So now that the formal introductions are out of the way I think it's about time we got to writing something actually worth reading. Well, maybe next time. For now, I want to talk to you about one of the great loves of my life. My Parents? Brothers? Girlfriend of 4 years? Even my basses? Oh no.
Ubuntu makes my life so much easier in many ways, so much so that I've been totally Windows-free (on my main machine at least) since early 2007. I like linux in general. I like the idea that software should be free and that it shouldn't cost a penny either. (FOSS geeks will understand, for the rest of you, look up 'Free Software') I like the package management, which makes installing anything totally painless. I like the near-absence of drivers and fact that 99% of hardware is support natively. Speaking of hardware, I like the fact that my machines can be a little bit special, everything from a shiny quadcore desktop to an ancient beige box can run some version of linux and get a very useable desktop. I love the fact that things like TinyCore, a 10MB operating system that only needs an i486DX and 32MB of RAM, exists purely because they can and because they are useful to maybe 100 people worldwide. But that's enough to make them useful enough. I like the fact that the last virus I got was 4 years ago, and I like the fact that that makes surfing for porn much more hassle-free. I like the system stability, that nothing ever goes wrong. And when it does, I like the support and that there are a few million people just a click away wanting to help.
But most importantly, I like the geekiness factor, the exclusivity. I like it when people ask what it is or how my computer does things like that. Candidly, I like the fact that people see it as a little bit nerdy and a little bit different.
On the new-found popularity of unix-based systems, I'm unsure. I don't want more people to use linux. When they do, we will lose our advantages. The support pool will be diluted, the average technical ability will dwindle and the vulnerabilities from viruses and the like will increase as the potential market for said vulnerabilities increases. On the plus side, we will receive more support from manufacturers and perhaps even some more video games. But why? I have a Windows machine for the odd game of Theme Hospital and I buy from manufacturers who bother to support unix in the first place. I bought an Nvidia card because I adore nvidia-settings-manager and because VDPAU is the best linux development in recent years. The nice company who cares about linux and bothers to put this stuff out gets my money. You can twat on all day about there being no money to be made from FOSS. Ask Nvidia and my 9500GT what they think.
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