Decision time: Linux or Win11 😬

[chef 3746]

Without opening to much of a can of worms here. 

It is finally decision making time for me!

I have been using a couple distros of Linux the last couple weeks.

I've been learning Kali (which I can honestly say blows my mind), and Ubuntu as well.

 

My laptop has win11 on it, and I have side loaded Kali Live on USB to learn.

 

 

My server is still running a very old version of windows (I am scared to tell say which one... ).

It is time to make a choice! 

 

I believe that I am going to install some version of Debian for my server, but I'm not sure which one. 

What do you think fellow Linux user?

 

And, I'm pretty much sold on installing Kali over my windows 11 install on my laptop. Which might be a good idea. Or, I buy another M.2 and just load Kali purple on it, and keep the window 11 m.2  in a drawer somewhere.

 

The Emby server though??? What distro should I use, if I am going to run Emby?

 

It also means giving up visual studio , and switching to visual studio code for any development in the future. Which may or may not be a good thing. 

Edited April 17, 2023 by chef

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

9 minutes ago, chef said:

Without opening to much of a can of worms here. 

It is finally decision making time for me!

I have been using a couple distros of Linux the last couple weeks.

I've been learning Kali (which I can honestly say blows my mind), and Ubuntu as well.

 

My laptop has win11 on it, and I have side loaded Kali Live on USB to learn.

 

 

My server is still running a very old version of windows (I am scared to tell say which one... ).

It is time to make a choice! 

 

I believe that I am going to install some version of Debian for my server, but I'm not sure which one. 

What do you think fellow Linux user?

 

And, I'm pretty much sold on installing Kali over my windows 11 install on my laptop. Which might be a good idea. Or, I buy another M.2 and just load Kali purple on it, and keep the window 11 m.2  in a drawer somewhere.

 

The Emby server though??? What distro should I use, if I am going to run Emby?

 

It also means giving up visual studio , and switching to visual studio code for any development in the future. Which may or may not be a good thing. 

I can't help you on the decision making,  if would stick with Windows if it was me, more versatility in program compatibility and as you say VS works. 

I don't think VSCode will stand up to what VS can do.

Why don't you use a laptop to mess with on your Linux Journey of knowledge and power.  

Keep us updated on your journey, i would be very keen to follow it and see if you do or don't adopt and the reasons why.

 

[Q-Droid 644]

My $0.02 - if you like Kali then pick a stable release of Debian or derived distro for your server. Keep it simple. 

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

What you upto Chef???? 

Quote

Kali Linux is a Debian-derived Linux distribution designed for digital forensics and penetration testing.^[4] It is maintained and funded by Offensive Security.^[5]

Quote

Kali Linux is mainly used for advanced Penetration Testing and Security Auditing. Kali contains several hundred tools which are geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering

 

[chef 3746]

9 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

What you upto Chef???? 

 

Learning. Don't worry I've got my white hat on.

But, I do need to move away from the version of windows on my server. 

Right now I would say that I am not secure...

At least from what I have ben learning lately. Definitely, not secure.

 

Edited April 17, 2023 by chef

[roaku 795]

I'm not advising you to do any particular thing, but I'm happy with Emby server on Ubuntu.

I develop on Ubuntu too, and Visual Studio Code + the dotnet command line are solid and well supported/documented by Microsoft. There is a learning curve, but nothing crazy.

[jaycedk 382]

You could install linux ( the variant you like )

And setup a windows vm, and run that to do your coding in.

[jaycedk 382]

36 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

What you upto Chef???? 

 

I think he hacked his old windows 7 server

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

I have toyed with Linux over time and I keep a small computer running Linux at all times and use it for experiments like an alternative server or other things that I want to know how they work with Linux.

In all my testing I have yet to find any good reason to move my server from Windows 10 to Linux. (The computer that I use for a server cannot run Windows 11) I guess when Windows 10 gets to EOL I will have to do something but that is a few years away and I may be relieved of having to make a choice. But should there turn out to be a good reason I will move as needed.

The main consideration for an OS choice is familiarity. Setting up an Emby server is NOT the time to learn Linux (Or I guess Windows) but I am about equally proficient in both and I cannot choose based on that.

Also I do not have any remote users and I allow no remote connections and no one but me ever accesses my server so I am unsure if in the future the vulnerabilities that Win 10 will have matter much. 
I am currently 75 so I doubt I will live long enough for the choice to matter much in the end. I really do feel old I actually remember Windows 1.1 and UNIX's introduction. 

