A Slight Departure From The Norm!

So, I'm gonna tell you a nerd story.

First, a little background.

I hate Windows. Actually, I hate anything Microsoft.

Rather than use their products, I use open source software whenever possible, which is basically everything I do with a computer except the OS.

Only one thing holds me back from making the final switchover to Linux, and that's very simple: I like games, and Linux doesn't.

Bah.

But I have a friend.

And a few weeks ago, he calls me up and says "um, dude, I have an old laptop I'm not using, you want it?"


That's a big Roger on that one there, buddy.

So, while we waited for the laptop to get sent, we debated what we were gonna use it for; we finally settled on using it so I can blog and watch CSPAN2 SIMULTANEOUSLY, which is the coolest thing EVER.


BUT WAIT!!!!


...I'm not gonna be gaming on the laptop.

Hmmmmmmm...

So, I went and downloaded the two latest releases of Ubuntu, Dapper Drake and Edgy Eft. (EE is the "current development" version, while DD is the "stable - long term support" version.)

Monday, the laptop showed up - DHL rocks - and after I got home from my 9000 hour long shift, and did a few things around the house, it was time to play. (Thanks Bill! You rock too!)

Now, to give you an idea what to expect here, my desktop computer is an Athlon XP 2700+ with a gigabyte of memory. The laptop - an Inspiron 3800 - is a Pentium III 650, with 128 megabytes of memory.

The desktop is pretty close to five times faster, and has eight times as much memory.

Installing Windows XP on the desktop - which I've done so many times I have it down to a science, including a customized install disc to only install the stuff I actually want, and pre-downloaded patches and drivers burned on CDs beforehand - takes about an hour and a half.

Not Ubuntu, man.

I should note that the Edgy Eft distro looked at the laptop and was all "I want more memory, biotch," but Dapper Drake liked what it saw.

It liked it so much that it had finished installation, including drivers for all the hardware in the laptop, creating user accounts, and letting me pick a screensaver - in about 30 minutes.

To give you a real idea, Ubuntu installed 3 times faster - on a machine 1/5 the speed, with 1/8 the memory - than XP does on the desktop.

Holy hell.

Oh, don't worry, I will totally rant at length about how great Ubuntu is - but it may be a while. Over the next couple of weeks, I have enormous quantities of overtime, and some really weird scheduling - including at one point, a 6 day stretch, followed by one day off, then another 6 day stretch, with 12+ hours each of those days - so frankly my blogging is going to lag a bit. I'll try to post enough so you guys know I'm alive, but that may be about it.

"Look at this silly news story! Hahaha! That's funny! Ok, that's all I had."

You know what I mean.

But for anyone scared of making the switch to Linux because it's new, give Ubuntu a try. Linux may suck for games - although they're working on that - but if you're not a gamer, there's simply nothing else you can do with a computer that Linux can't do for you, and Ubuntu can not only do it but look good while it does.

And it's all free!