I've have used in the past years AppleDOS, Windows 3.11, 98, XP, 7 (x32 and x64) and 8.1, Linux (many), SunOS
Solaris, HP UX (Unix), OS2, IBM MVS, OS/360 - you name
it, I've had my time on all of them at many moments of my working or private life.
I have also tested
Linux distribuitions since the very beginning, Slackware, Debian, RedHAT, Suse, Lubuntu, Ubuntu, etc. We used to buy magazines with a bundled CD/DVD-ROM that offered the Linux version for local install. At that time Internet was only available in academic, companies or research centers. Most of us used dial-up landlines to a local BBS. The trend was to get your win-modem to work with Linux.
My very favorite
operating systems for some time now, is Ubuntu Linux. Here's
why:
1. Open Source and free to use. You can install it on as
many computers as you like for the pretty price of absolute what you
want to donate, or zero if you cannot spare some cash for now! This
makes it wonderful for those on a budget, students and who get tired
of constantly paying for expensive operating system upgrades.
2.
It is the most stable OS that I have tested these last 30 years. I've
put my kid on Windows boxes in the past only to have him mangle the
operating system beyond recognition in a few short minutes. I've then
put the same kid on an Ubuntu Linux box and left him playing happily
for hours. 'Nuff said.
3. It's “wife”
proof, that means, my wife, who is a lawyer, and does not like
technology, does not call me so often like when she was using struggling with Windows,
say goodbye to "my files are gone!", “updates bugs”, “virus alerts”, “BSOD”,
“bad drivers”, etc.
4. Usually no Viruses or Malware. There
aren't currently very many pieces of malware around for Linux boxes.
The way Linux is designed makes it very difficult for the bad guys
to design malware or to crack it. As a result I don't have to bother
wasting my precious computer resources on expensive antivirus programs, or
having to recover my wife's or kid's system every week, hurray!!!
5.
Your desktop graphics interface is a selection that can be: Unity, Gnome, LXDE, or other options of very easy to use GUI . In
many ways the ease of use reminds me of the Mac computer concept when
it hit the market back at the 80's but without the high price
tag.
6. I can keep using my older computers as long as I want
with Linux. Not only are upgrades free but the resource requirements
are low enough that even older computers can use lighter versions like Lubuntu (i.e. just
to mention on option), so I don't have to stop using a computer until
I am ready to move on to a new one.
7. There are many open
source packages that are GPL, GNU, free or pay as you need it, software available for most of
all your needs. You name it, Ubuntu has it, probably for free. They
have Photoshop equivalents (Gimp), Office suite (Libreoffice),
programs to see your images, hear your music, see all video types and
decode streams with programs like VLC (ie. Players ) and more games
(both educational and same really hot) than I have ever seen! There
are programs available for Linux for literally ALL age groups and
needs.
8. You can continue
to use your many DOS, Windows 98 or XP, codes with WINE which runs windows codes right on you Linux screen. I use
it to run LTSpice engineering circuit simulation and AXDecrypt for my
confidential documents.
9. It is very
powerful but at the same time very simple once you get basic “know
how” of the system. While I can do almost everything I want to in
the GUI, if I want to do something more complex I can always drop
down to the command line and take care of business, because now I have "the power" with bash, python, C, and many other compilers and builtin tools. For instance, I
can navigate my mouse to the menu to shut down my Ubuntu computer or I can open a
terminal and type "sudo shutdown -h now" or even "sudo poweroff" at the command to
turn the system off. Ubuntu will ask me for my password and then shut
the system off faster than the GUI menu ever though of doing!
10.
No worries about NSA spying on you with backdoors. It is a known fact
that the NSA is trying to spy on everyone. Chances are they have
backdoors built into both Windows OS and applications and even on
Apple computers that enable them to keep us all under surveillance.
Since the source code on these operating systems is closed (some
Apple Mac OSX source code is open, however), users have no way of
knowing just how secure their computer really is. With Ubuntu, the
source code is open so programmers all over the world look through
the code to prevent these backdoors in Ubuntu.
11. It is usually easy
to install hardware in Ubuntu (i.e. with exception of win-modens and some less known printers). Plug in your printer and in moments
Ubuntu has installed it. The same goes for wireless cards and many
other devices commonly available. But hunting for drivers can be an issue some times, but installing
bulky software or dealing with nag screens harassing you to register is gone.
Most things just work, which makes life so much easier. Even my
favorite old bed scanner that was dead because of lack of the right
drivers for Windows 7 returned to life in Ubuntu! Yes!!!
12. A very big community of mostly friendly users, like me, with many thousands of web knowledge
pages with “Howtos”, “instruct-ables”, “blogs”, “wikis”,
shared experiences of almost any problem you can encounter in your
life with Linux.
13. These are just
same cool facts about my life before and after Linux. Let's face
it, you need to be committed to get in to a better understand the
Linux ways, but it is something rather FUN taking control again of
your computing experience, like in the first years of home computers
(ie. Sinclair, Apple II, TRS-80, Commodore, etc). Few things are as
enjoyable as turning on your computer and hearing the gasps when you
don't boot up Microsoft Windows.
Sure you may have to
learns to answer new questions, learn a new GUI, but doing so not
only spreads the word about this great operating system and also help
someone to save a computer that they would otherwise throw away or
loose the opportunity to “discover new worlds and boldly go where
no user has gone before!”
Cheers!
