Makeing the Migration.

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Yoshindor

Artifact Armor
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A while back about 8 months ago to be specific I made the migration from Microsoft to Linux. The Gentoo client to be specific http://www.gentoo.org/ .

I'm very happy, short boot ups, very relaible and stable kernel. No BSOD when I edit critical word documents.

However being an avid game I am frustrated at the lack of games for this OS.

Yes I have basics like doom and unreal (doom multiplayer FTW). But I do like to play newer games too. So I was forced to put together a SLI gameing machine. FX 60 and all the new latest and greatest that state of the art for all of a month.

However the same issue keeps popping up. Widows sucks it's unstable and it pisses me off. So I eneded up makeing the gameing machine dual boot, with about 5 diffrent versions of linux on it (and the various kernel builds of each inherent version). The obligitory redhat, mandrake, SuSE and such.

Anyway I know there are programs to emulate a windows enviroment but that takes major clock cycles, and I've no doubt my computer can handle it, but I'd like to be able to play in a reasonable resolution ^^. So I was wondering if anyone knows of any work arounds or ISO compiles for any recent games for linux.
 
Windows XP is far more stable than people give it credit. The stability problems commonly stem from the applications and programs you choose to run on the OS. The other OS are stable because you don't have anything to run and crash on them. Get a good emultation going and you'll get the crashes again.

If you are getting regular crashes on Windows XP, you are doing something wrong.
 
I do not recall the last time my WinXP crashed on me between work desktop, work laptop, and home desktop. My work desktop is always on, last time I rebooted was when the pushed the latest critical update some couple three weeks ago. No problems with Windows here. My theory is that Windows problems are mostly caused by sucky hardware drivers, or sucky hardware in general.

Linux is useless to me, none of the applications I use on a regular basis run on it.
 
Rones said:
Windows XP is far more stable than people give it credit. The stability problems commonly stem from the applications and programs you choose to run on the OS. The other OS are stable because you don't have anything to run and crash on them. Get a good emultation going and you'll get the crashes again.

If you are getting regular crashes on Windows XP, you are doing something wrong.
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Okay let me give you my background.

I have been into computers since the late 70's I have been everything from a software technition to an IT (which is my current proffesion) to many things inbeetween. I consider myself fairly computer literate. I work with both platforms on a daily basis.

Also how is it that the opperating system and the program which you would be blameing for the cause of some of the BSOD (NOTE: BSOD is an acronym for Blue Screen of Death for those who did not know) I exsperianced are from the same manufacturer! Microsoft! There is an old russian folk saying, "the fish rots from the head down". If they can't make a basic word processing program to function propperly why in gods name should I trust them with my computer and vital info in the form of an OS.

Also these "hot fixes" that were mentioned. When a hacker or cracker finds a vulnerability in the code via a memory address. They issue a "hot fix" which is nothing more than a band aid. They simply move the memory address some where else in the code. The vulnerability is still there, it's just been moved, instead of torn apart and fixed. If you don't belive me on this part. Then find out why 95 % of bissnisses run linux (this along with items like SQL servers can be set up for free because the software is free!) and not windows for server and database purposes. This is because it is secure from the outside unlike windows which is much like a block of swiss cheese!

My non gamebox hardwear may be a few generations behind but, the bios is current it's all name brand. ASUS, AMD, ATI, Corsair, Seagate and water cooled.
 
Euphacent said:
Windows runs great for me. I have noticed that it can pretty very picky on some AMD setups, however.
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This I noticed too.

And being AMD gives you the most bang for your buck and currently offres the fastest and most powerfull chips. This is just another stupid issue that goes unfixed for no reason.
 
Yoshindor said:
Also how is it that the opperating system and the program which you would be blameing for the cause of some of the BSOD (NOTE: BSOD is an acronym for Blue Screen of Death for those who did not know) I exsperianced are from the same manufacturer! Microsoft!
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I obviously don't know about your BSODs or their cause, all I am saying is that between the three computers I use I am looking at a computer screen for like 16 hours a day, and I honestly do not remember a BSOD since ..., I think since I tried a TV Tuner on Win98. Win2k has also been extremely stable for me.

Since we both use WinXP, and OfficeXP (I assume) the only difference is the hardware, and potentially other software installed.

Yoshindor said:
Also these "hot fixes" that were mentioned. When a hacker or cracker finds a vulnerability in the code via a memory address. They issue a "hot fix" which is nothing more than a band aid. They simply move the memory address some where else in the code.
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Let's think about this.
A vulerability as such doesn't sit in a single memory address. A vulnerability describes the undesired behavior of the program when certain action is taken (i.e. too many arguments are passed -> stack overflow -> crash).

