Week 3 Blog of Choice: Why I Switched to Linux

If, when you read the title of this post, you thought, "what is Linux?" then you are not alone. Many computer users believe that Windows and Mac are the only options for operating systems. In fact, there are many options, and some are more popular than you may realize. Linux operating systems are most prominent in the server market. In fact, over 85% of the world's top 500 supercomputers run on Linux. If you use the Internet, you undoubtedly access information from Linux servers all the time. Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, and several other Internet giants all use Linux for their servers because of its security. Even the U.S. Defense Department and FAA use Linux (Focus.com). Linux, however is not yet popular for the average computer user, but its use is growing.

I recently jumped into the Linux community and I am very excited about what I have found. What follows is an explanation of why I switched to Linux.

Besides a Commodore 64 my parents had when I was too young to remember, the first computer in my household was an IBM running MS DOS Shell, a precursor to Windows. I was ten when my family got the computer and I used Windows or DOS for the next twelve years. That is when I purchased my first computer. At that point, it seemed everyone I knew who used Windows either struggled with viruses or their computers were so slow due to antivirus software that they might as well have had viruses anyway. I decided to switch to Mac. I purchased an iBook G4 and never looked back. Two years ago, I upgraded to a MacBook and have been very happy with it. Unfortunately, I am still forced to Windows at work, and I still run into the same security issues that frustrated me back when I switched six years ago.

Windows users may be grumbling at this point, and my intention is not to argue about which operating system is better, I just want you to know where I am coming from. I teach at a school that runs only Windows. To be specific, we use various desktops running Windows XP SP2 on a Windows 2003 server. We have so many issues with viruses, computers freezing, inoperable user accounts, and more. I don't know a lot about servers and networking, but given my personal preference for Mac, I decided to look into the prospect of purchasing Macs for our school. One phone call confirmed my suspicion that it is never going to happen. The best deal Apple would give our school was about $850 per MacBook.

Macs are great; they are secure and easy to use, they come with a great deal of powerful software right out of the box, but when it comes to providing a frugal option, Apple is the worst. Sure, all of Apple's computers have high-end hardware and advocates will argue that users save in the long-run because they do not have to purchase additional security software or deal with as many IT headaches. This may be true when comparing to Windows, but Windows is not the only other option.

Fueled by my disappointing phone call to Apple and frustrated by being forced to use AT&T in order to have an iPhone (Verizon will soon be providing iPhones now), I decided it was time to finally try a Linux operating system. Linux is a kernel; you can think of it as the core of an operating system. Like MacOS, it is based on Unix, but unlike MacOS, it is completely open source. It is free, and anyone with the knowledge can build an operating system using Linux as the Kernel. In recent years, some Linux derivatives have grown very popular. Android, Google's mobile operating system used on phones and tablets, is built on Linux, and even Amazon's Kindle uses a modified Linux kernel. Desktop distributions of Linux are not as well known, but are growing in popularity and in sophistication.

When I decided to try Linux, I opted for Ubuntu, the most popular desktop distribution based on Linux. I had hoped to find something I would like more than Windows, but I assumed it would be a little limited in features. I was wrong. Despite the fact that Ubuntu is completely free, it is an advanced operating system with some features I have never seen in MacOS or Windows.

I suspect a lot of people are afraid to try a different operating system, especially if it means buying a new computer or losing your access to your trusty old OS, but there are several risk-free, easy ways to try Ubuntu for free. First of all, Ubuntu can be downloaded directly from ubuntu.com or you can order a CD for a fee. You can then use the CD to install Ubuntu on your computer or you can try Ubuntu directly from the CD without installing anything. I chose to install VirtualBox on my MacBook and install Ubuntu in a virtual machine. VirtualBox enables users to run operating systems within another operating system. It is open source, so it is free as well, but there are other proprietary options such as Parallels and VMware if you feel like spending money. You can use any of these to run several different operating systems much in the same way you would run any program on your computer. It is more difficult to use this option, and I also noticed some loss of functionality, but it is still an excellent way to become familiar with another operating system. I may post more about this later.

After using Ubuntu in Vbox for about a month, I decided it was time to run it natively. I still wanted my Mac and I was not interested in dual booting so I decided to purchase a little netbook from System76, a Colorado company that makes computers and sells them with Ubuntu installed. The computer cost less than $400 but there are less expensive options. I could have purchased a used computer and installed Ubuntu, but I also wanted to test feasibility of using netbooks with students at my school.

Ubuntu Software Center

The first two weeks I had my netbook, I would bring it and my MacBook to work. Now, I hardly even use my MacBook. Don't get me wrong, I still like MacOS, but I hate the Apple philosophy. All of Apple's computers are high-end and expensive, and you can only legally run MacOS on a Macintosh computer so you have to purchase from them. I can run Ubuntu or any other Linux "distro" on any computer (as long as the hardware supports it and most do) and I do not even have to pay for the operating system. Ubuntu also comes with the Ubuntu Software Center which includes almost 35,000 FREE applications (think of Android Market or Macs App store).

As I use Ubuntu more, I am learning just how feature-rich this operating system really is. As a Mac-user, I loved being able to use expose to switch between windows and workspaces. I grew especially dependent on my hot-corners. Well, much to my excitement, not only can I still use hot-corners and expose in Ubuntu, but there are even more window and workspace switching features, such as the desktop cube. Also, unlike MacOS, Ubuntu is highly customizable. I do not have to have my computer look and operate the way Steve Jobs thinks I should; I can set it up my own way.

Switching Workspaces uses Desktop Cube in Ubuntu

Next week, I am going to blog about some of my favorite Ubuntu features and explain why I believe educators especially should try Linux.