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I have been interested in informatics since I was a child. I started in those ancient times when there was a blue image on the monitor and we had to load the games from a tape. After a while I started learning programming at the school, and I wrote small programs in Pascal language. It was one of my favorite periods of my life, but I quit and never got to C+. The usual Operating System then was DOS, with Norton Commander file-manager and text-based surfing on the internet. I bought my first computer when I studied at the University. Obviously, I was using Windows operating system like everyone else. There was only one odd guy in the next building, using Linux. Windows 2000 was pretty good but I had to reinstall it every half year. I tried XP, but my computer was too weak for it so I turned back to the previous version every time. After a while I started to work, and I had a list of my favorite programs. I started to think that I didn’t want to change everything—new computer, new system, new programs—every one and a half years. So I made a change in my computer usage.
L'informatique m'intéresse depuis mon enfance. J'ai commencé en ces temps anciens où il y avait une image bleu sur l'écran et il fallait charger des jeux à partir d'une cassette. Le temps passant, j'ai commencé à apprendre la programmation à l'école et j'ai écrit de petits programmes en Pascal. C'était l'une des périodes de ma vie que je préfère, mais j'ai arrêté et ne suis jamais arrivé à C+. Le système habituel à l'époque était DOS, avec le gestionnaire de fichiers Norton Commander, et la navigation sur Internet par ligne de commande.
J'ai acheté mon premier ordinateur quand j'étais à la Fac. Bien entendu, j'utilisais le système d'exploitation Windows comme tout le monde. Il n'y avait qu'un seul mec bizarre, dans le bâtiment à côté, qui utilisait Linux. Windows 2000 n'était pas mal, mais il fallait le ré-installer tous les six mois. J'ai essayé XP, mais mon ordinateur n'était pas assez puissant et j'ai donc repris la version précédente à chaque fois. Au bout d'un certain temps, j'ai commencé à travailler et j'avais une liste de mes programmes préférés. J'ai commencé à penser que je ne voulais pas devoir tout changer - nouvel ordinateur, nouveau système, nouveaux programmes - tous les dix-huit mois. J'ai donc changé ma façon d'utiliser l'ordinateur.
I started to search for new possibilities and tried Linux. It was Mandrake and I got it on two CDs. But I didn’t like it and I couldn’t manage to work with it. I was searching again for several years. I’ve found a “human-friend“ Linux distribution: Ubuntu. I think it was the 8.04 version that I first downloaded and installed alongside the Windows system. I loved it and I started to discover and learn that it was straight, practical, and very fast. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to put aside the Windows system in my daily work because of the programs we were using. Architectural designing software doesn’t run on Linux up to this day… We had an old computer in the office. We installed Ubuntu on it and put it in the corner. This was our “server” and the only computer with internet access. So we resolved three problems at once: 1) we had no problem at all with viruses, 2) we didn’t spend time on the internet during working hours, and 3) we didn’t have to throw out an out-of-date computer. This success has convinced me about the justification of Linux. I have decided to use Linux in the long run.
J'ai commencé des recherches pour de nouvelles possibilités et j'ai essayé Linux. Il s'agissait de Mandrake et je l'avais obtenu sur deux CD. Mais ça ne m'a pas plu et je n'arrivais pas à travailler avec. Par la suite, pendant plusieurs années, j'ai recommencé des recherches. Et j'ai trouvé une distribution conviviale de Linux,faite pour des êtres humains : Ubuntu. Je pense qu'au départ j'ai téléchargé la version 8.04, que j'ai installée à côté de Windows. Elle m'a vraiment beaucoup plu et j'ai commencé à comprendre qu'elle était directe, pratique et très rapide. Je ne pouvais malheureusement pas abandonner le système Windows dans mon travail quotidien à cause des programmes qu'on utilisais. Jusqu'à ce jour, les logiciels de conception architecturale ne s'exécutent pas sous Linux.
Au bureau, il y avait un vieil ordinateur. On y a installé Ubuntu et on l'a mis dans le coin. C'était notre “serveur” et le seul ordinateur avec un accès à Internet. Ainsi, nous avons résolu trois problèmes d'un coup : 1) aucun problème avec des virus, 2) on ne passait pas de temps sur le Net pendant les heures de bureau et 3) on n'a pas eu besoin de mettre un ordinateur périmé au rebut. Cette réussite m'a convaincu que l'utilisation de Linux est justifié. J'ai décidé de me servir de Linux à long terme.
After a while, I started my own business and the problem was getting serious. The question was whether I should buy a new computer with a new OS and the programs I was using in order to continue my work, or if I should solve all this with the help of Linux. I chose the second way, and I again started to search for Linux software that could help me in my work as an architect.
First I gave up CAD designing and chose to draw by hand which was more appropriate for me. The elaboration had to be done by computer: scanning, working with images, document assembling, written parts, tables, and printing. Under Ubuntu 10.04, I used OpenOffice, Xsane, Scribus, Gimp and Inkscape software. LibreCad and Qcad programs seemed suitable in collaborating with my partners (for reading and editing DXF files).
After that I discovered the DraftSight software, which helped me to resolve this question. Even though I didn’t like the Autocad cloned programs, I didn’t find a suitable, intuitive and free 2D drawing program. I managed to get used to it as much as I needed to, and I am still using it constantly. I also tried 3D modeling programs, but the Blender is too complicated, the FreeCad is hard to use, the other ones are not so suitable for me.
A new version of Linux was introduced to me by one of my friends. He was using Linux Mint so I tried it. Ubuntu had just changed to the Unity interface, which I disliked. Linux Mint, on the other hand, brought me exactly what I needed – the old familiar usability and all the things I liked in Ubuntu, plus a new range of free programs to choose from.
I have continued to use Linux Mint in the last several years. My only dilemma was the desktop manager: I had to choose from Cinnamon/Mate/KDE/XFCE. I changed my system many times trying different versions.
In the meantime, I have made a lot of discoveries and found solutions for many problems concerning software and hardware. And I’ve started to like the Open idea more and more and started to recommend this possibility to others too. I managed to convince more people to try Linux instead of Windows. Some of them have continued to use it. Even today I am happy to recommend it if somebody is having trouble with his computer. One simple solution: put in a Live CD and it’s already running!