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After a busy week, my new laptop and operating system arrived.  I currently have two Dell PCs at home, one of which is about nine years old and runs Windows 2000 (but still runs very well).  (I have been told that Windows 2000 was the first, good operating system that Microsoft made (and this comes from the most computer-literate person I know and someone who is a big fan of Linux-based operating systems).)  Despite the fact that this computer is extremely reliable and runs extremely well, it is showing its age and becoming more difficult to use.  As I said, the computer runs fine, but its connectors and ports have slowly been becoming more obsolete or, as the general computer manufacturing and retail industry shifts, these are becoming more difficult for me to maintain.  I could easily replace the 1.1 USB card but other features are becoming much less common, like the slots on the motherboard.  Or, it is that the 2000 OS itself simply cannot support some new devices and drivers.  Hence, the new laptop mentioned in the title.

The new laptop is another Dell (I almost bought an MSI sub-notebook but Dell had a good sale on a new model and I teach at at a university which often buys Dells and so I can get support or be able to scrounge spare parts).  I couldn’t buy this model without the operating system (Microsoft Vista) it was advertised with or I would have had a Linux-based operating system installed.  So, I asked a friend to help me partition the hard-drive and add Ubuntu on the other partition.  I wanted a third partition for data but, alas, there were problems with the configuration that we could not figure out.  So… Vista was nixed and now it simply has the Linux-based Ubuntu:

I really like Ubuntu so far… it is simple and quick… it seems very stable and it is a lot more secure… it came with very useful software… and it is all free.

I have, more and more, become a supporter of the idea of Open Source and really tired of the large companies, especially software companies, becoming too dominant, too large, too powerful, and structuring the industry to maximize their profits (instead of the users’ profits (financial or otherwise).  Microsoft, Adobe, Apple, and many others have turned the indsutry into a obsolescence-minded, control-driven and sometimes disempowering space.  And I am really getting tired of how they more and more treat the people who use and rely on their products like mindless consumers.  More simply, I do not like the fact that they make software WAY too expensive.

I do not mind that people might charge money for software… I purchase software all the time.  But I do not like the fact that some companies get too large, buy up the compeitition so that the industry becomes a oligopoly in some ways and an oligopsony in others, and that they accelerate obsolescence for their own purposes.  Usually, open source software is free but sometimes people do charge money for it (more like they are selling support for the software).  That is why I like to purchase software made by individuals or by smaller, independent companies (and, of course, I buy games and DVDs all the time).

But, as I said, I have started to become tired that a few large corporations dictate too much of what goes on in the industry… especially so because hardware and software have become critical to the operation of modern society.  Hence, I have made a conscious choice to move gradually to Open Source software.  I still have another PC running Windows XP and another at work, so I still will use commercial and proprietary software (there are a lot of Apples there too).  But over the long term I am hoping to one day completely be free.  SO far, I think there are extremely good quality software out there that is open source and/or free (GIMP (raster-based image manipulation), Open Office (word processing, spreadsheets, database), Firefox (web browser), Thunderbird (email), Word Press (blogging software), Media Wiki, Audacity (sound editing), KompoZer (html/web editing and design).  There is Inkscape (vector-based design software) which is really useful but is a little clunky since it has not been in development as long.

I like the idea of Open Source because it is community driven and does not have, as part of its core identity, the need to maximize profit and drive for obsolescence.

A while ago, I came across this essay which presents a convincing evaluation of Open Source / Free Software.  It comes from 2003 and is very detailed, and is worth reading: “Why Open Source Software / Free Software (OSS/FS)? Look at the Numbers!” by David A. Wheeler.  A pdf version from 2003 is here and an updated (2007) html version is available here.

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