Ubuntu
 

I run Ubuntu (Gnome) as my primary OS and it's nothing like Windows. Much more like OS X, in fact. I also like Vidalinux which is Gentoo based, but the user forums for Ubuntu are so much more active and helpful for users new to Linux.

I would say this: the little Mini sitting in front of me is getting more and more of time and attention! Neat computer, neat OS.

Gary

Im glad to hear so many comments on Ubuntu.

I heard about it and tried the Unbuntu live CD on my G3 iBook. Granted, its not up to OSX for the following reasons:
- no expose (cant live without it now!)
- no support for WPA Airport networks

Otherwise, I found it (even on the liveCD) to be very responsive on my 366MHz G3 (320MB RAM) and seeing Firefox etc on it was very welcoming and familiar. As a distribution:
- visually it looks good enough (and burns less CPU cycles than Aqua, probably)
- it handled sleep/wake and other aspects of my iBook well
- its FREE. really, 100%, like free beer. the fact that they even post you the discs if you dont have the bandwidth to download (or you dont have the know-how to burn bootable iso's) is just fantastic.
- they release regular (6-monthly) new versions
- every version is supported via security updates etc for 18 months
- looks pretty easy to install a wide range of software through their system.

IMHO, linux is coming on in leaps and bounds - and running it on apple hardware is a great way to go. BUT, I like OSX so much and know how to use it so well that I would prefer to have a machine running Panther than linux (even as good as Ubuntu looks). Especially when i can have X11 running Gnome / KDE / whatever simultaneously with Aqua. (maybe we will end up doing that on the new mactels with windows? uugh!)

Speaking of Ubuntu, I have two questions that I haven't had the time to properly research. But maybe someone knows off the top of their head.

One, is there a simple way to tell which version of Ubuntu I have? I'm pretty sure I have version 4.something, but I'd like to know for sure before I download an ISO for version 5.something. I can't find my install discs in my house clutter (sssh, I know I could clean up a bit, I'm overworked).

Two, I can't get themes for Firefox or Thunderbird, because it claims that I don't have Firefox v1.0.4 or later. I am pretty sure I have Firefox 1.0.2 installed, as it came with Ubuntu. Is there a simple way to upgrade this? The Linux source of Firefox I downloaded wouldn't run at all -- "unable to run the firefox-installer executable" or some such.

Probably simple questions and if I had a bit more time I'm pretty sure I can find the answer, but...

this sounds like your questions are specific to ubuntu - i would try their forums.

if you are still using firefox 1.0.2, you should really update it to the latest (1.0.6) as it fixes several security holes etc.

Copied and pasted from another forum I posted on.

Why run Linux on a Mac?

• You need a server-level OS but don't want to pay a license for Mac OS X server
• If you have an older Mac that performs poorly in OS X, such as one of the first iMacs
• You think Apple's hardware rocks, but don't necessarily need all the eye candy of OS X. Mac Minis make awesome servers.

I run OS X on my desktop and notebook, but have Debian on an older G3 iMac, which is a half server half kitchen kiosk. Additionally, I prefer editing configuration files by hand for server tasks, rather than dealing with OS X's GUIs.

Thus the "maybe someone knows off the top of their head" bit.
Thanks for playing, but that was the question. Obviously I need to go find out on my own.