A stuggle for digital freedom!

You spend a lot of money, buy a computer; Then buy an operating system, an antivirus software and all that fancy titled softwares. Why?

Just to use your machine bought with your hard earned money, in a way those software millionaires tell you to. If you don't, get sued for breach of contract.

 How ridiculous! 

 Man, It time you fight for your freedom in the digital world. Here's how I won my freedom.


Nine months back, the Operating system that I got installed (paying Rs.12,375) last year got corrupted. When I tried a repair, it denied doing. Then I knew I was left with no other choice but to format my hard drive. It was hard to accept that all my important documents, modified since failure of my back up system 6 days prior to the crash, were about to be lost.


Before I did anything harsh, I took a second opinion. I tried hunting on the Internet for all the possible solution. In the process, I came across a post that instructed on how I could recover the data on corrupt operating system using Ubuntu temporary installation. That was the first time I ever I stepped into this open source operating system community.


Once I did that, I was thrilled for having survived a software tragedy. After recovering up all the documents from the crashed PC, I went ahead with the format and re-installation. And then, I installed the Ubuntu Operating System side by side my regular one, as a part of disaster preparedness.


I didn’t stop there, I kept experimenting on Ubuntu. It has been 9  months of running Ubuntu on my machine and I’m happy. Ubuntu is a free Linux operating system that lets you do everything that you do on a proprietary Operating System. Though not a technical geek, I’m going to write down all those good things I felt as I moved to open source.


The speed at which it processes data is worth mentioning first. With Ubuntu on my PC, it takes 6 seconds to start my mini-laptop compared to to 30 seconds pre-Ubuntu. Its not just with booting up, its really fast with nearly everything it does.

Image: http://www.ubuntu.com/ 

When the proprietor OS makes their visual effects more appealing by feasting on the system resources to a debilitating extend, ubuntu  achieves it by striking a positive balance. I discovered this amazing fact when I tried to revive an old PC that was dumped long ago. Ubuntu runs on my 10 year old PC pretty well with all the visual effects turned on. That was moved out into the attic in 2005 when my service man declared it too old to run an XP.


Post installation, I did not have to install another software to open my existing files. All the basic software were pre-installed and almost all the files got recognized within seconds of installation. The only problem I faced was with playing windows media(MP3,MP4,WMV,WMA etc) files on Ubuntu. But then, within minutes of posting my problem in Ubuntu Forum online, I got 23 possible solutions. They helped me install Ubuntu restricted extras and VLC player.


It feels really nice to be completely free from the holds and control of  proprietors. I hardly saw a scary and lengthy legal license agreement page in the last 9 months. On Ubuntu, when I need a software, its always there in the software center. Not just one, but hundreds to chose the best I need without spending an extra penny. With no more annoying pop up message in the middle of a presentation telling me to register a new trial software/ Piracy warning, life is more peaceful.


There are comparable and sometimes much better Ubuntu alternatives to the regular proprietary software that I used previously. And for some rare ones, that I did not find an alternative, I got a free cross platform emulator (wine) installed. Now with this new powerful application, I can run many software and even play games, that are designed exclusively for the non-Ubuntu Operating System.


I even got a software modified according to my need partly by me and partly by my friends out there on the net who share the Ubuntu community with me. And to do this I did not have study programming or become an expert, I just used Ubuntu for some time and it is possible. That’s a fact that I never knew, before three months.


When I connect to the Internet, there is no other program running in the background trying for access/download and waste my available bandwidth. Apps go on-line, only if I want them to. When I’m not connected to the net for a long time, I’m still safe, because, there is no antivirus software(still no threat) to run a frequent update.


Linux, they say, is safer, I’m simply experiencing it. I did not have a security problem since I installed Ubuntu on my PC. With no antivirus, my system resources are all available for the task i do. with a light weight fire wall, linux security is robust with no security lapses till date on my system. If it was the proprietory one I used previously, things would have been different.


On open source platform, I’m never left behind. A new version of ubuntu was released on the second week of  October 2011 and I was running it on my PC on the same day. The best part of it, I did not have to spend an extra rupee more than the Internet data charge for downloading it. 


Like me, every human being on earth has the equal right to download, use, modify and distribute the new version free of cost without any restriction. That is what we call freedom.


To conclude, Ubuntu is stable, secure, simple, light for everyday computing. It’s unique feature, the community assistance,  and the open-source license offers me the freedom to use the machine my way. My previous OS in comparison complicated every single stuff and told me about my restrictions even before I started using them.


NB:


I don't stand for or intend to promote or discredit a particular brand. This post is all about a common man's experience with the open source OS and software.

Definition of Ubuntu: “I am what I am because of who we all are.” (translation by Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee). A classical African Phylosophy focusing on people’s allegiances and relations with each other.