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how to dual boot linux, and which linux to use
- Thread starter iamjustin
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They might be using some Linux-specific tools, or they simply recommend Linux for some reason or other. And there's nothing wrong with that.
I didn't say there was, but considering that most/all linux software is open source so most of the time there is a mac port.
Although maybe I am mistaken and it's linux - specific programming in a comp. science course, could the OP explain what school work he is doing?
Linux is kak, dont use it. I tried various different versions of it, all of them a pile of rubbish.
Im an electrical and mechanical engineering student at Strathclyde and you need I would say minimum Windows XP Home, but better with Pro.
If you really have to use Linux which I recommend that you dont, use Ubuntu, its one of the better ones that I tried.
Otherwise stick with Windows because you will need that for engineering applications, unfortunately the reason my MBP needs to have it on it.
Hope that helps!!
Im an electrical and mechanical engineering student at Strathclyde and you need I would say minimum Windows XP Home, but better with Pro.
If you really have to use Linux which I recommend that you dont, use Ubuntu, its one of the better ones that I tried.
Otherwise stick with Windows because you will need that for engineering applications, unfortunately the reason my MBP needs to have it on it.
Hope that helps!!
Linux is kak, dont use it. I tried various different versions of it, all of them a pile of rubbish.
Im an electrical and mechanical engineering student at Strathclyde and you need I would say minimum Windows XP Home, but better with Pro.
If you really have to use Linux which I recommend that you dont, use Ubuntu, its one of the better ones that I tried.
Otherwise stick with Windows because you will need that for engineering applications, unfortunately the reason my MBP needs to have it on it.
Hope that helps!!
I wouldn't say it's "kak" but you need a sound tech knowledge, even installing apps can involve a fair bit of terminal (sudo commands etc)
oh, and i'd certainly use it over windows, but i do understand about windows only applications. try crossover mac for that though, so you do'nt have to splash out on a windows install
Well, these days you select the app you want to install from a list, and click "Apply". And that's all there is to it. Yes, many moons ago installation of apps was a bit tricky, but not anymore.
Get Ubuntu, or Xubuntu, or Kubuntu (have a look at the screenshot, which you like more... :-D), and download the install CD. Boot from the CD and have a look, everything works ?, so install it. You may need to resize you OSX partition if you did not do it before.
Loads of packages are ready to install in two taps. some may require compilation, but those are less common these days.
I went with Xubuntu for my PCs (4), after years of SuSE and Redhat, was a refreshing experience. But I'd not change OSX for linux, but I Do change winblows for any of the two.
Loads of packages are ready to install in two taps. some may require compilation, but those are less common these days.
I went with Xubuntu for my PCs (4), after years of SuSE and Redhat, was a refreshing experience. But I'd not change OSX for linux, but I Do change winblows for any of the two.
Well, I'll chime in now. I'm a student in computer engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada. I've spent several of my co-op terms developing under linux for various companies and am quite comfortable with it. The distro that I would recommend at this point for ease of use and support would have to be Ubuntu. Even Ubuntu takes some tech knowledge to work with. You probably don't actually need to run linux and if you don't have a burning desire to actually run it I wouldn't recommend it. Below I sort of expand on the reasons you probably won't actually need to run linux though.
Most engineering software that you will have to use will fall into two categories. These are open-source or specialized. The open-source applications have a lot of community support, are generally available for free. You can probably get a mac port of any of these tools quite easily. There are the fink and darwin ports projects, which you might want to look into before installing linux. For closed source projects, you're probably not going to get a version that runs on mac, but I doubt you'll manage to find a copy you can afford as a student (you can even try to find a copy to download if this doesn't conflict with the ethics you're supposed to have as an engineer, but I doubt you'll be able to find a copy cause it's pretty specialized and most engineering software uses hardware keys)
Also if the university requires you to use the software they will have copies of it available for use on workstations at the university, or on servers. At waterloo we have various departmental Unix servers (Solaris/Linux) which have this software running on them. Using the X11 application I can log in and use the application remotely. It's a fairly simple process. This means that I get the benefit of fast servers actually running the application (think 12-15 processors, 30 GB of ram), and if you manage your time correctly you probably won't even be sharing the server with your classmates.
All in all, I would say that I have not had a need for Linux during my university career (I've got 1 term left). I switched to a mac last semester and do find the Unix base very helpful. This is mostly because I don't have to think about what operating system I'm working with when I'm in the console (i.e. ls vs dir). For the first 3 years of school I used a windows machine because I needed software like word and excel for classes. I personally cannot stand OpenOffice because it is slow, and doesn't always handle the more complex office functions well.
