![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I switched to Linux! I didn't die!
Nov. 10th, 2009 11:05 pmSo. On account of being bored, avoidant of real world things I needed to deal with, and currently without a vidding project, I randomly decided to switch operating systems on account of how the latest Ubuntu system got released and, hell, it was free.
So that's the first thing that's cool about Linux; open source. The operating system and all the programs. FREE AND LEGAL, which is pretty awesome, especially since, so far, these programs are totally comparable to unfree Windows stuff (can't comment on Macland).
There are a number of Linux-based open source Operating Systems out there. I've opted for Ubuntu. It's the biggest one and also has the nicely reassuring slogan, "Linux for human beings" which I think is apt. Linux has this reputation for being horrifyingly techie and...honestly it is techier than Windows but nowhere near as weirdly scary as I was afraid of.
Also, it's nice for me as a Windows user because the default shortcut keys are the same as Windows shortcut keys, and since it's installed on my PC, a lot of it's still essentially instinctively similar to that OS - right-clicking, etc. (Though a) you can easily change the shortcut keys and b) I'm pretty sure you can install it on a Mac too).
( Installation! )
( Apps! )
( Pointlessly flashy desktop effects! )
So, that's the fun awesome, but it's LINUX, right? It's gotta be horrifyingly techy?
( Installing Apps the Hard Way. )
( Sometimes you gotta enter CODE... )
So...that's that.
Ultimately I've found it really quite easy. Yeah, sometimes stuff gets a bit more complicated than Windows due to a combination of lack of familiarity and Ubuntu being an open-source slightly less user-friendly (on occasions) interface, but I very quickly got used to the idea that if I had a problem, instead of following instructions about what windows to open and what tabs to go through, I'd have to follow instructions about what lines of code to paste into the Terminal, and...me and Ubuntu have been getting on quite well.
I mean, there's no real need to change if your OS is working fine for you, but Ubuntu is so much more secure against viruses and spyware and needing the registry cleaned and defragging, etc., just because it's set up differently and is more secure and no one is writing viruses to target an OS which as like...less than 1% market share or something.
Plus, dudes, COMPLETELY FREE AND LEGAL. That's pretty nifty, no?
So the only potential stumbling block for me is going to be how well I get on with Cinelerra, the video editing program I have. Initial signs point to me liking it, actually. But until I start properly editing a vid I'm not going to know how often it'll crash horribly on me, what playback and rendering'll be like, etc. Which could end up being a dealbreaker. There are a fair number of other video editing suites for Linux, but most are pretty simple; better than WMM, but...not by much. Cinelerra, on the other hand, apparently rivals pretty much most other high end editing suites, though it's ugly as hell. So I may still have to go running back to Windows for vidding. But I hope not.
I MAY YET BECOME A LINUX SNOB! NOES!
So that's the first thing that's cool about Linux; open source. The operating system and all the programs. FREE AND LEGAL, which is pretty awesome, especially since, so far, these programs are totally comparable to unfree Windows stuff (can't comment on Macland).
There are a number of Linux-based open source Operating Systems out there. I've opted for Ubuntu. It's the biggest one and also has the nicely reassuring slogan, "Linux for human beings" which I think is apt. Linux has this reputation for being horrifyingly techie and...honestly it is techier than Windows but nowhere near as weirdly scary as I was afraid of.
Also, it's nice for me as a Windows user because the default shortcut keys are the same as Windows shortcut keys, and since it's installed on my PC, a lot of it's still essentially instinctively similar to that OS - right-clicking, etc. (Though a) you can easily change the shortcut keys and b) I'm pretty sure you can install it on a Mac too).
( Installation! )
( Apps! )
( Pointlessly flashy desktop effects! )
So, that's the fun awesome, but it's LINUX, right? It's gotta be horrifyingly techy?
( Installing Apps the Hard Way. )
( Sometimes you gotta enter CODE... )
So...that's that.
Ultimately I've found it really quite easy. Yeah, sometimes stuff gets a bit more complicated than Windows due to a combination of lack of familiarity and Ubuntu being an open-source slightly less user-friendly (on occasions) interface, but I very quickly got used to the idea that if I had a problem, instead of following instructions about what windows to open and what tabs to go through, I'd have to follow instructions about what lines of code to paste into the Terminal, and...me and Ubuntu have been getting on quite well.
I mean, there's no real need to change if your OS is working fine for you, but Ubuntu is so much more secure against viruses and spyware and needing the registry cleaned and defragging, etc., just because it's set up differently and is more secure and no one is writing viruses to target an OS which as like...less than 1% market share or something.
Plus, dudes, COMPLETELY FREE AND LEGAL. That's pretty nifty, no?
So the only potential stumbling block for me is going to be how well I get on with Cinelerra, the video editing program I have. Initial signs point to me liking it, actually. But until I start properly editing a vid I'm not going to know how often it'll crash horribly on me, what playback and rendering'll be like, etc. Which could end up being a dealbreaker. There are a fair number of other video editing suites for Linux, but most are pretty simple; better than WMM, but...not by much. Cinelerra, on the other hand, apparently rivals pretty much most other high end editing suites, though it's ugly as hell. So I may still have to go running back to Windows for vidding. But I hope not.
I MAY YET BECOME A LINUX SNOB! NOES!
