🚀 go-pugleaf

"Derek" <del.wattsnospambaby@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:wVFzh.5810$tz6.3906@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
> I was seriously considering  changing my XP box to unbuntu  since the only
> game I seem to play is UT how feasable is an install bear in mind also I
> have an Nvidia 5900XT to cope with as well as being the Internet portal
for
> our network I noted from security checks at various servers a good few
> players are using Linux but is that the version I should be looking at and
> Dapper or what?


http://tinyurl.com/2djyhk  You are looking for Loki's UT.

You'll have to load your nvidia 3D driver for X before attempting to run UT
in *nix, but it is no big deal.  nVidia is kind enough to provide very good
linux support and even decent instructions on how to make their 3D drivers
work in *nix. If you have any difficulty with that, there are quite a few
NGs right here on usenet where you'll find some great help for things like
that.... and there are several "old regulars" in this NG that are always
kind enough to give advice and instructions ;)

"§ď×darts" <no@spamfidder.com> wrote in message 
news:wb6dnf0ArOarlE3YnZ2dnUVZ_rWnnZ2d@bresnan.com...
>
> "Derek" <del.wattsnospambaby@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:wVFzh.5810$tz6.3906@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
>> I was seriously considering  changing my XP box to unbuntu  since the 
>> only
>> game I seem to play is UT how feasable is an install bear in mind also I
>> have an Nvidia 5900XT to cope with as well as being the Internet portal
> for
>> our network I noted from security checks at various servers a good few
>> players are using Linux but is that the version I should be looking at 
>> and
>> Dapper or what?
>
>
> http://tinyurl.com/2djyhk  You are looking for Loki's UT.
>
> You'll have to load your nvidia 3D driver for X before attempting to run 
> UT
> in *nix, but it is no big deal.  nVidia is kind enough to provide very 
> good
> linux support and even decent instructions on how to make their 3D drivers
> work in *nix. If you have any difficulty with that, there are quite a few
> NGs right here on usenet where you'll find some great help for things like
> that.... and there are several "old regulars" in this NG that are always
> kind enough to give advice and instructions ;)
>
>

There is also the supergamer DVD that will run as a live DVD if you are 
antsy about installing Linux without knowing a lot about it. I actually 
bought the DVD but it's open source and you can get it off P2P. It comes 
with America's Army, UT2004, Doom3 and a bunch of other demos already 
installed. You can run an NVidia video driver off the DVD and get great 
performance for a live version. (Not to mention the author is a great guy 
and answers his forums quite regularly) He gave me one-on-one help several 
times and in my book that's pretty classy.
Here's what's on it:
http://on-disk.com/product_info.php/products_id/193
And a homepage/torrent:
http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/11930 

"goPostal" <agutgopostal@hotmail.com> shook some binaries and typed in
alt.games.unreal.tournament on Tue 13 Feb 2007 12:13:58a: 

> 
> "§ď×darts" <no@spamfidder.com> wrote in message 
> news:wb6dnf0ArOarlE3YnZ2dnUVZ_rWnnZ2d@bresnan.com...
>>
>> "Derek" <del.wattsnospambaby@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>> news:wVFzh.5810$tz6.3906@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
>>> I was seriously considering  changing my XP box to unbuntu  since
>>> the only
>>> game I seem to play is UT how feasable is an install bear in mind
>>> also I have an Nvidia 5900XT to cope with as well as being the
>>> Internet portal 
>> for
>>> our network I noted from security checks at various servers a good
>>> few players are using Linux but is that the version I should be
>>> looking at and
>>> Dapper or what?
>>
>>
>> http://tinyurl.com/2djyhk  You are looking for Loki's UT.
>>
>> You'll have to load your nvidia 3D driver for X before attempting to
>> run UT
>> in *nix, but it is no big deal.  nVidia is kind enough to provide
>> very good
>> linux support and even decent instructions on how to make their 3D
>> drivers work in *nix. If you have any difficulty with that, there are
>> quite a few NGs right here on usenet where you'll find some great
>> help for things like that.... and there are several "old regulars" in
>> this NG that are always kind enough to give advice and instructions
>> ;) 
>>
>>
> 
> There is also the supergamer DVD that will run as a live DVD if you
> are antsy about installing Linux without knowing a lot about it. I
> actually bought the DVD but it's open source and you can get it off
> P2P. It comes with America's Army, UT2004, Doom3 and a bunch of other
> demos already installed. You can run an NVidia video driver off the
> DVD and get great performance for a live version. (Not to mention the
> author is a great guy and answers his forums quite regularly) He gave
> me one-on-one help several times and in my book that's pretty classy.
> Here's what's on it:
> http://on-disk.com/product_info.php/products_id/193
> And a homepage/torrent:
> http://www.tuxmachines.org/node/11930 
> 

