Well, I know I've said words criticizing the Freeware movement, more
or less declaring that if it's free, it will likely not be as good as
software you'd pay money for. I'm beginning to eat my words, as I've
followed a few links many of you have forwarded to me, and decided to
give the most popular free OS a chance.
Had my first experience using a flavor of linux called RedHat 7. It's
not the most user friendly OS out there, even with the KDE desktop,
and the installation process wasn't as straightforward as installing
Mac OS 9 or windows ME. Despite this, I managed to get through it,
and I don't consider myself super-techie nor all that familiar with
Unix. Installing new software was VERY awkward, as I apparently had
to learn a few command lines, and learn some stuff about "root" and
account management and rights access, It's certainly not the OS for
grandma.
Despite everything negative I said above, once I got it working, it
was rock solid! I couldn't make it crash, It's also reportedly a lot
easier than it used to be, which only suggests that development
stages are set to make it even more simple, more powerful, and
certainly more plug&play. It got my attention in a big way...it could
do true multiprocessing & multitasking in ways Windows 2000 simply
can't compare. The graphics were awesome, the GUI was quite mac-like
(said my co-workers), and I still can't say enough about the
stability.
Then it hit me....this was all FREE! I could optionally install this
all over my work environment and never worry about licensing issues.
I found complete office suites for free, linux versions of mp3
players, sound editors, web browsers, and photoshop like
products....all for free! The feeling was wonderful...comforting
too. I wasn't at all concerned about reports of my program files
being uploaded to Uncle Bill every 5 minutes, or common viruses that
were tearing down our windows machines at work via the Outlook
client. I felt my privacy was truly being honored, and that the OS
was truly designed for my benefit...not to SORT OF work and make me
want to buy the update which will KIND OF work. I felt the OS was in
honest hands, not corporate ones, and that a LOT of thought was put
into its design. Heck, the unix OS has been around before DOS, yes?
It certainly has come a long way. I know many unix programmers
heavily criticize the KDE desktop because it's a ram hog (by the way,
yes it IS a ram hog) and awkward compared to the shell prompt they're
used to...but I found KDE necessary in terms of competing with other
OS's, and frankly...it works. I was mesmerized by its ability to
perform, it just took some re-educating on my part...but I find it's
worth it.
I realize RedHat is indeed for sale if I want the CD's, and they sell
tech support, and what not...but they let me download and use it for
free and it's NOT a trial offer! I saw there were many other flavors
of linux out there, but this one has been hyped at me for so long I
decided to take the plunge. If this is any indication of what the
other brands of linux are capable of, then I'm really impressed. This
whole open source free software concept might really take off. My
recent experiences have given me hope.
I found a novell administration package for linux....<evil snicker>
... which means I could very well do 99% of my job without ever
having to touch a windows workstation. The feeling is VERY
comforting, and removes an every day element of depression from my
daily occupation. When it comes to an OS, I rank stability #1, but
user-friendliness is a close second. My experiences find #1 is
fulfilled, but #2 needs a bit of work if they ever expect people like
my father to figure out how to install the OS and add his own
software to it.
"The best word is....FREE"
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Every Man every.manATpressthebutton.com
Press The Button, Midnight - 3 am Sundays
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