Linux - Take the plunge!

We all have some adversity to change and having to learn something new when we’ve at last managed to at least ‘feel’ like we’ve mastered something. But is it really that we’ve mastered it or has it mastered us and we’re just used to plodding along and patching up/putting up with our comfort zone?

As confirmed Windows users having to argue on the side of Linux in an online debate as part of an Open University course was certainly an eye-opener; it was an insight into a never before seen realm - for us at least. The open-source ideology and community spirit seemed refreshingly transparent and helpful, but there was a lot to learn and at that time we chose not to delve much deeper.

Fast forward several years and things have progressed much further, that comfort zone has become progressively uncomfortable and more controlling. So we decided to have another look at the Linux Desktop world and were really impressed by how it has developed. It’s still somewhat overwhelming at first to get ones head around things such as

• the many ‘flavours’ (distributions or versions) of Linux such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Mint etc.
• the different desktop environments available (e.g. GNOME, KDE, MATE to name but a few)
• possibly having to get to grips with new types of software to replace those used on Windows that are not compatible with Linux operating systems, (which we must point out is not the fault of Linux but of the software vendors for not making their products available for use on those operating systems!).

However, after taking a tentative step and dual-booting for a while it soon became clear that Linux Desktop was a comparative joy to use, so the plunge was taken and that secondary boot option utterly extinguished! As stated before some things are not made to be compatible with Linux operating systems but there is a wealth of knowledge and help available from the open source community and we even learned how to code our own driverless application for a label printer that we still wanted to make use of, as the proverb goes “necessity is the mother of invention”.

Is Linux Desktop for everyone? Possibly not - but it was for us. There's a huge amount of information, guidance and help via many websites, have a search around if we've piqued your interest!

As a bonus, with Ubuntu releases given names like Trusty Tahr; Precise Pangolin; Xenial Xerus; Bionic Beaver; Groovy Gorilla and Focal Fossa, and of course not forgetting ‘Tux’ the penguin mascot of the Linux kernel, it seems the Linux developers appreciate wildlife too!

So, if like us you put a toe in the waters of Linux Desktop years ago and decided the water was too cold, take another dip, it’s warmed up a lot!