SuperGamer 2 project is also downloadable via
              http://www.mininova.org/tor/525846 

Just mentioning it, coze the link on tuxmachines didn't work for $me

Have fun
-- 
Then the NASA wanted to get rid of the Hubble telescope (it's old and
they wanted something new), then the europeans wanted to pay money for
it, knowing that.. the NASA reconsidered and gave Hubble a second life
:) 

Unreal Tournament (i assume you are talking about the original version GOTY)
runs flawlessly in linux with an nvidia graphics card, very easy to
install.. also the 2k4 version of UT runs well and i did run them both for
a long time before giving up on UT when i left my clan. 

Ubuntu is a good choice of linux once the nvidia drivers are installed. The
drivers can be easily installed using the automatix program which you can
google for. 

But if your a newbie with linux, as by the sounds you are then try messing
with a live cd first as someone suggested. Try Ubuntu and Kubuntu, the
difference is just the Graphical User Interface, but try them both and
decide what your more comfortable with. Good Luck.

Hmm, I can't seem to get either the NVIDIA drivers or GOTY Unreal
Tournament running on my Linux box. :-(

I guess the fact that I'm a Linux retard doesn't help any.

Im assuming that your computer doesn't have x64 bit archetecture on it,
does it?



On Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:32:34 +0000, nobody wrote:

> Unreal Tournament (i assume you are talking about the original version GOTY)
> runs flawlessly in linux with an nvidia graphics card, very easy to
> install.. also the 2k4 version of UT runs well and i did run them both for
> a long time before giving up on UT when i left my clan. 
> 
> Ubuntu is a good choice of linux once the nvidia drivers are installed. The
> drivers can be easily installed using the automatix program which you can
> google for. 
> 
> But if your a newbie with linux, as by the sounds you are then try messing
> with a live cd first as someone suggested. Try Ubuntu and Kubuntu, the
> difference is just the Graphical User Interface, but try them both and
> decide what your more comfortable with. Good Luck.

No, i never tried it on x64 architecture.... i have installed and ran UT and
UT2k4 on a few linux boxes without any issues, infact i always find in runs
better on linux.

Sorry i can not help..

On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:11:47 +0000, nobody wrote:

> No, i never tried it on x64 architecture.... i have installed and ran UT and
> UT2k4 on a few linux boxes without any issues, infact i always find in runs
> better on linux.
> 
> Sorry i can not help..

Well, thanks anyway!  Seems like most all of the Linux UT installation
programs (Loki, etc.) plus most of the other relatively important programs
that run under Linux (flash player, graphic card drivers) are still mostly
only 32 bit, thus a real challenge to get running under the newer x64
hardware. "Cutting edge" is sometimes not all it's cracked up to be. >:-(

I use Ubuntu running UT2004 with no real problems. I have just helped a 
friend install Ubuntu on an AMD64 with very little hassle. He is using 
the 64 bit version though the 32 bit version works well even on a 64 bit 
PC. He claims UT2004 runs far better than on XP although I haven't seen 
it yet.
I think its a bit of a problem learning the new ways of Linux. So my 
recommendation is to run a dual boot system (Install Windows then 
Ubuntu) and you still have a system that works and you are familiar with 
until you get the hang of Ubuntu.
I suspect that once you do get the hang of Ubuntu you (Like most others) 
will never go back.
I'm also sure you will need some assistance while learning the new 
system so I'll recommend this site as a good starting point 
http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php

