Any Linux Users Here?

ok. thanks for the feedback.

prior to posting this thread I was going to go with Mandrake because I believe it also has "server" software with it (not that I need it now, but for later if I want to run a web server or something.) whereas suse is pretty stripped down--only client software because they sell the server distributions.

but the live-CDs sound like a great way to get my toes wet without diving all the way in. i think i'll try suse, let it run, and see how it looks.

in the beginning i'm hoping to stay away from command line as much as possible. i hated dos.

as for FreeBSD, i know there are some powerful server applications running on that. i don't know how useful it would be for a home computer though.

OK, anyone know of some good Linux programming links or books?

i can sit there and search Google till the cows come home (already done it) and not find anything worthwhile or up-to-date regarding programming. i am an intermediate VB programmer and advanced-beginner c++. tiypically with Windows, you do a lot of API calls to get your program up and running and interface with hardware and the os. I have no idea how this works with Linux. i'm kinda hoping linux allows direct hardware addressing, which windows hasn't since 98 i belive.

if you know of any GOOD links or books, let me know. i don't need a lesson in c/c++ so much as i need a primer on the peculiarities of linux and program compilation.

is there anyone using Linux right NOW to view this website? anyone use linux to download bootlegs?

just wondering if you folks acutally use linux daily or just to play around with.

[DDSTree]

moving to TB, where this belongs...

and people do post there pop

[jazzbo]

Originally Posted by poppat

OK, anyone know of some good Linux programming links or books?

i can sit there and search Google till the cows come home (already done it) and not find anything worthwhile or up-to-date regarding programming. i am an intermediate VB programmer and advanced-beginner c++.

If you're familiar with c++, you might want to give Mono a shot. There's a book published by O'Reilly called "Mono: A Developer's Notebook" which is pretty good. I've done some basic development with it.

Mono is available at: http://www.mono-project.com

Another popular option is Python. Again I'd check out O'Reilly for books. A lot of great tutorials available for that as well. I'd recommend picking a language that looks learnable, and then look for books and tutorials.

is there anyone using Linux right NOW to view this website? anyone use linux to download bootlegs?

Yes, and yes. The thing people need to realize is that I would guess the vast majority of the tools that people use: shorten, flac, shntools, bit torrent (the original client) are all programs that were available first on unix systems, or at least were available concurrently.

A lot of the early electronic bootleg traders were unix users, as they were the ones who had the know-how to setup the ftp sites and what not and they really have played a major role in pushing the technology along.

just wondering if you folks acutally use linux daily or just to play around with.

Personally it's the only operating system I have had installed at home since 2000; and it's what I use all day at work. So yes there are real live linux users out there.

[Beleaguered]

i can sit there and search Google till the cows come home (already done it) and not find anything worthwhile or up-to-date regarding programming. i am an intermediate VB programmer and advanced-beginner c++. tiypically with Windows, you do a lot of API calls to get your program up and running and interface with hardware and the os. I have no idea how this works with Linux. i'm kinda hoping linux allows direct hardware addressing, which windows hasn't since 98 i belive.

If you know VB & a litte C++, I suggest you try Python with a gui toolkit (pyGTK or wxPython). I found it very easy to learn using the provided documentation and examples. And the apps are, for the most part, cross-platform compatible. FYI...the main Bittorrent program is writen in Python.