- Messages
- 341
- Reaction score
- 2
- Points
- 28
I've used GNU/Linux (or just Linux for most people) for a good 10 plus years from 1996 to around 2008. The very first distro I've tried was Debian. At that time I used it mostly for chatting on IRC, writing bot scripts in Perl and simple bash scripts as well. Within that 10+ years I've tried other popular distributions tulad ng Slackware, Fedora, Red Hat, Mint, Puppy, CentOS, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Arch, etc. Every distribution I've tried has its weaknesses and strengths but they were all fun to use and play with.
There are currently more than 1000 Linux distributions available today. I will not dare recommend any distribution here since lahat naman tayo ay magkakaiba ng preference. It's for you to find out kung aling Linux istro ang nababagay sayo. But before you do, and if you're a plain Windoze user at the moment, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF LINUX IS FOR YOU?
Let me share to you some of the key strengths of the GNU/Linux operating system.
1. DO YOU VALUE FREEDOM?
If you know GPL (GNU General Public License), this is the License that Linux use for the Linux Kernel. The same Kernel that all Linux Distributions uses. Based on the License's statement itself, it basically means that Linux as a software is build on the core foundation that its usage and/or distribution should be FREE for everyone. That is why 99% of all Linux Distributions available today, they all can be downloaded and installed FREE OF CHARGE without you to pay for any software license.
Aside from the Linux Kernel itself, 99% of the programs and applications that you can install on a Linux machine (and there's a ton of them) are also under GPL. And since they are open source, you can always check whether the software you're using is only doing what it's supposed to do and not spying on you.
If you're tired of paying for any proprietary software and you wanted to be in control of your computer - Linux is for you!
2. DO YOU VALUE PRIVACY & SECURITY?
You probably heard about different government agencies spying on their citizens. No, it's not from a movie scene, it's a reality that still happens today. One of the most controversial was Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations about the NSA spying on US Citizens and on some other countries. Nasiwalat din noon ang ilang malalaking pangalan sa Computer/Internet business tulad ng Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, AOL, Paltalk, etc. as "providers" of information para sa NSA, which basically means these companies are giving away their user's personal information to some government agencies.
Although there are a few Linux Distributions that has been tainted of spying to their users as well tulad ng Ubuntu, this is mainly due to the used of non-free proprietary software of these distributions.
If you value your personal privacy as well as your Internet freedom - Linux is for you!
3. DO YOU NEED BETTER PERFORMANCE OUT OF YOUR COMPUTER?
Most people who uses Windows are used to seeing better looking graphics. If you actually compare Windows XP, to Vista up to Windows 10, you will see how graphics for Windows UI (user interface) have evolved. The main reason for this is "marketing." The more better looking a desktop is, the higher the value these companies can sell it to people. And as we all know, the more better looking your desktop screen is, the higher the system resources it will use: disk space, memory, etc. On Linux on the other hand, everything usually (depending on your setup) comes out-of-the-box with all bare minimum system usage.
Also, there are 2 types of Linux Distributions: The one that we are all familiar with is called User-friendly and the other one is called User-centric. User-friendly Linux distros are the ones that when you install it comes with a desktop environment already right out-of-the-box. Just like when you install Windows, meron ka na agad desktop screen. Example ng user-friendly Linux Distro are Ubuntu, Mint and Debian.
User-centric on the other hand doesn't come with any desktop environment. Example nito are Gentoo and Archlinux. After mo install ang ganitong OS, you screen will be just black with a command prompt on the top left. Parang command prompt sa Windows. I personally prefer user-centric distro because it means I can setup my OS "ONLY AND EXACTLY THE WAY I WANT IT." Nothing more, nothing less. No bloatware, no nothing. With a User-centric Linux Distro, you can build a more lightweight, more faster desktop computer.
In Archlinux for example, it bootup in about 30sec (even if you're not using SSD) and upon bootup only uses around 20MB of memory. How about that?
If you're tired of Windows eating so much of your system resources and you wanted a much faster computer - Linux is for you!
WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
For first time Linux users, medyo may learning curve. You would have to learn to use the terminal: Linux's most powerful tool. That's where most Linux users usually do tasks such as chatting with friends, playing music, watching videos, managing files and directories, sending email and a whole lot more.
Windows users on the other hand are used to just click Next and Next and Next and then Okay. If you're going to try to learn Linux, this is the first advice what I always tell anyone: The best way to use Linux, is to NOT ever treat it like Windows. Because once you do, then you will easily get frustrated. If you're wondering what programs you're gonna use for a specific task, if Windows have one application for it, Linux will have dozens to choose from. It's called "alternative" applications. For example on Windows there's Photoshop, on Linux there's GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, etc.
And the Linux Community is just freakin' awesome! Just be polite and you can always ask them for help.
WHAT ABOUT COMPUTER GAMING?
Now, this is where I salute Windows. The majority of high-end computer games today are built mainly for Windows. There are some that you can run on Linux though (there are ways to do that), but the performance would be very far fetch as opposed to running the game on a Windows machine. So if you're a gamer, you may want to just stick to Micro$oft Windoze... and let them drain money out of your pocket. Just kidding
Sana po makatulong ang simpleng guide na ito in your decision making whether you're going to just try Linux for fun along with Windows or stick with it for life.
