Use Linux

. . . it's just way better.

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Linux is a hell of a good OS

Linux is:

• It's 99.9% virus free. (It may catch a few Windows viruses, but they can't hurt it.)
• It's very stable. (Some systems have run for years without a reboot.)
• It's complete. (Most versions have all the software you'll want or need, including replacements for your legacy Windows applications.)
• It's easy to maintain and upgrade. (Update to the latest and most secure program versions with a couple of mouse clicks.)
• It's powerful. ( The vast majority of the worlds top 500 super computers can't be wrong.)
• It can breath new life into that old PC you've got. (You know, the one you've been dreading to turn on because it's sooo slooooow.)
• It's fast. (And it stays that way, unlike your old Windows installation.)

Linux is not:

• It's not Windows. (Abd it won't run legacy Windows programs without some effort, and a little help from a friendly geek.)
• It's not burdened with restrictive lisneces. (Get one copy, load it on 100 PCs. No lawyers will get involved, honest.)
• It's not always compatable with the latest hardware. (More and more companies are writing Linux drivers, but some still have to be reverse engineered which takes a little time.)
• It's not a slave to someone elses sense of fashion. (Make your desktop simple, plain, and fast, or run a 3D desktop that makes Vista look like something from Fisher Price. Your pick.)
• It's not bloated. (One version of Linux is less than 50 MegaBites in size, including the graphical desktop, Firefox browser, and plenty of other apps.)

It's a Free operating system:

1. It's Free, as in beer. You can get it for somewhere around $0.00, which is a pretty good price compared to the competition.
2. It's also Free, as in speech. If you're so inclined, you can check out the source code and make improvements to it. Most people hear this and think, meh!, but lost of geeks make good use of this feature, which is why Linux is so secure, stable, and fast.

Curious yet?

Check out these links and start yourself on a path to a better experience with your PC.

• Knoppix is a very fast and full featured live CD version of Linux. Use it to get a taste of Linux safely, without having to install a thing.
• Ubuntu is a very popular choice amongst Linux users. It's full featured, easy to use, and it just works. Get your CD for free!
• Ubuntu is also available at Best Buy. Shop online or wander over to your favorit brick & morter version and pick up a copy.
• The U.S.A. Linux Users Group is an online forum and gathering place for fans of Linux. It's a great place to go and chat with some very smart people who are happy to share their experience with you.

Windows Vista is more secure

. . . or maybe not . . .

2007 April 1

As if you needed another reason to look for alternatives to Windows for your operating system, it turns out that the new, shiny, hardware hungry, and "more secure" Windows Vista can be rendered impotent by something as seemingly innocuous as an animated cursor. McAfee Avert Labs reports that a malformed animated cursor file can spiral into "an endless crash-restart loop", as demonstrated by the video at left.

Apparently, such an attack can be delivered over the web via an ANI file on a remote server. Just visit a site with the file enabled and . . . crash!

And it's not like this is a new attack. It's been "in the wild" for some time, and Microsoft supposedly addressed the same vulnerability in XP. So, so much for the new and improved, secure Vista. That whole line seems to have been at least as much about PR as it was about keeping your machine up and running.

Eye Candy

2007 March 14

Windows Vista and Mac OSX aren't the only operating systems with great eye candy any more. What you see to the right is Ubuntu Linux running with a 3D accelerated desktop. Give it a click and enjoy the view.

You need a decent graphics card to do this (no on the mainboard stuff here), and it's just eye candy, but it's some damned slick eye candy!

Ease Of Use

2007 March 14

In a few months, Linux is going to take a major leap forward in terms of how easy it is to set up and use. It's already a breeze to install. (Ubuntu asks you fewer than a dozen questions, all of which are easy enough for nearly any computer user to answer.) Soon, adding new software will be as easy as clicking a button on a web page.

One of the great strengths of Linux has always been choice. Coincidentally, one of the great drawbacks of Linux has also been choice. Sometimes choice is great. If you don't like this music player, there are others that will be more to your liking. If your file browser isn't doing everything you'd like it to do, there are others. Is Firefox a little slow o load, or is it gobbling up a little too much memory? Why not give Opera a try? Or Konqueror? Or Nautilus? Or . . . Or . . .

Sometimes, though, choice is more of a bane than a blessing. Case in point - "package management". That's a verbose term for saying "how we install programs and stuff." There are a half-dozen "popular" package management systems. Most of them do their job well enough, but they all have their little tricks and turns that must be learned if you're going to use them well. And just because you've mastered one of them doesn't mean you know a thing about another one. In addition, all package management systems are text based and tell you what the developer wants to tell you. No unbiased opinions are available, and you can't really check out what you're getting until you get it.

CNR.com aims to change this. With an attractive web interface, complete with screenshots and user reviews, The web site will let you find just the right program and reduce installation to a mouse click. One stop shopping for the best in open source and proprietary software. Did I mention that most of the products for "sale" are free? Let me see that on your Windows machine!