just curious (cause i don't use linux) if you have a computer in linux what sorta software do you use or where do you get it from?

 

<----G4 iBook

I really want to upgrade to a macbook or macbook pro. Sometimes I want to run windows though. Just to play games, and stuff. But I still <3 my mac.

 

It really depends on what type of software you are looking for. There are TONS of available software packages for different flavors of Linux and, in general, all of it is free for download. For example, OpenOffice is an office suite package that is specifically designed to work with Microsoft Office products, as well as countless other suites on the market. It works very similar to MS-Office, its interfaces, programs, and layouts are VERY similar to MS-Office, and it can save files in MS-Office formats. And above all, IT'S FREE! If you'd like to give it a shot, you can install OpenOffice on Windows and play with it if you'd like. Just go to www.openoffice.org and click the download.
If you are looking for something specific, just Google for open-source software that relates to your topic. More than likely, someone has either created something specifically designed to suit your needs, or someone has tailored other software to work with Linux.
Correction. Linux people are well-paid nerds.
I still feel the need to argue this statement even though you are not going to approve of my answer, but heck, what else is the internet good for other than arguing with people and sharing ****!
Anyway, I have done quite a bit of playing with ProTools and Digi HD products over the years. I have seen some intense setups in several recording studios that live and die by PC-based recording and editing equipment. This includes several Windows-based systems. Believe it or not, one of the past studios I have played in "upgraded" their setup away from Mac to a full 32-track ProTools HD setup on Windows. To this day, they are STILL using ProTools on a Windows XP environment. Granted, none of this is specific to video editing, rather more towards accurate studio recording, mixing, and editing.
On a different note, I am glad you have found something that offers EXACTLY what you are looking for. That is the whole point of computing, right? ...to achieve your goal to the fullest, whatever it may be. I am assuming, based on your username, that your video edits are most likely related to skating. ...any clips or edits you can share with the rest of us?

 

In response to this, I'll simply link here and say that most movie studios use Linux, not macs. Pixar and IL&M* especially - maybe you've heard of them?

You are aware that the macbooks were designed by Sony, right? Go to sonystyle and compare the designs. Further Dell != PC. There are laptops with the same features that you just cited - Asus makes quite a few of them that match Macbooks spec per spec, but are several hundred dollars cheaper.

Just to follow up UV7, most of the software available to linux is free. There are programs and games you can buy in store (NeroLinux, Doom3, etc.) but there's so many alternatives that it's ridiculous. You can take a look here.

The big thing now is Ubuntu (for the last three years), which is offered through Canonical, Inc. You can now buy Dells preloaded with Ubuntu (about $50 cheaper than machines preloaded with Vista). It has a religious release cycle (every six months) and has a massive community because it's based on one of the oldest distributions, Debian. If you have a problem, it's pretty much been answered, since so many people are using it. There is a ton of software too - if its for linux, ubuntu has it somewhere in their repositories.

Without getting into specifics, there's hundreds of flavors of Linux, but *usually* they're just derivatives from the big companies - Suse, Mandrake, Debian, Redhat and are targeted for special purposes.

Really, you can try any of the top 10 distributions on this site, and you can't go wrong. Many of them offer live cds, which basically let you test linux before you install it (make sure your hardware works, etc.).

Finally, I think it's important to note that Apple and Windows aren't as big as Linux outside of the U.S., Canada, and Japan. Many Linux devs aren't in the U.S. (Germany, Africa for instance) which could be the reason - but there are whole governments running some flavor of Linux exclusively.

*IL&M = Industrial Light and Magic = Star Wars

 

I dont actually do skate videos, on the side yes, not for my job anyway. I'm the Lead editor and motion graphic designer for Accent Media in Ohio

 

and comparing any normal company against pixar is just stupid. beside the fact that back door $ deals play heavily on the systems they use, they are on a whole different plain of existence than ur normal B market video production studio. and again my argument is less mac vs linux, and more mac vs a windows PC. Linux is a good route so i dont find it hard to believe trend setting companies use it.

 

Pixar didn't start out as a big company. With every successful movie, they got bigger.

They (and others) use linux for a few fairly specific reasons - the machines are cheap, rock solid stable, and you can link several thousand cheap computers together and spread processing load over all the machines, instead of using one machine. Google does this as well.

The argument that I was addressing was your claim of using a variety of platforms and settling on Mac being the best - and I was pointing to an industry whose only purpose is video editing - and Macs are rare there. The software is available to use on Linux too - if you're going to drop 1500 on a Mac + whatever the cost of the license, you can save that much and get a single linux machine.

As I said in my first post on this, the superiority of Macs is largely a myth and is more per user preference. I remember when people kept claiming that Macs were better for photo editing - they weren't - it was only because Photoshop was developed exclusively on a mac. Once Adobe ported it to x86 it was just a myth - they're the same exact program. The same applies to windows - the programs are equally good.

---

Also, another myth is Macs are more expensive than PCs - they're not. The price difference is primarily based on what crapware the manufacturer decides to put on - HP and Dell basically sell ad space to subsidize the cost of the PC to the end user. Sure, you can uninstall the software, but once you do a system restore, everything is back as it once was. Nor do these big box OEM companies provide a clean version of the OS - you have to pay extra for that.