Enjoy Ubuntu I bet that in 6 months or so you will be wondering why on 
earth you bothered with the all the problems that windows has to offer 
like Viruses, trojans, worms and the nightmare that is installing 
windows software (just wait until you use Synaptic to install stuff).
Anyway with a dual boot you cant loose.

Mark

peeteedee wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:11:47 +0000, nobody wrote:
> 
>> No, i never tried it on x64 architecture.... i have installed and ran UT and
>> UT2k4 on a few linux boxes without any issues, infact i always find in runs
>> better on linux.
>>
>> Sorry i can not help..
> 
> Well, thanks anyway!  Seems like most all of the Linux UT installation
> programs (Loki, etc.) plus most of the other relatively important programs
> that run under Linux (flash player, graphic card drivers) are still mostly
> only 32 bit, thus a real challenge to get running under the newer x64
> hardware. "Cutting edge" is sometimes not all it's cracked up to be. >:-(

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:21:04 +0000, mark <marknot@thisaddress.com>
wrote:


>Enjoy Ubuntu I bet that in 6 months or so you will be wondering why on 
>earth you bothered with the all the problems that windows has to offer 
>like Viruses, trojans, worms and the nightmare that is installing 
>windows software (just wait until you use Synaptic to install stuff).
>Anyway with a dual boot you cant loose.

I've been on Windows platforms since 3.1.  I'm a software developer
and gamer.  I've never had a virus, trojan or other nasties.  If
you're geek enough to install Linux, then you're probably geek enough
to practice safe computing and should never get a virus either.

Oh yeah, I also don't have any form of anti-virus software installed,
nor do I have a software firewall.  

And because I'm a gamer, I wouldn't touch *nix with a 10 foot pole.
Yeah, Epic is nice enough to provide ports, but most games don't.  It
would piss me off to the n'th extreme to be sitting on the sidelines
and not able to play some game because it hasn't been (or never will
be) ported to *nix.  Sure, I might be able to run it (poorly) under
emulation like Wine, but what's the point in that?

I won't even bother with my need to run all MS office apps and various
other pieces of software in order to support my clients, none of which
have ever been ported to *nix.

And I'm a software developer who did a fair share of work on Unix
based systems, although my main thrust is the IBM midrange platform
(which uses a proprietary OS).  So I'm not afraid of alternative OS's,
it's just that I'm not going to torture myself trying to use them in a
gaming or business support environment.

There's certainly nothing wrong with Linux, but recommending it to
gamers seems counterintuitive, unless the only game you ever plan to
play is UT.

So there.  :P

"Folk" <Folk@folk.com> wrote in message
news:on5003du79sa8b9lhn0tjlr3s9la91h345@4ax.com...
| On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:21:04 +0000, mark <marknot@thisaddress.com>
| wrote:
|
|
| >Enjoy Ubuntu I bet that in 6 months or so you will be wondering why
on
| >earth you bothered with the all the problems that windows has to
offer
| >like Viruses, trojans, worms and the nightmare that is installing
| >windows software (just wait until you use Synaptic to install
stuff).
| >Anyway with a dual boot you cant loose.
|
| I've been on Windows platforms since 3.1.  I'm a software developer
| and gamer.  I've never had a virus, trojan or other nasties.  If
| you're geek enough to install Linux, then you're probably geek
enough
| to practice safe computing and should never get a virus either.
|
| Oh yeah, I also don't have any form of anti-virus software
installed,
| nor do I have a software firewall.
|
| And because I'm a gamer, I wouldn't touch *nix with a 10 foot pole.
| Yeah, Epic is nice enough to provide ports, but most games don't.
It
| would piss me off to the n'th extreme to be sitting on the sidelines
| and not able to play some game because it hasn't been (or never will
| be) ported to *nix.  Sure, I might be able to run it (poorly) under
| emulation like Wine, but what's the point in that?
|
| I won't even bother with my need to run all MS office apps and
various
| other pieces of software in order to support my clients, none of
which
| have ever been ported to *nix.
|
| And I'm a software developer who did a fair share of work on Unix
| based systems, although my main thrust is the IBM midrange platform
| (which uses a proprietary OS).  So I'm not afraid of alternative
OS's,
| it's just that I'm not going to torture myself trying to use them in
a
| gaming or business support environment.
|
| There's certainly nothing wrong with Linux, but recommending it to
| gamers seems counterintuitive, unless the only game you ever plan to
| play is UT.
|
| So there.  :P

