I have just made my switch from Windows to Ubuntu Hardy Heron release. I freed some 10GB space from my workstation here in the office. And installed the little critter from the cd.
With all the talk about Linux and talking about every couple of months a new Linux distro gets upgraded and released, I figured why shouldn't I try it out. I have been using Linux (Red Hat) sparingly just couple of years ago. But I was frustrated how hard it is (the command line and stuff) due to coming from a GUI environment such as Windows. But still my hopes were high.
I read a couple of basic tutorials for both Unix and Linux and what scares me that time is the huge amount of things that needs to be known first : compiling/installing from source, changing permissions, changing ownership, etc just to run a couple of applications.
To counter my frustration, I learned about how to simply compile a program, and read a few C/C++ tutorials. I regretted my college days of ignoring programing subjects just to play PC games. I said these are only for geeks. But what it turns out is that I became more and more obsessed about programming and os/system administration.
I want to take my simple techie knowledge to the next level. Starting with Windows, I changed my settings not from the GUI perspective but by tweaking the registry. But to no avail, sometimes I really messed it up. Then comes system restore to the rescue. And a moment later, I have to re-install the whole darn Windows machine!
In search for salvation, I have stumbled upon the likes of Eric aka Tweakhound. I'm glad there are guys like Eric with such profound Windows tutorials. I became more careful with Windows registry and borrowed a couple of registry tweaks to speed up the Windows PC. And also thanks to Eric, I have felt the importance of a Forum, a mean but helpful community forum.
From those forums led me to some Linux sites. And like a flash of light, Ubuntu. I started to crawl up on the features. The first I had looked for is how to install stuff : the Synaptic Manager. Wow it seems impressive. I quickly downloaded my first Linux distro (all my own) Kubuntu 7.04.
I am really not familiar with installing Linux. So at first try I really messed up the boot record. Sheesh. With a couple of tries and some tutorials, it finally was like a dance in the rain! Finally a KDE desktop mightier than the looks of XP. But from a couple of clicks, it seems so slow. No matter, the eye candy sure is a drag. But hey look no more AV stuff! Every action goes through me (system settings need a password to be able to be changed).
From here on, I indulged myself more and more not only Linux but the free and open-source software as well. I still use Windows because of job requirements. The good part is that I am no longer alienated to other kinds systems especially Linux/Unix.
I have also tried Unix -- *-BSD distros. But the command line is still not good for me. There is one distro based on FreeBSD : PCBSD. Looks good but I still consider KDE a drag, for me Gnome is better and feels snappy.
So came Hardy Heron packed with built in compiz for Gnome/KDE eye candy. And installing applications is a one-stop shop like never before. And it is fun to see that from this crazy and fast-paced world of software revolution, there are alternatives to my faved software from Windows like text editors, grafx software, office applications, etc.
Ease of use inside a Linux desktop is still young but it is not impossible. Thanks to the open source movement soon we have a desktop that is 100% Free, with applications that are free, and a choice of not wasting cents for commerical software that are marketed as best, but are so dumb in the long run.
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