Space Pirates Ltd.

Linux. For most people it’s that barely known other OS. It’s that weird thing that supergeeks know about and think is so much better than Windows. It’s something that doesn’t matter, but that people keep saying will dethrone Microsoft one day. I’m what you would consider a Power User, someone who knows everything about his computer, built the thing himself and can take it from clean format to precision insturment within a day. Someone who uses the keyboard as much as the mouse, knows exactly what everything in Control Panel does. Someone who isn’t just comfortable with Windows, someone who knows it without thinking.

We’re usually the biggest detractors of Windows behind the Apple people. Why? Because we see both sides of the system, we see how intergral this product is to the technolgical world and we see all the flaws that glaringly seem to be continually ignored, or just laughed at. The fact that something the majority of computer users depend on costs so much money it can easily be the biggest expenditure in a custom built midrange system. Things like this bother us, and we take the other things, the Good things for granted. We see the fact we have to leave automatic updates on just to try to reign in security flaws that seem ever multiplying, we don’t see the fact that this automatic system takes over something we would normally worry about. We see it when an updated driver breaks the system, and don’t notice the other 20 drivers that are working without a single hitch. We’re very critical, but it never really occurs to us to leave. Windows, with all its flaws, is safe, dependable, like an old pair of sneakers. There are holes in the toes, and they’re not the most stylish pieces of footwear but you’ve had them forever and they’re as relaxing as can be.

I ended up making the full switch to Ubuntu, a new Linux distrubution that is hailed as very user friendly compared to its brethren, it wasn’t exactly planned, but several unrelated factors caused me to erase my Windows installation completely and put this distribution on my machine instead. The install was at first blush Far simpler than Windows, which impressed me at first exposure. You just stick the CD in and double click Install, and after a few basic questions anyone would understand, the system will install itself. After a brief installation period (20 minutes or so, easily half XP’s ETA), your machine restarts and your new operating system comes up. Fairly self explainitory, with a bar on top to display running programs, and a “Start Bar” on the bottom with a reasonably substantial list of currently installed programs. I was pretty happy during the first ten minutes of use.

Then I tried to play an MP3. All my MP3’s were on my secondary hard drive, which was in Windows’ format. The documentation implied fairly strongly that I would be able to access the stuff on the other drive immediately, even though it was a different format. The documentation was inaccurate. Ubuntu would tell me that the other drive was an NTFS (Windows) drive, but offered no immediate solution to make it accessable. No “Mount Drive” button, or “Allow Windows Drive Access” menu option, and documentation that just referred to a program that wasn’t only not installed even though the documentation said it was right there, but not even available for this, the most recent version of Ubuntu. This was a serious strike against this computer enviroment. I had years worth of files, and a substantial collection of games and songs that were completely inaccessible without the slightest explination.

At the time, I chalked this up to moving pains, and went to the forums for Ubuntu to ask for help. I was able to get my files quickly, the community is very helpful when it comes to this sort of thing. But what I kept noticing over this week was how very often I had to ask how to get something I think should be trivial working properly. I was going to that fourm usually once a day with some new symptom, or glitch, or bothersome irritation. When you need to properly activate a piece of hardware in Windows, it’s a quick Google for the manufacturer, a few minutes to download the appropriate driver, and more often than not, you’re ready to go after a single reboot. With Ubuntu, I spent Three Days getting my video card properly configured. Three Days. The official driver for Ubuntu wouldn’t turn itself on, and the official driver from ATI basically had to be competely rebuilt from core to replace it because it was written for another version of Linux. Then it still didn’t initialize. Eventually I was able to track down someone more knowledgeable who had the same problem and had discovered the solution, but I was pretty sour by that point. I’ve had an easier time making a Sound Blaster Pro work in DOS (Ask an old computer tech about it. Horror stories) ten years ago than getting something as intregral as a video card working properly.

Then there’s the simple truth that even in this day and age with Internet Explorer’s marketshare dropping every minute, the Web is written for IE. The Internet is coded for Windows. Wanna watch streaming video in Ubuntu? Here’s a pot of coffee, a forum search box, and a free afternoon, you’re going to need all three. Want to put in a job application? Wait! The website only supports IE! You’re going to have to use another computer chief. Want to play some rounds of Battlefield 2 with your buddies? Heh, you better have a computer that exceeds the recommended specs by at least 30%, cause you’re going to be running it in emulation. The world runs on Windows. It’s a sad fact really, it’s unfair to everyone except Gates’ bottom line. But it’s the truth. The most headache free computer setup for average people is still a fully updated instance of Windows XP with a good antivirus.

Does that mean this “Linux” thing is just an abberation? A little blip that’ll be crushed by the Microsoft warmachine? No. Linux is an evolving and adapting entity. If you just want to use your computer to do light websurfing and read your email and get sports scores or something, getting your geeky nephew to set up Linux for you is a very good idea. If you own a Dell you’ll even get a small refund. You won’t have to worry about spyware, you’ll be practically immune to viruses. If you run a small business and don’t want your employees dicking around, want computers that’ll do work and not much else and have a much lower risk of failure rate than your average Windows PC, go with Linux and save the $200 a unit. Linux has a chance to beat Microsoft at their own game.

But not yet. Driver issues, lack of a unified architecture, far too many different variants, and reduced support for today’s interconnected world are serious marks against Linux. It’s too young and too unfocused to really take the average user market. The average user watches streaming video and plays games, the average user already has a collection of things he is not going to want to lose. The average user is not going to want a learning curve. The average user is going to want the same programs that his neighbor has.

The way I see it, in time Linux is going to become a serious contender, and because of it’s “Free as in beer” model will probally topple the bohemoth that is Microsoft Corp.

But today, just keep your XP CD handy.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 4:11 pm and is filed under The Tech Barn. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.