Anyways, That's my two cents, it's a little long but essentially says the following: You're not going to need linux most likely because you can probably run the software on your mac natively, but if you do need it use Ubuntu.
Most engineering software that you will have to use will fall into two categories. These are open-source or specialized. The open-source applications have a lot of community support, are generally available for free. You can probably get a mac port of any of these tools quite easily. There are the fink and darwin ports projects, which you might want to look into before installing linux. For closed source projects, you're probably not going to get a version that runs on mac, but I doubt you'll manage to find a copy you can afford as a student (you can even try to find a copy to download if this doesn't conflict with the ethics you're supposed to have as an engineer, but I doubt you'll be able to find a copy cause it's pretty specialized and most engineering software uses hardware keys)
Also if the university requires you to use the software they will have copies of it available for use on workstations at the university, or on servers. At waterloo we have various departmental Unix servers (Solaris/Linux) which have this software running on them. Using the X11 application I can log in and use the application remotely. It's a fairly simple process. This means that I get the benefit of fast servers actually running the application (think 12-15 processors, 30 GB of ram), and if you manage your time correctly you probably won't even be sharing the server with your classmates.
All in all, I would say that I have not had a need for Linux during my university career (I've got 1 term left). I switched to a mac last semester and do find the Unix base very helpful. This is mostly because I don't have to think about what operating system I'm working with when I'm in the console (i.e. ls vs dir). For the first 3 years of school I used a windows machine because I needed software like word and excel for classes. I personally cannot stand OpenOffice because it is slow, and doesn't always handle the more complex office functions well.
Anyways, That's my two cents, it's a little long but essentially says the following: You're not going to need linux most likely because you can probably run the software on your mac natively, but if you do need it use Ubuntu.
If you have a MB or MBP then why not use Fusion or Parallels instead of dual-booting? Is it b/c of the cost?
In the past I've played with various Linux distros including Mandrake, RedHat, Slackware, Debian, and Progeny. On my PB 12" I did have Ubuntu running in dual-boot for a while. But I rarely shut down or reboot my computer so I found it annoying to reboot between Ubuntu and OSX.
Especially with a Linux OS, if you don't know what you're doing then you could potentially mess something up badly on your machine. But if you use Fusion or Parallels then you effectively create a "sandbox" where you shouldn't be able to do anything that messes up your OSX partition.
In the past I've played with various Linux distros including Mandrake, RedHat, Slackware, Debian, and Progeny. On my PB 12" I did have Ubuntu running in dual-boot for a while. But I rarely shut down or reboot my computer so I found it annoying to reboot between Ubuntu and OSX.
Especially with a Linux OS, if you don't know what you're doing then you could potentially mess something up badly on your machine. But if you use Fusion or Parallels then you effectively create a "sandbox" where you shouldn't be able to do anything that messes up your OSX partition.
Its kak, face it, unless you are really into doing something that is strictly Linux, there is absolutely no point in it.
I even prefer windows over it and it can suck butt badly as I'm sure you all know. At least you can find a use for it even if it is just there to laugh at somedays.
Again thus furthering my original point, its kak, unless doing that sort of stuff is really your thing and you have to be strictly in Linux.
well i still wanna put it on there i think just to even try becuase i am a little curious now. Is ubuntu the one with that desktop appearence thing where u can make it look like a cube? and how would i be able to dual boot it? the reason i dont wanna run fusion or parallels is because leo laporte does it, and becase i dont want it taking away from the ram
Linux is kak end of!!
Sorry to break the news to you, definately try it using Live CD see what you think, but dont bother with any partitioning and installing of it.
I will repeat again, its kak.
Sorry to break the news to you, definately try it using Live CD see what you think, but dont bother with any partitioning and installing of it.
I will repeat again, its kak.
Linux is much better than Windows if you know how to use it and don't mind typing the commandsLinux is kak, dont use it. I tried various different versions of it, all of them a pile of rubbish.
Im an electrical and mechanical engineering student at Strathclyde and you need I would say minimum Windows XP Home, but better with Pro.
If you really have to use Linux which I recommend that you dont, use Ubuntu, its one of the better ones that I tried.
Otherwise stick with Windows because you will need that for engineering applications, unfortunately the reason my MBP needs to have it on it.
Hope that helps!!
No its not, not at all in my opinion, for various reasons. And I think that I have some authority to point out the differences considering my last laptop had the option of 5 different operating systems, 3 that were linux, xp and vista all bootable when I wanted. I did that with my last laptop because firstly it was easy and secondly and most importantly so I could have a proper opinion on the topic.
Fair enough to the people that want to dabble about in all that command stuff, sit for days writing their own drivers etc etc, but im talking on behalf of the general user, not the super geek. Linux for the general and even the slightly more advanced user is a total waste of time. It is a kak and if you really want to get some serious work done you need OSX or Windows of some sort.
