Why Linux?

A few years ago I decided I wanted to try out Linux (I had tried it a few years prior that but at that time it still wasn't very user friendly).  At that time Windows XP had just came out and Linux was coming in all sorts of flavors; Mandrake, Redhat etc. A new Linux technology had also emerged called WINE, it would let you run Windows applications on Linux. I thought to myself, hey, this may be it! This may make Linux user friendly and make it mainstream. So, I jumped in and set up a dual boot on my hard drive so I could boot between Linux and the all new Windows XP OS. After a lot of kicking and cussing the machine over issues with drivers I finally got it working (after I finally gave up on the sound card and went to Best Buy and bought a new Sound Blaster compatible card that I knew would work with Linux). Even though I had worked with Linux command line commands for some time on my web servers, there was still a bit of a learning curve. There was also issues with Linux and yes, it even crashed some times too. However, I did think some of the features were way cool. Thing like being able to choose and customize your GUI and multiple desktops made it fun to fiddle around with in a geeky way. 

After a few months of using Linux, learning some shell scripting and modifying the GUI I ended up using Linux for my main home OS. WINE was cool but I still had to switch back and forth to Windows for some programs I used a lot. It was fun, for awhile. After some time though, I did eventually switch back to Windows because, well, it was easier and did everything i needed it to do. I didn't have to hunt for drivers, I didn't have to install packages and I didn't have to compile code to make it work with my specific machine. 

Once again Linux has been in forefront of tech news. This time it's a new distro called "Ubuntu". This time even DELL is actually selling Linux desktops. I started getting that itch to try it again. I mean, wow, this time I can compare it to the new Vista instead of XP. This time......I......... decided NOT to do it. Why you ask? Well, this time when that itch started I thought to myself, why Linux? Just to be "cool" in a geeky kinda way? To have a new toy? To be anti-Microsoft? To have the joy of kicking and cussing? Nope, I realized that it's just an operating system and Microsoft and Apple have been at that game for a long time and are just plain easier to use with all the headaches. I'm still wanting to see what the fuss about Ubuntu is and see some of the improvements to Linux. So, this time I opted to use a live pc via Moka5. No mess, no fuss, no cussing. If you want to check out a new OS this is a cool and painless way to do it. All you need is some spare room on a USB drive. 

So what did I think of Ubuntu? It was ok. It tastes like chicken (looks like Windows). If something tastes like chicken, why not just eat chicken? Linux as an OS is like eating crab legs. You have to do a lot of work to get to the meat and it can get messy. Whereas Windows and OS 10 would be like having the crab prepared for you by a chief at a resturant.  I guess it really depends on your taste.

Maybe one day if Linux actually really jumps AHEAD of Microsoft and Apple with technology, usability and compatibility I'll install it again and give it a whirl. Before that happens though i think I want to see what Apple has in mind with Leopard. Speaking of Leopard...Uh Oh, i'm feeling that itch again.