Life without Windows or OS X

GNU/Linux is quite possibly the most important free software achievement since the original Space War, or, more recently, Emacs. It has developed into an operating system for business, education, and personal productivity. GNU/Linux is no longer only for UNIX wizards who sit for hours in front of a glowing console. Are you thinking about switching to Linux and want to learn how to use it? Have you been using GNU/Linux for some time and want to learn even more? This is the place for you.

Monday, August 06, 2012

"My" Life without Windows 7 or OS X Mountain Lion

I am a Gnu/Linux user. I live a life without windows.  Yes its true while there are perfectly passable alternatives to many popular Windows programs, there are some high-end applications such as Photoshop CS4 don’t have as close equivalents in Linux. No I can’t play Mass effect 3 or GTA IV. Most software and game publishers just don’t have a Linux version of all their products. Gnu/Linux  currently does not play Blu-ray discs. Problem is with "that DRM" on Blu-ray. DRM prevents it use of open source software. Many distro’s do have super "out of the box" support some hardware but driver support at times still lags behind. Gnu/Linux software is a jumble of different packages that may or may not work with your distro. These are all true…

On a side note Photoshop CS4 is a 500 dollar program, not for the masses as it cost more than some PCs today.

However Gnu+linux is a good platform. Did you know that United States Department of Defense is the "single biggest install base for Red Hat Linux" in the world?  Or that movie production studios, like Sony and Disney/Pixar create special visual effects and animation using Gnu+Linux based operating systems. Even the federal court system uses Linux systems for case management, case tracking, accounting, and probation services.

I often see the sentiment expressed that desktop GNU is “too hard” for the average computer user. I don’t think most people would have a problem using say Zorin OS 6, which is based on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin).  The most popular feature of  Zorn  is that it automatically retrieves plug-ins (such as Flash and Adobe Acrobat) and codecs for media files, meaning I don't have much  trouble using multimedia content. I can send and receive  e-mail, use Flash based web sites like Hulu Plus, rip  music  to  for my galaxy  MP3 player, create and print documents, use Instant Messaging  to talk to friends and post to blog spot.

Life without Windows/OSX means:

My system doesn’t need to be rebooted periodically to maintain performance levels.

Gnu/ Linux are and have always been a very secure operating system. Yes it still can be attacked but when compared to the others, it much more secure.

The economy, as everyone is well aware, stinks right now. I have control over how much or how little I on the Linux ego system.