For the past 3 years, my wifes old 17 inch HP Laptop has become a full time Ubuntu running OS. In those 3 years, I have spent a little over 2.5 of it on this device until I got my Surface RT, then dedicating my time with Windows 8.1. I actually enjoyed the 8.1 through the Surface but on my desktop non-touch device it was clunky and unpractical. With windows 10 now available to upgrade and such, I had this sudden strike of nostalgia with my old trusty Ubuntu 14.10 LTS OS.
Like an old 1940’s mechanic…
Its often understood that men need to work with their hands. In the old 1940’s films, we often see men tweaking and adjusting their muscle cars. There was something about working with ones hands and completely understanding their cars. These where the days when engines and vehicles were modular and things can be fitted with the right product, dads and teens would spend their weekends in the garage and attempting to amp up their roadsters another one horse power and that was already an accomplishment. I believe that culture is alive and well with the hard core computer community, the ones that build, modify and code. I’ve always been interested in this world but the learning curve is extreme and once you enter, you play a high stakes game. With this, I am so glad Linux distributors like Ubuntu makes this possible to guys like me.
Beginner Wizardry
Having Ubuntu forces its users to an uncomfortable position. Imagine you are in a party of adventurers, you are off on a quest to find the fountain of youth and and each step you take challenges your skill as an adventurer. This is how it feels to use this OS. Not all paths lead to challenges and struggle, most paths must be waked differently like the difference between walking on a side walk (Windows) to a nature trail (Ubuntu). Each surface has its own slight challenges but when the path splits is like the difference between a sidewalk intersection to a forest fork in the road. In a windows system, whenever there is a problem, more often than not its because there is an update in need of a download or a pesky virus whereas in Ubuntu its a patch, or a research on what “Sudo” wizardry you must find in order to move further. The threat of the sidewalk intersection are cars and the threat of the Forrest Fork is getting lost. Personally, the Forrest Fork sound more exciting and fun rather than the sidewalk intersection, but thats just me.
The Weakness of my Experience
If there is anything that bothers me most in my Ubuntu Experience is more on the Hardware I’m using. I have turned my 5 year old HP G72, 6 pound, 3 hour, 17 inch laptop into my Ubuntu Laptop. For the past 2 years now, my primary mobile device has been my Surface RT; 1.5 pound, 10.1 inch laptop with a battery life of 8 hours. Lugging this laptop around has been laborious and its build quality shoddy. The laptop squeaks, the fan is loud and the bottom gets really hot. The biggest issue I have is the insanely sensitive and randomly disobedient touchpad. Because of the touch pad, I have to bring my own mouse so that I can have a proper experience without going mad. I would really wish to have Ubuntu on a smaller ultrabook experience but that would weigh the terrific balance of spending $1000 (USD) on a Ubuntu OS, hence my deeper question. Ubuntu has saved my old laptop and helped it feel new again, but is it something I would actually spend money on and invest in? I’ve been praising this system but in my heart, if I was to spend my hardworking money on a laptop that costs $800 to $1000 then I key elements like a solid Steam library, video/photo editing, and full access to all video streaming sites is a must. Again, most of these desires have answers through the Ubuntu community but ultimately, these are patches and not accentually developed by the actual developers. This is where Apple OS really is successful, you pay so much for something that does everything you need without patches or workarounds, its all about ease and comfort. There are times where you want to stand on an airport conveyor belt (Apple OS) over Sidewalk (Windows) and Nature Trails (Ubuntu). With this in mind, how much am I willing to spend on a laptop with Ubuntu? Well, something like the one I’m already using I guess. Something under $400 would be a large, bulky, and heavy laptop and so I am pretty much stuck with devices like this, which is highly unfortunate.
The Weakness of Ubuntu….
The weakness of this OS is not the OS itself but the minds of its users. Its us users that hold back on a $1000 Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu laptop because we are thrifty shoppers and this is our “Part Time” passion. A Greaser never rides his Hot Rod as a commuter, thats why they have a Toyota Camry or Honda Civic as their primary vehicle. Now I know that there is the option of “Dual Booting” but this is an article about full conversion, from a Windows person to fully convert to a Linux/Ubuntu system and the sad reality is that most, even a very vocal Ubuntu apologist like myself, need my Toyota and saftey net. This is the real challenge Ubuntu and other Linux distributors face, and because of the “Open Source” nature of these organization, I don’t believe its something they can actually tackle at least in the foreseeable future.
gospelgamers 