Right now I don't really use Linux for my day to day. I'm using FreeBSD on my main computer but I do have Archlinux on my other computers at home (for my wife and kids). Also, I make sure that I only use free open source software... because they are FREE
There are currently more than 1000 Linux distributions available today. I will not dare recommend any distribution here since lahat naman tayo ay magkakaiba ng preference. It's for you to find out kung aling Linux istro ang nababagay sayo. But before you do, and if you're a plain Windoze user at the moment, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF LINUX IS FOR YOU?
Let me share to you some of the key strengths of the GNU/Linux operating system.
1. DO YOU VALUE FREEDOM?
If you know GPL (GNU General Public License), this is the License that Linux use for the Linux Kernel. The same Kernel that all Linux Distributions uses. Based on the License's statement itself, it basically means that Linux as a software is build on the core foundation that its usage and/or distribution should be FREE for everyone. That is why 99% of all Linux Distributions available today, they all can be downloaded and installed FREE OF CHARGE without you to pay for any software license.
Aside from the Linux Kernel itself, 99% of the programs and applications that you can install on a Linux machine (and there's a ton of them) are also under GPL. And since they are open source, you can always check whether the software you're using is only doing what it's supposed to do and not spying on you.
If you're tired of paying for any proprietary software and you wanted to be in control of your computer - Linux is for you!
2. DO YOU VALUE PRIVACY & SECURITY?
You probably heard about different government agencies spying on their citizens. No, it's not from a movie scene, it's a reality that still happens today. One of the most controversial was Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations about the NSA spying on US Citizens and on some other countries. Nasiwalat din noon ang ilang malalaking pangalan sa Computer/Internet business tulad ng Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, AOL, Paltalk, etc. as "providers" of information para sa NSA, which basically means these companies are giving away their user's personal information to some government agencies.
Although there are a few Linux Distributions that has been tainted of spying to their users as well tulad ng Ubuntu, this is mainly due to the used of non-free proprietary software of these distributions.
If you value your personal privacy as well as your Internet freedom - Linux is for you!
3. DO YOU NEED BETTER PERFORMANCE OUT OF YOUR COMPUTER?
Most people who uses Windows are used to seeing better looking graphics. If you actually compare Windows XP, to Vista up to Windows 10, you will see how graphics for Windows UI (user interface) have evolved. The main reason for this is "marketing." The more better looking a desktop is, the higher the value these companies can sell it to people. And as we all know, the more better looking your desktop screen is, the higher the system resources it will use: disk space, memory, etc. On Linux on the other hand, everything usually (depending on your setup) comes out-of-the-box with all bare minimum system usage.
Also, there are 2 types of Linux Distributions: The one that we are all familiar with is called User-friendly and the other one is called User-centric. User-friendly Linux distros are the ones that when you install it comes with a desktop environment already right out-of-the-box. Just like when you install Windows, meron ka na agad desktop screen. Example ng user-friendly Linux Distro are Ubuntu, Mint and Debian.
User-centric on the other hand doesn't come with any desktop environment. Example nito are Gentoo and Archlinux. After mo install ang ganitong OS, you screen will be just black with a command prompt on the top left. Parang command prompt sa Windows. I personally prefer user-centric distro because it means I can setup my OS "ONLY AND EXACTLY THE WAY I WANT IT." Nothing more, nothing less. No bloatware, no nothing. With a User-centric Linux Distro, you can build a more lightweight, more faster desktop computer.
In Archlinux for example, it bootup in about 30sec (even if you're not using SSD) and upon bootup only uses around 20MB of memory. How about that?
If you're tired of Windows eating so much of your system resources and you wanted a much faster computer - Linux is for you!
WHERE DO I GO FROM HERE?
For first time Linux users, medyo may learning curve. You would have to learn to use the terminal: Linux's most powerful tool. That's where most Linux users usually do tasks such as chatting with friends, playing music, watching videos, managing files and directories, sending email and a whole lot more.
Windows users on the other hand are used to just click Next and Next and Next and then Okay. If you're going to try to learn Linux, this is the first advice what I always tell anyone: The best way to use Linux, is to NOT ever treat it like Windows. Because once you do, then you will easily get frustrated. If you're wondering what programs you're gonna use for a specific task, if Windows have one application for it, Linux will have dozens to choose from. It's called "alternative" applications. For example on Windows there's Photoshop, on Linux there's GIMP, Krita, Inkscape, etc.
And the Linux Community is just freakin' awesome! Just be polite and you can always ask them for help.
WHAT ABOUT COMPUTER GAMING?
Now, this is where I salute Windows. The majority of high-end computer games today are built mainly for Windows. There are some that you can run on Linux though (there are ways to do that), but the performance would be very far fetch as opposed to running the game on a Windows machine. So if you're a gamer, you may want to just stick to Micro$oft Windoze... and let them drain money out of your pocket. Just kidding
Sana po makatulong ang simpleng guide na ito in your decision making whether you're going to just try Linux for fun along with Windows or stick with it for life.
Right now I don't really use Linux for my day to day. I'm using FreeBSD on my main computer but I do have Archlinux on my other computers at home (for my wife and kids). Also, I make sure that I only use free open source software... because they are FREE
Last edited:
It runs relatively fast compare to windows pc with 4gb ram set up. Since my potato PC is used mainly for watching movies, surfing the net and creating documents (open source office softwares are the best), hindi siya sakit sa ulo. What i also like is hindi na kelangan ng antivirus so the OS doesn't eat much of my resources. I am also considering to buy another laptop (i have one with windows OS installed) and install a Linux distro since iba talaga sa pakiramdam yung speed ng Linux compare sa Windows 
