So you’ve been hearing about Linux many times. Mostly bad things, second hand opinions. You’re convinced there’s nothing good about Linux, still you feel a little bit uneasy about now knowing exactly what it is. Here’s what it is then, in simple words and without being weird about it.
To Linux or To Microsoft?
I’ve been asking myself for a long time which way I want to go and I cannot make up my mind. On one hand, Windows applications tend to work better than their Linux counterparts (all you Linux freaks, please stop throwing rocks at me now!). On the other, Windows is slooooooooooooooow and inefficient and requires constant maintenance.
But I try to make things simple for myself and asked myself this question: Would I pay for Windows to avoid using Linux? And the answer is a definite NO! People approach the Linux/Windows dilemma from a variety of angles but too few tend to make up their minds based on this important aspect.
In theory, MS Windows is better than Linux as it is a paid, well tested and fully supported platform. However, what Windows fails to be is flexible. It delivers a great deal of features to cater for a variety of tastes all in one box.
What Windows has not achieved within more than 2 decades of development has been nicely covered by Linux. There are about 100 officially known distributions of Linux. Each one of those distributions has a different type of user in mind.
Which Distro Suits My Taste?
Why would I care?
Let us use the car industry as an example. Imagine, that there is only one car manufacturer in the world, let’s call it SuperMotors. One that really counts, I mean. There are others, but they don’t really matter ‘coz the biggest and the bestest one controls 99 percent of the market. SuperMotors are so powerfull they get one of them free when you buy a house. Now, let’s imagine they offer three models: a family car, a business car and a truck. No, I’m not finished yet! Now let’s imagine they are all green and yellow, have a slow buggy sat-nav preinstalled and the interior comes in black leather only.
Because 99 percent of population buy SuperMotors you could theoretically go for an alternative brand that will be much cheaper to buy and tailored to your needs. But if it breaks down your all on your own. Moreover, even if you decide to still go for it you’ll be ostracised by your friends and family for going your own way. You’ll hear how expensive your new car is to maintain (for the SuperMotors may be more expensive but their garages are free) and how it’ll break down in the middle of nowhere and you’ll have nobody to help you and you’ll be all by yourself, dying in pain of thirst and hunger.
Now, you’re an outcast and a geek, scorned and laughed at you decide to drive your new car for a few weeks to see if it’s really so bad and think you’ll just get rid of it when it pisses you off big time.
Half a year later you no longer remember your car is any different. In fact, you noticed it’s not only cheaper to buy but also consumes much less fuel, garages are scarce but owners are friendly and don’t charge ridiculous amounts for spares. You feel good knowing you chose what suited you most. You feel free and brave!
Because it’s important to have a choice!
You can have orange and gray with yellow wheels, white tyres and green leather while your girlfriend drives an all-black one. It doesn’t matter why you chose your OS as long as you were given a choice.
Here comes the time for you to break free from the Matrix! Here’s the time to make your free choice. There are some really nice distros you can run prior to installing them. How cool is that! You just download it and burn the CD, then reboot your PC and you’re good to go. You can play around with it as much as you want. You’ll probably be surprised all your hardware has been detected and works properly including your internet connection.
You’ve been to the other side of the window, you have stepped out of the beaten track, you’re perception of your computer starts to change and things will no longer be as simple as they used to be. You’re not yet determined to make the final choice but you know things are not the same any more!
