What The Toot!

According to DELL’s blog, Direct2Dell, we will be seeing Ubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn), an alternative operating system, on DELL computers in the coming weeks, in response to the overwhelming request on their IdeaStorm website. They will be initially available in the U.S.

This will allow Ubuntu (a Linux distribution), and Linux to be heard on the consumer level, specifically those who are only exposed to a Windows-based system. The number of people actually do not know of any alternative OS other than Windows and Mac OS may surprise you. That is predicted, since Windows has been the dominant OS in the market for quite some time now. Only the more tech savvy and those who are more open to OS news are aware of Linux, or any open source software or movement.

Software piracy is rampant where I come from, and it may be cheaper and faster to go to a software store, albeit one which sells 99% pirated software, to buy the program instead of downloading a “cracked” copy on the internet. That is to say, our national dominant broadband company sucks. Consumer can get a pirated software for less than USD$ 2.00. Due to that fact, people generally think of obtaining a fake software instead of a free software.

I once introduced several open source movement and software to my father, including Linux and Thunderbird. He couldn’t understand the concept behind people giving software away for free and till this day, I still couldn’t convince him to switch to any open source software.

Open source software can be distributed and obtain for a price, but I am personally more interested in the sense that it is free as in beer, not free as in speech (although we do not get too much freedom of speech where I am from). What that means to me is that I do not have to pay anything for the softwares I use on my computer. I am happier to donate to the open source programmer than to actually buy a piece of software.

So in summary, I shall answer several common questions people might have.

What is DELL?
C’mon! If you really do not know, DELL is a computer hardware company founded by Michael Dell. They sell computer system for consumer and business customer as well as other computer related peripherals like printers, network servers,switches, et cetera. I personally think they have one of the best customer service in large companies.

What is Linux?
Linux is an free (open source) operating system, long used in servers. They are recently entering the consumer market. They are absolutely free, as opposed to other operating system which you have to pay an enormous amount of money on, such as Windows Vista.

What is Operating System?
Basically, it is the thing that communicates between your hardware and your software. Without them you can’t use the computer.

What is Open Source?
Open Source means the source code of the program, or software is licensed in such a way that they are readily obtainable for free, and you can edit the source code, modify the program and redistribute it under similar license. However, different license have different limitations. For more information click here. This is opposed to for example, the Microsoft End User License Agreement (EULA) which basically says you can only use the operating system, and do what they say you can do in the EULA. Anything beyond that would be violating the EULA.

What is Ubuntu?
Linux, being licensed in an open source license, is open to modification and redistribution. Over time, people create their own flavour, called distribution, and post it on the internet. Ubuntu is one of such distribution and is currently the most popular Linux Distribution, according to Distrowatch. You can actually get the CD containing the operating system shipped to you at no cost. For more information, go to Ubuntu.com or the Wikipedia entry for Ubuntu.

So, to all the Windows users who previously do not know about Linux, especially the ignorant ones: Yes. There are operating systems and programmes out there which you do not have to pay a cent for it. This could mean huge savings. (In Malaysia for example, this could be a savings of at least a few hundred ringgit to more than one thousand ringgit.)

I would like to comment on DELL’s customer service, but I think that is reserved for another time.

UPDATE: I just found out that DELL posted information on how to install Ubuntu on a PC on the U.S. support website the day before they officially announce the partnership with Canonical Inc, Ubuntu company. Click here to have a look.

I am a Windows user, mostly due to the fact that where I come from, pirated software (and operating system) are dirt cheap and Macs are, in my opinion, unbelievably expensive compared to a Windows-based PC. I have used other O.S. too, Macs included.

The University of Melbourne has a certain affinity for Macs. Just walk around the university and you are bound to see Macs everywhere, especially in computer laboratories. For example, if you walk near the back of the medical building, you could directly see into their computer lab filled with Apple iMac G5. I do not understand the logic behind that. Do medical students use a lot of software and programmes designed to run on Macs, or do they get to have iMac G5 because of their exorbitant fees? I am a Genetics student and I have used computers in Biology Department and Genetics Lab. All we have are the hideous iMac G3’s, the newest Mac in Biology Department is possibly eMac’s.

In addition, all the lecturers seem to have a particular liking towards the Mac OS X. Even though most computers in lectures hall are configured to dual boot Windows XP and Mac OS X, they use the latter almost exclusively. What program do they use on the computer? Microsoft PowerPoint. Again I do not see the logic behind that.

Today, while the lecturer is showing the last slide of her lecture materials in Micosoft PowerPoint on Mac OS X, a screen suddenly showed up, for no apparent reason AT ALL. It was running smoothly and suddenly,*poof*, this is shown:

It was interesting to me, since I have never seen a Mac OS X crash. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera phone with me at that moment. So I did a little research when I got home and cropped the photo out of another photograph from this website. It was interesting to see other Mac appliances crashes too, since the general consensus seem to be that Macs are more stable and prestigious compared to Windows.

The website also showed two videos, one of which I have stumbled upon long ago. It’s a Mac Switch advertisement parody and I find it hilarious. The video is the inspiration to the title of this post. Of course some of the things said in there are far from the real truth, but it’s still worth a look:

Crash Differently

There’s another video which I thought was worth a look. Just wait until the end of the video and see Steve Jobs throwing his digital camera: