As I’m writing those words, the leading computer wholesaler has decided to ship a number of its new fashions with the Linux Operating System. They have agreed on UBUNTU’s 7.04 “Feisty Fawn” distribution of Linux. (Windows have OS releases or versions like XP or Vista; Linux has “distributions” like Fedora, Redhat, Ubuntu, and many others.)
Go Linux! It is an ideal desire because I’ve been using UBUNTU on one of my machines for over a year and have nothing but certified praise for it. Qualified? Yes. Because I cannot run any of my Windows utilities (like Photoshop, Illustrator, FrameMaker, GoLive) on Ubuntu.
GIMP comes close to doing what Photoshop can do (at the least, at my degree of image competence), but different Windows programs do not have their Linux counterparts yet. There is nothing over the horizon, for instance, to match the reliability and strength of FrameMaker in Linux surroundings. So why do I nonetheless like my Ubuntu? Let me count the ways:
1) It’s FREE.
2) OpenOffice, which includes it, is also FREE, and it can replace MS Office in every category except mail management. (NOTE: You can also download and use OpenOffice on Windows and Mac machines.)
3) No viruses. Period. I no longer use anti-virus packages or firewalls with my Ubuntu gadget, Knock on Timber.
4) No machine crashes. After I hit my system (an extraordinary occasion) while seeking to open ten special applications or files simultaneously, Ubuntu recovered superbly, restoring every crashed document one by one when I restarted the system.
5) Auto updates… While you click on this exquisite little “you have updated” button at the top of the screen, UBUNTU mechanically downloads (after you approve each item) whatever updates are advanced by tough-working Linux volunteers around the globe.
6) An ever-developing series of loose, new, and exciting software for immediate downloads through Synaptic Package Manager. (For example, its open CHESS software – one of the loads of Linux games available online without spending a dime – is one of the first rates I’ve ever performed towards.)
I do all my writing, for instance, on my Linux device. Since OpenOffice also has a free PDF conversion utility built right into its word processor, I’m writing my new ebook (“Copyright-Free Content for Your Newsletters”) on my Linux machine. (YES—you do not want to buy Adobe Acrobat Pro to generate PDFs!)
One shortcoming of the “Feisty Fawn” distribution is its power-saving display and gadget-sleep modes, which are not the best and do not work well. When the device goes to sleep after a favorable configurable period, it shuts itself off because it attempts to restore itself. If you get Ubuntu 7.04, do not use that power-saving alternative. I hope they will fix that pesky hassle properly in a future release.
