Slashdot | The Business Model of Ubuntu

Granted, AvP2 is probably going to be absolutely horrible… But I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that screams HORRIBLE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY quite like Snakes on a Plane.

Argh!

I’ve been running Ubuntu as my main OS now since the 20th. Aside from a couple trips back to Windows to gather up some files and settings, I haven’t had to use Windows for anything. I’ve managed to migrate all my essential information into various programs in Ubuntu. I’ve got WoW and Ventrilo up and running in WINE, and the Linux client for NeverWinter Nights.

I finally got Parallels installed, which was a bit of a challenge. Parallels needs to install some device drivers for its virtual devices…but Linux doesn’t have a standardized driver API – it changes with every new kernel release. So the installer for Parallels wanted to compile its own drivers. Not normally a problem, but Ubuntu is a binary distribution and the source for the kernel wasn’t included on the CD. Now, because it is GPL software, the source code has to be out there somewhere…but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be easy to get. Actually, apt-get should have pulled down the source package with no effort at all…but one of the repositories was not responding for a day or two. I had to wait for that repository to get back up and running before I could grab the source, compile the drivers, and install Parallels. I still haven’t installed Windows in a VM yet though…

Ubuntu definitely has some quirks of its own. It certainly isn’t flawless. But I’m really enjoying the way the OS works. It is a very clean, simple, and intuitive system – more than Windows in many ways. I enjoy the amount of choice I have in what software I run… I was looking for something to burn a data CD last night, and found about 3 different programs. It’s nice being able to find exactly the right tool for the job, instead of just the one that’s in your price range.

I’ve been surprised so far with how easy the transition has been. The last time I really tried to use Linux as a desktop OS was probably about 6 years ago… I tried SuSE and Red Hat, and neither one of them was all that useable. I tried both KDE and GNOME, and they were both just a little too clunky and a little too unpolished. I’m not sure exactly who to praise for this progress… Canonical for packaging a very good Linux distro, the folks behind Debian for putting together such a solid distro in the first place, or all the assorted GNOME/KDE/X/Linux coders out there who’ve turned out such quality software over the years. But the end result is a surprisingly useable desktop OS that I’m personally actually enjoying. I haven’t enjoyed my OS since I last used a Macintosh back in college.

My parents have been visiting since the 19th, which has been a lot of fun. I don’t get to see them all that much since they live in Minnesota. It’s even better this time around, since we’ve got a decent house for them to visit us at. Previously, with our crappy little apartment, we couldn’t very well sit around the house and just talk. We always had to go somewhere. This time around we actually spent a good amount of time just sitting out on our back deck, enjoying the scenery and talking.

We also got a lot of home improvement done. My father painted our living room and painted over all the dark panneling we have upstairs. We cleaned out the gutters, nailed up some loose boards, caulked a few cracks… Just got a bunch of stuff done in general. It’s nice to have an experienced homeowner around to answer questions.

They’re leaving tomorrow morning. I’ll meet them for breakfast and then they’ll be on their way. My dad is flying right back to Minnesota so he can get back to work…and my mom is headed down to Kentucky to visit her father. It’ll probably be a year before I see the two of them again…though my dad claims he’ll be back up around November.

So, all my tests with Ubuntu worked out quite well. I decided to take the plunge and install it as my main OS. I backed up my Windows install to a smaller HDD, just in case, and then installed Ubuntu to my 80 GB SATA drive. Interestingly enough…installing Windows on that SATA drive required me to load RAID drivers during the install process, while Ubuntu had no trouble with it at all.

So, I’ve now got Ubuntu set up as my main OS. I’m still transferring bits and pieces over from Windows though… I’ve got WoW up and running in WINE again. I haven’t bothered to join it to the domain yet, and I’m not entirely sure if I will. About the only thing I’ll get out of it under Linux is the centralized login, and I’m not sure if I care or not. I moved all my contact information out of Outlook and into Evolution – quite seamlessly. Exported as CSV, and it imported with no trouble. Imported all my bookmarks into Firefox. I loaded up “Easy Ubuntu”, which installs a number of non-free codecs and plug-ins that most people want – Adobe Reader, Flash, MP3 playback, etc.

I’ve really been impressed with the quality of some of the software I’m finding in Ubuntu. GAIM, for example, is a very nice IM client that can handle just about every protocol out there. And Rythmbox is a more than adequate replacement for iTunes. And I’m having great fun with Scorched 3D. Amazing that there’s such high-quality stuff out there, completely free. Especially when I’m dealing with the bugs and idiosyncrasies in Microsoft’s distinctly non-free software on a daily basis. Not to bash on Microsoft any more than is necessary…but if these folks can turn out such good stuff for free, you’d think the stuff you have to pay for would be absolutely amazing.

As I was typing up that last post, AVGfree popped up and told me it had found two viruses. It’s currently running a full scan of my system to make sure there isn’t anything else hiding in there…

Just one more reason why I can’t wait to switch over completely to Ubuntu.

I want to try out SADMS sometime today, see if I can actually get my Ubuntu install joined to the domain. That is the last step before I simply reformat my hard drive and install Ubuntu as my primary OS.