What do you use Crunchbang for?

mattatron · 2010-09-09 13:56:20

I use CrunchBang on my corporate laptop for work (it replaces the corporate default of Windows 7). I've had to make use of Crossover Office for Wine to give me access to Outlook for email, but other than that I am able to work more efficiently than the guys who've left Windows on their machines.

It constantly amazes me how long time Unix and Linux users/admins will put up with Windows on a machine because that's what the corporate puts on it. If I'm going to spend up to 12 (sometimes more) hours in front of the thing, I want to make sure it is a slick, safe and fast environment to help me get my work done more easily.

I am an ex-Microsoft admin that used nothing but Microsoft products for most of my career, but I've been using Linux as my primary OS for the last 18 months. I'm not missing the MS world in the slightest.

So if you got this far, thanks for reading...now why did I post this? (Especially since there have been similar topics on what you use Crunchbang on, and your demographics etc.)

I'd like to know how you use Crunchbang and if it has replaced Windows as your "production" OS for work.

deh · 2010-09-09 14:00:58

Every single computer related task... I now work for myself, which enables me to choose freely which OS to use. And CB is the choice.

Main desktop has CB Statler.
Laptop has Mint 9, it somehow handles better than CB for some reason. But this is soon going to charity.
Soon-to-be-bought netbook for work purposes will have CB though.

safetycopy · 2010-09-09 14:21:11

I mostly do web development stuff, so my #! is my web development environment. I also do all my day-to-day stuff with #! and only switch to my Windows install for gaming and the few apps that I can't find satisfactory OS alternatives for (Photoshop, Flash, etc).

Morley · 2010-09-09 14:35:20

All sorts of things ...

Internet
Listen to / watch music and movies
Play chess and analyze games using Xboard / Pychess and Crafty / Stockfish
Write various papers / articles
Diablo II and Guild Wars in WINE
Stellarium!

And anything else that I need a computer for. I keep a small Win 7 partition so I can have internet anywhere via Clear Mobile internet (USB), but 99% of the time, I am using #! for something.

jmbarnes · 2010-09-09 14:54:53

Just the other evening I was musing about this myself -- what sort of specialized tasks people were using crunchbang for.

#! is on both of my computers:

1) A laptop that has a docking station for almost all the main work and play. The work is mostly academic in nature (writing, reading, researching). The play is mostly music listening, and movie watching. This box has a VirtualBox installation of XP so I can run ArcGIS when necessary.

2) A Home Theater PC / Home server on a little eeePC 900a. This took a good deal more time to setup as its quite a bit more specialized than a basic #! install though I still found myself more comfy with it as a base than building up debian or ubuntu. As a Home Theater PC it runs xmbc to play videos and music-- though it can only play standard definition video (when money and time permits I'll be upgrading to a NVIDIA Ion platform). As a home server it has 3 TBs of storage which it serves up through NFS and Samba for streaming media and provide a central backup location. It shares a home printer through CUPS. It also has a tiny website served up through apache and--more importantly--a web-accessible interface for streaming music via a web browser from the server via ampache.

Last edited by jmbarnes (2010-09-09 14:55:09)

Unia · 2010-09-09 15:39:45

I don't run #!, but I think I can still answer this question tongue

I use Linux for my day-to-day computing, such as reading my mail, browsing the internet, watching movies/photo's, listen to music and chat with my friends. I only use Windows 7 (which came pre-installed) for school (MS Office) and iTunes (for my iPod Touch)

I know there's Openoffice for MS Office in Linux, but I've to do a lot of assignments together with partners and they use Windows; so it's just easier if I do too.

snowpine · 2010-09-09 15:41:35

Cool thread; I've moved it to "CrunchBang Talk" so it can get a wider audience. smile

Personally, I use #! for... everything! I keep a Windows PC around for watching streaming media on Linux-unfriendly sites, and I have Fedora on my EEE because I like the practice with an RPM-based distro. But other than that, I spend the most hours with #!.

mattatron · 2010-09-09 15:52:46

Cool replies so far! Keep 'em coming.

Unia wrote:

I know there's Openoffice for MS Office in Linux, but I've to do a lot of assignments together with partners and they use Windows; so it's just easier if I do too.

See, there's the thing. Why put up with a closed, buggy etc. etc. system just to make _other_ peoples lives easier? I don't get it. I say use what is right for _you_ and convince the people that are using closed formats that _they're_ wrong, not the other way around.

If you must be compatible with MS Orifice or whatever then use it under Wine/CrossOver Office. It works really well.

