Jan 25, 2011

How to unlock the power of Linux (Part I)

Well I decided to write a few posts about how to unlock the power of Linux while you are using it for productive purposes. Linux has the benefits that is highly customizable,stable, secure and can run well on older computers.

But when you come from a Windows world you may expect some problems until you get familiar with your new software. Also some experienced Linux users have problems to make themselves work for productive purposes with Linux because they treat their OS like a toy. They want to play with it, they install every experimental piece of software they find out there and cannot truly help inexperienced users because they don't have the way to communicate with them and understand their needs.
I don't believe that noobs must stay noobs for their entire life. All people must get some basic knowledge about computers but I don't think that bash scripting is necessary for someone who wants to design a house or a gear on a Linux machine in 2011.
Now we are ready to start...
Step 1
Choosing the right distro. Linux has a lot of flavors. For professional CAD usage I think that is better to choose Ubuntu LTS or OpenSUSE. These are well maintained distros, easy to use, powerful and binary compatible with all Linux CAD packages. Important: It's better to choose your system architecture (32 or 64 bit) in relevance with the availability of the CAD package you would like to use. For example if you like to use Bricscad or ARES it's better to use 32bit OS although both can be installed on a 64bit OS. Don't worry about your RAM. 32bit Linux can handle up to 64 GB of RAM.
Step 2
Test before using. First check out with a live-cd of your distro if your hardware works properly. Then install your distro on your machine and test the application(s) you are about to use. Installation is necessary because you have to test in real conditions.

Continue to Part II

2 comments:

  1. First, congrats for your blog. Too much useful!!

    Then, what do you think at this moment about Fedora, openSUSE and Ubuntu?

    I have tried some distros. I feel Ubuntu nice, easy but a little unstable; openSUSE a beautiful, stable and configurable distro but, a little bloated, Fedora is very fast, stable, up to date but, requires to tweak "a little".

    I ask you because you only recommend Ubuntu LTS or openSUSE. And I know a lot of time has passed since your post.

    Thank you for your time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I like Fedora...

    ReplyDelete