Posts tagged: OPEN SOURCE

Over on the Well there’s an ongoing discussion about the factors that will determine Linux’s success (or lack thereof) in the desktop market. Especially the non-geek desktop market. I’ve been touting Ubuntu Linux as one of the most hopeful signs.

One of the things I like about Ubuntu for new users is that they’ve boiled things down to one app in each category, so the user doesn’t have to evaluate multiple unfamiliar applications and criteria they don’t understand just to, say, view a web page. That’s an important first level to get people in the door. Then later, when they’re curious, you show them how easy it is to add new apps (with a good package system like Debian’s, it’s easier than in Windows or OS X, which I think is an undersold point).

Introduction

I’ve been a confirmed Mac Person since at least 1992, when I bought my first PowerBook, if not since 1984, when I first doodled in MacPaint.

But I’ve used a lot of different platforms over the years, from CP/M to MS-DOS to Windows to Classic MacOS to OS X. I play with other operating systems to retain perspective on MacOS’s strengths and weaknesses; to learn things relevant to my work as a web developer; to hedge my bets in case I decide to jump ship someday; and, of course, to waste time in classic geek fashion.