We had a discussion on here about Linux and free software a while back.

I gave Ubuntu a good try out the last few weeks and due to it's similarities to the Amiga with it's separate folders for different OS files, I picked it all up very quickly. Experiences:

Free software - great

Open office, Ubuntu, Gimp and all the free apps in Synaptic package manager are great. Once you enable the third party online repositories you can also install Google Earth and other apps very easily. Rather than downloaded complete install packages, which are quite rare in the Linux world's online webpages, you can do many installs directly via the built in package manager and they are guaranteed to be virus/spyware free. It will take care of the necessary “dependencies” for you (extra OS files and packages required for the chosen software).

If it's not in Synaptic/package manager, then hope it has an install package available. If not, you may be compiling, installing and chasing up dependencies yourself which is a pain.

Hardware support - average

If everything works out of the box, like many systems do, brilliant. If not, be prepared for a long session in the command prompt, online forums and delving into config files. Even if it does work, a kernal update can render drivers useless. If you have older hardware when this happens, nvidia and ATI may not write a newer driver for hardware opengl acceleration even though the last one became invalid with an X Server update (the part of linux/Ubuntu that deals with the GUI). Can be much more of a pain than Windows in this respect.

Virus checking/ firewall - don't need

Some performance increases to be had from no security software I'm sure as well as piece of mind. Unless you are passing files onto a Windows computer, you simply don't need this kind of software on Linux. There aren't many virues and the system is read only as standard with no open ports. You need to enter your password to do anything that can write or change the OS. A huge weight off your mind (not that I've ever had an issue in Windows mind you).

Desktop customization - Brilliant

The GUI is fantastically versatile and there is a Linux for every machine and taste out there. I really love the GUI used in Ubuntu, with it's hardware 3D effects.

Speed - not as great as I expected.

There are many distros out there that are lighter than Ubuntu and the Gnome GUI it uses, but I found it to be slower than XP on older hardware I was using to test. I guess it's not surprising as it will be a distro for modern hardware, but the fact remains that XP plus running virus checker guard and firewall ran faster than Ubuntu 9.04 on an Athlon XP 1500+ (1.33Ghz) with 512MB RAM (yes I disabled 3D effects to make it a fair comparision).

I like how it doesn't have a registry to get bloated or mess up - seems cleaner, although I can't say I had any performance issues with the Windows registry even if it does get a bloated mess. Plus, if you believe the community, the file system doesn't need defragging.

Overall - great, but I'll stick with Windows

My experience with Ubuntu was a positive one and I'd definitely recommend it to someone who just wants to surf the web, use office apps and general programs that are easily installable via Synaptic. It's obviously not for hard core gamers, although some DirectX games can be run through WINE which worked quite well for the one's I tried - not perfect though. From an admin point of view, you know the person can't mess up the system if they don't have the password and it will be virus/spyware free. No virus checkers or firewalls - it was a nice change although I did get sick of typing my password at times!

It can be a pain in the arse compared to Windows and updates can ruin things without warning. I experienced this twice in a few months using older hardware and I spent a lot of time in forums learning about Linux and the various commands and keyboard shortcuts that you must use in the prompt if you want to control the OS and get things sorted. This can lead to frustration. You can boot older kernels however should there be an issue from Grub, the boot manager. Can't escape the fact that you feel like a server/professional admin when dealing with Ubuntu's "guts" sometimes - it's server and command prompt origins are still very apparent.

My advice – nice free OS and I can see the attraction of open source software with missing digital rights management, corporate bullshit, rigid structure etc – but I'll stick with Windows for better gaming and retro emulators. It's just easier and less hassle much of the time even if you do have to pay, you can spend more time playing/working rather than tinkering.

A big up to the open source community however - really love the work you guys do and we're very lucky that you do all this for free. I have loads of respect for the whole scene.
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