A few days ago I posted that I would be making the switch to a totally open source system (OS included) by months end. Well….my first ever windows virus in ten years made Christmas come early. I moved over to Fedora Core 2 on Tuesday and have been using it since as my only working machine. Overall I can’t say it’s been a painless experience. My wifi card still does not work, I still feel somewhat overwhelmed, and I’ve been exposed to some of the worst geek/Linux humour I’ve ever heard. All of that being said, I’m going to stick with it.
Here are some one liner thoughts I’ve had through the process:
- Windows benefits from having a million moms using their OS. Linux benefits from having a million geeks use it.
- My brain was wired to use multiple workspaces.
- My brain was not wired to use multiple users.
- Being Root in Linux is powerful, scarily so.
- Gaim on linux is the best instant messaging program i’ve ever used.
- Nothing about the command line is intuitive.
- The command line is all its cracked up to be.
- Fedora Core 2 is a kick-ass name. They should sue whoever made the movie “The Core” for tarnishing the coolness.
- Thunderbird for Linux also rocks.
- Firefox, best web browser. Period.
- Plug and play for FC2 is only halfway there (the plug half).
- Linux will win the Windows vs. Linux war.
- Having the current outside temperature on my launchbar has affected me somehow.
- Clicking on a RedHat to get to your programs, settings, etc is just stupid.
- Having the text of a file show up in its icon is fantastic.
Stay tuned for more thoughts, rambles, and Linux jokes.
Comments
Taylor - June 12, 2004 3:18 am
I too couldn't get my WiFi card working when I partitioned my drive for Linux a little while ago. A post about this would be helpful.
Dan James - June 12, 2004 11:59 am
Taylor, we're still working on it. Once we get it figured out I'll make a post with what was/is going on and how to go about fixing it.
Charlie - June 12, 2004 4:32 pm
Isn't the problem that 1 million geeks are working on Linux while 200 million moms and dads still don't really grasp windows and are too fearful to install a tax package on an OS they've been using for 10 years, let alone make a switch to a completely foreign one? If you still feel somewhat overwhelmed imagine how they would feel...
Taylor - June 12, 2004 6:02 pm
Thanks, Dan. A silverorange "Guide to Switching" would temp a lot of people to lose Windows, I think.
Rob - June 12, 2004 9:49 pm
Maybe I just don't understand it, but I'm not a big fan on the T-Bird. I didn't like how it treated each of my mail servers like a whole different thing, and how it didn't do my calendar (I got no love from the calendar plug-in and I wasn't in a geeky mood). If that's the reason you haven't switched, then go grab Ximian's Evolution instead.
Dave - June 20, 2004 4:57 pm
Dan,
What brand of wireless card? I may be able to help.
Dave
Dan James - June 21, 2004 12:22 am
Hey Dave,
Thanks so much for the offer, fortunately for me you're too late :-). For the record it's a cisco aironet card. Nathan, a fellow slice, was able get it going. I'll get more details from him and post more details about the fix later on. Thanks again!