tim@tim:~$ history | awk ‘{a[$2]++ } END{for(i in a){print a[i] ” ” i}}’|sort -rn|head
89 sudo
42 ls
42 cd
31 rm
18 java
17 unrar
16 wget
16 gksudo
15 ajcore
10 mv

This post is just to inform everyone who is interested that I am not dead and neither is this blog.

I won’t make any promises on how often I will post, but there is one thing you can definitely look forward to: a review of Ubuntu on the Dell XPS M1330.

I ordered the notebook a week ago and according to Dell it will arrive in the fourth week of february. You can expect my review in late february or early march.

Ubuntu, like other free operating systems (including all Linux, BSD and Solaris flavors), is a very modular system. Naturally, the advantage of the modular approach is that you can choose a piece of software based on your needs and preferences. If you don’t like a certain aspect of the software or you dislike the software as a whole: exchange it.

• You don’t like the behaviour or look of your windows? Switch to a window manager that suits you better.
• You don’t like the Gnome desktop? Use KDE.
• You are a command line junkie and don’t want any graphical software? Then whipe it all of your hard drive and enjoy the blinking cursor.

I could go on with this list but I guess you get the idea.

For me, it is important that I use software that I tested and found to be the best, and not because it already came with the computer.

A stable system that doesn’t have to be renewed

I don’t know how long ago I installed Ubuntu on my PC, and that’s a good sign. I just installed the system once and just upgraded when a new release was out.

On Windows a scenario like that is impossible, because the system basically wears out. When you remove applications there are alway files and registry entries that stay on the computer. The system gets slower and more unstable until it reaches a point where you have to reinstall… and its starts all over.

Ubuntu had problems with defective updates in the past, too. The difference is: there is always a solution that isn’t “remove everything and start new”.

Competition is good for technological progress

Vista has been released and the critical consensus seems to be “Oh, that is some nice stuff, but what did you actually do in the past 5 years?”

The answer is: They’ve done everything to maintain their position in the market. And unfortunately, that was significantly less than one would expect from a multi-billion dollar company.

Be honest, If you could sell a mediocre product for a high price, and you know that people will buy it, would you invest more money and time to make the product better? Probably not.

Software is there to do a job, not to benefit a company

If you look at successful open source projects like Firefox or the Video Lan Client and you compare them to proprietary software like Internet Explorer and iTunes you will realize that the former are almost entirely used voluntarily while the latter are often used because the user is somehow forced to do so.

If the user is being told: To watch this you need the Real Player the user will most likely install it. And I think we all agree that it’s not because the Real Player is particularly great.

I’m not claiming that all Ubuntu software has feature parity with their closed-source counterparts but you can be sure that the software is written to do a job that its developer(s) intended it to do, and not because some marketing people decided that it will do great for their company when software forcefully nests itself in the user’s system, overwrites file associations and is nearly impossible to remove.

The many, many little things

The reasons above are very important and they stick out, but there are countless little reasons that, together, are equally, maybe more important.

Be it the way the community interacts, be it the philosophy that drives Ubuntu and the projects that make Ubuntu possible, be it a little feature in some application that you always wanted: Ubuntu has many reasons that speak for it and you are invited to test it for yourself.

If you never had the chance to test Ubuntu, download it right now and run the Live CD. It is free and has no strings attached, so who knows, maybe you will soon find your personal reasons why you want to use Ubuntu.