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Linux - Learn stuff!
Mr_Sneakyman
Member UncommonPosts: 43
When I write a post like this, to a website like MMORPG.com, I usually find two groups of people: computer jocks who know as much and/or more about computers than I do, and computer newbies who use their computer as little more than a game box. With this post I'm speaking to the latter.
Check out this site: http://www.linuxmint.com/
Linux is an open-source operating system similar to the closed-source Microsoft Windows and Apple OS. Why tinker with it? There are many advantages to using an alternative OS, but the biggest one is simply an idea: The idea that the software that controls your PC is not, in turn, controlled by some billionaire blow-hard who's deep in the sack with fascistic governments. Linux is built and maintained by programmers donating their time for a higher purpose: freedom from corporate stupidity.
What are the advantages?
1. Freedom of choice – there are many flavors of Linux to try.
2. No viruses – because Linux is maintained by a voluntary community of computer enthusiasts there is a curious lack of viruses, spy-ware, malware, bloat-ware, spaghetti code and open listening ports.
3. It's free of charge – I donate $25 every year to the flavor I'm using (usually Ubuntu or Linux Mint).
4. The ability to make changes to your OS and possibly improve it so all may benefit.
5. All the apps are free.
Grab a flash drive and try it – it'll run straight from your usb drive. As I said, I use Linux Mint (64-bit with the Cinnamon interface) and the only way to quickly describe it would be to say “Windows XP on steroids.”
Real learning is done through your own tinkering, your own investigation and reading. I could write a book on all the crap I learned from government schools and expensive corporate institutions of “higher learning.” One friend taught himself computer hardware and is now happily self-employed, another friend has a master's degree from a corporate computer school and has been unemployed for years. Don't fall for this. Does Linux have a learning curve? Of coarse it does. That's why we're on this spinning ball of mud .. to learn stuff. Is it worth the time it takes to learn it? Most definitely yes.
After testing Linux from your usb drive, buy and install a second hard-drive. Unplug your main drive and plug in your second “experimental” drive (do this so you don't accidentally erase your Windows partition), then install your favorite flavor of Linux. Don't be afraid to wipe your drive and reinstall over and over again. Try as many flavors as you like. The more you tinker, the more you learn.
Most importantly, have fun!
