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Can't afford xp, should I try linux?

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elvis:

--- Quote from: DarkBubble on July 30, 2006, 12:27:23 pm ---They've sent a case of install disks to the office, I've taken two, and have yet to try it out.  Any advantages over XP Pro at all?  I've never used Linux.

--- End quote ---
Linux is near-infinitely configurable.  You can make it jump hoops if you like.  I think of windows like a big black box with a few buttons on it.  Sure, you can push the buttons and maybe even paint the box a different colour, but at the end of the day you aren't in control.

Linux is like they gave you the keys and detailed schematics.  You are free to do as you like.  Open the box up, peer inside, and modify it in any way you like.  Linux is 100% "free".  And by free, they don't mean just free of cost.  They mean free as in liberated.

All of my cabs at home run Linux.  They boot quicker than Windows, take less resources than Windows (memory, disk space, etc, etc), and are configured exactly the way I want them configured.  I don't need to go and disable a thousand and one services to make my system perform well because there were never any services installed that I didn't want.

Hardware support is brilliant.  One of the biggest problems with DOS is getting PCI sound to work properly.  I have yet to find a soundcard that doesn't work in Linux "out of the box".  With a recent kernel and the inbuilt alsa drivers, the system boots and finds the soundcard for you.  The only configuration you need to do is set the volume!

Outside of MAME cabs, most GNU/Linux applications are licensed under public licenses like the GPL.  This means no license fees.  Great for schools and governments.  Want to run 1000 desktops with 1000 copies of Open Office, 1000 graphic/photo editing suites, 1000 3D CAD packages, 1000 software development studios, 1000 movie editing suites etc, etc?  Sure.  It'll cost you $0.  AND you can give copies of the same software to anyone you like freely (again, great for schools who want to send software home with students).

I use free software, I write free software, I even donate money to other free software authors.  It's a liberating world once you discover what it can bring you.

MajorLag:
I have no idea if it would work or not, but you could also try ReactOS. Its an open source clone of Windows with the goal of being binary compatable, so you could (theoretically) install any Windows app or driver and it will work. Its still considered alpha, but its moving along pretty well and might suit your needs. Theres no compatability database entry for Mame, so theres no way to tell if it will work or not without trying it.

JoyMonkey:
I was just about to suggest ReactOS also. I'm not sure what compatability and performace is like, but you should download it now before MS shuts them down.

MAME is not noted as working in the package tree:
http://www.reactos.org/wiki/index.php/PackageManager_Tree

BlinKY1337:
Ever think of getting XP the same way we get roms  >:D

rackoon:
To be honest I didn't know really know what Linux was until a few weeks ago. I'm glad to see some quality competition for MS. I'm getting a masters in educational theory (basically a fancy teaching credential) and I would love to see a form of Linux in the schools. It would be a thumb in in the eye of a huge cooperate monster and the state could always afford free.
 
Next I want to see a game console that plays both Sony and xbox games. Nothing worse than watching the holiday commercials about some game you ll never be able to play unless you buy another console. I have herd that the video game industry is  worth 75 billion. What part of that is monopolized by Sony?

Then I want to be elected emperor so I can pave the roads with marshmallows so no has to go hungry when on long car trips unless they don't like mashmellow. Which means they are probably car carrying communists sent here by the licorice brigade to consume the caramel in the center of your brain.

I think that I better use windows because there are more people to help me with it.

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