[Charlug] Windows Abandonment Roadmap

[Tim Jowers]

We went to Linux 100% mid 2006. I have not even bother booting my old
Windows box for close to two years. I keep thinking I'll look on it
sometime to see if I have any files I'd want to keep.

My wife never even noticed. I showed her where to click for the web
browser and that's it. My sister-in-law said "This isn't windows" when
she used it. I could not get an open format download for cc statements
from discover so I use their card infrequently now. GnuCash imports
bank account transactions very well.

The hardware support on Linux is uncomparably better than on Mac. :-)
My only hesitation now is I wanted to play with the iPhone SDK but
don't have a Mac. Solution?  I downloaded Android instead. :-)

My opinion of my employer changed drastically last week when they
announce the roll out of Office 2007. Of course they are doing well
but that's simply a waste of money. They'd better hand out large
bonuses if they are willing to blow money like that!

TimJowers
P.S> As a software developer I can't help but laugh at people who try
to develop on Windows as it absolutely sucks for hard-core computer
users.

2009/3/20 Bob Evans <bobevans19 at gmail.com>:
> I'm lazy. I've had VMware for Linux for years. I keep an old version of
> Windows handy. (NT version 4?)
>
> If/when I need a windows, I crank up the VMware app.
>
> (I barely use it now. Typically, I crank it up if I have a customer with a
> Windows need, & I need to test some code...)
>
> -Bob Evans
>
>
>
> 2009/3/20 Dennis Clark <boomfish at gmail.com>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 1:45 PM, C. Michael Pilato <cmpilato at red-bean.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> In general, I'd also like to be able to exchange ideas around what I call
>>> a
>>> "Windows Abandonment Roadmap".  I want to get myself, my wife, my
>>> parents,
>>> my church, and everybody else I can off of Windows and onto Linux.
>>>  Today,
>>> many open source software programs can get us some percentage of the
>>> desired
>>> freedom, at some interesting costs in terms of still being to interact
>>> with
>>> a Windowsful world.  I'd like to share/hear ideas about what softwares
>>> (either installed or Web-hosted) are best closing that gap.
>>
>> Indeed. Despite being savvy with Linux, it has not been my primary desktop
>> OS at home for over 10 years now. I hope to change this situation soon as I
>> recently wiped my previous Debian 4.0 installation and replaced it with a
>> fresh Debian 5.0 installation. I also switched from x86 to amd64 which is
>> why it had to be a reinstall instead of simply an upgrade.
>>
>> So why do I believe I will switch my primary desktop OS now after putting
>> it off for so long?  Well, for three reasons:
>>
>> Lenny (Debian 5.0) is the first Debian release to include compiled
>> packages for non-free NVIDIA drivers that support my GeForce 8800 GTS 512.
>> Compiling the NVIDIA packages on my own is possible but seriously painful.
>> The free drivers worked, but did not seem to support independent screens for
>> my two monitors (it would only clone them). Furthermore I have quite a few
>> Windows games so I want the 3D acceleration support in the non-free drivers
>> so I can use Cedega.
>> I recently upgraded my RAM to 4GB, and my Windows Vista cannot use more
>> than 3.5GB (since it is a 32-bit OS without PAE support). My new Debian
>> install is 64-bit so it can use all the RAM I can throw at it. More
>> available RAM makes it more feasible for me to run the few Windows-only
>> applications I still need in a Virtual Machine.
>>
>> One obstacle for switching to Linux as my primary desktop remains. I like
>> to use my GeForce card to do GPGPU crunching with the GPUGRID.net project,
>> and although GPUGRID.net has a 64-bit Linux client it requires the CUDA 2.0
>> SDK and NVIDIA doesn't provide a Debian installation package for it. This
>> will soon become a moot point though as GPGPU crunching on my 8800 GTS
>> generates too much heat for me to do it in my apartment during the warmer
>> months. I expect to have a solution to this before it gets cool enough again
>> to resume my GPGPU crunching.
>>
>> I may ask for advice here and there as I get more into using Linux as a
>> desktop OS. I'll RTFM whenever I can so my questions shouldn't be too
>> stupid.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Dennis
>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no
> exceptions to this rule.
>  - Stephen King
>
>
>
> I
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