Windows Users – The Charlie Browns of Computing

Quite frankly this man should be knighted, and really not just for championing Linux but by showing how much good can come 3 things: education, charity and understanding.

Please take the time to read the whole article, this man has done so much good for so many people.

On a separate note the comments really demonstrate how much support this man has. The one attacking comment only succeeds in highlighting the posters ignorance; Helios does not come across as superior – he has every right to – but he does not.

Everyone has their comfort zones and no one looks upon the internet (and computers in general) in the same way. Most people don’t want to know how their software works, or the computer that powers it for that matter and this has lead to the idea that your OS should “just work”. In theory I applaud this, daily tasks such as checking your email, writing a document watching a video online shouldn’t be difficult and I agree. I strongly believe that, were a person who’d never used a pc before (maybe not never, explaining the keyboard, the mouse and their relation to the dancing images on the big box could take a little while but you get the general idea) to be presented with – for the sake of argument – a computer running Ubuntu they would, very quickly, be able to accomplish nearly any task asked of them. As Walter writes, “some users prefer spoon feeding” and he cites this as the most oft windows user complaint. I would have to agree. Users do what they’re used to doing. Having spent (probably) years using the same operating system, remembering how it is you get to the printer setup dialogue, stashed away in a folder somewhere, you begin to believe that is the “correct” and therefore the only way in which that task can be accomplished. If the program/OS in front of them does not respond in kind it is instantly branded as complicated or confusing and “wrong”. When actually, looked at objectively, it may be a more sensible layout: or in the very least not “wrong” – just different.

Having a preference as to how your computer and its programs interact and function is a good thing, not liking how Windows operated was one of the things that first gave me the incentive to see what was out there. However, shouting and swearing at people on public forums or comments on blog posts; declaiming that Linux is awful, without actually giving it a thought-out honest trial yourself is just childish. You share nothing more with the rest of the world than the fact you are lost, arrogant and nowhere near as tech-savvy as you claim to be. Just stop it. I think I speak for the entire Linux community when I say sod off.

“Thankfully there is an entire generation of people who have learned that the environment is constantly shifting, the fundamentals always in flux, and these users have little problem jumping on to Ubuntu, or any popular Linux flavor, and getting it to work for them, regardless of the platform, the location or the application.”

I couldn’t have put it better Walter. If you work, or even just follow, the tech-world as a hobby you can no longer afford to brush aside Linux and the Open Source revolution. Linux is here to stay and it’s going to keep getting better and better.

A few months ago I was assaulted at work. It has been a crap time in all honesty but if I can take one positive thing from the experience it is that I need to get organized. I really do love working at Plonkers (who wouldn’t want to work at an off-license called that!?) but it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.

So, right now I’m throwing all my spare time (well, a lot of it) into getting this site ship-shape enough to call my portfolio. Going through my hard drive(s) I’ve designed a great many web templates and themes over the years, used or not, which go some way to illustrate my capabilities and go hand in hand with my favourite thing – Open Source technologies. I am a strong believer in community development and really do trust that one day Microsoft will be toppled and everyone will buy computers with (preferably several, I like quite a few and that’s kind of the point anyway – people having the choice about what operating system they use on their PC’s) whatever OS they want, not the enforced default as Windows has been for some time. But I digress, that’s merely a personal pet peeve…

The reason I bring up Open Source is because I refuse to use proprietary software to get something done when free options are staring me in the face and asking for my feedback. When was the last time your average Windows user was given the opportunity to contribute something to the Windows operating system? Yeah sure, if you were quick enough to download the windows 7 beta you could have a look at it, but only if you were comfortable repartitioning your hard-drive – if you even knew what that meant.

Note, I’m not trying to patronize users here. I’m merely highlighting Microsoft’s “keep them ignorant” user policy (not a quote you’ll find on their website I’m sure). MS is quite happy keeping users in the dark about what goes on underneath the hood of one of their operating systems, and many users are happy with that state of affairs. But what happens when something goes wrong with the computer? You’ve got to pay to get it fixed. Either that or do a heck of a lot of research and learning.

But again I digress. It’s so easy to do – no wonder I drive my family/girlfriend/friends mad with this topic!

I design websites using four things:

1. A web browser, pretty obvious really. Firefox and the web developer toolbar is a must.
2. A text editor, gedit for gnome is a personal favourite but if I’m stuck in Windows then notepad plus isn’t bad.
3. Inkscape, a fantastic open source vector image editor, great for initial layout design and some brilliant logo’s.
4. Gimp, The GNU Image Manipulation Program, to my mind the most useful bitmap image editor ever created.

All these tools are freely available to anyone. Inkscape and Gimp are even also available to Windows users so you don’t have to use linux to gain access to these great apps. I thoroughly recommend anyone looking to edit images or do some designing of their own they start with these programs. There are thousands, maybe even millions of users out there eager to offer help and many who’ve set up tutorial websites to get you started.

Hopefully by now you’ve guessed where I’m going with all this – if not I apologize, I do have a tendency towards tangents. All my designs are created using open source software and so I see it as a kind of celebration of what can be achieved with them and that their really is no limit to their functions. You don’t need to remortgage your house or take out a loan (fat chance currently) to start creating beautiful designs. All the tools are but a few clicks away.

If you’ve read through all this (firstly congratulations…) and want to share my passion but aren’t so hot on running a website or coding for that matter, get in touch and show me what you can do – there’s always room at the Inn.