This is the first blog post I am writing on a 100% Microsoft Free computer !

I have had an installation of Linux on my home PC for several years now. It started with RedHat 5.0 and, as each year went by, I upgraded to newer and more user-friendly versions of the software. But Linux was always installed in addition to Windows, and the default OS remained Windows.

I never thought the day would come (so soon) that I would completely wipe out all traces of Microsoft on my machine (that too my office machine!), and use only Linux for all my work !

Linux *has* come a long way from the days when you had to know Unix commands to get by. Everything is now GUI-based, and looks as good (if not better) that the popular Windows XP. Plus, if you are a power user, you always have the option of launching a “console” to type-away commands.

Installation was also a breeze with all my hardware automatically recognized. The only thing that took a while to configure was access to the Windows Network of PCs on the office LAN. That too, because I had never configured Linux on a network, before.

I am happy to report that, as of today, every thing works !

I now use Redhat 9.0 instead of Windows, Evolution instead of Outlook, OpenOffice instead of MS Office, GEdit instead of Notepad… and whole host of other open-source goodies. Even the blogging tool I use to publish content on my website – MovableType – is open source.

Open Source rocks !!!

1st Oct 2003, Editor’s Note :

The experiment at work lasted 10 days in all. Eventually, it was decided that we retain Windows as the OS but use other open-source alternatives like OpenOffice (for Windows).

Main reasons for not continuing with RedHat : Too slow on the hardware (yes, even compared to Windows!), and a learning curve required for all employees to switch to a new platform.

Looks like I will have to wait a few years to change to Linux completely 🙁