What he sed, yeah!  I agree entirely with these observations.

Only 1 virus ever experienced here, and that was my own stupidity, I
ignorantly rebooted with a floppy in the drive that someone else had
brought over to my place, and the floppy had a virus.  I run no
anti-virus software, and only a software firewall on my net
connection/sharing machines.  Of course, the wife has done her part in
getting spamware/adware installed on the machines, but such nuisances
are not difficult to eliminate.

Unless the user is a total geek, then any flavor of Linux will present
serious challenges in understanding how to accomplish objectives with
the OS.  I also am a geek from way back, I've written my share of
software in a dozen languages (gross estimate, could be more), even
written device drivers for DOS/win9x/win2k and Linux, and I like
tinkering with Linux, but I can't tell you the endless pain I
experienced getting UT to work (getting the ATI drivers installed and
working correctly was a large portion of the pain), and I still could
not overcome the limitation on UT game FPS that happened with my setup
(Nforce2 mobo and ATI 9800 pro vid card).  In essence, UT ran at 50
FPS when I connected to online servers, no matter what I tinkered
with, game net settings, vid settings, Linux settings, sync settings,
you name it, I tried it.  An off-line or local game would give me
unlimited (well, vid card limited) FPS.  Installing UT was not the
problem, getting Linux setup to work right was the most difficult
aspect of gaming on Linux.  Maybe newer distros make the problem less
painful, it's been a couple of years since I fiddled with it.

The availability of games for Linux is also a distraction, not that
many have good ports to Linux.

Now, from the other perspective, I think the Knoppix live CD is one of
the best tools around as a troubleshooting tool or temporary OS setup,
and perhaps an example of where computing may be migrating in the near
future.  The worst problem with Linux is getting vid card drivers to
install and work properly, and until the manufacturers provide fully
automated install/uninstall for their Linux drivers, pain will ensue
with Linux and gaming.

Another sad fact is great software is quite cheap for MS OS's, and
such facts are simply a matter of economies of scale, more sales of
software products for the more widespread OS means lower prices for
all.  I recently bought a CAD package that just wows me at what it can
do, Turbocad 12, and the price was under $100.  In a matter of a
couple of days learning to use Turbocad (I'd also used earlier
versions) I had created a 3D model of a client's product from 2D
drawings.  In the days of old, such software might cost $50,000 and
require VAX systems to run.  So today's computing world is a dream
come true for us oldy moldy types.

And, in agreement with Folk, when a client is already "tied in" with
MS apps and file formats and other miserable MS standards, pain is
greatly reduced if I also run MS apps and OS's, tho I give hi marks to
OpenOffice as a great alternative suite.  Linux is still gaining
momentum, but the gains are still slow to materialize.
-- 
Best regards,
Kyle

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:27:12 -0400, Folk wrote:

<snip>

> There's certainly nothing wrong with Linux, but recommending it to
> gamers seems counterintuitive, unless the only game you ever plan to
> play is UT.

You are quite behind the times.  There are many other games which run
natively on Linux, just off the top of my head:
UT2003/2004
Quake
Quake2
Quake3
Quake4
Doom3
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Enemy Territory
Postal2

...plus many that you've likely never heard of, like SuperTux, Frozen
Bubble, Tux Racer, and more.

