Glutton for Punishment?
So my last post was about how I changed my laptop to mimic a Mac, but then backed up a bit ’cause it felt a little cumbersome. Well since everything was working completely fine, I decided to go tinkering again and change it up. That’s my nature. If it’s working great, surely it could work better…right? I mean if I had my computer waking me up in the morning with a fresh batch of cheese grits, I’d be trying to figure out a way to make it know what kind of cheese I wanted in those grits, and whether I wanted yellow corn or stone ground. That’s my nature.
So, I started dreaming about Linux again. I tried it once before with openSuse 10.0. This is a Linux distro that’s put out by Novell. For those not familiar with Linux, it’s an open source operating system, like Windows is an operating system. Open source means that it’s free, as in cost, and free, as in usage. It comes loaded with tons of programs. I ditched it last time cause I couldn’t get my Microsoft Bluetooth mouse to scroll. Trivial I know, but I just got tired of fiddling. Well, this time I was determined to get it going. I decided to go back to Suse with its latest release of 10.2, and I’m hooked.
After working with my mouse a little more I just decided to ditch it and get one that works out of the box, like the handy dandy Logitech V450 laptop mouse. I plugged it in and Linux had it up in running in under 10 seconds, scroll wheel and all. Bam!
I’m telling you, the programs that come with Linux are nothing to sniff at. They are full featured and OPEN! I mean, play any file in Amarok or Kaffeine, the two prominent media programs, view and edit any type of image. This software just rocks and the operating system is just beautiful. I have to say that it takes a little getting used to, just like any other new software, but I’m loving it. At this moment I’m listening to tunes off of my iPod, through Amarok, posting to my blog through firefox, chatting with Eric on Kopete, and keeping up with my Gmail in Kontact. Very nice. For those that have never tried Linux and you’re interested, you can find several LiveDVD’s or CD’s for many distrobutions. I’d suggest either Suse or Ubuntu. These are the two most user friendly in my opinion. A Live DVD or CD means you literally run the entire operating system off of the disc, without having to install it to your hard drive. You could also install it to a thumb drive if you have one big enough. Give it a spin and see if you like it.
Find Live DVD’s and CD’s of Ubuntu here and Suse here.
I’m quite fond of my Ubuntu box, but many of the commercial apps I have to use daily (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc.) aren’t available, and the open *nix equivalents just aren’t the same.
Still, for the average user who just wants to surf the internet, write emails, listen to music, and run an occasional Office app… it’s gold.
Yeah, there are a things I still can’t do, ie. audio production work. I have my laptop setup as a triple boot machine right now to handle all the apps that aren’t open, or don’t have open equivalents.
For photoshop, have you tried Gimpshop yet? I haven’t but I hear that it mimics PS very well. Thanks for the comment Dave!