Linux

[Faust]

I use Debian and love it.    There are hundreds of Linux distros though and they are all slightly (to majorly) different so have a look at what each of the main ones offers I guess.  Everyone here is going to recommend something different - what I love some one else will hate etc etc etc.  Find something that fits you, not the other way around.  :-D

 

quote:What do you guys like about it

I like the freedoms it gives me and the massive amount of choice and control I have when using "it."  Not having to bend over backwards to conform to how a massive corporation thinks I "should" be doing things is nice too.

There are lots of alternatives to thos programs you listed - but some may not meet your needs.  It is worth investigating though.  Multimedia may be a bit weak, especially compared to Mac OS X but web design with free tools as opposed to "adobe" is quite good etc.  I'm not much into it so I'm not an expert I guess...  Stuff like RDBMS and code (PHP) is quite established on Linux based OS's, I do all of my programming for uni on Linux.  (Or the Solaris labs which are pretty comparable...)

 

quote:I'm not exactly the most computer literate person that you'll meet, I usually end up figuring out how to fix stuff by accident. Nobody ever really sat down and showed me how, save for all the software training I've been getting at school.

If you want to play with stuff, learn how your computer works and have a system where you can change things to your hearts content Linux is ideal.  You dont have to be computer literate to use it (when I started I couldn't even configure networking in Windows properly) but it helps a lot to read the documentation - there is heaps of free documentation that is high quality and caters to your every need.

 

quote:Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Photoshop, and Illustrator, and Macromedia Director, Flash, and Dreamweaver, um...probably Cold Fusion too, but I haven't taken that yet.

These programs either wont run or will require emulation which can be a bitch to set up properly.  Sorry :-(  .  Most have alternatives though - the gimp can replace photoshop for anything but very heavy tasks, and cold fusion can be replaced by PHP, java etc.  If you're learning those things then you will almost definitely need the exact same program of course - running a dual boot may be ideal as you can learn how things are done in both platforms.  Setting up a dual boot lets you "try things out" and can't hurt anything but your time.  (especially if you make back ups.)  Try looking into Knoppix as well, it will let you trial a distribution with no risk.

[hm_murdock]

first off, why does an art institute have database classes

and why are you an artist and don't have a Mac? why in the world would you have a windows box?!?

Linux is pretty decent, but Mac OS X is where it's at for any sort of creative work. A/V work, print layout, digital photography, illustration.

All your apps run on it (if you have the last version of the apps, you can cross-upgrade.

Adobe Premiere?!?! They use that crap? Final Cut Pro is quickly becoming the standard. If not FCP, then Avid right now. Avid's not going anywhere, but they're certainly going to have to share the limelight with Final Cut. Premiere is a half-ass pretender. It's buggy, crash-prone, oh... and doesn't run on the dominant media-production platform anymore. Premiere is Windows only now. Good one Adobe, WAY TO GO YOU MORONS.

Oh well, it sucked ass anyway.

My suggestion to you would be to save up a little bit of doh, get yourself a used G4 (good ones can be had for $750 or so) and Mac OS X, cross-upgrade your apps and never look back.

Yeah, Linux is nice, but it's honestly even less well suited to the needs of an artist than is Windows

[insomnia]

quote:Originally posted by Dirk Gently:


Really? I've been using it for a while now and have actually had less problems with it than any other distro I've tried so far. There are still a few, though, which I guess constitute "buginess." I haven't tried Debian though, so I have no sense of comparison between the two. I guess if you're going straightforward with the aim to install linux on the HD it makes more sense to go to Debian than Knoppix, but Knoppix is still a fine distro to run in my opinion.

Knoppix is nice.    
If you like Live CD Linux,
try this:  http://www.slackware-live.org/
It also explains how to make a personalised live CD from any distro.
   

[ October 03, 2003: Message edited by: insomnia ]

[hm_murdock]

how simple is it to do with non PC distros like Yellow Dog or Mandrake PPC?

[insomnia]

quote:Originally posted by Jimmy the Shyster:
how simple is it to do with non PC distros like Yellow Dog or Mandrake PPC?

I don't use PPC, but I think it's the same.