Ubuntu: A Window to Open-Source

Choosing a reliable, stable, and yet sensational operating system nowadays is hard work. There’s the alternative of paying a high premium for Apple’s Macintosh just for OS X Leopard; alas, for the budget consumer, there really is only two options: Windows or Linux. Team Windows is alluring in the sense that it can run on all PC’s, provide a genuine GUI experience without prior knowledge of coding, and is relatively affordable to purchase. On the other side of the court, we have Team Linux, the team with a content penguin for a mascot. While Linux is known for its ability to be indefinitely customized via commands and code, it is the very same ability that turns mainstream users off. Rather, it’s the required knowledge in coding and commands.

I’m no Linux fanatic - in fact, I had tried Ubuntu 7.04 on a virtual PC before. It was unimpressive - there were problems connecting to the Internet, and worse yet: the standard-aspect resolution didn’t fit the widescreen display on my laptop. For crying out loud, I couldn’t even figure out how to install Flash or those Windows fonts because the bloody tutorials gave me some code I couldn’t understand.

However, lately, I’ve been thinking of switching back to Ubuntu for a variety of reasons:

• I needed a new environment to get away from my formal work where I could perform some research - on anything and everything, from holistic learning to customizing Ubuntu.
• I wasn’t pleased when Vista’s Aero - which does look pretty, in my opinion - was turned off by Java to revert to Vista’s Basic theme. Sorry, I’m picky.
• I wanted to try Ubuntu to take advantage of the open-source liberty: free, both price-wise and limit-wise.
  
• My Co-op supervisor encouraged me to cultivate my interest in open-source technology - which I did, a bit too much. I had discovered Ubuntu 8.04 was released; this release was apparently a major one that finally featured a display manager and simple installation.

I took the jump - and I reaped the rewards. No driver installation - everything just works. I know this must be weird to hear, because typically OS X or Windows would convey such an image, as opposed to Linux. In the following series of posts, I will show you what I absolutely love about Ubuntu - but also, why I can’t uninstall Windows Vista yet.

1. Download & Installation of Ubuntu 8.04
2. The major issue: command knowledge and why you don’t need it to use Ubuntu.
3. GUI: ordinarily simple, but can be pushed to look much smoother and more modern.
4. Work: a lack of fonts, but otherwise online documents and Open Office make up for it.
5. Play: iPod Connection? Tons of free games - amongst my favourites are Gnotris.
6. Customization: Hack ubuntu, please.
7. Support: community support works!
8. Try it in reality, not virtually - it doesn’t do it justice and takes away from the Ubuntu experience.

Here’s some motivation to get you moving; a screenshot of the beautiful Ubuntu. Its visual effects are actually somewhat reminiscent of those of Mac OS X’s - speaking of which, is actually based on Linux FreeBSD, another UNIX-like operating system. Take that.

Download it here: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download