Linux Questions by Non-geeks
Monday, March 30, 2009 at 1:58PM These are a few of the many questions I've been asked about Linux over the years by people that aren't computer geeks. This is the first part of the Questions by Non-geeks series.
Why are there so many versions of Linux?
There are many distributions of Linux most of which have there own goals. DistroWatch.com has good coverage of the main ones that you should be looking at. When picking a distribution the project goals are very important, for example for a newcomer Slackware and Gentoo would be poor choices as they are highly technical and not very user friendly. However for a newcomer the likes of Ubuntu/Linux Mint (which are kind of similar) and Mandriva are much better choices due to there user friendly nature.
What do you use Linux for?
I use Linux as a system that is basically a utility tool belt to do things that I need to do. I love the flexibility of Linux for example it can be used as a system (Live CD) to recover files from a broken install of windows or a quick tool to check computer hardware is functional without changing the Windows install in any way.
I also have used Linux as a platform to run a few services and to build an Intrusion Detection System security net. I've used Linux since about (Redhat 8.0) 2002 and Ubuntu since the initial release in 2004 and loved it until about Ubuntu 8.04 when upgrades started breaking things like sound.
I DON'T use Linux as an everyday desktop anymore as I found just about everything I wanted to do needed to be configured by hand to get to work. I found I spend more time fixing and setting up things than I did using it.
What do you like about Linux?
- It's free of cost.
- You are free to modify the source code (i.e Highly customizable).
- Most of the hardware that work, works without needing to install drivers.
What do you dislike about Linux?
- The Linux Desktop.
- A lot of everyday tasks can be problematic to set up.
- Workarounds for things that should just work.
- Upgrades can brake things (The desktop interface, wireless, graphics, etc).
- Things that don't work out the box can be very difficult to get working at all, sound cards for example.
- Lack of graphical tools to configure some things, say hello to the command line.
- Linux fanboys/elitists telling you how great it is and how it can do everything, even with the major problems it has.
- Lots of time being spent on optimisations of stupid things like boot up time, 3D effects, etc.
How do I install Linux?
Install of Ubuntu 8.10 is very simple and is split into 7 parts. These parts are the language selection, Time zone selection, Keyboard layout, disk partition, user details, the review details page and finally the actual install process. Ubuntu is arguably is easiest Linux distribution to install because its targeted at new users. Other distributions of Linux range in options and difficulty.
How do I install applications on Linux?
Installation of new programs is very different from windows. On Linux systems you would typically be given a list of programs that you can install from a central repository system (of your chosen distribution) and you pick the ones you want. This can be very alien for new comers as its often not explained. If not available from the repository system then it's likely to have to be build from source, which is not easy for most people.
So I've install stuff, how do I update it?
Updating of the system is handled by the package manager downloading and applying the new programs from the repository system. Normally there is an updater tool that runs in the background that will alert you to program update when they are available.
However this will not cover source packages that where downloaded by hand and they must be tracked by other means. Updating a Linux system often has a large amount of downloaded files and is not really suitable for someone with slow or low bandwidth capped internet usage.
What is this source thing I've been hearing about?
The source code is the base code that the programmers have written the operating system in. This code can be modified and complied (transformed into instructions computers understand). People can also configure existing code into things that they want and change small options to make the best use of there resources. More infromation can be found here.
What is DVD viewing like on Linux?
DVD play back on Ubuntu was far from simple. As most DVDs have copy protection on them, I tried my 'Blade Runner' DVD. Totem started up and told me an error had occurred and it could not read from the resource.
What does this mean? Well, it's protected by encryption so it can't be copied which means it can't be played without a workaround. After looking for a long while I found out that a program required to play the disk can't be included for legal reasons (copyright, license, patent, etc) but can be install from a third party website, which I don't trust. I never bothered and just put it in my £20 DVD player that I got at the supermarket.
What is music support like?
Music is fairly simple to get working. If you skipped the DVD part you will also have to install the codecs with the scary legal notices which Ubuntu makes easy to install. Ogg Vorbis (.ogg files) is the only format that I am aware of that works under Ubuntu by default. I don't know anyone that's used it for there music collection. I have an IPod nano (2nd generation), that I plugged in and that I'm happy Ubuntu found. I could also transfer tracks (mp3) to the IPod that would play on the IPod.
Can I game on Linux?
On Linux gaming is a thing that just is not going to happen without a lot of hacks and workarounds. If you want to play games dual-boot with Windows or buy a games console because setting up real games typically requires Windows emulation that kinda works when it comes to games. I played Guild Wars on Ubuntu which had a lot of graphical glitches, slow frame rates and poor image quality in general. Guild Wars on Wine.
It is possible to game on Linux but is it worth the hassle? I think not.
Is my hardware supported on Linux?
In general the hardware support is not that brilliant and nothing like it is with Windows. However driver support is improving all the time and older hardware is more likely to work than new hardware as there has been more time for drivers to have been written.
I've found that some of my hardware (sound card) is supported my Linux but only just. It for example will only output to one of the ports and not giving me surround sound like I wanted.
To the credit of the Linux systems if your hardware has support then it will likely work out the box without having to hunt down drivers. If your computer has unsupported or partially supported hardware (like sound cards) getting them working can be painful.
Will my Graphics card work under Linux?
3D graphics card support is very poor in open source code. Nvidia has a binary driver for Linux but it's a binary driver and unless you play games on Linux 3D support is not really required. ATI has done some work in opening the drivers for ATI cards but don't expect anything soon, graphics cards are complex things.
Compiz (3D desktop effects) is one use for 3D acceleration so you can have wobbly windows and other such pointless eye candy.
Can I get on the web with Linux?
Indeed you can, networking (making computers talk to each other) is relatively simple as well with most modern Linux distribution however connecting to the internet via a USB modem given out by some internet providers is going to be problematic at best and not possible for the most part. Wireless cards are also problematic in Linux however improving all the time.
Normally its a simple matter of plugging a network cable into a home router and it just working to get online.
Firefox is a popular web browser that is open source and available on Linux. Opera is also a popular browser that is available on Linux.
Is it true that all Linux is command line?
No, there are many graphical interfaces to Linux though the main ones are Gnome and KDE. New people may want to use Gnome first as KDE has had its problems in the version 4 release. People will find that when things don't work the command line is often required to fix problems.
Is Linux stable?
For the most part yes Linux is stable and can run for long times without crashing. It's often experimental features that will bring instability to Linux that are often not enabled by default.
FAQ, Non-Geek Question Series in Guides 
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