How to decide if you're ready for Linux

Originally published on GirlGuides

You may have heard of it, you've been thinking about it for a while, but you're not sure if you're geeky enough to make it as a Linux user.

What is Linux?

Linux is an operating system that was first created as a hobby by a student at the University of Helsinki in Finland. The fact that it's freely distributed, incredibly functional, adaptable and very robust has made it the main alternative for those who are fed up with the Mac OS X or have had it to death with Microsoft Windows.

Here is the quick list of things to think about, if you're considering making the switch.

Install Linux because:

• It makes you feel good – by installing Linux you are supporting the Open Source movement and ultimately making the world a better place.
• Free is the best price – not only is the Linux OS completely free, but it opens up a world of software that you can install freely, too. Rather than hunting madly on the Internet for an app that does X and is free, and then being bombarded with notices that it's going to install another programme you didn't want and change your automatic browser settings, and braving the risk of downloading viruses with this software... you could rather have a beautiful, neat software directory with one-click download. Search for whatever you're looking to do, Linux will suggest the best programme and install it for you in one step. You can find software to do just about everything – complex or simple – at the step of a button.
• You never have to feel like a criminal again – one of the most awful things about Mac and Windows is that they constantly make you feel like a criminal or a potential criminal, even if you have obtained the software legitimately. There are security checks on security checks every time you try to do something. Woe upon you if you ever lose your disk or serial number. Upgrading is a nightmare and you have to pay an astronomical fee if you ever want to install a newer version of the OS. You'll never have to deal with that again on Linux.
• You can make it work however you want it to – Mac-like gestures? A dock? Multiple desktops in a cube arrangement that you can rotate? Window buttons of the left today instead of the right? Sure. Go wild. Changing your settings is as easy as changing your shoes. And it's not just the aesthetic things that are fully customisable, either – you have power over every aspect of your OS. Awesome for control freaks or anyone who likes things just so.
• It's a great operating system (OS) – the more you use it, the more you'll understand the power, stability and superior usability that Linux offers you. It's a pleasure to use: everything just works logically and elegantly. Programmes running on Linux feel like they're more deeply integrated into the core software and they work together better, since there's no commercial interest encouraging programmers to ensure that their programmes are dominant. This means that instead of thinking about your operating system as a shell that houses a number of disparate, incompatible programmes vying for your attention, you can start to think of your OS as an organism with interconnected parts all working in tandem to help you accomplish your goals.

Don't install Linux if:

• You're a graphic designer or your job requires very specific proprietary software ¬– this can include MS Office, by the way. You can get most things to work on Linux with enough patience, but it can't be guaranteed and it WILL be a mission involving CodeWeaver or WINE, virtual machines or dual-booting. If you can't do anything without Adobe's Creative Suite – rather get a Mac.
• You're a hardcore gamer – again, you can probably get it to work, but it might always work with some bugs. If you're serious about gaming, you probably want to stick to Windows.
• You regularly connect to a network at work – another thing that shouldn't, in theory, be a problem, but in practice often is. Depending on how the server at the office is set up, you may have to live with ongoing 'quirks' with the network. It's not fun, and don't expect IT Support to be very sympathetic when you go to them with a Linux problem that's preventing you from connecting to the Internet.
• You don't like spending a lot of time on your computer – even though Linux distributions like Linux Mint, Ubuntu and Kubuntu get even more user-friendly and easy to use every year, there are still going to be times when you need to spend a good couple of hours plugging away to get something to work (this shouldn't happen often, but it will happen occasionally). If you want everything to be plug-and-play all the time, and you never want to invest time in your OS, then keep it simple and stick to Windows or Mac.
• You have a weird local Internet Service Provider – when I first made the switch to Linux, it took me about three months (seriously, three months) to get the Internet working, because I had an uncommon iBurst USB modem. I've subsequently helped friends also struggling to get other local services running, and it's often a bit of a mission. A lot of improvements have been made to more recent distributions (like Ubuntu 10.10) and you're fine if you have wireless or a modem that connects via an Ethernet cable. But bear in mind that if you have a USB modem and an unusual ISP, you're likely to run into issues.
• You hate change – if you make the switch, you'll soon find that things are a lot more familiar than you anticipate (don't worry about your screen looking like The Matrix). That said, you'll definitely have to adjust some habits.

Don't worry about:

• Not knowing how to code – long gone are the days where using Linux meant being a hardcore computer nerd. Linux has become more and more user-friendly over the years, and there are now numerous different distribution options that can make using Linux being as easy as using Windows or a Mac (one distribution, Linux Mint, in fact aims to replicate the Windows OS as closely as possible). There may be occasional times when you need to enter in a few lines of script, but tutorials online are so comprehensive that it's really a case of copying and pasting what they tell you to do.
• It being a constant hassle – apart from the first month or so when you're learning your way around, Linux is amazingly easy to use.

Happy Linuxing!

Margie Orford: the Queen of Crime Fiction

Shameless self-promotion alert...

Before it goes off the shelves, get yourself a copy of the 7th Wordsetc journal to read my cover story on Margie Orford: the Queen of South African Crime Fiction.

An extract:

It has been 15 years since the dream of the Rainbow Nation became a working blueprint. In that time, South African literature has undergone a crisis in self-definition. The protest novel, which had been the only really acceptable form for so long, was suddenly made redundant. Many have said that the first decade after 1994 was a generally sterile period for South African writers, as we sat in bewilderment, waiting to see whether this new democracy we had given birth to would be living or stillborn. But over the past few years, South African publishers have seen what began as a trickle turn into a flood of local books, as our writers finally felt free again to write about subjects other than race. We are witnessing the re-humanising of our writers: they are remembering about love, about family, about greed and sex ... and about the dark parts of the human mind.

If the past 15 years of South African literature has been about coming to terms with our past, then it seems that we are finally starting to come to terms with our present. And our present, as we all know, is defined by crime. Thus it should come as no surprise that some of our highest grossing local writers write about murders. Deon Meyer, Mike Nicol, Jassie Mackenzie, Andrew Brown and Richard Kunzmann are just a few of the writers who are making a killing by writing killings. One writer who seems to be emerging as a major figure on the local scene is Cape Town-based krimi Margie Orford, who's third novel, Daddy's Girl (Jonathan Ball), hit the shelves this October.

For more, get a copy of Wordsetc at any good SA bookstore.