Thank you! :)

I love to be free.

In the past I was using softwares & games just for hobby, since I had no money for that so my only choice was to pirate them and just enjoy it. I did quite feel bad about it. Then I grew up and due to my love for games, I decided to try being an indie game developer.

And It's how it begins: Searching for a software to make my first game was a real pain because of their expensive prices. Then it was how I first met the 'free & open-source software', I was so happy I found something for free and that I could use it to make a good game! Programming, Drawing, Animating, etc, I had it all and didn't need to spend something I didn't have.

Then I noticed anyone could help developers to make their softwares better! Not forgetting that the community will try to help you solve your problems. I was using windows till I thought, just why not trying another free&open-source software, but this time an linux os? Programming college helped me on this transition and since then I cannot just go back to windows [tried some times, but did regret and went back], and this is another +1 for Linux, everyone can get a distro legally, poor or rich.

And now I'm investing into buying DRM-Free games to my Linux and I love when a good game is released to penguin. The convenience to play it on my favorite distro is something I really, really love!

And devs, do not forget Linux gamers, bring us native games, we really appreciate that! And GOG, bring us the Galaxy client! I'm investing my money here just believing you will bring this gift to us.

And let's not forget to donate to your distro/software of choice. Devs really work hard to bring us this freedom. :]

It started with a Youtuber called Spatry

There have been a number of people I've met in real life who've told me about Linux, but it was "spatry's cup of Linux" that got me interested.

He made a series of videos called "Linux does what Windon't" He made a very good sales pitch, I'll give him that, but he was wrong about almost everything he said. Most of the things that couldn't be done in Windows are just things he didn't know how to do. And a lot of the things he said you could do in Linux... well you could... do them but there was always more steps in the process.

One example is that he said you could just copy and paste your home folder from one Linux installation to another to keep all your settings. This is far from true. If you want to transfer your home folder you'll also need to transfer the permissions as well. This can't be done by just copying and pasting and if you copy it to a NTFS partition without compressing it first you'll corrupt the permissions.

That's just one example but everything he says is like that. No one has ever asked me this before.

Honestly mate just download it and start using it. It's the best way.

The hell you talking about. Unity, Gamemaker and Unreal Engine are all free to use. My BS meter as at full 10!

Double post damn it.

Trippe post. GGG should let me delete these.

If you are going strictly Linux and not using Windows, you are not going to have an NTFS partition in the first place.

USB drives can't be formatted to ext4 and when transferring your home folder from one computer to another what device do you think people are going to use?

They can. I have one plugged to my machine right now.

It has been the other way around at the last 3 places I worked, the devs (who predominantly used Linux and Mac) couldn't be bothered supporting Windows machines for development.

95% of the app coverage either targeted the browser, mobile or a Linux backend.

It's practical reality. Windows dominates the professional desktop and gaming, because that is where Windows is.

The bulk of the server market is in Linux and so are most devices (at the very least, they use a Unix derivative, the Playstation uses FreeBSD for example).

When a device makers (and more generally devs) can pick any OS they want, they tend to go for the ones they can fully control and ideally, that is free as well,

Well, Visual Studio was like 300$ per license and Windows server was 1000$ per server last time I checked a couple of years back. Combined with the fact that Python and Apache at the time ran way better on Linux than on Windows, I saw the writing on the wall. That was back in 2009.

I was working on Windows before that btw so I kinda saw both sides of the fence. It was actually significant work for me to re-learn everything in Linux. I had a lot of career incentives to do so.

Except that the bulk of the Silicon Valley, the stock market, most of the cloud providers except Azure run on some Unix derivative (mostly Linux).

My previous company was doing digital signatures for banks, insurrances companies, the US military and various branches of the US government and they ran on Linux.

My current employer is poised to become the world leader in homecare management and they use Linux too.

Don't get me wrong, the secretaries probably use Windows or Mac, but the heavy-duty stuff (the machines that run 24/7 and actually run the application the end-users use) gets done on Linux.

Actually, it's the other way around. Microsoft is now scrambling to be more and more Linux compatible, because they are seeing the writing on the wall (with the desktop end-user space shrinking and the Unix family dominating all the other spaces).

Their SQL database now runs on Linux, they are adding a Linux compatibility layer in their OS (so that users can run bash and the like) and they are now supporting Docker (a tool that has a lot of dependencies on facilities provided by the Linux kernel). They are way behind of course and it doesn't compare to a real Linux machine.

Most of the Linux distros are pretty compatible. For example, things that run in Debian will tend to run in Ubuntu with little or no modifications (usually none).

Even between distros that are not closely related like Debian and Centos, 90% of the stuff will be interchangeable. The main difference will be how you install your tools.

It's there already, some Unix derivative (mostly Linux) is dominating all corners of the market except the desktop.

Indeed. Quite a lot of FUD comes towards Linux from some. It is not for everyone and you can either have a smooth experience like i did, or a bit of a nightmare. It depends.

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For those thinking of Linux Mint (good for ex-windows users) DON'T start with the latest current version (which is Linux Mint 19) but pick the older more stable 18.3 version (supported until 2021). Info on that here:

https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3615

As the article says 'Upgrade for a reason'. Mint 19 has had a bit of a bumpy landing and many more people have had issue with it compared to the previous version.

For Mint 18.3 the links are here:

https://linuxmint.com/release.php?id=31

And i would recommend either Cinnamon (for decent spec PC's) or Xfce (for older hardware). Whatever version it is ALWAYS a good idea to run it from the DVD first in 'Live mode' before choosing to install. It is slower, but you get a good idea on the compatibility for your hardware etc.

Not only can they be formatted as either ext2, ext3 or ext4, but with ext4 you can also disable the journaling to reduce wear and tear.

I wasn't aware of that, Manjaro killed the last USB drive I had. Still I don't see much use in formatting a usb to ext4. That will mean that most computers and devices won't be able to read it.

They can be formatted to ext2/3/4, (ex-)fat16/32 or any other filesystem without restricting any of the features. Linux won't restrict you to anything, including doing stupid things, unlike your crappy MS/Apple. If you don't deactivate journaling on NAND without wear-leveling, its you own problem. In fact the only valid FS for these is F2FS. And FFS, USB sticks are expendable.

As of Spatry, as with most of youtubers he is only interested in google payment. If you got butthurt by what he claimed then you are underage - physically or mentally, because adults use what fits their case better. Suprise!

This.

And the last time I used Linux to write to NTFS (using ntfs-3g), it was pretty slow compared to Ext.