Obviously there are many more titles which are Windows-only, but the Linux
options are much more than "just UT".

-- 
"Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:21:04 +0000, mark wrote:

> I use Ubuntu running UT2004 with no real problems. I have just helped a 
> friend install Ubuntu on an AMD64 with very little hassle. He is using 
> the 64 bit version though the 32 bit version works well even on a 64 bit 
> PC. He claims UT2004 runs far better than on XP although I haven't seen 
> it yet.
> I think its a bit of a problem learning the new ways of Linux. So my 
> recommendation is to run a dual boot system (Install Windows then 
> Ubuntu) and you still have a system that works and you are familiar with 
> until you get the hang of Ubuntu.
> I suspect that once you do get the hang of Ubuntu you (Like most others) 
> will never go back.
> I'm also sure you will need some assistance while learning the new 
> system so I'll recommend this site as a good starting point 
> http://ubuntuforums.org/index.php
> 
> Enjoy Ubuntu I bet that in 6 months or so you will be wondering why on 
> earth you bothered with the all the problems that windows has to offer 
> like Viruses, trojans, worms and the nightmare that is installing 
> windows software (just wait until you use Synaptic to install stuff).
> Anyway with a dual boot you cant loose.
> 
> Mark

Thanks for the link!  Hmm, if your buddy has figured out how to get any
flavor of Unreal Tournament running on Linux x64 archetecture (or on any
x64 bit archetecture, come to think of it), I find it kind of suprising
that he needed help on the actual Linux install itself. :-/

But who knows, maybe UT2004 had a Linux installer included on the CD that
I don't remember?  Bet it still wasn't x64 archetecture compatable though.

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:27:12 -0400, Folk wrote:
> 
> There's certainly nothing wrong with Linux, but recommending it to
> gamers seems counterintuitive, unless the only game you ever plan to
> play is UT.


That's only on a 32 bit Linux system too. :-(

Why is this becoming an LINUX vs Windows debate ?

Yes Peeteedee UT2k4 has a native UT installer on the DVD.

BTW guys .. how do you truly know if you don't have a virus or backdoor with
no antivirus ? yes taking care about what you do will keep you very
safe.... i have not had a windows virus for aggggeeeeeeeessssss but when i
last did i actually got it from a respectable website from the homepage.. a
trojan. 

So you might think you know your PC is clean but it might well be a
different story, some back doors do actually get through software firewalls
unknown and then all sorts of virus end up on your pc contacting home and
taking part in things like DOS attacks from your IP.... not all viruses are
malicious towards your PC, they have a bigger purpose as i said before ..
like using your PC for a DOS attack against a server ... so just because
you have not found your hard drive has been wiped or something, are you
just assuming your PC is clean ?

You guys make it sound like your experienced IT techs so you should know
what i am saying anyway ... but what IT tech would run a windows machine
without virus protection as precautionary measures ?

BTW not trying to be big headed or something just i am a IT Technician and
Network Technician and having had to fix all sorts of messes people have
let themselves get into,,, even responsible people for that matter who only
open up a document given to them by a work colleague for instance! I just
think it is very irresponsible when people go around boasting how they
don't protect their PC online which can intice others to do the same !

Just to end this banter lol . i am not biased towards either windows or
linux, i use both ... and to show how much i care about security, even my
linux machine has a virus scan, mostly to make sure i don't pass on a
windows virus to a windows machine.

On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 18:59:10 +0100, nobody wrote:

> Why is this becoming an LINUX vs Windows debate ?
> 
> Yes Peeteedee UT2k4 has a native UT installer on the DVD.
> 
> You guys make it sound like your experienced IT techs so you should know
> what i am saying anyway ... but what IT tech would run a windows machine
> without virus protection as precautionary measures ?

