The March of Penguins

Some may say that I'm crazy, writing about Antarctic animals on a technology blog... But hold your thoughts and opinions for a second. As some of you may know, the penguin is also associated with Linux, the operating system. And, as a part of my studies I am exploring Ubuntu Linux 9.04 and since then my opinion about the penguin has changed.

I have not explored the Linux environment since about 2005 and that was mainly due to the discomfort that a command line environment represented for me. And then Ubuntu came along, especially in recent versions. I was first advised by a friend to try it out and did so for a short stunt in the winter of 08'. But as I was doing my Unix/Linux class Ubuntu became my main focus for a few weeks and I have come to appreciate it.

The improved GUI makes it very easy and intuitive to use the operating system and several features are much appreciated. The first one is the Multiple Desktops, which allows to have two or more swappable desktops. This is of great help to keep organized while multitasking. Say if you wish to keep all your open websites in one place while working on spreadsheets and a database in another, you can use a Desktop for each of these setups.

Another area where the Graphical Interface comes in handy is software, updates and package installations. I recall in my first Linux experiences using Red Hat, it was always difficult to install packages using the console and typing in commands. This is now a thing of the past with a friendly installer interface.

Unlike Microsoft Windows, Ubuntu comes preloaded with essential applications such as a solid office productivity suite (Open Office) and multimedia applications. This reduces costs greatly, especially given the fact that one can save his/her work in more widely used MS Office formats.

So for the mere cost of a DVD, you can have a full featured operating system that's not prone to viruses, a good quality productivity suite as well as a few nice add-ons. To this, factor in the reality that more and more application developers are designing Linux intended tools and entertainment, you have yourself a positive alternative to Microsoft and Apple.