Tuesday, November 07, 2006

A Bit Of A Rant, But Only A Bit

Since I am in the IT industry, I get into my fair share of discussions regarding computers with people outside the industry who are looking for info and advice. One of the issues that frequently comes up is about Linux. I know a lot of people who have "tried" Linux and have been very disappointed with the experience. They heard all these wonderful things about Linux and rushed out and bought a copy of Red Hat or SuSE, backed up all their data, wiped their hard drive and installed the shiny, less expensive Windows alternative. They played around with it, downloaded and tried to install software, surfed the web and listened to some mp3's, typed up a letter and polished up their resume and within a week, had gone back to Windows. Linux was just not Windows. They are right...it isn't. And it is not supposed to be.

Windows was designed from the very beginning to be easy for the average Joe to use. If you are old enough to remember the days before MS Windows, you will recall that computers were notoriously difficult to use. You had to be able to type in commands to get results, or the computer was nothing more than a large paperweight. Bill Gates envisioned an operating system that almost anyone could use and over the past 20+ years he has created just that. Over 20 years of research and design has created a very user friendly operating system. Linux is not like that.

Linux never started out to be user friendly. It was designed to be stable and secure. Unix/Linux geeks did not care how hard to use it was as long as it did not crash. Linux boxes typically will be running smoothly for weeks and even months before they are ever rebooted. You typically cannot say that about Windows. When you have a Windows problem, what is the first thing tech support asks you?: "Did you reboot the PC?" If you ever need to call Linux support, I can assure you that will not be the first thing they ask you to do.

If you decide to use Linux, you need to approach it like you would a stick shift automobile or diesel if all you have driven is an automatic or a gasoline powered one. Both types have their strengths and uses, but a stick or diesel is not for everyone. it takes time to learn the new car and how to utilize the differences. Linux is no different. If you expect Linux to be just like Windows, you are going to be disappointed. Linux is not for everyone. You have to be a bit of a rebel as well as patient if you want to get the most out of it.

An operating system, to me, is a tool. Linux is a freely available tool that does about 90% of what I want it to, which is browse the web, check mail, create and edit office documents, play and rip mp3's and movies, edit web pages, FTP files, view jpg's, burn CD's, and manipulate data on my USB thumb drives. There is probably more, but you get the idea. Knightmare needs more functionality than I do.

There are only two things I have not been able to do properly in Linux: 1) Sync my Palm Tungsten E and 2) get X-Sheet Invoicing to work in WINE.

The first item is not such a big deal since I need to sync my PDA at work more than I do at home, so that has not been an issue. When I tried to get it to work, my PDA would start the sync process but would hang at the same point each time I tried. I researched and every tip I found failed so I gave up. The one tip I did not try was using KPilot, for the KDE desktop. I am not a big fan of KDE...I prefer XFCE or IceWM. I may be able to get that to work without fully installing the KDE desktop environment, but it seems like overkill to me.

The second item has to do with a software package I use to keep track of lawn service and PC repair customers. I cannot get it to run in WINE and that is too bad. X-Sheet Invoicing is a rather robust freeware program and it is pretty easy to use. I have not looked for a substitute program, but rumor has it that invoicing programs in Linux are scarce. I could always use Open Office Calc if I have to.

There is a third thing but I did not consider it an issue. My wife and I have been using AceMoney for a couple of years to track our bank account. It is a great piece of freeware that we both use on a daily basis. Since we both use this, I thought it was not a good idea to migrate it to Linux, although I did try it. I installed it under WINE and configured it, but it acted a but buggy (columns failed to sort when clicked) and I was not willing to live with the bugs. That and every time I opened it data file in Linux and closed it the next time AceMoney was opened in Windows, you had to manually open the data file. Since my wife and I both need to use this program, this would not be feasible. I could use some of the Java based programs and put it on a shared drive, but that would require my wife learning another program and that is not fair. Now if it was just me needing a financial program, I would just use jGnash and be happy.

Now I said earlier that an operating system is a tool. If a friend has a large assortment of tools that he is giving away and one of them meets your basic needs, do you accept it or do you refuse it and spend money on a shinier tool? For me the answer is simple. I have no need or desire to spend a lot of money on a shiner tool (Windows) when my good friend (Mr. Internet) will give me one legally (Linux) for free that does pretty much all I need.

I have three PC's at the house: our main PC (P4-3 ghz with 512 meg RAM) that duel boots Windows XP and Ubuntu 6.06, a server (500 mhz AMD with 384 meg RAM) running Ubuntu 6.10, and an HP laptop (633 mhz with 256 RAM) that is my sandbox, currently running Ubuntu 6.10 . I could not afford to put Windows on all of them and to be honest, I am not sure I would want to. I am able to put a perfectly usable OS on any machine I want and it costs me nothing other than time and a blank CD.

I am not a Linux fanboy, nor do I think Linux is for everyone, but if you are computer savvy and have a spare machine lying around, it is a great way to learn. I knew nothing about Linux when I first started experimenting with it. All I did was take an older PC and install Linux on it and played around. Then about a year ago or so I decided that Linux was going to be my primary OS and would only use Windows if: A) Linux could not do the task at hand, or B) My wife was already logged in and I did not feel like rebooting.

Again, Linux is not for everyone. If you are happy with whatever version of Windows you are using then please continue using it. If you want to learn about other OS's get an older machine and drop Mepis or Ubuntu on it and do a fair comparison. It might also help to read Knightmare' blog on the subject. As a "Windows only" guy for 15 years or so, he has found Linux to be fun and helpful.

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