Heh, no, I'm by *FAR* not an experienced IT tech, Windows or Linux-wise. ;-)

But from what I have seen from my 15+ years of running Micro$oft Windows
products, and my relatively short time with Linux, I would feel much safer
running a non-virus protected Linux rig than the similar offerings
from Redmond, WA.

A matter of fact, I would challenge most virus coders to come up with an
actual working 64 bit Linux virus when even native 64 bit
Linux applications (so far!) have a spotty track record day to day whether
they want to play nicely with any 64 bit archetecture you might be saddled
with. :-(

I must admit that Vista looks like it's starting to get things right
though.

BTW - thanks for pointing out that ut2k has a native Linux installer
already built in.  I wonder if running ndiswrapper (or whatever it's
called?) on it will get it to play happily with an AMD Athlon F2 4600+?

"nobody" <nobody@nobody.abc> wrote in message
news:892dncpt6aDsxpTbnZ2dnUVZ8taknZ2d@giganews.com...
| Why is this becoming an LINUX vs Windows debate ?
|
| Yes Peeteedee UT2k4 has a native UT installer on the DVD.
|
| BTW guys .. how do you truly know if you don't have a virus or
backdoor with
| no antivirus ? yes taking care about what you do will keep you very
| safe.... i have not had a windows virus for aggggeeeeeeeessssss but
when i
| last did i actually got it from a respectable website from the
homepage.. a
| trojan.

|
| So you might think you know your PC is clean but it might well be a
| different story, some back doors do actually get through software
firewalls
| unknown and then all sorts of virus end up on your pc contacting
home and
| taking part in things like DOS attacks from your IP.... not all
viruses are
| malicious towards your PC, they have a bigger purpose as i said
before ..
| like using your PC for a DOS attack against a server ... so just
because
| you have not found your hard drive has been wiped or something, are
you
| just assuming your PC is clean ?
|
| You guys make it sound like your experienced IT techs so you should
know
| what i am saying anyway ... but what IT tech would run a windows
machine
| without virus protection as precautionary measures ?

Which is why I run IE with all javascript/java/activex items disabled.
These settings also affect how Outlook Express handles attachments and
such objects.  Only the most reliable web sites get into my "trusted
zone" list where such web browser objects are allowed to execute.  I
do not open email attachments unless from a known source, and if I do
open an attachment, I inspect the file with various file analysis
tools before opening it with it's default program.  If by chance I
want to run IE "unprotected" by changing the security settings for the
internet zone to the "medium" setting, I keep a registry export file
of my very safe IE settings available in a file (exported from the
registry) so I can quickly return IE to its "don't mess with me"
settings.  I use Firefox for "unprotected surfing" as another safety
measure.

I use free online virus scans on occasion if I suspect any critters
have infected a machine.  I also use the "out of date" scanners on
UBCD (ultimate bood CD) as a backup approach.

Pandasoft and Housecall/Trendmicro are 2 such free services that will
scan your PC, Housecall will also disinfect, the Panda scanner will
not.

|
| BTW not trying to be big headed or something just i am a IT
Technician and
| Network Technician and having had to fix all sorts of messes people
have
| let themselves get into,,, even responsible people for that matter
who only
| open up a document given to them by a work colleague for instance! I
just
| think it is very irresponsible when people go around boasting how
they
| don't protect their PC online which can intice others to do the same
!

As for nasty macros running out of document or data files, all such
capabilities are disabled here, and further, I continue to run Word
for Windows version 7 (win95 version) as it does everything I need
(with the exception of HTML link handling) and is much safer than
later versions of Office products using VBA or .NET.  I use Powerdesk
to view files from "outside", since it will not run any macros
therein.  Another approach to use for safety is to open unknown
document files with Openoffice.

It is not boasting, but rather, the sharing of an approach to
computing.  Such an approach is not recommended for the masses.  I
guess my logic is I prefer to have a machine that runs at top speed
rather than suffering from the slowdowns created by pervasive virus
monitors/scanners such as McAfee, AVG or Norton AV.

