My morning reading seems to be conspiring to get me to switch from Windows to Linux (or something Linux based):
For those of you who were intrigued by my efforts to convince you to try Linux, I present the following links, which may be useful, intriguing, interesting, or some other adjective which implies that it’s worth your time to check them out
A research report says that Linux boxes get used for twice as long as Windows boxes (just think of all those PCs that’ll be thrown out in favor of something fast enough to run Vista’s crippleware!). That means that GNU/Linux machines save landfill sites!
Switching from Windows to another operating system (and not buying a Mac) seems to be in line with my values.
Microsoft has issues, many issues, not the least of these issues is that with each update of their software there are more things I have to learn to tolerate or turn off and more evidence of how they suspect I, the paying customer, might be stealing something from them the poor defenseless multi-national company. I bought a new laptop about a month ago. It had Vista installed. Vista is pretty, and there are somethings I like about the changes to the interface, but it took me an hour or so to figure out how to stop it from asking me “are you sure you want to open that program you just clicked on?” every time I opened a new program.
I’m not a big fan of Macs either. There is a reason all the applications on your Mac work together. They were all made by the same company, as was the machine you’re using. Buying everything from one source? Getting my computer (the physical bit), the Operating system, my graphics editor, my audio editor, my internet browser, and my egg timer all from one company does not sit well with me. Not that Microsoft is any better. I’m just not willing to accept that Macs are these great symbols of computing anti-establishment philosophy when their computer doesn’t strike me as giving any more freedom to use what I want, than the Windows folks. I am not going to become a Mac cultist regardless of how pretty the OS X interface is and regardless of how easy applications like Garage Band are.
Plus … where is my right click context menu, you Mac bastards? Where!?!
So, I resolved last night that I would try this Ubuntu thing on the new laptop, see what the third party fuss is about. Thus far I like the way it looks (after downloading the Live CD and poking at it for a few minutes). Now, all I need to do is figure out how to install it and not fuck up what I already have on my laptop (just in case I decide I really don’t like it after all and want to go back to Vista). There is a way to do this, it should be easy from what I’ve read but the laptop gave me trouble last night so I haven’t gotten the Ubuntu on the laptop, but I will, damn it … I want to see what you Linux folks are so ga-ga over … it looks like the links on Wil Wheaton’s blog will be helpful …
More on this later.
Uncle-Sean.com 