Unia · 2010-09-09 16:03:36

mattatron wrote:

Cool replies so far! Keep 'em coming.
Unia wrote:
I know there's Openoffice for MS Office in Linux, but I've to do a lot of assignments together with partners and they use Windows; so it's just easier if I do too.
See, there's the thing. Why put up with a closed, buggy etc. etc. system just to make _other_ peoples lives easier? I don't get it. I say use what is right for _you_ and convince the people that are using closed formats that _they're_ wrong, not the other way around.
If you must be compatible with MS Orifice or whatever then use it under Wine/CrossOver Office. It works really well.

I saw this coming tongue I don't mind using MS Office just for office works and for other peoples sake. It's not like some university forces me to use it - I'm only 16 years old and when I have to do an assignment together with someone else I usually bring them home with me and work on one laptop. In that case it's just easier to work on Windows. Now I do have Abiword installed for a simple, alone-to-do task, but for the big projects I feel more comfortable with Ms Office.

mattatron · 2010-09-09 16:11:58

Fair enough. I'll leave it there.

Unia wrote:

... - I'm only 16 years old and when ...

Ah OK, I'm twice your age and probably a bit bigoted. big_smile

FiniteStateMachine · 2010-09-09 16:12:22

I use linux for pretty much everything. I was tentative about being able to use it for my university work, but things have turned out well.
Linux is actually a boon to me, as a computer science student, because i can natively develop java and C programs (and other languages of course). Our computer labs run linux, and so many students who used windows had to go to the labs to work on projects, whereas I had the advantage of being able to work off-campus.

Taking notes is easy enough on linux, the program KeepNote is a great alternative to windows software. I have proper printer support, even works with an old scanner.

Honestly i though I'd run into one issue or another, and eventually realize i had to stick with windows. Because of this, i have a small Windows 7 paritition that came with the laptop, but like many other users here, the day has yet to come where I've needed to use windows for something.

I've taken advantage of the Windows partition though, and use it to play games from time to time.

But certainly, i'm very happy and impressed with linux on my laptop.

Unia · 2010-09-09 16:14:08

mattatron wrote:

Fair enough. I'll leave it there.
Unia wrote:
... - I'm only 16 years old and when ...
Ah OK, I'm twice your age and probably a bit bigoted.

Almost antique already! lol
Before you guys will all jump me - I didn't say that, 32 is still pretty young smile

anonymous · 2010-09-09 16:25:16

My uses for Linux are very simple:

Internet (email, forums, blogs, etc)
watching videos
listening to music

I still have Windows for gaming, Office, and using hardware like printer, calculator, GPS, etc.

mattatron · 2010-09-09 16:29:22

@FSM I've just added KeepNote to my must have list of installed apps. I love it! Thanks for sharing.

pvsage · 2010-09-09 16:35:15

I use CrunchBang Statler for everything that I do on my netbook. Where I work, employees have no authority to install third party software on company machines, so I have to use Windoze there; the store inventory systems use *ugly* proprietary VisualBasic apps. I - and I'm sure many others in the US workforce - envy those who are able to do whatever they want with their employers' machines.

Val_B · 2010-09-09 16:56:50

I used to use #! on my netbook and I use LM 9 Fluxbox right this second on it.
I have Windows installed alongside Linux on one of my machines the other three run Linux alone (Debian testing, LM9 FB, LM9 KDE, Xubuntu Lucid) Linux is used for everything with the following exceptions:

Eve Online (I can get it to work in Wine, but sometimes it freezes in Wine)
Google Sketchup
Halo CE
Dawn of War: Soul Storm
Reason 4
Scanning (I print from linux but, scan from Windows)
Porting software (Delphi 7 and Turbo Pascal 7)

Everything else I use Linux for, and usually my MSI WInd u100. Even dev and office stuff usually happens on my netbook's surprisingly comfortable small keyboard.

SuNjACk · 2010-09-09 16:56:59

anonymous wrote:

My uses for Linux are very simple:
Internet (email, forums, blogs, etc)
watching videos
listening to music
[...]

me too (and another things)

I only use windows for gaming (assassin creed)

Last edited by SuNjACk (2010-09-09 17:00:22)

~HP · 2010-09-09 18:06:26

I don't use CrunchBang anymore.

Last edited by ~HP (2010-12-22 11:35:24)

freedomweasel · 2010-09-18 02:34:14

At work I use XP, but I home I have quite a collection of boot partitions. I have #! on my netbook which I use for almost everything at home. It has the factory install windows 7 partition which I still boot into for running steam. On my iMac (which I'd love to sell) I have xp and osx 10.5. I'd really like to ditch the mac and build a win7/linux system. As it stands now I only use the mac for ripping my dvds/cds and organizing my media. I have it set up as an sftp server for my netbook.
I don't do anything too serious on my home computers, some light (for fun) python and ruby, music, movies, internet etc.

