Who here runs Linux? I'm writing this right now running Unbuntu 9.04. I've run the server edition, Fedora, and a bunch of the smaller distributions like Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux which are both really awesome. I got an old P1 100MHz running fast and usable with DSL 3.1.

I've done a few amateur radio stuff with Linux although I'd love to do more or even write some code for an amateur radio project. I've run things like loggers and PSK31 programs right from the Repositories but not much else.

How about you?

Im a windows only guy. I have tried Linux a few different times, and always come back to windows, because I find myself far more productive in windows. I studied for, [but never took the exam], my Microsoft Certified Professional in windows XP, and as I result im very comfortable in that environment.

Linux has its places. I use it in my webserver, though, I have someone more competent administer it.

Ive seen some neat things on the Linux side of the fence. There are some neat SDR applications, and other digital mode stuff. Maybe once I get more organized ill see about getting things going in a virtual machine.

I like virtualization. and I use Sun Virtual Box to run virtual machines. I will keep an eye on this thread, and if something interesting catches my eye, maybe ill give it a shot.

I run Kubuntu on my home server, Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my Dell mini 9, and the MacPorts program to compile Linux utilities into OS X on my Mac Book Pro.

I have found that Linux actually runs much better on my mini 9 than XP does, and it gets better battery life too. I have predict installed on it and I use that for Sat tracking.

There isn't much HAM software available for OS X. The only things I have ever really used are EchoMac and Multimode. EchoMac works pretty well as a stripped down Echolink client. Multimode is unfortunately pretty half baked and outdated, all though it can be used for simple digital mode communications. Through MacPorts I have compiled Predict and that seems to work pretty well under OS X.

The computer in our club shack runs Kubuntu as well. The main software we use there is FlDigi and Klog. FlDigi is a pretty good digital mode software, although Linux sound cards can be a bit tricky to configure if you are new to them. Klog is very full featured and has everything I look for in a contest logging program.

I am running Ubuntu 9.04 on my IBM T41 which I am using right now. Though, I am getting rid of Ubuntu 9.04 on my Dell Inspiron 1520 (the newer laptop) and trying out Debian 5.0.3. Ubuntu is just getting a bit to cumbersome for me. I have tried Fedora in the past but always went back to Ubuntu of which I have used since 7.10. Other distro's I've tried have been LinuxMint, puppy Linux, Damn Small Linux (DSL), Damn Small Linux Not!, and several others.

Lately, I've been booting DSL off of a 120 Mb flash drive at work so I have a nice lightweight gui. As long as I can SSH into my Ubuntu 9.04 computer at work I have all the programs needed to work with the addition of a quick environment.

I have used Ubuntu Server edition for several servers. I am currently (as I write this post) building the development server for CollegeARC.com! It's an old PIII 450 MHz rack mount computer WITR 89.7 (RIT FM station) was throwing out. It has worked well for me in the past.

Although I will say that I will always have a Windows installation on one of my computers because sometimes you just need to use windows for certain programs (echolink being one of them).

On a side note... my experience with Linux (not in depth but everyday use for 2 years) pretty much changed my current job. I went from performing routine tests on our product to helping develop Linux based software (embedded) once they found out I could work with Linux. Pretty cool to see an interest in linux help in that way.

I've played around with many distros of Linux. My first one was RedHat 8.0, but I've used SuSe, Fedora, Gentoo, Debian, and Ubuntu.

Right now I use Ubuntu for my desktop and laptop. I used Gentoo before, but ended up tweaking it to death and would frequently end up deciding to reinstall. I still have it on a machine back home, though. For my servers I use Debian, and FreeBSD (though it's not Linux).

I don't really use Windows anymore; when I need it I usually just use a VM.

Ben,

I've always wanted to try Gentoo but never got around to doing it, plus it seems like a lot of time setting it up. Ive mainly been using Ubuntu, with a side of DSL and Puppy Linux. I've tried Fedora and OpenSUSE but they just didn't do it for me. I'm at the moment using Kubuntu (KDE Ubuntu) and loving it!

I'm looking forward to putting some amateur radio stuff on here but with my schedule never get around to it. Linux has been awesome for programming and other tasks that when done on Windows seems to have overly complicated environments, give me EMACS and a console .

I've been wondering about running VM in linux and booting a windows distro inside, likely XP since it's light and I get it with my EE MSDN account at RIT, any speed issues or troubles I should be looking out for? Im sure it'll run fine on my dell but my 6 year old IBM, maybe not haha!

Thanks,
-Brent

Brent,

Gentoo is great in many ways, but it can also be a bit of a pain. It's built around the idea of making it easy for the user to have total control over how the system is built, so if you want you can squeeze a performance increase out of your hardware. If done right it's a lot less bloated than distros like Ubuntu. The package manager, Portage, makes it easy to compile stuff as you need it, but over time things can get messy and you run into dependency problems (it install the dependencies each time you install something, but sometimes they start to conflict over time). It's great if you really want to learn how the system works, and have time to make sure that it's up to date and stable. The install is rough (my first one took 3 days, but that was before they started recommending that you don't compile *everything* from source), but when you're done you get a minimal system that can be whatever you want it to be, and as dedicated that as you'd like.

Distros like Ubuntu, Fedora, etc. are good desktop choices, when you want things to "just work." I use Ubuntu myself (though I've thought about trying KDE), on both my desktop and laptop. Virtualizing Windows is a great way to go, check out VirtualBox from Sun. There's an open source version, which should be in the Ubuntu repositories. It's very easy to use, and great for trying random OSes. Your laptop will probably do fine with it, though more RAM is always helpful. (You should probably have at least 512 MB.)

For servers, Debian is a good, solid choice. Like Gentoo you can start out with a basic system that has little you don't need, but the packages are tightly controlled, so it's a little more... Orderly. In my opinion this would be the way to go for radio things, or just in general if you want a Linux server.

Ok... I bit the bullet and tried out VirtualBox... Got is running on both the dell and IBM. It's going to be really useful to run Candence Pspice while in Linux! Neat stuff, thank god for MSDN accounts and free Windows software



P.S. I have a linux box running Ubuntu set up at a CollegeARC development server but it's got a few file permission problems that are pretty common with our CMS and home servers, shouldn't be to hard to fix and I think you mentioned you were familiar with these issues? Between school and K2GXT I've really had no chance to look into it and figure it out. Actually, I figured I mind as well let it do something useful and it's running BOINC project Einstien

Boinc Account

Ahh boinc on old computers is slow haha. It's crazy how much stuff it can crank through with some of the newer multi-core processors.
BTW I am becoming a KDE fan, got a bad taste when 4.0 came out but it seems like KDE got their act together since I last tried it out.

VirtualBox is pretty awesome. Once they get hardware video acceleration worked out (actually they might have already) it should be interesting to try to do some multimedia on it...

What was the file permission problem? Chances are it's a simple fix, but those things can drive you crazy.

Boinc is nice. I use it on my desktop (quad core) when I want to leave the machine on for remote access during the day, but want it to do something. I run Seti@home on it, because I really want to find aliens .