It’s no secret that I’m using and loving Ubuntu. It’s so easy to use and does exactly what I want it to do. Can’t really say that from Windows Vista, which I’m running as well, but that’s a different story. Quite often I hear and read that there’s no reason to use Linux at all and after asking why, I get the usual answers like: ‘It’s too difficult’; ‘It doesn’t work with Windows software like MSOffice, which I need’; ‘Not all my hardware is supported’ and my personal favorite: ‘I heard so’.

Okay, so let’s clear some basic things here. Linux is an operating system based on the Linux-kernel, the engine of a car if you want so. Ubuntu is one of many distributions. This basically decsribes the look and feel of the car. (Some might hate me for saying such things, but relax, just trying to visualize things here. ) A few years ago Linux-distributions might still have been geek-only-territory, but these times are long gone. My parents are using Ubuntu on my old laptop and they can go online, create documents, burn their pictures and so on, without me having them to tell how it’s done. For the ‘I can’t use my Windows software’-argument, I will publish a post soon, which should clarify the mystery of using Windows software – if you really need it. The hardware issue, well…, I never really encountered big issues myself, but you might have a point there. Overall I would say, you should try and decide for yourself and not listening to others, who might never have done so and actually never spent time with Ubuntu or other Linux distributions.