Well multi-tasking isn't so vital for me, since I'll be installing it on my 
laptop and I can only realistically render with that if it's plugged in, in 
which case I'll have a desktop PC I can used for other tasks.

Also my current scene uses a lot of Daz Studio models, and they don't have a 
linux build available, so I'm probably only going to be using linux in 
collaboration with a windows PC or for final renders.

Still, that's not a reason to avoid a more full-featured version of linux!

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"Eero Ahonen" <aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid> wrote in message 
news:4392195d$1@news.povray.org...
> Tek wrote:
>>
>> I guess my biggest problem is I don't know how I'm going to use it. I
>> suspect what I want is to switch to linux for rendering and text editing 
>> pov
>> files, and use windows for everything else. But of course if I get a 
>> distro
>> of linux which gives me a nice way to do regular computing then I might 
>> use
>> it exclusively and leave windows alone. I don't know what I want to use 
>> it
>> for and I don't know how to figure that out except by talking to people 
>> who
>> already use linux for pov.
>>
>
> More on that, you will want to use it for normal websurfing etc while
> poving. Or do you say that you've never surfed to find some answer for a
> prob while POVing? Eg. for me, reading POV online manual is pretty
> normal while POVing :).
>
> And when your computer is calculating The Big Image, you might want to
> do something while it's doing it(1). Eg. you could dig your way deeper
> and deeper of Linux-knowledge ;).
>
> Finally, I'd guess you don't want to get the reboot-delay every time you
> want to do something else, if it's possible on the currently running
> system. So I'd say, go for a usable desktop, that's what you'll most
> propably want someday.
>
> (1) 124:45:15 Rendering line 295 of 5200, 24901 rad. samples
>
> -- 
> Eero "Aero" Ahonen
>   http://www.zbxt.net
>      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Tek wrote:
>>distro, take your time configuring it at your liking (install, uninstall
>>and setup programs) and keep it up-to-date with its tools (urpmi, apt, 
>>yum,
>>yast... whatever).
> 
> What no auto update? ;)
> 

Yes, if you script it (very easy). However, since the DNS's may be
spoofed etc, no such thing should ever be used at homes since it's a
total security risk. For companies it might get useful with local cache
for checked and tested upgrade packages.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

Post a reply to this message

Tek wrote:
> 
> I guess my biggest problem is I don't know how I'm going to use it. I 
> suspect what I want is to switch to linux for rendering and text editing pov 
> files, and use windows for everything else.

I can almost guarantee you that this won't work as a permanent solution. 
  You will either stop using Linux or stop using Windows after some time 
(or have several PCs or run Windows/Windows programs in emulation).

Christoph

-- 
POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Landscape of the week:
http://www.imagico.de/ (Last updated 31 Oct. 2005)
MegaPOV with mechanics simulation: http://megapov.inetart.net/

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Nearly all major and minor distros come with a live-cd version. You may 
try that out without installing a single byte on your HD. I can't think 
of a better way to find the distro that suits your needs best.

As far as I am concerned, I've been using SUSE 10 for two months now and 
I can recommend it to you. Not too much hair pulling. YAST2 is bless.

Start your Live-cd hunt here: http://distrowatch.com/

Have fun!

--
Jonathan.

Post a reply to this message

Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
> That interface looks great! So what do I need to set it up like that?

  Get pov-mode for emacs (try google), configure emacs to show maximum
amount of syntax coloring (you can also configure the colors to your
liking), and compile povray with X support. Then all you need is an
xterm to run povray from.
  After that you only have to learn how to use that setup fluently.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

"Christoph Hormann" <chr### [at] gmxde> wrote in message 
news:dmvbdj$qvf$1@chho.imagico.de...
> I can almost guarantee you that this won't work as a permanent solution. 
> You will either stop using Linux or stop using Windows after some time (or 
> have several PCs or run Windows/Windows programs in emulation).

Ah, well you see that was mentioned at the start, we're talking about how I 
can get the most of my laptop, I assume I'm gonna keep using windows on my 
desktop machine regardless.

Though to be honest, it's likely I'll only use the laptop when travelling 
and seldom in conjunction with my desktop, in which case it would be more 
helpful to have everything I want in one OS, so your point still stands, so 
this whole message is a bit academic... :)

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

Post a reply to this message

I was joking, auto-update is something I can live without. In fact most of 
the time it just annoys me.

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"Eero Ahonen" <aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid> wrote in message 
news:43932b93$1@news.povray.org...
> Tek wrote:
>>>distro, take your time configuring it at your liking (install, uninstall
>>>and setup programs) and keep it up-to-date with its tools (urpmi, apt,
>>>yum,
>>>yast... whatever).
>>
>> What no auto update? ;)
>>
>
> Yes, if you script it (very easy). However, since the DNS's may be
> spoofed etc, no such thing should ever be used at homes since it's a
> total security risk. For companies it might get useful with local cache
> for checked and tested upgrade packages.
>
> -- 
> Eero "Aero" Ahonen
>   http://www.zbxt.net
>      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

Post a reply to this message

Oh... so that's what live-cd means, cool!

Thanks, I think I have a plan:
1/ look at the websites everyone mentioned, narrow it down to 3-4 distros. 
Including Suse since it seems to be the only one mentioned by more than 1 
person!
2/ download live-cd versions and have a play around to learn what the 
differences are.
3/ pick the best, or get more live-cd versions if I don't like any of them.

I'll post here to let you know the result (with xmas and the current IRTC 
round I won't have much time to evaluate linux distros so it'll be a few 
weeks ).

Thanks everyone!
-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"JRG" <j.M### [at] tiscaliit> wrote in message 
news:43934076@news.povray.org...
> Nearly all major and minor distros come with a live-cd version. You may 
> try that out without installing a single byte on your HD. I can't think of 
> a better way to find the distro that suits your needs best.
>
> As far as I am concerned, I've been using SUSE 10 for two months now and I 
> can recommend it to you. Not too much hair pulling. YAST2 is bless.
>
> Start your Live-cd hunt here: http://distrowatch.com/
>
> Have fun!
>
> --
> Jonathan.

Post a reply to this message

I'd already found the pov mode for emacs, but obviously haven't tried it 
yet. I'll make sure I can run x-windows on whatever distro I get.

Thanks!
-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message 
news:43936e1d@news.povray.org...
> Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
>> That interface looks great! So what do I need to set it up like that?
>
>  Get pov-mode for emacs (try google), configure emacs to show maximum
> amount of syntax coloring (you can also configure the colors to your
> liking), and compile povray with X support. Then all you need is an
> xterm to run povray from.
>  After that you only have to learn how to use that setup fluently.
>
> -- 
>                                                          - Warp

Post a reply to this message

Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
> 2/ download live-cd versions and have a play around to learn what the 
> differences are.

  My bet is that you will not see too much difference between live-cds,
regardless of the distro.
  The only notable difference you may see will happen if the distros use
different window managers. However, window managers are not really
distro-dependent and they can be installed in all distros (either directly
from their installation process or later).

  Naturally if some live-cd fails to start up because it can't detect
your hardware correctly, that may be a good indicative of a distro you
don't want to install... :P

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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