techTuesday, June 28, 2005
Update on my Athlon64
I have a fully usable, 100% Microsoft free operating system now running on my Athlon 64. This processor has never had a single line of Microsoft code run through it. And though the harddrives have been used as storage in a Windows Machine, they have never had a Windows operating system installed on them.
The System can do everything I need it to. In fact, many tasks are much easier and/or faster with open source software than with the proprietary windows-based junk.
I get get pictures from my Kodak CX4310 digital camera with gphoto2, edit photos with the gimp, watch dvds with mplayer, encode to divx with mencoder, burn cds/dvds with cdrtools and the K3b burning frontend, browse the web with Mozilla Firefox, create documents with Koffice, and much more.
Though most games are a hassle to get running under linux, I have installed Unreal Tournament 2004 - which includes a linux installer. It runs perfectly.
transfering photos from my camera is very easy - I wrote a script to handle creating a new directory, transfering the pics from the camera, and renaming them to my liking.
I never have any trouble with spyware or viruses. My computer always boots up quickly and runs right all the time - this hasn't always been the case as it's possible to really mess up a linux system if you don't know what you're doing - I've usually been able to figure it out though - I've installed and played with many different linux distributions - it's the best way to learn.
The System can do everything I need it to. In fact, many tasks are much easier and/or faster with open source software than with the proprietary windows-based junk.
I get get pictures from my Kodak CX4310 digital camera with gphoto2, edit photos with the gimp, watch dvds with mplayer, encode to divx with mencoder, burn cds/dvds with cdrtools and the K3b burning frontend, browse the web with Mozilla Firefox, create documents with Koffice, and much more.
Though most games are a hassle to get running under linux, I have installed Unreal Tournament 2004 - which includes a linux installer. It runs perfectly.
transfering photos from my camera is very easy - I wrote a script to handle creating a new directory, transfering the pics from the camera, and renaming them to my liking.
I never have any trouble with spyware or viruses. My computer always boots up quickly and runs right all the time - this hasn't always been the case as it's possible to really mess up a linux system if you don't know what you're doing - I've usually been able to figure it out though - I've installed and played with many different linux distributions - it's the best way to learn.
Mac on Intel and Open Source in Norway
Apple is planning to begin using intel-based hardware in new Macintosh computers.
The Norwegian government announced that it will begin using open source data formats exclusively.
Both of these things are bad for Microsoft (which is good for the rest of us). Mac on intel is just one less reason to not use a Mac. Apple is also much more friendly with the open source community which is good for them and good for us. And the Norwegian proposal to use only open formats is one more victory for the open source community and very bad for Microsoft with all of their closed, propietary formats.
I predict that Microsoft's evil reign over the world of desktop computing is nearing its end. People are getting fed up with virus/spyware hassles, broken software, extravagant anti-piracy schemes, overpriced and under-developed software, etc.
Open source software is getting better every day. Linux is a real operating system, fully compliant with Unix specifications and infinitely flexible. It's free to hobbyists for everything from embedded devices to large servers.
I have been Microsoft free for over a year and recommend it to everyone.
The Norwegian government announced that it will begin using open source data formats exclusively.
Both of these things are bad for Microsoft (which is good for the rest of us). Mac on intel is just one less reason to not use a Mac. Apple is also much more friendly with the open source community which is good for them and good for us. And the Norwegian proposal to use only open formats is one more victory for the open source community and very bad for Microsoft with all of their closed, propietary formats.
I predict that Microsoft's evil reign over the world of desktop computing is nearing its end. People are getting fed up with virus/spyware hassles, broken software, extravagant anti-piracy schemes, overpriced and under-developed software, etc.
Open source software is getting better every day. Linux is a real operating system, fully compliant with Unix specifications and infinitely flexible. It's free to hobbyists for everything from embedded devices to large servers.
I have been Microsoft free for over a year and recommend it to everyone.