but not really great at any of it... ;-)  (Jack of all trades, master of none...)

[Madscientist267]

I apologize to the Apple crew, it wasn't really a prejudice, but more of an oversight.

I myself don't actually use an Apple, but I have nothing against them. I just didn't end up turning in that direction for my own use. It was rather late when I wrote up the poll, and between that, running out of room (I condensed DOS and the 9x Windows more than I wanted to), and not using a Mac myself, it ended up being left out.

If it makes anyone feel better, I recently acquired a long sought out piece of the puzzle for my antique collection - a working Apple ][e with a floppy drive.

In the event the poll answer can't be edited, if you use a Mac, choose UNIX/BSD, since OSX is based on a blend of these two.

Steve

[zap]

Windows 3.1-hardly ever anymore

Windows 95-rarely

Windows 98se-often

Windows XP- constantly

A newer Macbook may be handed down to me soon.  They are sweet machines but Windows still gets me where I need to go.

[tecker]

 Slackware 12.2 kernel 2.6.27.7 with . Dual both 2k for some microooooos0oft intellect.

[tecker]

I think I can go off soft when I get Mythtv working right .

[fungus]

I'm running ubuntu on a 500mhz dell latitude, does pretty much everything I want to, and easy to customise and make it do what you want .. although tbh I can use any system in front of me, it's just I prefer *nix for a home computer where I want it to be exactly what I want, and can fix when things go wrong.

[luckeydog]

Dual Boot with xp and Pclinux.

I rarely use xp anymore, If i am on the net then I am using linux

Luckeydog

.

[spinningmagnets]

In 2001, broke down and got a new Dell desktop for Christmas using WinXP. No complaints about it.

Due to travelling for work (after having borrowed a friends Mac while at the jobsite) 1n 2002 bought a used Mac laptop using OSX.

I type with two fingers (the way God intended real men to type) and my internet connection is a wooden dial-up modem thats hand-carved by old German craftsman from the Ruhr valley, and its powered by coal-fired steam.

[DamonHD]

How very ungreen of you.  Should now be solar powered steam wooden modem!  B^>

Rgds

Damon

[DamonHD]

Mac OS on my laptop for the first time (and possibly last time, given the slow and unwilling Java support).

An old XP laptop, now mainly used by my g/f, and XP at my main client.

Solaris (24-CPU Niagara box) in co-lo on London Docklands.

Linux in various flavours on all my other machines: Xandros on my Asus 701, Ubuntu Feisty/Gutsy (a mix of the two) on my main (partially RE-powered) server, and various Redhat versions on my other co-lo servers around the world.

Rgds

Damon

[scottsAI]

XP, AMD X2 6000, 4 GB PC6400 ram, 1 TB HDD SATAII. Main machine, dual monitor.

XP, AMD 3200, 1 GB PC3200 ram, 320 GB HDD SATA, secondary machine, dual monitor.

XP, AMD 3000, 1 GB PC2700 ram, 250 GB HDD IDE, wifes, dual monitor.

Win98 server, AMD 2800, 768 MB PC3200 ram, 250, 300 GB HDD IDE.

-2 XP nLite striped 1000, 512Mb ram, 60 / 30GB HDD laptop. Not used much.

Computers turned off due to lay off:

-16 win98 SETI 3000 to 2000 256 to 512Mb ram.

-Couple Linux computers.

-40 assorted computers below 2500 MHz, 98, ME, 2000, XP... Barter material.

Have fun,

Scott.

[independent]

GNU/Linux mainly.

Freebsd on a compact-flash'ed laptop as an SSD sometimes.

Have installed GNU/Linux on many computers for people. Generally the people in my circle who chose not to change either have a application they have to use for work and/or don't want change in their lives ;-)

I don't mind helping people out if they want to change and at our local informal LUG we do install-fests often enough.

[frackers]

Looks like I'm the only Gentoo user - now there is real DIY :-)

6 year old Athlon XP2700+, 1G RAM, 1.2T mixed raid disks, 19" Dell monitor - runs my website, house server, MythTV backend and anything else I can think of on a 8M/1M naked DSL link (using VoIP 'cause its better and cheaper!).

Time for an upgrade before the NZ$/Yen exchange rate ups the prices by 25%.

