Linux / Open Source  
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Linux / Open Source

Welcome to this new section of my site. Here I will give newbies little tips and links for the everyday desktop use of Linux, Unix and Open Source software. I know that WAY too many of you out there are still using inferior, proprietary software and a crappy OS called "Windows". I've been using it too, for way too long, until I found out about OSS (Open Source Software). OSS is code-open, free software, developed by and for the users. It's a community effort thing. Everybody can improve and re-distribute the software.

You don't hear much about it because there's no "company" that runs any of it, no marketing division involved either to promote or sell products to you. Careful, of course I am talking about the source code here, please don't misunderstand me. There ARE non-free Linux distributions available around at your local computer shop, but you can in most cases download a free version off the web. Nothing beats OSS in terms of quality because it's designed to last long, to be stable, powerful and to satisfy both its creator and users. Not designed to *sell*. Nobody trying to make you buy a new upgrade, you can download it for free. And you can even re-program it as you like since you have the source code in your hands. That's the way computing is meant to be. Need proof of OSS solidity? Look for instance, the Apache web server. It is now used by over 60% of web servers in the world, and it is totally free, OSS. Another example? Web development. PHP and MySQL have proven to be much more reliable and powerful than for example microsoft's ASP and MS SQL. Look on the web, you will easily notice the superior number of .php pages out there. Yeah, OSS proved its superiority on the Server side.

But what about desktop, everyday use of your computer? Is OSS there yet?? Well, yes. Things are changing really fast nowadays, progress is made every weeks or so, and let me tell you about what you're missing out, stuck with your inferior windows OS. Linux is the word. Linux is a free clone of the UNIX Operating System. UNIX is mainly used in high performance supercomputers and Internet servers around the world. Linux has been developed by an individual from finland and improved by a lot of people around the world. it is now becoming very mainstream among the many geeks of this world. I am sort of a geek myself but I do appreciate ease of use and friendly interfaces. So I gave linux a try a couple years ago, and seen its evolution going on during the last few years. What at first was a very powerful, server-oriented OS now became a very reliable, stable, and easy to use platform for everyday desktop use and multimedia. It is now my main desktop OS and I even use it on my laptop as well. It just does the job for me, and way better than windows can do it. Yes, you read that right. Now stop whining about "It's still too complicated" and "It's not there yet" or "there's no applications for it", because you're just being a fucking ignorant moron. You might have tried it already, like what, 2 years ago? 6 months ago? Remember, it changes and get improved EVERY DAY. So please just shut the fuck up and go give it a try for yourself. Linux is ready for the mainstream use, it is just waiting for everybody to use it. When that will happen, trust me, Adobe will make a Linux Photoshop version, and who knows, Microsoft could also release an Internet Explorer version for linux. Don't laugh. They did it with Mac OS. Why not with Linux? Many companies, such as IBM, have understood that Linux is to become THE mainstream standard OS in a near future. But YOU and I are the ones that make history. So why not enjoy it now already? Aren't you tired of rebooting windows every time you install something? Or hitting "CTRL-ALT-DELETE" to force that crashed app to close itself? Trust me, this is now history for me. You too can quit using windows, and still do your everyday things.

Yeah, but where to start? That's why I'm here to help you with your migration. Linux installation IS easy. Very easy. Believe me or not, It took only about 20 minutes for me to install Ubuntu on my laptop. And it DID detect all my hardware, including wireless, ethernet, video, etc. And no time wasted installing drivers. Everything needed was installed automatically while I was watching TV in another room. There are many Linux distributions available out there, to name a few, very easy, friendly user ones, some of them are: Ubuntu, Xandros, Lycoris, Lindows, Suse, Fedora, etc. My favorite and the one I use now on my laptop is Ubuntu. It's rock solid but easy and like a mac, it just works. Click down for more...

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