Posts Tagged ‘operating system’
NY Times: Time is Right for Linux Computers
Here’s a NY Time article titled the “Time is Right for Linux PC’s to Emerge” (from its technology section) that explains the status of Linux in the PC market.
NY Times article titled “Time is Right for Linux PC’s to Emerge”
I am still amazed how few Mac and Linux computers there are compared to Microsoft-driven computers. Personally, I believe that open source advocates should encourage friends and neighbors to install Linux distributions such as Ubuntu on computers that are replaced by newer hardware. I have found that a used laptop runs great on Ubuntu.
As the article states, internet access today provides most of what most people want and need. I hope that people don’t take this statement to mean that Linux does not have high quality software packages. The Linux operating system and the great variety of Linux distributions (different packages of free software coupled with the Linux kernal) have many strengths.
FLOSS Manuals: Linux Command Line
It’s as easy as Applications –> Accessories –> Terminal and type in a command (option) or filename. You can access folders and servers throughout the world, move files, open, close, and force quit applications, create files and folders, and everything else you might want to do on your computer. You can do more in the command line than you can in the GUI (the graphical user interface–Windows/Vista, OS X for Mac, and Fedora/Gnome).
FLOSS Manual–Linux Command Line
The GUI is simply a pretty and user friendly way of doing what is done in the command line behind the scenes. When you click on an application or folder, the computer runs that command through a click instead of using a typed command line. The GUI prevents you from seeing files that you don’t need to use the computer. If you can do simple “command line” stuff, you have truly graduated to being a “geek”, one step away from becoming a “hacker”. Remember a “hacker” is a geek using command line to solve programming problems. A “cracker” is a person with hacker skills using her/his talents to do bad things.
While in the FLOSS Manuals, check out all the other great open source user information.
The Orientation: Linux
Check out this additional Linux resource that I found at Crunchgear written by Peter Ha. It’s another good blog post helping us all better understand Linux.
