A couple of months ago, the MIS guys where I work gave a talk in the middle of an administrative meeting encouraging us to switch to freeware from Windows. They said they would give our offices cash if we made the switch (savings from having to pay for the license every year).
In an effort to convince us, they demonstrated a freeware operating system and the programs equivalent to what MS Office has. They insisted in that presentation that (1) freeware has a very similar environment to Windows, (2) freeware files can be read by Windows and vice-versa and (3) freeware is better because it is less virus-prone.
I recently bought a laptop and had to decide what O/S to use. I scanned through the Linux sites to see what its like (and to look for programs equivalent to the Microsoft programs) and believe me, those sites can be tremendously geeky and more discouraging than encouraging, except for the FAQ section. Made me have doubts about installing freeware.
Before buying the laptop, I consulted with the MIS office and they said they could load me up with Ubuntu for free, of course. (I also asked for Open office but I found out later that Ubuntu already contains Open Office). When I bought the laptop, I asked the retailer how much Windows XP and Office were and they said it was 2,000+ (or was it 6,000?) and 20,000+ respectively. They even suggested I load up XP and then get freeware. I also had access to XP and Office at home so that was an option.
I decided to bring my computer to the MIS office and asked them to load up whatever they had and it turns out they had Ubuntu (which is a version of (in geekspeak, a distribution of) Linux). I decided to load up with freeware because I honestly couldn’t afford licensed software and I have a scrupulous conscience that won’t allow me to live with myself unless I use legal software. I guess I also wanted to try out freeware to see if it could also be used for our office and earn us the cash reward.
When I got back my computer, I found that (1) I had more programs than the Windows-based computer I use at the office (with the exception, perhaps, of an equivalent to MS Frontpage) and (2) the environment was user-friendly (the terminology is slightly different but you can figure it out. Programs becomes applications, My documents becomes home folder, etc.) and (3) The files are portable from Ubuntu to Office (just use the save as function) and (4) Ubuntu and Open Office (which comes with Ubuntu) is better.
Of course I’ve only been actively using the word processor (Write) and the file managers but here are some of the differences I spotted: (1) Write gives you the option to auto-fill up the long words you use repeatedly (ex. Type in dev and the option for development comes up and then just press enter if that’s the word you were going to type). (2) It has an export to PDF function which MS Word does not have. (3) The file sizes of Write documents are less than half the size of Word documents.
Ubuntu also arranges files automatically when you delete a file using the file manager or when you add a folder. Folders come out together and files are automatically alphabetized.
So far, so good and in the next few days I should be using Presentation (the equivalent of power point) and Calc (the equivalent of Excel). I seriously doubt that I’ll have any problems with those applications.
Two things that made the transition difficult were (1) the unfriendly websites on freeware and (2) the lack of knowledge of computer retailers. I bought a printer and the retailer (2 different retailers, in fact) could only offer Windows and Mac drivers and sort of insinuated that the printer wouldn’t run on Linux. I bought the printer anyway (and after that I got some reassurance from MIS that they would help me if I couldn’t get the printer to work on Linux), plugged it into my computer and found out that Ubuntu had built-in drivers for most of the printer brands in the world (30+ brands and at least for HP, what looks like all the models).
What made the transition easier was the support I received from MIS and the fact that they had Ubuntu software. The place where I got my laptop, Octogan at SM North Edsa now also has Ubuntu software (already includes Open Office; but the loading up process takes about an hour so you have to be patient) which they’re willing to load up for free so if you’re interested in using Ubuntu and are buying a computer, you can load up through them.
