Linux

Just a quick addition - I put in a DVD (Lady and the Tramp - love that movie) and the only thing Linux Mint asked was whether I wanted to use the default player. Said "yes", and away it went - no downloading anything.

It did offer some options for other players, but my hard rule for any Linux is that it has to work out of the box, and it did, again.

TheSchaft said:

but my hard rule for any Linux is that it has to work out of the box, and it did, again.

I'm glad that Linux Mint did work for you.

You do realize though why most Linux distros are unable and unwilling to automatically play back these formats automatically for you, right? It's a philosophical principal and helps to legally keep that price at zero. Part of the reason that Windows costs money is to pay for these codecs and such to playback these files. There is actually a fair amount of concern over the legality of using Linux Mint for people in many countries...including the United States. (where I am).

One of the beauties of Linux is that there are tons of distros and each fill needs...so you can almost always find one which is perfect for what you want. Just as you found with Linux Mint...if Ubuntu cannot do it automatically, Mint can.

I've been thinking of throwing Linux onto my netbook lately but wasn't sure if it was the best idea or not.

antharr said:

I really love the way most of the posters have responded to this thread.

I've enjoyed this thread as well because it hasn't turned into a mine is better than yours argument. I truly think there is plenty of space in the market for both Windows and Linux. I know that I personally use them both and love them both and wouldn't want to be stuck without either.

Oops, yeah sorry I forgot to post it.
PatBuntu

I just realized that I never updated that after Ubuntu 8.10...but I did create a setup guide on another one of my forums that covered Ubuntu 9.10. I will work on getting that posted to my blogpost tomorrow.

bigseb said:

smarteyeball said:

bigseb said:

Been running Ubuntu 9.10 for a little over a week now and I have to say its the best ever.

Just thought I'd share that.

Best ever compared to...?

Microsoft for starters...

Fair enough. It will be interesting to see if you still feel the same after using it for an extended period of time :)

Alright, I just updated my blog to include my latest setup guide...which is unfortunately for Ubuntu 9.04. I never got around to writing one for 9.10. However, I setup my 9.10 box using my guide for 9.04...so 95% of it is applicable and shouldn't be much of an issue.

I'm going to wait for Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). For those who aren't aware, Ubuntu 10.04 is going to be an LTS (Long Term Support Release) meaning that you got 3 full years of support from the date of release for the desktop and 5 years for the server version.

Also, the Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 1 was just released. So, if you want to see what is coming down the pipe...give it a download (675MB) and try it out on a virtual machine. http://releases.ubuntu.com/releases/10.04/