Having just started using Linux – the Ubuntu distribution – a few weeks back, running Linux has actually been quite easy. I ran across the following list of 50 Reasons to Dump Windows today and wanted to give my own opinion on some of them.

But first: Ubuntu. Ubuntu is just one of the mainstream distributions Linux is offered in.

About Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a community developed, linux-based operating system that is perfect for laptops, desktops and servers. It contains all the applications you need – a web browser, presentation, document and spreadsheet software, instant messaging and much more.

Why did I choose Ubuntu? Well a few reasons:

• It has a nice graphical interface, not really much different from windows
• It is made for n00bs relating to Linux just like me… the standard installation goes quite easy and the system works right after that
• It was one of the first distributions i came across….

But the reason for the post was the reasons why changing to Linux is not such a bad idea after all.
Based on the 50 reasons in the link above, these are my views on some of them:

• Windows is expensive – linux is free: Ubuntu and any other distributions are free, as is almost every software which was written for it. Everything is developed by people who live the open-source idealism and spend time on development for free
• Viruses are few and far between: Viruses are (almost) solely created for Windows machines, probably because there are so many out there, owned by people who don’t know much about computers. This makes them easy targets.. and so lucrative to spend time and money on designing viruses for
• Linux hardware requirement is so minimum you can run most current popular linux distro on a ten year old hardware, try that with windows vista: That is always handy if you want to have a state of the art OS but do not have the money to upgrade your perfectly fine computer when using internet, mail and office programs.

The things that come to my mind are:

• The easy way of upgrading and installing software through depositories.. Just select the software you need from a central location, apply the installation and go.
• Almost every program you would want when changing from Windows is here, and it is free
• No need for illegal hacks, pass words and whatever if you do not want to pay for using an incomplete operating system like Windows

But some things are also a bit harder:

• Getting those programs that have not yet been ported to Linux to work using Wine
• Most games are designed for Windows… so no C&C for me on Linux
• Some hardware companies have not yet redesigned their drivers for Linux – this may give some headache when installing new hardware (ie i had problems with the webcam and the scanner).

But in all, i’m glad to have changed.. And reading a lot on the internet with great tutorials and how-to’s makes it that i learn a bit every day.. One day i’ll be completely in control.. Until then, luckily i have some friends that have been using Linux for 8-10 years now and i can ask them when i truly am clueless..

If you want to try it yourself, here is a good tutorial at PC Mechanic relating to the Ubuntu installation.