Well… I finally decided to take the plunge. I have officially taken
one of my machines and installed a Linux operating
system on it. I decided that since I was in education, edubuntu would
be a good place to start.
Likes:
- FREE! Need I say more. Free OS, Free Software, free free free!
- Applications Installer (just select the stuff you want from a HUGE list and it installs automatically).
- Windows Selection – there is an option you can enable that activates windows as soon as you mouse over them.
- Networking capabilities – I was able to connect to a windows share server and FTP site directly and edit stuff on them directly without having to FTP back. NICE!
- Panel Widget’s – Like applications, there are a bunch of built in widgets and a totally customizable toobar to put them on. I installed some little eyes that watch my mouse where ever it goes.
- Games – Not that I really have time to play games, but there are a ton of them, including a impressive selection of educational games.
Dislikes:
- Terminal (or command line) – I have already had to use the terminal multiple times. I’m not a native Linux user so I am having to learn a LOT of command prompts…
- Application installation – This is kind of ironic considering point number two above, but if something is not on that list you have to go into the terminal to install it… not good for GUI spoiled people like me.
This is my initial reaction. Mind you, I have been using Linux for all of a day now. But I have set up the Synergy client so now I have a Mac on my left screen, a PC in the middle and Linux on the right. I am trying to use all three so I am familiar with all of them at least to an extent. There is so much to explore and learn about!
Request for Help:
So I know there must be some Linux users out there.
- What do you like about Linux?
- What help would you offer to a beginner?
- What makes Linux so great?
Please share your thoughts in the comments. 
3 Comments
Hey Jeff, great blog.
Your likes and dislikes of Linux echo my own feelings (I have Ubuntu on my laptop, dual booting with Vista). While you can never argue with free, it still requires far too much digging in terminal. Personally, I don’t mind rolling up my sleeves, but not many teachers will bother.
To beginners: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. The Linux community is very willing to help!
Darren, thanks for the note. I am learning very quickly that asking for help is absolutely necessary. I am working on installing a network printer and can’t find the driver I need… I think I will have to take a walk down the hall to one of our experienced Linux users this morning.
I just ran across a great article this morning along these lines. Dan Martin wrote an article entitled “Things I can do in Linux that I can’t do on Windows.” Check it out.
http://dmartin.org/weblog/things-i-can-do-in-linux-that-i-cant-do-on-windows