Why Ubuntu excites me more than Windows or Macintosh
You know that thing that happens on your computer, when you are using Windows? When you ask it to do something, and it thinks about it, and then it keeps thinking, and then you go off and make a cup of tea, and it’s still thinking, and you want to headbutt the wall, again and again, until gets all smeared and red and bloody and bits of your brain are raining down on to your shoes? Yes? Well, there’s a way to stop that happening. Stop using Windows. Use Ubuntu instead.
Ubuntu is an operating system. If you don’t know what one of those is, Google it, and then come back. The latest version comes out today. I’m writing this yesterday (confusingly) and I’m actually quite excited. Pathetic, isn’t it? Look, bear with me. It’s not easy writing in a passionate fashion about an operating system. It feels a bit like having a favourite type of petrol, or mounting a vigorous advocacy of a particular shade of lightbulb. But dammit, if you work on a desk, these are the environs are our worlds. Mine used to be Windows, and now it isn’t. And, as a result my life is better. Sad, but true.
Ubuntu is a Debian-based distribution of Linux. What does that mean? Buggered if I know. If you do, and you are feeling a powerful urge, already, to recommend a different version of Linux, then let me stop you right there. Is it easier to use? Is it prettier? No? Well, not interested. Move along.
I first tried Linux about five years ago, and it was a disaster, for all the reasons that Ubuntu is wonderful. The way it used to work, you see, was that you’d spend hours downloading the thing, and burning it in the right sort of image, and then you’d stick it in your CD drive and the screen would go all doolally, like the stuff Keanu sees in The Matrix. And then, if you were lucky, it would just go “KERNEL PANIC!!!” and do nothing. If you weren’t, it would wipe XP off your actually perfectly respectable PC and sit there having ropey graphics at you and not letting the wi-fi work. It didn’t take me long to realise why Windows was the market leader, and switch back.
I’ve been running Linux since about 11 years ago. I think the first distribution I tried prior to enlightenment (sp. Debian) was SuSE 5.x. That one was quite a bit of fun actually if you had a Soundblaster sound card and a 3com network card. Otherwise things were kinda weird. Then I went through this bad “rpm hell” dependency thing wanting to install gnome on primarily a KDE distribution or update it or something. I got frustrated and had bad feelings about the whole thing.
Enter a sysadmin from where I worked (think about a company that used a big red X in its name in the dot.com boom/bust cycle). He said, “move thyself to debian; child”. And I did. Then after seeing Ubuntu some version I moved again. I still like and use Debian and have filed bugs against it because I love it so much. But its Ubuntu for me now. Its fun, freaky, weird, and now its not so brown. Yay!
With movies, there are those that are fun to watch, and then there are films that are important. The kind you tell your friends to watch because the message conveyed in them is too important to be missed.
Ubuntu is the equivalent of that in the operating systems world. It’s perfectly fun to use, arguably better than Windows in many respects, but it’s how it liberates you that’s really important. Ubuntu sets you free.
I can’t believe it’sbeen five years since I switched from Windows to Ubuntu. I’ve never looked forward to a release more than this one! Linux and Ubuntu have come very far even in five years — further than MS and further than Mac! Thanks for Ubuntu!
I came to Ubuntu via Debian, the operating system shipped with the original eeepc 4G. I first tried Ubuntu booting from a keydrive; it wasn’t long before I had ubuntu running on my laptop and my eeepc. The best bit is the free software; GPS tracking, music software in fact anything you want to do there is some free software out there to help you to do it. If anything it seems to me that Apple and Microsoft are copying the best ideas from ubuntu. I cannot recomend Ubuntu highly enough – sadly if you are reading this you already have it.
Cannot wait to get Pangolin (hopefully with the Gnome desktop and Docky)
ubuntu 12.04 gnome desktop is visually stunning, great job.truth be told I find gnome classic more to my lais back style. from the software store pretty useful programs are available .one last thing it would be lots of fun if a ez video converter is available like format factory.
About Windows I stated with 95 moved to 98 and later 7. bitter sweet memories .ubuntu has stunned me how could a free OS so stable and fast and free
and the support community is awesome. the terminal is a new thing that I am learning with your help.thank you with all my heart.
I love ubuntu and waithing to buy the ubuntu phone
I could not find the shutdown in ubuntu 12.04 but not to worry qshutdown from the software center does the job -superb.