Linux

Anyone have any experience in this OS?

Is the performance better than WinXP or Win2000?

How different is it to program in Linux, than Windows?

Is there a C#Library similar to System.Windows, like System.Linux available to the public?

 

very different. but it will enhance your brainpower. takes most people 3-4 months to get used to using the konsole...get yourself an idiot's guide to linux, or linux for dummies, even if you're good with programming in windows anyway...it'll save you ALOT of learning time...plus it'll give you the history of linux, which is pretty interesting..

i haven't done any linux-specific programming, tho...but i am excited to try, since you have the power of a true command line...

good luck,
-b

 

Difficult to reply to these type of questions. I run a Linux/GNU box mainly for Java stuff. And I would not go to Microsoft products unless I am paid for doing so.

Talking about perrformance, even if you don't know what you are doing, Linux is much faster than any MS operating system. If you know what you are doing, it's even much, much faster.

Talking about applications, you find almost any type of program you ever need somewhere on the web. This does, however, not mean it looks or feels like a MS product. And this does not mean, that you find each specific program running on native Linux.

Talking about programming, you will find any programming language and programming tool running on Linux. Most come as GNU licensed programs.

Talking about GNU/Linux <-> Microsoft connectivity, and what to do when you absolutely must have a specific MS program on your Linux box, I refer people to either wine (free) or vmware (commercial).


Mr. John Galt: I would recommend you stay with Microsoft products.

 

You can not program in Linux. Linux is an operating system. Window is a, well, ... sort of a hole in the wall to look inside other people's bedrooms. Microsoft is a company that often take other people's concepts and put their brand on it. In the case of Microsoft Windows, they looked at the Apple desktop - who liked an idea that was created by XEROX's PARC. In case of Microsoft C# they looked at Sun's Java. Etc. Etc.

If you want to program, you need a operating system, some sort of a text editor and a compiler. If you have Linux as your operating system, you have tons of software for editing and compiling. Most of the time, you don't even have to pay for this software, because it's free - "free, as in freedom" NOT "free, as free beer" - look here to understand the difference: http://www.fsf.org/

If you use a Microsoft operating system, it not free. If you want to program on a Microsoft operating system, you could use free software. But then it's definetely not from Microsoft.

 

Hi all,

The above piece requires some correction. Windows and Linux are both operating systems. "Programming" in Windows is indeed diffucult to speak of.

Linux/Unix is quite different. Way back around 1975-1980, Bell Laboratories used to talk about the Unix Programming System. What is meant by programming in the operating system is "Shell Programming". One can say that this was one of the major innovations of Unix. Compared to Microsoft Windows, it is fair to say that nothing in Windows can rival with Linux "Shell Programming".

In modern Linux systems, the original Bourne Shell has been supplemented by a number of other available shells, which basically use the same philosophy but differ as to their implementations and capabilities.

"Shell Programming" makes it possible to make new "Commands" using the existing Linux/Unix commands under a very extensive shell programming syntax. This environment is so powerful that in fact many things in Linux are done internally with high efficiency making use of only such shell programs. Unfortunately, the powerful art of shell programming is unknown and unsuspected by all computer programmers not familiar with the Linux/Unix environment. It would be a great error not to undertake study of this area if one is seriously interested in Linux. The topic is treated in many books on Linux/Unix.

As a further clarification, "Shell Programming" must not be confused with compiled laguage and/or assembler programming. It is a world apart deriving directly from the operating system itself.

Be good,

nononsense

 

Sorry, nononsense, but you mistake Linux by Linux . As a matter of fact, Linux is a registered trademark by Linus Torvalds and Linux is nothing more than the operating system's kernel. It has no shell.

Maybe Richard Stallman explains this better, than I could probably do. (From: http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html )

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is more often known as ``Linux'', and many users are not aware of the extent of its connection with the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is not the operating system. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in a combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU, with Linux functioning as its kernel.

Many users are not fully aware of the distinction between the kernel, which is Linux, and the whole system, which they also call ``Linux''. The ambiguous use of the name doesn't promote understanding. These users often think that Linus Torvalds developed the whole operating system in 1991, with a bit of help.

 

Foremost you may want to ask yourself: "What is my focus: Trading or playing with technology?"

If you decide that you are a trader then you ask yourself: "What platform allows me to accomplish the easiest / fastest what I need for my trading?"

Would not want to waste my time learning another environment unless it was necessary to accomplish things for the trading.

Peace

 

argau,

Don't confuse the issue. In my post I gave a very important distinction between the philosophies of Unix and Windows. I even talked about "correcting" your previous post as you omitted to clarify a question raised in this thread abouty programming.

You did not seem to have appreciated my rather precise commentary in correction to your very incomplete answer to a question. For most users, you quickly changed the issue to some almost irrelevant aspect. You make it appear as if my commentary would be pointless!

In a first post you said: "Linux is an operating system". In your second post you change saying:"Linux is nothing more than the operating system's kernel". Let's be sensible! In fact you had to change your own terminology in order to get to your contortionist viewpoint. What you bring up is pointless. Look at "LINUX" distributions like Redhat/Fedora or Mandrake, etc. That's how people understand Linux. The kernel business, that's all true, but this is an almost hidden component in this distribution. Nobody but advanced users would even look at this.

In answer to a question about programming as related to Linux, don't make a user believe that he is not going to have access to a Unix/Linux shell. In any of the popular distributions he has at least 3, if not more fully implemented shells. Look in your man pages. This is outright ridiculous!

Don't come and tell us there is no shell in Linux. Who understands "Linux" to mean the kernel? Certainly not if you set out to compare Windows with Linux. You could start arguing also about the internal buildup of Windows beginning from HAL up. If you want to talk about the "kernel" nobody will use the term "Linux" as you claim, people refer to it as "the Linux kernel". In fact argau, you yourself in your first post did not adhere to your contortionist terminology as you defended later on.

Man, be sensible!

 

Hi Baron,

It sounds like you haven't tried any of the Linux distributions as of at least a year or so. I don't know about your Sun-Solaris but this looks like a rather old version. I would say that drag and drop works as well on the filemanager(s) of a decent Linux distribution as it does under windows. You certainly would not be obliged to do everything at command line level.

Even better. Some distributions allow you transparant access to Windows file systems from the Linux file manager, drag & drop included - this provided you have both Linux and Windows partitions of course.

To get a good feel without having to go to a full Linux install, you could download a MandrakeMove image (free) and burn it into a CD. This will give you a full Linux distro booting right from the CD without harddisk install.

Good luck,

nononsense