For me when I am forced to change I will probably choose Windows. It is just a matter of currently having a well working Emby server running Windows and I believe it will be faster to set up a new Windows server than to build a new Linux server from scratch. so, for me. Windows is the best choice, I think.

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

@Gilgamesh_48

your a young whipper snapper

[Gilgamesh_48 943]

44 minutes ago, Cheesegeezer said:

@Gilgamesh_48

your a young whipper snapper

Young is retaliative and in my family I have outlived just about everyone. I also am the only member of my team from SE Asia that has not died from combat related injuries or Agent Orange or,  in one case, suicide. I have lived a pretty full life but, now that it is winding down, I do regret some choices I have made and I really regret all the injuries and abuse I have put my body through. I was nearly totally unable to sleep due to pain as I do not take opioids and I had been unable to find a pain killer that works for me.

Fortunately, early in the year before last, I discovered Delta 8 and TCH 0. I guess regular pot would have worked but where I live finding illegal drugs is pretty hard and dangerous so I never tried it for killing my pain. Right now Delta 8 is mostly legal and it really works for me.  My overall health seems to be getting better since I have been getting better sleep.

Thank you for calling me "young" but I really do not feel "young" at all. I thought whippersnapper was one word and kind of means something different when written as two words. But, either way, I appreciate the thought.  

[justinrh 174]

Use what you feel comfortable with - keep in mind installation, file permissions, file locations, etc.  Like Gilgamesh said, it probably isn't the time to learn Linux.

Kind of opposite of what jayceck said, you can run windows with WSL, then you run VS on native Windows and Emby on either OS.

[chef 3746]

I bought two m.2 drives. I'll load Linux on one, but I've gotta get off windows 7 on the server. Even though I have some security precautions in place, like AV, and some proxies that allow me to cut off monitored, suspect connections to my open emby ports (not completely tested, it's a home brew log monitor application that black list the IP on the server... only ).

And the network firewall is pretty beefy using a ubiquity setup.

Thing is, while hacking around (my own network) I was able to  land on my windows 7 server, and begin penetration fairly easily, which has got me worried. 

Eventually, there is going to be an unhatched zero day released for windows 7, and there will be no update to patch it. This is becoming more and more apparent to me.

 

Edited April 18, 2023 by chef

[Cheesegeezer 3086]

24 minutes ago, chef said:

I bought two m.2 drives. I'll load Linux on one, but I've gotta get off windows 7 on the server. Even though I have some security precautions in place, like AV, and some proxies that allow me to cut off monitored, suspect connections to my open emby ports (not completely tested, it's a home brew log monitor application that black list the IP on the server... only ).

And the network firewall is pretty beefy using a ubiquity setup.

Thing is, while hacking around (my own network) I was able to  land on my windows 7 server, and begin penetration fairly easily, which has got me worried. 

Eventually, there is going to be an unhatched zero day released for windows 7, and there will be no update to patch it. This is becoming more and more apparent to me.

 

Windows10.... or 11 or is that not an option.

Anyways - upto you chief!! you know way more about this stuff than me.

 

[Abobader 2945]

@chefYou remind me the day when MS Windows builds after win 95 come out, right?

Well the OS's is what you need it for, not what other's using it for, simple as that.

You want to use and learn an OS, then it should be your main OS, yes you can kill time and enjoy this or that with testing OS as using VM, or simply use proxmox box and test as many OS's you like on that.

[Abobader 2945]

@chefJust notice your avatar now, I see why you want ... Kali Linux  OK scary.

[jachin99 82]

I have an instance of emby that I never use installed on my home assistant Intel NUC.  it seems pretty stable but the NUC is too puny to transcode.  

[NitroNine 19]

You can also go the way of say unRaid, or install Ubuntu and something like Swizzin or Saltbox so it's easy to manage then command line stuff?

[tedfroop 33]

In the case where it's just for media server?  Ubuntu is easier than it looks at first.  Plus there is tons of help and its nearly perfect for an Emby server.  Theres even an option to install with minimal apps now so it installs your basic system management apps and nothing you don't need.

I started using it a few years ago for a server for my Squeezeboxes and it was just natural and simple to add media servers as its hugely stable and you can forget about it for weeks at a time.

Looks like there's lots of help here and having a stable box you can look in on, update and reboot every few weeks and otherwise forget about is awesome.