So you want to laugh at it then, thats what you just said.
Go ahead and use it then, post back when you find a use for it. Only trying to help you from having to go through all the bother of it. Sorry for trying to help.
I hate Linux with a passion.
Last Ubuntu install I did, I installed the wireless driver, and the graphics driver. What else did I do to set it up? Oh thats right, absolutely nothing. Theres more setting up for a Windows installation than most Linux distro's these days.
My use for it is for the PC's I own, an FTP server, Web server, SSH server, general browsing, email, messing around with Compiz Fusion, you know, general stuff?
When was the last time you used Linux, 1992?
My use for it is for the PC's I own, an FTP server, Web server, SSH server, general browsing, email, messing around with Compiz Fusion, you know, general stuff?
When was the last time you used Linux, 1992?
if you are wanting to install linux for the applications, you can run most using Macports and X11 on your Mac, as I believe someone previously mentioned. Obviously there are probably many other reasons you'd want to have it installed, especially if you are a Computer Science or Engineering person.
In that case, I'd say there are two routes you should investigate: Ubuntu and Slackware. Ubuntu (or Kubuntu or any one of the other versions) will give you an easy to install (theoretically, since I've used Linux for years, but never on a Mac) and powerful desktop (Ubuntu is just a more up to date Debian made pretty). Ubuntu installs via a LiveCD, which loads the OS into RAM and let's you run it from the CD. This will give you a good indication of what Ubuntu is like before you actually put anything on your hard drive.
Slackware on the other hand is a text-based installer and will configure virtually nothing for you. It's completely hands on, isn't pretty until you make it that way, and it would force you to learn the in's and out's of Linux (without all the drawn out compiling that Gentoo requires).
if you want a good, easy to install and setup Linux distro, get Ubuntu (and make sure to play around with it when you boot from the the CD before you actually install it). If you want to learn Linux, get Slackware.
I hope that helps
As a network engineer I use Fedora 7 on a daily basis with my team. Starting out with Ubuntu is a great idea for someone who wants to get their feet wet. Linux is not "kak", it's a free and powerful operating system if you know what you're doing.
If you add Compiz Fusion along with AWN dock, you may enjoy Linux more than OS X.
All and all, it's a learning curve for anyone derived from a Windows background.
If you add Compiz Fusion along with AWN dock, you may enjoy Linux more than OS X.
All and all, it's a learning curve for anyone derived from a Windows background.
Actually, very very few linux applications are available as mac ports. I've been using Linux for the last year and a half, and having just bought a Mac this summer am still suffering from the inability to use a ton of programs. A few have been available through Fink and/or MacPorts after a bit of hacking around, but the majority I would have to port myself.
The only real solution I've found so far is to run Ubuntu on VMware, which actually works rather well as long as I'm not running on battery. I've been trying to install Ubuntu directly, but my HFS+ partition is apparently too fragmented to resize, and theres no way I'm going to pay for a tool to defragment my hard drive. I guess thats probably just the Linux user in me speaking...
Thats the biggest shock coming from Linux to Mac, the fact that after paying a premium for OS X (there was no way I was going to try to use windows, I still haven't figured out how to "ls" in windows) I'm still expected to pay through the nose for stuff as basic as defragmenting my hard drive. In all my time using Linux I was never unable to find a tool that would do the task I wanted done, and I never once was asked to pay for that tool.
Still, for general day to day use I have to say OS X does beat Linux most of the time. But for anything more complex than writing a paper, or managing my media Linux is the no-contest winner. Now if only Leopard would hurry up and come out so I would be able to feel better about having to reformat my OS X partition just to defragment it.
The only real solution I've found so far is to run Ubuntu on VMware, which actually works rather well as long as I'm not running on battery. I've been trying to install Ubuntu directly, but my HFS+ partition is apparently too fragmented to resize, and theres no way I'm going to pay for a tool to defragment my hard drive. I guess thats probably just the Linux user in me speaking...
Thats the biggest shock coming from Linux to Mac, the fact that after paying a premium for OS X (there was no way I was going to try to use windows, I still haven't figured out how to "ls" in windows) I'm still expected to pay through the nose for stuff as basic as defragmenting my hard drive. In all my time using Linux I was never unable to find a tool that would do the task I wanted done, and I never once was asked to pay for that tool.
Still, for general day to day use I have to say OS X does beat Linux most of the time. But for anything more complex than writing a paper, or managing my media Linux is the no-contest winner. Now if only Leopard would hurry up and come out so I would be able to feel better about having to reformat my OS X partition just to defragment it.