There are a lot of smaller companies (as I mentioned, Asus) which will sell a computer sans OS, which you can buy, which will usually be cheaper than a mac BUT! there's more legwork for the end user. Comparing ... ah... oranges to oranges, the cheaper cost is offset by the time you need to spend erasing the trialware/crapware, whereas you don't have that experience with Apple.

If you do an *honest* cost assessment, and compare spec to spec, a Dell can cost the same as an Apple (excluding discounts, which vary from hour to hour).

---

Ultimately I personally am platform ambivalent - there are pros and cons for Windows / Mac. But it's a stupid and superficial argument to say one does better than the other on any given task since a. they're using the same hardware b. built to the same single user experience and platform and c. the exact same software is almost always available on both platforms (not including games).

 

u quite apparently know nothing bout this industry. u seriously feel mac are rare amongst production houses? but hey, i admire ur quick google searching for vocab ammunition

u must be livin in some other realm of reality. and the computers were buyin are more like $5500 + 3 screens, not 1500. and i dont know how u are tryin to tell me whats better here, what do u do again? Ur forgettin that this is my field bro and ur not gonna baffle me with BS. If u seriously think u can compare FCP to Premier or avid...whatever dude. i give up


maybe if u wanna gain some actual knowledge bout the industry pick up a edition of "post" and see whats gettin used. i have no idea where u came up with the ideas u got

 

Next debate should be calculator or abacus. Me I am an abacus guy.

 

Pffffttt. The calculator and abacus have nothing on the slide rule.

 

They still teach abacus in japan.
The kids who have been studing it for years are insanly good and fast at mathematics. Genius level.

 

pc's for life

 

my math skills could be developed further

 

Mac and PC! <3 Linux, not a big fan of Windows.. It gave me too many problems, so my friend taught me the basics of Linux and I learned the rest. =D

Gaim for those who use Linux and want to chat with AIM, Yahoo, ICQ, MSN people. It's the equivalent to Adium for Macs and umm.. Trillion or whatnot (I don't remember what it's called) for Windows.

Linux people are not well paid nerds. I wish I was well paid.

 

peh


____ that, i say all three.

boot camp ftw. =D

macbook pro running mac/windows and sabayon/ubuntu

only cuz i just installed sabayon last night and im still comparing it to ubuntu....its prettier. thats whati've gthered so far.

 

And you even less.

It's based on gentoo. And it's designed to be the blingiest of bling.

 

it also runs like ____

and ill tell you right now.

i by far do NOT have the slowest mac pro in the world >=|

with 8 gigs of ram
A Quadro vid card

annnnnnddd the two xeon proccesors that are in this beast

what the hell will make it run at the greatest speed?
granted, it isn't slow. but it won't run to it's fullest capacity! i was looking at everything and cannot find any reason it shouldn't but i swear it wont.

maybe it's just me.

im annoyed. i want it to work. looks nice. and i like having three systems working at the same time.

 

 

Since this thread has been done like 30 times so far, I'll just paste some of my comments from the last one...

"I still don't understand why you keep bringing up the Zune... Mac's can use a Zune too. And PC's can use ipods. Zune is not a pc and ipod is not a mac.

Holy crap man, $9500?! I could get top of the line mobo, quad core processor, dual 8800gtx's, 8GB of ram, a terabyte of Sata II drivespace, watercool everything in the case, hook it up to a huge HD flatscreen and full 7.1 surroundsound for cheaper than that. What did you do make the case out of solid gold?"

"Ok I went to the mac site briefly to check specs on some of their systems. Highest graphics card I found was the geforce 7600 gt. I have the overclocked version of this card in PCI-E and it's a good card. However, this is the mid level for pc's. The 8800 gtx makes it look like a piece of dooky. Not to mention the fact that pc's can use sli with them (although it is still buggy and doesn't increase a whole lot performance wise.). Not sure if mac's have sli capability yet. They do have core 2 duo now though. So within a year or two I have a feeling that mac will be using the same components as pc's so the argument will eventually come down to the case and the OS.
Personally I like the interchangability of my pc. (note I said my pc. Most dell, hp, compaq, and the other "reassembler" companies have ridiculously difficult layouts for upgrading/swapping parts) I'd much rather have a metal "lego block" computer than a brick of plastic. (by the way, the metal case helps channel static away from the important parts of the system. Why people make cases out of acrylic or plastic is beyond me (regardless of how pretty it may look)."

"Good lords is this stuff overpriced...
$400 for a 500GB HD? $140 at tigerdirect.com
As far as I can tell the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 is for rendering. I'm not sure how it holds up for games and the likewise. The only options for graphics on this link is the 7300 GT's, Radeon x1900 xt, and the quadro. Hardly a large selection. And at $1650 for 512MB of memory on the quadro vs the 8800gtx's 768MB for $600 it hardly seems justified unless you render for a living. $2700 for 667MHz DDR2? I found 8GB of 1066MHz DDR2 for $1500. At least the Xeons seemed priced about right. Most of the things I've seen with the Xeons were servers though. The fibre channel card is server based as well."

 

mac