switching, part one
switching, part two

part three - the upside

Once you get your bearings [a substantial qualifier, admittedly, for many users] Linux is wonderful. The biggest upside, I’d say, is freedom. Most of Linux is open source, which means it’s source code is open to public viewing and editing. In many cases, in fact, a person can take open source software, repackage it, maybe improve upon it, and sell it to others; it’s more complicated than that, of course, and would depend on the type of license by which it’s covered. [see the Creative Commons website for more info on the creative commons licenses available]

Along with this freedom, another upside is that most open source software is also free as in no cost to download and use. This is not always the case, but more often than not. So on one side you could spend thousands on software, and on the other you could pay nothing and have just about the same experience and tools [and then some] at your fingertips. Sound too good to be true? But wait there’s more! Alright, I’m getting carried away now, but all this freedom just makes me happy. (more…)

switching, part one

part two - the transition

Cold turkey has it’s benefits, I suppose. Cut the cord and make it work. My brother, Joshua, did just that at the end of last year. I think, more than anything, he was just ready for a change. After telling him some of the benefits of Linux and letting him play with the live cd for a bit he said something to the effect of, “okay, how do we do this? What’s next?” It was so sudden I found myself backpedaling a little, asking him, “are you sure you want to switch?”, and going through a mental checklist, looking for any reason he should not go through with it. Finding very little, I relented, and we installed Ubuntu. (more…)

part one - the downside

I started using Linux as my primary operating system about two months ago, installing Ubuntu in a dual boot configuration with Windows XP. I had actually set that up several months before when I was still toying with the idea of switching, wanting first to test the waters a bit. There came a time, though, when I decided to make the switch. I had started booting into Linux during the day while my wife was at work, and I honestly felt much more creative and much more productive during that time. Part of this was probably the novelty of it. A totally free operating system with open software and plenty of things to configure (actually, everything to configure). But mostly, it was the freedom of it, I think.

I’ll start with the three things I still “need” Windows for (and these glitches apply mainly to my own present setup and could be overcome if I didn’t already have Windows installed), in other words, the downside: (more…)