At work I spent most of my time in excel or solidworkss.

houndhen · 2010-09-19 02:46:44

I use #! for:

internet (forums, learning about linux, email)

watching videos

reading news

keeping up with personal finances

converting excel files to open office

play a few games

I still use XP but only for Quickbooks. I have customers that I help with QB and they use XP.

I feel a lot safer using Linux when doing anything on the internet than windows.
I have a friend in North Alabama that uses Linux but no one locally here in rural south AL. Not complaining; just disappointed that more people are missing out of some really good stuff.

omns · 2010-09-19 03:22:59

Well not CrunchBang at the moment but I use Linux for most tasks including:

All Interwebz and office based interactions like browsing, research, torrents, website management/development , some graphics work, all word processing and office tasks, social networking, irc, some basic script and package development. Playing music, watching video, the list goes on.

I also have a mac and it is used for much the same purposes but it gets a heavier workout for my my graphics and video production needs. As much as I love and use Gimp, there is no substitute for Photoshop in the long run and despite major improvements, video editing isn't even close on Linux compared to what I produce in OSX.

TRF · 2010-09-19 07:48:08

Well, everything ... got it on my laptop =>
*) internet
*) e-mails (claws-mail helps a lot)
*) music (mocp :-))
*) python scripting
*) articles writing (OOO and MSO, LaTeX)

an old Celeron 660 MHz pc acts as a server (9.04 #) and firewall ==> I haven't got an monitor or keyboard plugged into it for ~ 14 month ... it just works ... lol

Last edited by TRF (2010-09-19 07:50:16)

trurl · 2010-09-19 12:19:24

I use it for everything I want :-)

1. music, movies, internet, etc
2. Spreadshit stuff
2. VBA in Excel (through VirtualBox)
3. econometrics/statistics (gretl and R)
4. Latex + Word (again Vbox)
5. Time managment stuff (claws-mail + tomboy + orage)

I use MS office for compatibility reasons (I use it at work)

It is a pleasure to see Vbox running, some torrents are being downloaded in the background, music is playing, while I am taking a break reading my favorite newspaper on the internet ;-)

Everything works smooth even though I use ordinary 4 years old laptop with Celeron proc and 1.5Gb RAM (I should rather say my old reliable friend, it has never let me down).

Last edited by trurl (2010-09-19 12:19:51)

hochrappenkopf · 2011-03-03 15:49:43

Hi folks,

I'm using the Microsoft stuff at work - the management swears by Microsoft Windows XP, soon Windows 7. And, my family, too.

#!, it's just for my personal fun, but for a lot of fun: Learning the inside out of this great operating system, mailing, listening to music, surfin' the Web, writing posts, and gaming (TORCS = The Open Source Race Car Simulation).

But, I'm still a newbie to Linux. Nowadays I'm learning to handle OpenBox, the command line etc.

One of my objective for this year is to learn dealing with Linux server, too.

Have a nice day with #!

Regards

rizzeh · 2011-03-04 15:50:10

I run my office off a #! laptop. Android phone with Barnacle WiFi Teether App provides the internet - 3G is quite fast in central London - around 50kbs down speed. For the life of me, i can't understand, how so many people got duped into getting mobile internet USB dongles with 2 year contracts while still owning a mobile phone.

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#1 2010-09-09 13:56:20

What do you use Crunchbang for?

#2 2010-09-09 14:00:58

Re: What do you use Crunchbang for?

#3 2010-09-09 14:21:11

Re: What do you use Crunchbang for?

#4 2010-09-09 14:35:20

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#5 2010-09-09 14:54:53

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#6 2010-09-09 15:39:45

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#7 2010-09-09 15:41:35

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#8 2010-09-09 15:52:46

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#9 2010-09-09 16:03:36

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#10 2010-09-09 16:11:58

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#11 2010-09-09 16:12:22

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#12 2010-09-09 16:14:08

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#13 2010-09-09 16:25:16

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#14 2010-09-09 16:29:22

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#15 2010-09-09 16:35:15

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#16 2010-09-09 16:56:50

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#17 2010-09-09 16:56:59

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#18 2010-09-09 18:06:26

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#19 2010-09-18 02:34:14

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#20 2010-09-19 02:46:44

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#21 2010-09-19 03:22:59

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#22 2010-09-19 07:48:08

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#23 2010-09-19 12:19:24

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#24 2011-03-03 15:49:43

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#25 2011-03-04 15:50:10

Re: What do you use Crunchbang for?

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