Curious:

[blnchflr]

Poll #1421

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

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What is your primary OS?

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BSD
1 (3.3%)

Linux
23 (76.7%)

Solaris
0 (0.0%)

Mac OS X
4 (13.3%)

Windows
1 (3.3%)

Other
1 (3.3%)

Other/additional comments:

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Will you be installing Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala (or Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Edubuntu) at the end of October

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I'm already running the alpha/beta version!
2 (6.7%)

Yes, will be installing asap
6 (20.0%)

Will be installing eventually
7 (23.3%)

No, will continue using older Ubuntu version
2 (6.7%)

Am not running Ubuntu
13 (43.3%)

Which method do you prefer:

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Upgrade
19 (63.3%)

Clean install
11 (36.7%)

Comments

[yvi]

Um, it always sounds completely nerdy when I say I 'have' three machines. But one's home (Debian/XP dual-boor), the laptop (Debian/XP-dualboot), university (Debian only) and the server I share with my boyfriend (BSD). The dual-boots get booted into Windows every few weeks or so...

[blnchflr]

I assumed many (most?) people have more than one machine and may be running different things - I find it hard to incorporate that into the poll, without making it really long, *g*. But I also assume most people think of one OS as their primary? Or maybe that should have been a question, too :o)

[yvi]

Well, I suppose at least 95% of all computer users are only running one operating system. It#s just that members of this community probably belong to the remaining 5% more often :)

I definitely think of Linux, and specifically Debian, as my primary operating system.

[cesy]

Well, I'd like to think of Linux as my primary, but over the past six months, I've spent about 10 hours on Linux, whereas I'm on Windows most of the day, 6 days a week. I probably spend on average half an hour a day on Putty to a unix-based box, but the rest is in Windows. The Linux box is my main machine, but I've been working out-of-town so I've been using the work laptop far more than my home desktop.

[sixbeforelunch]

I have three machines. One a dual boot XP/Ubuntu 8.10, and a laptop and a desktop both running only Ubuntu 8.10.

As for upgrading, I am planning to, but I've been planning on upgrading to 9.04 since it came out and it's been six months so...yeah.

[blnchflr]

I'm such a fan of ext4, I definitely noticed an increase in performance on my laptop, so there's something to look forward to when you get around to it :o)

[draigwen]

I have dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 7. Windows solely for gaming use, which means I don't log into it for months, then it becomes my primary OS for weeks with Ubuntu being used for about 5 minutes an evening (I always log into Ubuntu first to check email before switching to Windows for games).

I must admit I didn't even know the next Ubuntu was just around the corner! I tend to upgrade as soon as the newest version is out of beta, after checking that it's not likely to break anything too badly on upgrade!

[blnchflr]

Do you check with a livecd, then?

[draigwen]

Sorry for the late response. I kept forgetting to come back!

I just check forums to see if anyone's had any problems. I have horrible memories of RedHat making a big release with a non-working copy of GCC, so since then I've made sure to check others' experiences first.

My other half runs Ubuntu in VirtualBox nowadays, which will also give me a good chance to see how it goes!

[baggyeyes]

I can't connect to the modem through Linux, and all of my work stuff is online-based...so...Mac is my current primary OS. But I have fun in Linux. I tinker. I want to upgrade, but being on dialup, I haven't had much luck upgrading.

[blnchflr]

Ack, dial-up :o/

[asenathwaite]

I use Arch as my main OS (I refuse to acknowledge any personal connection between myself and the computer I use at work). Arch does a rolling release, but when I did a lot of distro-hopping I preferred clean installs to upgrades.

[blnchflr]

At this point, I'm new enough to partitioning and manually installing that it's all fun and games, and upgrading would seem boring next to it. I'm sure it'll grow old at some point, and I'll appreciate letting the system doing all the work for me :o)

[seekingferret]

Agreed with regard to work computer. I have to run Windows at work because Solidworks doesn't run on any other OS, but the amount of grief Windows has caused us is tremendous.

[blnchflr]

If I ever had a company, it'd run purely on Linux, or not run at all :o)

[feathertail]

Linux Mint for the win! Tied pretty closely to Ubuntu release cycles, but not, in fact, Ubuntu. ^.^

[blnchflr]

What is the advantage of Linux Mint over Ubuntu, would you say - is it merely not having to install restricted-extras, or are there more goodies :o) ?

[feathertail]

I like the aesthetics, to be honest! "From Freedom Came Elegance" and all that. Plus it's a one-man startup supported by ads (on the site and the forums) and donations. He's writing these add-ons like mintInstall and mintUpdate in Python, and some of them -- like the Control Center and SimpleCompizConfig -- are pretty good! The latter made it a lot easier to set up Mac OS X-style Expose than it was in Ubuntu.

Not too long ago he was posting in the Mint blog about planned updates to mintInstall, and his next post was actually about taking our feedback from the comments and adding in what we said! So ... very responsive, more close-knit feel, very elegant UI and aesthetics.

I actually switched from Ubuntu when I heard about Ubuntu One. Proprietary online services tied into my Free Software desktop? Evangelizing a Free Software desktop that exists as a way to lock people into it? Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. But Mint is actually better IMO. >.>b

[blnchflr]

I hadn't heard about Ubuntu One. And I'm less than impressed with Mark Shuttleworth's comment on girls recently. But I'm such a homebody - I like what I know - and right now I have Ubuntu set up just so…

[feathertail]

Yes, I wasn't impressed by that either ... it's not like he went out of his way to diss them or anything, but it kind of shows the way that he's thinking about it. And I can only imagine he hasn't apologized because he doesn't think it's that important. Maybe things will change soon?

Anyway, yes ... I'm kind of used to tearing my OS apart / swapping computers every so often, even though it's not a good idea. Here's the entry where I wrote about Ubuntu One though: LINK I was a little upset at the time. >.>b

[blnchflr]

:o/