My hate for windows consumed my soul. It all started the very first day
I got the 7 installation disks and entered the accursed litiny:
a:\setup
It crashed. Windows crashed even before it was completely installed. I
was aghast. And more was to come...
- Click to save your life...
- How many times was I using Word for Windows to write up a report or
& a thesis when Windows would decide to give me an error:
Application Error at Address XXXX and give me the option
of ignoring the error or closing the application? Foolishly did I
believe I could simply ignore. But it kept coming back, again and
again. A million times it let me ignore its stupidity, until beaten
and disheartened, I chose close . Then, it would tell
me insolently that I would lose all data. Was I sure? it
would taunt me.
- The Domino Effect
- In my younger years, when I believed the hype about Windows being a
true multi-tasking environment, I would leave several
applications open at once. One of the applications would die in a
manner similar to that above. But then the next application woudl
betray me. And another, and another, until finally, only the program
manager was left. "Surely YOU will not desert me," I pleaded. But
he too crashed. Et tu,
PROGMAN?
- Garbage on top of Garbage
- Like any student using Windows, I had applications apon applications
installed. Many and glorious were they that gobbled my hard-disk space.
Many were the file
*.INI imbedded in my filesystem. Many
(oh many) were the changes made to SYSTEM.INI and
WIN.INI etc. (Not to fear, though, for every installation
program would conveniently make a *.OLD file). But then
came the day I wanted to get rid of one. And so, I deleted the files
and restarted the system. To this day, I have no idea why nothing would
work. It still gives me nightmares at night.
Good things about Linux:
- First and foremost, it's MULTITASKING!
- No wild sales-pitch here, folks. It is a real multi-tasking and multi-
user operating system. I remember the first time I recompiled the
system's kernel. It would take about 3 hours to do so, and I decided
to read or something, since the computer was tied up. But it
wasn't!!! I just conveniently switched to another console
and did some other work. It was sluggish, make no mistake, but it worked.
- It's stable!
- My record is spotless. Ever since I installed Linux and got X-windows
running properly, it's been smooth sailing. Not one single crash. Yet
I still can't put the horror that was Windows behind me... I keep
expecting it to crash... But so far so good.
- It's Unix!
- Like most modern scientific departments, Astronomy at the University of
Toronto uses a Unix environment for their network and research-related
computations. How very nice it is to go home and have a workstation
that has all the functionality of Unix.
- It's "Internet Ready"!
- That's right, it comes with all the Internet programs you need to get
started, like ftp, telnet, email utilities, etc. It doesn't come with
Netscape, but that's easy enough to get. I just recently got my system
running with PPP. It was a snap! And if you have a number of PCs, its
a very simple matter to make your own local network.
- It's FREE!!!
- No there's no catch. You can download the entire system (X-Windows and
all) from the net! And you can distribute it to whomever you like, as
long as it's not commercially.
(Personally, I installed from the $20 CD-ROM distribution so that I
wouldn't have to bother waiting to download all the stuff. )
You are even encouraged to modify the
source code to improve it, so long as you're willing to share and give
credit where it's due. As a student, there aren't many words more
pleasing than FREE FREE FREE!
- You can still use DOS/WINDOWS if you want to!
- Though I don't know why you'd want to. But, if you can't live without
Word, or some other Windows/DOS programs, you can still have part of
your hard-disk dedicated to it. Linux comes with several utilities so
that you can switch safely between Linux and your other OS. I use LILO,
which resides on the boot record and waits until boot up time, at which
point it gives you the choice of which OS to run.
- You're not alone!
- When things go wrong (I mean really wrong), there is a vast
internet out there with loads of resources. Most helpfull are the
various newsgroups (like comp.os.linux.blah.blah.blah). And then there
are (hopfully) other people in your environment who have successfully
installed Linux on their computers.
The Bad things about Linux:
- It can be a pain to configure
- If you use non-standard hardware, it can be a pain to get going. My
problem was that I had a dandy new 4X CD-ROM (which uses the new ATAPI
standard) and an old distribution of Linux, so that at first I couldn't
use the CD-ROM to install. I also had problems getting X-Windows to
run properly on my ancient monitor. But after 3 days of hacking (and
really getting to know the system, I had it all running
smoothly.
- You (almost) have to be a programmer.
- Let's face it, Unix was made for programmers. Once you have Linux
running, you'll most likely want to recompile the kernel in order to
customize it to your unique hardware configuration. However, the
kernel source (and most ANY other source you get later on) comes with
a Makefile, which automates the compilation process. All you have to
do is answer the questions. You have to be a REAL programmer when
things go wrong (and they will every once in a while)
and you have to fix them.
- You have to become a System Administrator.
- Once you've got your own Linux box, you can't simply be a regular user
and expect the almighty sys-admin to worry about the details. YOU are
now the sys-admin. YOU are now responsible for getting network
connections working, making backups, administering accounts for your
children, etc. Personally, I don't consider this a bad thing, as it
gives you good experience and a deeper understanding of how networks
work.
Back to my TARDIS...
Why would I want to Switch to Linux?