[Madscientist267]

Heh, yup Gentoo is not for the faint of heart. Gotta really love playing with it to make it work right. Powerful stuff, but exactly geared up for everyone.

I myself only have 1 laptop that still has a Gentoo distro on it (Sabayon 3.4), and the only reason I haven't dumped it for SuSE is because a friend of mine rebuilt the kernel for me a couple years ago, and got it running nice 'n smooth, and it's still kickin'.

I probably wont bother dumping it until the drive dies in it and I have to replace it.

Steve

[Tritium]

Puppy Linux on a 2 gig USB drive. Hardware depends on what computer I am sitting in front of.

Thurmond

[elt]

I think I've used just about every flavor of Unix and MS Windows released. Eventually I realized that I didn't care a nit for operating systems, I cared about what apps I could run... I'm mostly interested in desk top publishing and graphic arts application, I see them on Linux but not of the quality available on MS Windows. (Though I do use Open Office now for word processing.)

The exception is on servers. I prefer to run anything but Solaris, Linux or Windows... I call it "security through obscurity" thinking the more well known the OS, the more well known its weaknesses. For example, my last server was a seven year old version of NET-Bsd.

So I guess my answer is "it depends." I see the OS as (part of) the means to the end and not the end itself.

- Ed.

[bob g]

i would still be using os2 warp on a microchannel machine if ibm had not abandoned both!

now i use windows 2000 professional on pentium 3 machines, and xp on this laptop with a celeron processor

i don't game, so i really don't have a need for a killer state of the art machine of operating system.

man i sure miss warp and my model 95 microchannel puters

bob g

[Ungrounded Lightning Rod]

Switched to Linux in Dec 1999 rather than try to keep Solaris running across the Y2K boundary.

Initially Red Hat.  Currently Ubuntu 4.08 ("Hardy Heron") - which I view as the first "ready for general users" distribution and release level - on the laptop and I'll migrate the desktops when I get a Round TUIT.

I might use a different distro if I were still hacking the guts.  (Maybe Gentoo.)  But I've got so much going on at work and at home that I don't have time to play with computers for fun anymore.

[Chuck]

Linux user since 1995 when Win95 had to be reinstalled every week and Linux was finally available on CD. I've used most of the major Linux-BSD-OpenSolaris distros since then but currently use Ubuntu at work and Zenwalk at home.

"looking for a way out of paying 'the man'" may be an initial motivation for getting into both RE and a non-MS computing experience, but it is superficial. Anyone who is involved in either for very long will discover that:

1. It's a false economic concept. (It's often more expensive and certainly time intensive)
   
2. The reasons to stick with either has a lot more to do with freedom than free stuff.
   
3. It's fun to learn new stuff.
   
   

IMHO

Chuck

[fcfcfc]

Hi:

IBM eServer, 3.2 GHZ, 2 - 72 gig Raptors in RAID0, 2 - gig ram.... blah, blah, blah..

W2KP SP4 pretty solid at this SP level....

Broadband cable connection, 10/100/1000 local LAN, print servers, other _hit... blah, blah..

... was in IT for 30+ years worked with just about everything....

you guys should watch your selves throwing stereotypes around at W users...

Using any given OS has more to do with what you are used to, application areas and broad connectivity than any "root" prejudice...

.....Bill

[Madscientist267]

Well, I believe the results are in, and are roughly what I expected, although I know that there are a hell of a lot more users than 36 (votes as of this post).

20% Indicated something other than Windows. This is significant, and supports my theory. I believe the 'average' world use of *nix is still less than 10%. Tinkerers are tinkerers.

Mac crew? Sorry I left it out, it wasn't intentional. I know you're growing. Unfortunately, I also think that you will be the next 'shafted' crowd. Microsoft is going away slowly, much in thanks to the Mac group, but Apple is still corporate, and makes up the next largest computer use class in the universe as we know it. This isn't necessarily negative, but is something to keep in mind. You do, after all, still have to pay for your OS.

Thanks again for everyone's participation, it was interesting, and I learned something. Isn't that what life is all about?

Steve

[dnix71]

G4 17 inch Powerbook 10.4.11, the last ppc Powerbook made. 2Gig ram, 80 GB Hd (a replacement for the 120 that died, the original owner dropped the laptop).

I missed the poll, too.

[dnix71]

IBM is buying Sun, so everyone's Java support may change soon.