Another option for a computing environment
It’s been quite a while since I did a computer related post. Here’s a little something for those of you who may be tired of Microsoft’s near monopoly on computing environments – usually called “OS’s” for “Operating Systems”. To many new computer users the only option for a computer is the Microsoft Windows based machines at Best Buy or Walmart. A few more savvy people believe that Macintosh will save them from “windoze hell” and lock themselves into an even MORE expensive and limited computing experience.
I admit to occasionally looking to the Apple Macintosh side of things with a bit of curiosity. Back in the “dark ages” an employer of mine had an old “Trash 80″ (TRS-80 by Radio Shack) that he messed around with a bit. He had a book project he was working on and finally he decided to upgrade to something more usable. Which took the form of one of the early Macintosh computers which he soon upgraded to a full megabyte of RAM. The tiny little black and white monitor was usable enough for him and the mouse simplified a lot of processes as well. He was a bit afraid of it, perhaps fearing that the wrong combination of key strokes would melt it down like in some Sci-Fi movie. But I poked around on it a bit and was able to point him the right direction and he eventually finished his work on it. It was cool. It was slick. And it was EXPENSIVE. Today the Mac has all that going for it still.
Now, as direct support missionaries we tend to count our pennies and try to eke stretch our income as best we may to obtain the greatest results with the least outlay of cash. So each time I look at a Mac I’m reminded that the same amount of money will buy me a premium Windoze machine – complete with a lot of fancy software. Plus, a lot of the programs I use are compatible with the newer versions of Windows or can be upgraded for a relatively low cost. However, Windows is the worlds largest virus and also is the worlds greatest target for virii, worms, trojans and other malware. As well as being expensive.
So for years I’ve played with Linux off and on. The early versions were fun to play with but were not that usable for a green newbie. Off and on I’d try side by side installs on one machine. Windows first and then some version of Linux afterwards. This would give me the option of choosing one or the other at boot up time. This was less than satisfactory.
Recently a friend of mine from college days put me to thinking about a Linux distribution I’d looked at before. It’s called “Ubuntu” and is available for download – or they’ll even mail you a CD if you like. The way it works is you download the ISO file and then burn it to a CD or DVD. This gives you a “Live CD” which then can be booted to. Just place it in the CD drive of your computer and boot it up. And you can do this without messing with your computer’s installation. What will this do for you? It will allow you to check out Ubuntu and see what you think – without committing to it. It will also allow you to use a machine that does not even have a hard drive – should your hard drive crash. All you need is an old computer with a CD drive in it.
Installing is pretty straight forward. I installed on an old laptop that has been giving us fits for a while. Last summer I purchased a new desktop for my darling wife and once she got it up and running I took over the problem child as a permanent Linux machine. Ubuntu breathed new life into the old clunker! It’s faster than it was under Windows XP Home and is much more stable. All I did was choose the “Install to Harddrive” option at boot time and took over the whole machine for Linux. Even setting up the wireless internet conection was not much problem – AFTER I remembered to turn it on physically. 
So – what advantages does this Linux have over a comparable Windows machine? First – if you buy an old machine that does not have an operating system – Linux can be put on it free of charge legally. Each time the programs that run in Ubuntu are updated the machine automaticaly detects them and lets you know updates are available – and they too are free of charge. Ubuntu comes standard with Open Office – a very good substitute for Microsoft Office. In fact, you can choose to save files to Microsoft’s format should you need to share them with some less enlightened person still tied to Gates’ marketing campaign.
Fooling around with this machine has been fun. Right now I’m typing this up on it. You can search for and install all kinds of programs, depending on your needs and desires. I have several different web browsers (just because I can) and I downloaded a variety of other programs to try as time allows. If your main uses of a computer are for office and internet, there’s little – if anything – that Ubuntu can’t do. In fact, there’s even a handy, dandy little program called “Gimp” (Graphic Image Manipulation Program) that you can “photo shop” with. What’s not to like?
Posted in Computers