I am not sure what "simply move the memory address some where else in the code" actually means. Very rarely (if ever?) does a program access a specific memory location directly in such a sense that it says 'store variable A at 0x59122230E'. Instead software works with registers, the stack, and associated pointers. Of course, due to the nature of this, the same variable is loaded into the same address every time that particular program runs, but still "move the memory address to somewhere else in the code" doesn't really make sense as the specific memory addresses are not referenced in the code any other way than through register names and pointers.

It would also be easy to scan the memory for the same variable if they were indeed just moving it (for reasons unknown). IMHO hotfixes are just that, actual fixes in the code to remove the vulerability ahead of a service pack release.

Yoshindor said:
If you don't belive me on this part. Then find out why 95 % of bissnisses run linux (this along with items like SQL servers can be set up for free because the software is free!) and not windows for server and database purposes.
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You answered your own question already, because it's free.
Other than that, you got your numbers wrong. Check out Netcraft's Web Server Surveys. At the most you see 70% Apache, and that doesn't account for the people who run Apache on Windows. So in the web server market Linux has at the most 70%, not 95%.

The 2004 IDC server report listed Unix and Linux server sales at 1.48 million servers worldwide or 28.3% of server sales. IDC being the most recognized company to get such reports right. Now I don't believe that Linux server sales picked up enough in 2005 to reach a 95% market share.

I guess my point is, sure some use Linux, and Linux works for them, that's great, but don't try and pass Linux as something bigger than it is to people who know better. :biggrin:

The reason web server stats and server sales do not match up well is because many who run web servers would never actually buy server hardware from one of the big guys.

Be that as is may, Linux has like no market share in the desktop business. Why we are even talking about servers I don't know.
 
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First as some qualifications for myself. I am a senior in computer science. I don't have the experience you do on older systems, but I have spent a lot of time studying modern computing.
Also these "hot fixes" that were mentioned. When a hacker or cracker finds a vulnerability in the code via a memory address. They issue a "hot fix" which is nothing more than a band aid. They simply move the memory address some where else in the code. The vulnerability is still there, it's just been moved, instead of torn apart and fixed. If you don't belive me on this part. Then find out why 95 % of bissnisses run linux (this along with items like SQL servers can be set up for free because the software is free!) and not windows for server and database purposes. This is because it is secure from the outside unlike windows which is much like a block of swiss cheese!
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You would know this how? Seriously, what is your source for this? I just finished last semester my senior level class on Operating Systems. Part of the curriculum involved studying Windows XP in comparison to past versions of windows in addition to Linux. Windows XP is just as secure if not more secure than Linux except for one fact. Many users are on Windows, thus many hackers focus on finding vunerabilities in Windows. If Linux or Unix were to become as prominent as Windows, there would a constant need for patches and fixs just like Microsoft does now.

One key difference people forget when comparing the two is Microsoft specializes in making Windows compatibile with everything under the sun. The more things you try to make your software compatible with, the greater the chance something goes wrong (this is why I said your problem is likely a result of the program you are running than the OS). Linux crashes rarely because it attempts to be compatible with less programs, or less programs attempt to be compatible with it, whichever you want to blame.
I have noticed that it can pretty very picky on some AMD setups, however
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I have used AMD on all my custom build machines. Never had any issues between Windows and the AMD hardware. While I don't spend lots of time on trouble shooting boards, I've never noticed AMD hardware having any more problems than the alternatives (Intel). I also spend lots of time around computer geeks being in the computer science department and we are AMD fans for the most part with no problems between AMD and windows.

I will admit though for servers Linux is currently a good choice if your software will run on it. It is pretty clean and because few hackers focus on Linux, it is safe. If you need compatibility though, Linux is going to give you headaches. Emulating windows onto Linux will give you even more headaches and the problems of both worlds.
 
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Last I read Windows emulation cannot handle DirectX. If that has changed I cannot see how it could have changed much.

In short if you want to play good games on your comp, then Microsoft is the only game in town, so don't bitch because if it wasn't for them you wouldn't even be able to play good games on your comp anyway.

I like Linux, its a good stable no-nonsense machine. Do I have fun on it?

Fuck no.

Only reason I use Linux is to avoid liscensing costs, for a webserver, or to learn something new. Other than that for home use anyway, Linux aint worth shit. Only a geek looking for something to brag about in his shitty boring life would choose Linux over windows.. :banghead3:
 
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