The Open Source World - Leaving Microsoft and Apple Behind

As of late I have taken an interest in pushing my computer to it's limits. Those who have read my other articles on Photoshop or my game reviews here on AC might think this means pushing my computer graphically and stressing out the hardware. In fact quite the opposite. I wanted to see how cheap and free my PC can be aside from the obvious costs of electricity, components, and internet access. Do I need Windows XP/Vista and Photoshop and all the rest? Surprisingly the answer is a resounding no.

I've only been really pushing things like Linux and such for a few months as I figured them out and learned what was out there for everyday use by non-geeks. (note: not o offend people, geeks and nerds are used here to simply denote a person who is far above average in their computer knowledge, in fact I am a complete nerd, but this is written for the common computer user.)

For many years I'm sure people have heard of the Linux movement from the geeky nerdy inner depths of the computer world. Most of the internet runs off of Unix and it's child Linux or some variation thereof, but can is replace Windows on your PC or MacOS on your Mac? The answer is yes provided you know where to look.

There are hundreds of versions of Linux out there. DistroWatch.com has a Top100 list of versions, and just looking at the list and seeing names like FreeBSD, Yellowdog, OpenSuSe, Ubuntu, and Fedora can make the non geek act like a scared puppy (there's also Puppy Linux on the list). It's quite frightening and typing in "Best Linux" on Google will simply reveal hordes of arguing nerds. However there is a ray of hope in the darkness... a simple site that will ask you a series of questions and then tell you distributions best suited to you and your PC. Point your browser to http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/ and answer a few simple questions and you will get a few choices tossed your way. No matter what choice you end up using there are people online willing to help you install it and answer your questions. The best site for help is most likely going to be LinuxForums.org, a site with free forums filled with nerds all working with Linux to help each other and the newbies out there.

So let's say you finally have Linux installed. No matter the distribution it's not the easiest task in the world, but it is well worth it. Linux is a far more secure and stable system than Windows for most people's purposes. If you have become indoctrinated into thinking Internet Explorer is the end all be all of web browsing technology you are sorely mistaken as IE has long since been riddled with security holes and website rendering issues o the point many technology professionals will not even use it on Windows. They use Firefox, Konqueror, or any of numerous browsers. These other mainstream browsers, usually Firefox, will be the browser of choice for Linux.

So you are able to browse the net and watch DVDs and listen to CDs and MP3s but what if you want more? What if you want to write your AC articles in a MSOffice like suite before posting them? OpenOffice.org will have you covered. It includes likenesses of every office component so you can make presentations, write anything, and manage accounting and other spreadsheet functions.

What fi you wanted to make art, color, draw, edit photos and make images for the web? There's a program called The GiMP that will satisfy all your needs. When I taught people how to use Photoshop I rarely used anything really Photoshop exclusive, usually I used the paint tool is pretty standard across all digital art software, The GiMP included. You can do good things in GiMP no problem, just don't expect a complete Photoshop clone because you won't get it, but what it does it does well, and it does more than enough for 90% of the users out there.

Now here's the kicker, what if you want to go open source but can't break away from windows? You need a program that only runs in Windows or something but you still want to go with Open Source free software for many applications. Do you find yourself not wanting to pay for an office suite or wanting a more secure browser? Every single piece of software discussed in this article also has an open source Windows version available for you to download and usually they have a Mac version too since Mac is Unix based now.

I will go more indepth on individual Linux distributions and such in the near future. Stay tuned.