Is it more stressful to run Linux or Windows as your home OS?

Strange question, I know, but I think sometimes about the trying reduce stress in little ways in my life and this has been on my mind lately. I use Linux solely at home. Okay, not completely solely. My wife's laptop came with Windows, so we have a 5GB partition so she can purchase music and put it on her MP3 player. That's it. Otherwise it's all Linux and has been for the last 5 years. I'm quite proficient at Linux, so this isn't usually a problem.

Lately, though, as I've been thinking about stress and ways to reduce stress overall I've wondered if the little things I put up with as a Linux user are worse than the things Windows users put up with. Just thinking about the day to day hassles of trying to get X device to work, things like that, if you have experience with it do you think Linux is less or more stressful as a home OS. I ask mostly because as I'm going through a stressful time in my life, I'm trying to reduce the friction points wherever possible. My opinion at first blush would be that my Linux boxes have been running so long without interruption and I'm so used to it that Windows would be a downgrade. But sometimes I wonder if for home use I'm not missing out on being able to use iTunes flawlessly, etc. If those little things don't add up to a user experience that causes friction in my life where it isn't necessary.

So I was just curious how common an all-Linux home was and if this seems like too much work, especially when you're already a techie for your career.

Now obviously my perspective is of a Linux user. I ask the question above in part because I haven't used Windows at home for so long that my memory is foggy on if those days were worse or not.

Since you're already familiar with Linux, I would imagine that running it on a daily basis wouldn't really be that stressful. No matter what OS you use, you already have a working knowledge of how an operating system works with the hardware in your computer, and I believe that is the number one cause of stress when running an alternative OS. Most people think their computer is magic. As a techie, you do not.

However, I believe stress is not caused by a product or idea so much as when that product or idea goes wrong. Having a problem with setting up X.org may seem stressful now, but you could potentially have as many problems setting up an XP box that runs in an efficent, stable manner.

This to me comes down to preference. Going in you know there will be devices that may not work or quirks that you may have to hunt down going Linux. On Windows you have to worry that your antivirus, spyware and firewall are working AND educate your users not to open every file attachment or click yes on every pop up they see. (user education isn't platform specific but there can be more dire results for innocuous mouse clicks on the winplatform)

It then comes down to what you want to do with the PC, if you're going to game windows is still the primary platform but linux isn't as bad as a Mac in regards to that front (well the Mac does have WoW...)

I have a friend that's been MS free for 7 years, it was tough to be the linux freak in MS land but he was and it got him a decent gig in AZ a few years back but he wasn't a gamer. Meanwhile, if you want to run server type applications on Windows you're going to pay a bit more for a 'server' version of the OS that will let you do so, Linux will let you run those same type of services (DNS, DHCP, NTP, HTTP, FTP so on, so forth) out of the box, no additional fees.

So ultimately... What do you want to do with the machine? That's the first question that will give you your first answers which will spawn your next questions and so on and so forth.

Just thinking about the day to day hassles of trying to get X device to work, things like that, if you have experience with it do you think Linux is less or more stressful as a home OS.

What do you have trouble getting to work? One thing I like about Linux is that, when something is made to work, it tends to stay working.

My opinion at first blush would be that my Linux boxes have been running so long without interruption and I'm so used to it that Windows would be a downgrade. But sometimes I wonder if for home use I'm not missing out on being able to use iTunes flawlessly, etc.

Then do as I do - dual-boot. And if you think booting between both OSs takes too long, here's a tip to speed it up - use software suspend. Suspend one OS, boot into the other, suspend that one when you're done with it, and when you boot back into the first OS, you'll resume where you left off, slashing boot time. So if you bounce back and forth between both OSs, suspending each time instead of completely logging out, it goes a lot faster. I do that on my laptop.

So I was just curious how common an all-Linux home was and if this seems like too much work, especially when you're already a techie for your career.

It was stressful, once. It's a long learning curve. But the further and further you get, the stress goes away.

It's also helpful if you don't kill yourself trying to get something to work all on your own. The answer is usually sitting right there on your distro's message board, waiting for you to search for it.

Also, are you distro hopping? My Linux-related stress went way down when I finally broke that habit.

The only problem I have is trying to get my new games working. Hitman Bloodmoney, HoMM V, RoL, the steam stuff. Not only that but I really don't want to pay even more for cadega just to play game that xp plays just fine. Other than those two things I want to move over.

Edwin wrote:

The only problem I have is trying to get my new games working. Hitman Bloodmoney, HoMM V, RoL, the steam stuff. Not only that but I really don't want to pay even more for cadega just to play game that xp plays just fine. Other than those two things I want to move over.

It is possible to acquire Cedega without paying, if you're into that sort of thing. (Not posting any links of course, but the usual "orrent-tay" sites are places to start)

Also, Cedega isn't like an MMO, if you stop paying, you don't get cut off from what you've already got. You just don't get the future updates. So if the games you like work in the demo, you should be able to subscribe for 1 month, get the latest Cedega, and then stop subscribing and just use that as long as you want.

There's also the cvs-cedega route, which is free. or Wine, if you're really hard up.

Hmm, I've never tried Cedega CVS. Isn't there code that they keep out of the CVS repository? Or is that just some inaccurate BS I heard somewhere?

*Legion* wrote:

Hmm, I've never tried Cedega CVS. Isn't there code that they keep out of the CVS repository? Or is that just some inaccurate BS I heard somewhere?

The only part of the CVS code that isn't available is the copy protection code.

mateo wrote:

The only part of the CVS code that isn't available is the copy protection code.

Innnteresting. Thanks for clearing that up.

I gave the latest Cedega a shot, and it can run WoW without any glitches I saw, but the performance of these damn ATI drivers is still sh*te. Thought about trying Civ4 next, but ATI just ruins everything

Nvidia in my next laptop, no matter what.

*Legion* wrote:

Nvidia in my next laptop, no matter what.

I feel the same way. Between me, you and the other half a dozen people that care about Linux support, ATI's future's looking dim!

Quick note: I installed BF2 on Cedega, and manually updated punkbuster. No game issues.