The joys of Linux

Off and on now for about a year I have been geeking out with Ubuntu as a dual boot on my machine. It’s been an interesting diversion, and now I am finally making some progress into figuring out how to get things loaded into my system. The thing that has continued to irritate and frustrate me the most is how the most inane of things can bring down your system, and undo hours of work. Examples? No problem.

• Getting my dual screen set up to function correctly
• getting my Logitech mouse and other buttons to be recognized
• Installing applications

Those are the biggies. I mean every time something Linux related comes up on Digg(I’ve seen it other places too), there is always talk about how Linux is gaining momentum; especially since Dell sells PCs labeled as Open OS, with FreeDOS loaded on them, with the $100 laptop (olpc) project, and other things. Regardless, until one of the distros gets the shite together, Linux is always going to be a developers OS. Rather than working on stuff like Beryl, they should be putting time into getting the operations that Windows has been doing well for a decade. Don’t get me wrong, Beryl is cool as hell – but it doesn’t really add anything to the listing of essential operating functions.

I’m not gonna sit here and gripe the whole post though, I like Ubuntu a lot. I have found that using programs like automatix, and endlessly reading the Ubuntu Forums awesome. Automatix helped me get the latest nVidia drivers installed on my machine when all other attempts failed miserably. In addition to installing several other applications on the list, including gdesklets, democracy player, among others. It’s a great tool and I highly recommend it.

I’ve finally got my machine set up to almost the way I want it, and it is almost set to be where I want it. The only thing left is the dual monitor thing – and it’s got me corn-fused. I can get it to stretch the desktops, but act with independent resolutions on each monitor, which is important since I have a 20" wide screen for my main monitor.

This goes hand in hand with getting all my email set up through gMail too. Since Vista is going to be so damned expensive, I am not willing to upgrade. At least the knocked the number of retail option to 4 options, rather than 6 is what I think was originally planned. Still $250 – $380 bucks is out of my price range. Since the Home Basic and Business Versions do not include Aero, it would be pointless to upgrade, and then it boils down to buying a new OS because it looks cool? Hell, Ubuntu looks pretty sweet and it’s free. Sorry Bill.

I’m not going to hold my breath as far as Linux ever getting a large foot hold in the public PC market though. If they ever get their Ducks lined up, they could probably give Microsoft a run for their money. Free can be very enticing.