My thoughts on why businesses and individuals need to start thinking about switching away from proprietary (and high maintenance) software like Windows, and look at open source and free software instead like GNU/Linux. All articles are based on real world and everyday experiences with Windows and GNU/Linux, for both business and personal use.
I have been a systems administrator of both Windows and Linux systems for over 15 years, in a wide variety of environments ranging from educational institutions to large enterprises. Throughout the years running Linux and Windows side by side, I have seen Linux countless times surpass Windows in performance, reliability, cost savings, and more recently user experience. In 2008 I successfully migrated all of my personal machines from Windows XP to Fedora Linux after seeing Linux succeed for many years for businesses, and have worked with family and friends to help them migrate as well. The experience has been astounding. The power of Linux and open source software is one that cannot be ignored by businesses or individuals, and has been making waves in the world of proprietary software and Microsoft. From multiple frustrations of using Microsoft products and seeing open source products excel over them, I have drawn an interest in writing more and doing research about the two and their vast differences.
Recently I read an article from Wired Magazine about the creator of the Linux kernel, Linus Torvalds. The article portrays him as a family man, yet when it's time to get to work he does just that.
Recently I've had the pleasure of digging out a couple of old Mac computers to demonstrate to a few family members out of curiosity. I am definitely a believer in educating the next generation on computing of the past, and how we got from there to where we are today.
Normally Microsoft is on my radar but lately I've been seeing events regarding Apple and some of them bug me. Two very recent stories came out:Apple caught in a price fixing scheme for e-booksApple threatens to sue bankrupt KodakThese moves are very Microsoft-like.
One piece of software I regularly use on various systems is SSH. It is a very powerful and useful protocol for remote and encrypted connectivity internal or external to your network.
Recently I've had the pleasure of replacing yet another Windows XP computer with Fedora Linux (version 16). The user is a relative of mine, and finally became tired of dealing with malware every month or so by simply browsing the web.
I've hit on this subject many times, where open source software for business can rise over proprietary software.Just today, I ran across an experience with Microsoft Excel.
It seems like every year, near the closing of the year, Windows viruses and malware seem to creep up from nowhere. Late 2011 was no exception.
Many of us have probably dealt with a corrupt hard disk at some point or another, and may have experienced some data loss with it. This is unfortunate, and steps can be done in advance to prevent data loss, such as making sure a good backup is running properly.
Recently one of the people I've deployed Linux for came to me and wanted to purchase a new PC to replace a spare Pentium 4 PC they had sitting around that was still running Windows 2000. They had started to use the Windows 2000 PC after having it sit for a couple years, and soon found that it was not able to keep up with today's websites and other activities.
I've written recently about main points on migrating from Windows to GNU/Linux. Those reasons included one which pertains to the software included with the GNU/Linux distributions, and replacing those proprietary products with those on GNU/Linux that you will never need to re-buy or pay upgrades for again in the future.