My first experience with Linux was back in 2003, when Ubuntu wasn’t around and Linux distributions were quite fewer than nowadays. Back then, I was goofing of most of my time with playing games on Windows and my grasp of computer world was limited to just few softwares and programming languages. Surprisingly, I was quite happy with those things and I had the impression that this is the ultimate world of computing.
I stumbled across Linux when I was reading my favorite computer magazine and I right away decided to give it a try. Not because I was looking for a Windows alternative, but because I was just curious to experience a new OS. As a result, I visited our local store and bought several Linux distribution, namely Fedora Core 1, Knoppix, and Mandrake (Mandriva).
As you might guess, Knoppix was the first Linux distro I tried. It was kind of cool that the whole OS was running on the CD-ROM and PC memory. Nevertheless, the OS was way slow and it was just seemed to be felicitous for emergency circumstances.
Consequently, I installed Fedora Core which was a brand-new distro back then. As far as I remember, it was a very frightening experience. Fedora couldn’t recognize nearly half of the hardwares I had back then. One of the biggest hurdles was that Fedora couldn’t recognize the video card and considering that I had an archaic CRT monitor the low refresh rate was killing my eyes.
Fedora Core 1 - The first distro I tried back in 2003
After dabbling a few months on Fedora and Mandriva (which in my opinion was a better distro than Fedora) I capitulated Linux as a whole. Frankly, Setting up a Linux system at that moment wasn’t quite easy and even after reading a few articles I couldn’t get many things working.
It didn’t happen until 2007 when I saw Ubuntu on one of my friends laptop. After just few hours of working with Ubuntu, I was quite impressed. It was something quite different than the first Linux distro I had tried. Unfortunately, I resisted to immigrate to Linux once more. Maybe just because I was scared off to go through the same troubles I had with Fedora Core 1.
A few months ago, I came across a post written by the noted writer Cory Doctrow in BoingBoing. Most of you might be aware of the fact that Cory is one of Ubuntu advocates. For the most part, Cory’s article was not about Ubuntu but after finishing the article I had a strong desire to try Ubuntu. This time, however, I was resolute in my decision to go deep into Linux world.
Cory Doctorow , who inspired me to start using Ubuntu
I immediately requested the free Ubuntu CD using their website and a month later I got my Ubuntu 9.10 CD. In addition, I bought a new Hard Drive for my laptop in order to do a hard swapping. I removed my previous HD with Vista installed on it and superseded it with the new one. Then, I started the installation which was easy and charming.
No More Humdrum Driver Installation
The first odd thing I noticed after logging into Ubuntu was that all hardware drivers were working without problem. For instance, on Windows I have to install and configure my printer driver (which usually takes an hour) in order to print my documents. Ubuntu recognized my printer right away without installing any special driver. It also recognized my archaic DSL router and I was able to connect to Internet right away. Wi-Fi also worked without any problem on my Dell machine. The fact that Ubuntu supports such a wide range of different hardwares is startling. The only driver I had to install was the nvidia graphic card drivers in order to activate advanced effects. Gradually, I started to love Ubuntu. Now it’s been one month that I’m working with it and I’ve never looked back to Windows. Everyday I learn something new about Ubuntu and I’m going to write my ideas about Ubuntu here.
What I Like About Ubuntu
On paper, Ubuntu seems to be pretty much similar to other Linux distros. Many components that powers Ubuntu (e.g. Grub and Gnome) also powers other distros. The question is what makes Ubuntu such a different distro? I’m sure it takes a long time to enumerate all those unique features but the followings are the most important ones, in my opinion.
The Spirit
There is something in Ubuntu that does not exist even in the clones of this OS. It’s hard to explain but it can be explained as a mixture feeling of freedom and a sudden insight of everything fits into place. It seems that something holy exists in every corner of Ubuntu. In my opinion, this is because Ubuntu has been essentially driven by altruism.
Ease of Use
Ubuntu is prized for it’s easy to use. It’s felicitous for most Linux tyros and it doesn’t impel the new users to do “geeky” stuff to do their daily jobs.
It’s Clutter Free
Most Linux distros I’d tried before were – gratuitously – filled with a huge number of packages even with their basic installation. This can hugely confuse new users. The cool thing about Ubuntu that it installs minimum amount of softwares by default. Just ones that are really helpful and essential for the functionality. I don’t need a dozen of email softwares for checking my emails; Just one of them will do the job.
Support for a Vast Number of Hardwares
Ubuntu supports a wide variety of different hardwares remarkably well, postulated to be one of the the most hardware-friendly OS around. Many people truthfully ascribe Ubuntu success to this feature and Ubuntu community feedback corroborate this idea.
Gregarious Community
Many open source projects have a cohesive community. Nevertheless, I’ve found Ubuntu community even more friendly. It’s kind of cool that whenever you encounter a problem there is someone out there to help you.
Bottom Line
Linux has come a long way in the recent years. It’s transcending the realm of being just a competitor for Windows. Nowadays, you can find Linux on unlikely devices like a picture frame. Personally, I can see a bright future for GNU/Linux. At the moment, let’s just enjoying Ubuntu and the vast technical world behind it. From now on, This blog is completely dedicated to Ubuntu and GNU/Linux. It’s not going to be big and professional, just a hobby ;-) I hope to keep updating it every day.
