Where does Linux stand in your life?

[xxxxxx.xxxxxx]

I was just wondering how Neowin's Linux users run their systems, whether they are Linux Only, Dual Booting on the same system or using Virtual Machines for their experience.

I run Debian 6 exclusively on my desktop for my primary OS.

[metallithrax]

Linux Mint 10 & Windows XP dual boot, but mainly boot into Mint. I will probably be Linux only in the not too distant future, but at the minute i'm not quite ready to ditch XP fully.

[Jen Smith]

For me, depends on the machine and what it's doing. Most of the computers here are server oriented, they're a mix of BSD, Linux and a couple 2008R2 machines. My "main" system and the family's desktops are mostly Windows 7, a couple running BSD, and a couple laptops running Arch. Personally, I'm not a fan of dual-booting.. if the OS in question doesn't do everything I need it to do, then (for me) it doesn't have a place on the machine. The only machine I do have an actual dual-boot set up is a test rig that happens to have a Hackintosh installation that I fire up every couple of months for giggles and haven't gotten around to erasing yet.

[Syanide]

I use PCLinuxOS as a primary OS - though that can be subject to change. I don't dual boot anymore, but I do keep a copy of Windows XP in VirtualBox, basically for two programs: Photoshop and Illustrator, I use them for occasional work, and tbh, I'm too lazy to learn Gimp and Inkscape at this moment (both seem really good, especially Inkscape, but as I said, laziness).

Netbook runs Linux Mint 10 and nothing else.

[shockz]

I have all my primary servers at home running on Linux. File server, personal server (irssi, minecraft, vpn, shoutcast), and a web server. Running via ESXI.

[fusi0n]

Ubuntu 10.10 Dual Booted 7 on work laptop. Ubuntu 10.10 tribooted on my mac with Windows 7.

[+jamesyfx]

Linux is a contingency for me. There is a laptop with Linux Mint on it for use if - for whatever reason - the other 5 computers we have aren't working. :p

[Chasethebase]

Ubuntu 10.10 is currently my secondary OS, but may be removed soon.

[Travelar]

I run mostly in VMs at this point with Win7 as my main OS. When this semester is over, I am going back to running it as my primary with Windows as the VM OS. I always kept Windows for gaming, but at this point of my life, I'd rather game on a console. If I need to game, there are plenty of good resources to get many popular games working in Linux.

Not sure what flavor I'll be switching to, but I'm going to guess Debian since it's primarily what I run in my VMs.

[DavidM]

Other - I use it on my router, everything else is Windows 7.

[Growled]

I use a variety of Linuxes in VM. None as my primary OS at the moment. They are all Windows 7.

[Carbon Fiber]

Virtual for school purpose, handy to take with me on a USB key :)

[mps69]

Ubuntu 10.10 on both netbook and desktop.

Dual booted for about 6 month, and then realised I didn't really need Windows any more, and I've never looked back.

[Subject Delta]

Other, I use Android on my phone which is built from a modded Linux kernel

[Aethec]

Well, I've got a NT Password Recovery CD, which is basically a Linux kernel and chntpw, just in case.

Last time I tried a LiveCD, it crashed after 10 minutes.

[Kreuger]

I have Ubuntu only on my desktop. My laptop is Linux Mint dualboot with Windows 7 though I don't use the Windows often.

[briangw]

I've dabbled with OpenSuse 11 and Ubuntu 9 on VMWare Workstation, but that is it...just dabbling. Oh, and like Subject Delta, got a variant of it on my Droid Incredible ;)

[lunamonkey]

I've got a partial upgrade of ubuntu 10.10 -> 11.04 running at the moment, it's caught between updates and it's peeing me off.

How can I cleanly finish it off without losing stuff? Update manager keeps failing on one item, and then tries all over again. :/

Edit : to answer quiestion.... it's on my browsing laptop. I don't use it for anything in particular, just Opera, email and WoL and VNC and stuff.

[cork1958]

Still have Zenwalk http://zenwalk.org/ installed on a couple machines that dual boot with Windows 7.

Personally,

Never saw much sense to dual booting and even less sense to triple or more booting. Only have those 2 machines dual booting just so I don't get TOTALLY rusty with Linux.

Linux has definitely come a long ways in recent years, but it will never be my main OS even if I had to find and use a pirated copy of Windows!!

[c3ntury]

Linux on my smartphone in the form of Android (if that counts), used to use Linux on the desktop, but Windows 7 dominates at the moment.

[+InsaneNutter]

In my life Linux runs on devices that usually perform one purpose, for example:

Media Player - I have a Nettop PC that runs an install of XBMC Live, that is used for playing back all my media.

Router - runs the Tomato firmware.

Phone - runs Android.

I'm not a fan of it at all on the desktop, its just not for me. However for a device more focused on a single task such as a media player / router i think Linux is great.

[ichi]

On my HTPC/desktop, on my laptop, on my netbook, on my work laptop and on my smartphone.

I guess it might also be on other appliances I have around (nook? router? tv?), but I don't care enough to be bothered checking.

[Descartes]

Most notably in my phone :p

Other than that, dual boot on my netbook, but I only use it for Linux/UNIX related classes.

Currently I don't have any Linux install on my desktop.

[COKid]

Does the B&N Nook Color use Linux? If, that'd be it.

[pkubaj]

I voted dual-boot it's not really dual (on my desktop). I have Arch Linux and Splashtop OS on my desktop among three other systems (FreeBSD, Windows 7, Windows XP). I also dual-boot Debian with Windows 7 on my laptop. My phone runs Linux as well, Maemo to be precise, and Android (but I installed Android on my own).