Full Circle Magazine FR

I have been using computers since the early 1960’s, and, in about 1985, became a full time IT support person and business software developer. Microsoft was establishing a major presence in the small business computer market. While Apple was successful in desktop publishing and graphics work, Microsoft was, for practical purposes, the “only game in town” for smaller business software. So all my work was centred around that platform. By the early 2000’s, I wanted to cut back on my work; I was getting tired of playing the Microsoft game. Many things about MS Windows were annoying me, and it was time to consider other operating systems for my own use. I had worked with Apple in a newspaper setting, and had a good deal of respect for it, but it felt too restrictive as well as being expensive.

GNU/Linux appealed to me. Nobody I knew was using it but I bought some textbooks and installed it on one of my computers. In 2006, Ubuntu was beginning to show signs that it might someday become a contender for Apple and Microsoft Windows. I installed Ubuntu and forced myself to use it for as much as I could, while still maintaining MS applications for important and time critical work. There were some challenges: • The drafting software I used was available only for MS (and is still is not available for GNU/Linux). • The photo editing software that I depended upon was not available for GNU/Linux. • The GNU/Linux substitute for MS Office lacked polish, and, though it could (sort of) permit one to collaborate in a business setting with people who used MS Word, there were problems. • There was no GNU/Linux replacement for the Accounting software that my wife used. She was not about to make large changes in her routine to learn a new system, and I was not going to re-write the software I had developed for MS Windows because I was going into retirement and those days were behind me.

Fortunately there was a choice of virtualization software that allowed us to continue to use the MS software that we depended upon, and we installed GNU/Linux on our two main desktops as well as on the test computer I used for client work. We forced ourselves to use GNU/Linux substitutes for the MS apps that were not intensively used. Internet Browsers, file managers, email clients, text editors, calendars, and other applications similar to what what we had been using and that were less critical, became our learning tools while we fully converted to GNU/Linux. The more I worked with GNU/Linux, the better I liked it, and even my wife, who really does not enjoy using computers, began to see the benefits of Open Source. As years passed, GNU/Linux apps, from our point of view, improved, and some of them were outstanding; as good as or better than the products of Apple and Microsoft. We found that we could adopt GNU/Linux applications to replace the MS apps being used on VirtualBox.

Today, every computer we use has GNU/Linux installed and though I have played with perhaps a dozen distros, everything we use is based upon Ubuntu with a KDE desktop. There are still virtual machines installed on two desktop machines, and my test system, but neither of us has used a virtual MS application for about four years now, with the exception of needing to update Garmin GPS units. We have replaced everything else that does not support GNU/Linux, and the Garmin devices too will soon will be replaced by GNU/Linux devices. Some friends to whom I mentioned GNU/Linux have asked me to install GNU/Linux on their hardware, and most of the installations have been a success. However, three went back to their previous operating systems: One was suffering increasing dementia and the challenge of learning became too great. The second lives in a rural area with no high-speed Internet, and had to rely on a telephone modem for Internet communication for support. In addition, all the neighbours had the MS system so there was a problem providing immediate support.

The third really did not have any interest in learning about GNU/Linux. He just thought he would try it. His wife uses MS Windows in her work, and she is his immediate go-to for support so he returned to a MS operating system. A fourth continues to use MS OS in his business, but GNU/ Linux at home. He did not want to have to re-train staff on GNU/Linux, although he said that his initial fear of a lengthy training process was unfounded, and he will change to GNU/Linux the next time a MS Windows upgrade is required. There is great inertia in the software OS business and with good reason. Most people really don’t give a damn about what operating system they use, as long as it is easy to use and forgiving. One can talk about all the benefits of GNU/Linux and the Open Source Software movement, but eyes glaze over quickly. It is only when a major problem with an operating system occurs that people are willing to consider something else.

I have found it takes quite a lot of hand-holding with the average computer user to encourage them to adopt GNU/Linux. Once they are comfortable with it, they would never go back, but I have spent untold hours teaching – not how to use the GNU/Linux OS, but teaching users GNU/Linux applications, more than anything else. That there are now many more cross-platform applications available has greatly reduced the challenge of changing Operating Systems. If there is one thing that I can point to as being a hindrance to wider adoption of GNU/Linux, it lies in the expression that GNU/Linux devotees love to use. “GNU/Linux gives you freedom”. There is, in some ways, too much freedom. There are too many distros – even in just the “mainstream” systems. There is a huge choice of applications and deciding which to use is daunting. Most people do not like to make decisions if they have many choices. Where I have offered people choices, they almost always say “Just install what you are using.” Of all the systems I have installed, only two are NOT using a KDE desktop. There are excellent desktop alternatives, with fewer customization options, that make configuration simpler. Even the more basic interfaces would serve most users well, but it is easier, and more comfortable, for them to just use what I use. It will take time, but I still live in hope that, someday soon, GNU/Linux will reach the tipping point where it will become more talked about and will have a critical mass whereby there are enough users to support newcomers everywhere, and provide the hands-on support necessary to provide the comfort that most look for in a computer operating system.