My Dad recently purchased his first computer, a Dell fully loaded with
antivirus crap running in the background, and my reaction was "this
things slower than my old 500 MHz machine" when looking it over, and I
think he has about a 2 Gig speed CPU running XP with 512 meg of ram.
His system should be snappy given the hardware present, instead it is
sluggish and annoyingly slow.  However, I won't hurt his feelings by
telling him the truth about his system's speed, rather, it's best that
he continue to run the anti-virus protection.

|
| Just to end this banter lol . i am not biased towards either windows
or
| linux, i use both ... and to show how much i care about security,
even my
| linux machine has a virus scan, mostly to make sure i don't pass on
a
| windows virus to a windows machine.

I have no computing bias either, it's just I'm forced to use certain
computing tools based on business/client forces.  Plus, when you get
right down to it, you spend less time making new hardware work under
Windows (in most cases) versus Linux.
-- 
Best regards,
Kyle

Folk wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:21:04 +0000, mark <marknot@thisaddress.com>
> wrote:
> 
> I've been on Windows platforms since 3.1.  I'm a software developer
> and gamer.  I've never had a virus, trojan or other nasties. 

If you are a professional I would hope not too. You have to admit though 
that the default installation of Windows is inviting all the nasties it 
gets. Who in their right mind would have a default install with Admin 
rights for its user?

  If
> you're geek enough to install Linux, then you're probably geek enough
> to practice safe computing and should never get a virus either.

There was a time not so long ago when this comment would be totally true 
but new distros like Ubuntu have totally killed this theory. You don't 
need to be a geek to install it and there are no viruses for it.
> 
> Oh yeah, I also don't have any form of anti-virus software installed,
> nor do I have a software firewall.

I'm not sure of the wisdom of that. I suspect you do use a firewall of 
some kind though.

> 
> And because I'm a gamer, I wouldn't touch *nix with a 10 foot pole.
> Yeah, Epic is nice enough to provide ports, but most games don't.  It
> would piss me off to the n'th extreme to be sitting on the sidelines
> and not able to play some game because it hasn't been (or never will
> be) ported to *nix.  Sure, I might be able to run it (poorly) under
> emulation like Wine, but what's the point in that?

Well that is partially true but I only play UT and this is a UT group. I 
understand that there are other games moving to Linux but I'm not really 
aware of them.
> 
> I won't even bother with my need to run all MS office apps and various
> other pieces of software in order to support my clients, none of which
> have ever been ported to *nix.

Why on earth would you want to port MS office apps to Linux? that is a 
ridiculous idea. MS office is both expensive and useless. There are many 
applications in Linux which are both superior and compatible with MS 
Office. I use them every day and the MS users I send them too have no 
problems (Ok I'll agree if you use Access but I understand that is due 
to change soon).
> 
> And I'm a software developer who did a fair share of work on Unix
> based systems, although my main thrust is the IBM midrange platform
> (which uses a proprietary OS).  So I'm not afraid of alternative OS's,
> it's just that I'm not going to torture myself trying to use them in a
> gaming or business support environment.

That was clearly some time ago. You have to remember that Linux does not 
progress at the slow rate that Windows does. How long has it been now 
since Ms released a new version of windows? if memory serves me right 
there was a gap of 5 years (XP in 2001 and now Vista in 2006) Red 
hat/fedora for example have released 10 new versions in that time. 
Things are moving ahead at great pace.
> 
> There's certainly nothing wrong with Linux, but recommending it to
> gamers seems counterintuitive, unless the only game you ever plan to
> play is UT.

Well thats kind of true too. As I said I do only play UT and this is a 
UT group. On the other hand I use it for many other things too which is 
where Linux really excels. And of course a dual boot system which I 
recommended is free to try and still allows the use of windows if that 
suits better. There is no point burning bridges and getting rid of 
Windows if that's what you prefer and i didn't suggest that so there is 
no harm in using both. I do.

Mark
> 
> So there.  :P