Now using Ubuntu. How cool is that?

I write this using my newly-installed operating system Ubuntu. I'm running version 8.04, the Desktop Edition.

Ubuntu is a Linux-based OS that can be dowloaded for free. In my case, I filled out the form at the Canonical website—the worldwide distributor of the OS—and got my CD through mail after about four weeks. The good news is that I got it for free. I didn't pay a single centavo even for shipment.

Ubuntu is an ancient African word that means “humanity to others.” It's the promise of Ubuntu that it will always be “free of charge, including enterprise releases and security updates.” Written on the CD package were these words:

“Ubuntu CDs contain only free software applications; we encourage you to use free and open source software, improve it and pass it on.”

Reading that totally changed my mind. Why pay for something you could otherwise get for free—with almost the same quality, if not better?

Some of my good friends have made the switch to Ubuntu, and I know quite a few people who've had it installed in their own computers. Katrina Alvarez, for one, encouraged me to make the switch in her reply to my email about a month ago. Her blog entries are full of raves about the product, referring to it as something that gave her a sort of “mental thrill.” I can sense she's enjoying every bit of it.

You don't need to be a geek to use Ubuntu—or anything Linux, for that matter. Like Windows, it's also user friendly. A big plus is that it uses almost the same keyboard shortcuts an experienced Windows user would have mastered.

But it's not Windows, and a person who uses Ubuntu must not regard it as the free version of Windows—because it is not. It is a different OS altogether. They may work similarly, but they're not the same. There are no viruses in Ubuntu.

Windows has done a lot of good to me—that I admit. But the Christian in me wanted to do something that would glorify God. Many (like me, in the past) have used pirated versions of Windows, among other softwares. But why do that when we can switch to something we can get for free?

I'm not about to say that Ubuntu is far better than Windows—a lot of people, the majority of converted Ubuntu users, have calimed that. For the meantime, though, I don't want to make a rash judgment. I think I need to take my time...get the hang of it first and know if it's really the right OS for me.

So far, Ubuntu has been fun and user-friendly and beautiful—man, you should see how the default desktop looks like (I'm looking at it right now, and absolutely lovin' it). I look forward to using it for the next few years, until, well, Ubuntu version 9 comes out.



Right now, I'm in the process of discovering many things. It's not difficult to understand why people like Katrina have made the switch.