My desktop and laptop computers at home are Linux-based. I have been an open source advocate since 1998, when I discovered Mandrake Linux in a computer store. I couldn’t afford a Windows 98 upgrade and considered purchasing the much cheaper Mandrake. Instead, an employee offered to download it from the internet and put it on a few CD’s for me. I have been using Linux, of one sort or another, ever since.
In those days, only dial-up internet was available at my house. This computer store geek provided something that sparked my imagination, for only a few dollars, that I couldn’t get on my own.
After installation, my sound card wasn’t working. Thankfully, I had enough bandwidth to download a driver. Trial and error allowed me to get every subsequent desktop or laptop computer working – for free – with help from the open source community.
I soon had enough experience with Linux and other free software to contribute to certain communities myself. This collaborative approach to software development and support became an important part of my personal and professional lives.
While most of my employers used Windows, I found myself recommending open source alternatives to expensive options like Photoshop, Illustrator, and even Microsoft Office. Before long, programs like GIMP (and others) were installed on many workstations.
I’m still working in a Windows office environment today. We use Office365 and rely heavily upon Outlook and Teams. I also have two Apple computers in my studio. They run our Mac-only radio automation software, Radiologik.
Most of the time I write scripts on my System76 (Pop!_OS) laptop. Save the files on our network. Read the script from and record audio on my Windows desktop. Then import a final version to Apple Music to be played back on a Mac Mini. I have been working this way for nearly ten years.
This experience has taught me a few things. The first I want to mention is that Apple and Microsoft are slow at making obvious improvements. Both Windows and macOS have long-standing deficiencies that frustrate users. A quick web search on your frustration-of-choice will find hundreds of complaints, accompanied by a variety of (usually) third-party workarounds.
Linux, with its community-driven development, solves problems quickly. And users have a variety of flavors (distros) to choose from. This keeps the annoyance to a minimum, especially for those of us who have experience with several options and have settled on a favorite.
I prefer the aforementioned Pop!_OS, which is in active development, providing quite significant improvements to new versions. I’m looking forward to trying their new COSMIC desktop environment, for instance.
Backward compatibility on macOS is a real issue. Updates make older (sometimes not too much older) hardware and software obsolete. This has let me down on a few occasions. Not so with Windows and Linux, they allow me to run older software on older machines with very little difficulty. I successfully brought to life a fifteen year old netbook with Linux! Windows 11 is more restrictive, but still beats the Apple alternative.
Linux desktop advocates like myself have given up hope of widespread adoption. We’re happy to use the mainstream alternatives. And we may even complement them from time to time. Just don’t tell any of our buddies in the open source world!