The Sinister Moose

I am a fan of open source software. I firmly believe that it is the way into the future of computing. But there are a few drawbacks you should be aware of before you venture into the Linux world.

First, if you are coming from a world of Windows, you will have to scrap everything you know about using a computer. Certainly, there are Linux "flavors" out there that will be easy enough for you to figure out, but the actual operating system isn't the problem. No, the problem will be in the applications you are used to using, for example: Microsoft Word.

Yes, there are a few ways for you to run a Linux operating system, and still run older versions of Microsoft Office, but it's clunky, full of problems, and Microsoft doesn't want you to run it on Linux, so they will be of no assistance what so ever. Instead you will have to convert to something like OpenOffice, which is free, but unfortunately has a higher learning curve, and does not do some things as easily as it's Microsoft counterpart.

If you're a Photoshop user, that is looking at Linux as an alternative to Windows or spending the big-bucks on a Mac because Apple hardware is expensive, don't waste your time. The newest version of Photoshop that will run on a Linux Windows Emulator is Photoshop 7 or 8, and it only runs with partial support and pretty crappy quality. Since Photoshop is a no-go on the Linux Platform, there are a few "free" or low cost alternatives, however they aren't Photoshop, and will never be Photoshop no matter how hard they try.

I have long been an advocate of Adobe releasing their own operating system based on Linux, on which the entire Creative Suite would run, and run as good as it runs on a Mac. But I don't see that happening, not for a long while.

Unfortunately the same holds true for 95% of the productivity software that Windows and Mac users have come to rely on. Either the Linux versions aren't as good, or they simply don't exist, and here's the reason: Because the Windows operating system, and the Mac operating system is essentially "closed source", software developers can charge high fees for products that run on them.

Open Source software scares the big software people to death, because of GNU Licensing and OpenCource Licensing the big software companies are afraid that people that utilize these open source operating systems will not want to pay $1500 for the Adobe Creative Suite to run on the user's free operating system. They're also afraid that because the Operating System is free for anyone to modify, that their software can be reverse engineered, so that a user wouldn't have to pay $1500 for it. It's a pretty crappy philosophy, but it's one that Microsoft has capitalized on.

Let's be honest, if you think that there aren't 15 year old kids out there that can disassemble and reassemble Windows at the code level, and do the same with any software that runs on Windows, you are sadly mistaken. I've seen it, I have seen kids encounter a problem with a program running on windows, and decompile a DLL, or an executable and fix it on the fly. It's not like any operating system is truly closed, if someone is determined enough, they can reverse engineer it.

So, back to switching to Linux as an operating system. There are a great many reasons to do so, the biggest reason is because it's free, and all it takes is picking your choice of Linux Flavor, and burning an ISO onto a CD and booting the computer from the CD. Most distributions have an easy to understand installer which walks you through the installation in just a few minutes, and after a reboot, bang-zoom, you're running Linux.

Which Version of Linux should you choose? Eh, it doesn't really matter. All of them have strengths and weaknesses. In fact there is not a single end-all-be-all version of linux on the market which has everything built in. Right now DistroWatch.com ranks the top 100 Linux Distributions out of thousands, and keeps a running daily count on the standings.

At present the most popular version of Linux according to DistroWatch is Ubuntu. But it's not simply a matter of downloading an Ubuntu ISO and installing it, there are a couple of choices you also have to make. The standard Ubuntu distribution is shipped with the Gnome Desktop Manager, while Kubuntu is shipped with the KDE desktop manager. Here's where things get a little tricky for any new linux user.

There are a few dozen desktop managers. Essentially a desktop manager is the environment you work in while you are logged into the computer, it's the thing that creates the windows you open, and the menus you click on. The two most popular Desktop Managers are Gnome, and KDE. Both essentially do the same job which is to keep you from having to interact with the operating system they ride on. It's easy to think of it as a sort of a layered situation. All linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, openSuSe, etc) have at their core the first layer which is the "operating system". This first layer is comparable to the old days of DOS, it's all command line, without pretty graphics and windows. It's powerful, and if you can operate in command line, there is very little you can't do.

The second layer is the Desktop Environment or GUI (Graphical User Interface). This second layer is all point and click. Various linux distributions brand their Desktop Environment in subtle ways to make it appear it's their own verison, but there is virtually no difference between the Gnome Desktop on Ubuntu, and the Gnome Desktop on Fedora. In fact, one of the advantages of using Gnome or KDE is because you can brand it the way you want. If compared to the world of Microsoft Windows, it would be like being able to change the Windows Logos to a picture of your pet rattlesnake, and instead of the Windows Start Screen saying "Windows Starting" you could change it to the red pulsing glow of the HAL 9000 all seeing eye, saying, "I can't do that Dave."

The third layer in this operating system sandwich, would be the application support layer. While this layer interracts with the operating system layer (the first layer), it also has to interract with the Desktop Environment (second layer), so there is some variance between Gnome, and KDE at this point. Some applications are designed to only work on Gnome, some are only designed to work on KDE. While they can be hacked together, most are intended to only work with one or the other, but will work with any of the first layer of operating systems.

I know, it's kind of confusing. But I'm headed toward a conclusion that may help you, so bare with me.

You really can't proceed until you've made a choice as to which distribution you're going to run. For our purposes here today, I'm going to just choose the Ubuntu release 10.10 with the Gnome desktop ennvironment. It is simple, and once installed, it is as fast as greased lightning.

Once installed, Ubuntu offers a feature that most other distributions offer, which is called a Package Manager. It may be physically titled something like "Software Center" or Synaptic Package Manager, but it is there to make your life easier once you have committed to this radical change.

These Package Managers are there to show you what software is available for download and install, free of charge via the internet. Primarily this makes life easier, because installing a Linux program by hand requires a lot of work at the command line, and you just don't want to go there. It's like trying to install a program on Windows XP from the DOS window. Yuck! Think of the Package Managers like the iPhone App Store, or the App Market Place on an Android Phone, you browse through, pick the App and install it. It's really that simple.

In most cases, the Package Manager will only show you applications that are capable of running on your desktop environment, on your operating system, so most of the guesswork and command line work is not needed. Essentially once the application is installed, it will show up on your Application Menu, in just a few seconds.

There are more than a few drawbacks to switching to any linux distribution, and I'm just going to bullet point a few of them here.

• Hardware (your computer's internal hardware may not be perfectly compatible with your chosen flavor of linux.)
• Unavailable Apps (It's difficult to find free versions of all the software you may have been running on your Windows or Mac)
• This is not Windows or a Mac (There is no guarantee that anything with run or work, you are left to your own problem solving skills)
• This is not Windows or a Mac (You'll have to learn how the Operating System and Desktop Environment work, in order to be able to navigate and do what you want to do)
• This is not Apple or Microsoft (While there is a broad base of support for Linux, there isn't a 1-800 number to call, so someone else can fix your problem.)

Again these are just a few stumbling blocks that should be remembered before making the leap to Linux. Personally I think everyone should try it. Also I have to add that for simple web browsing, emailing, listening to music or watching movies, Linux is an excellent choice, a stable system will run for a very long time and do it's job well, there is little chance of virus infection, and very little malware to steal your identity.

And finally, don't get me wrong, I think OpenOffice is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Office and if you take the time to learn how to use OpenOffice it will do anything MS Office will do, and probably a little bit better.

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