I Dreamed of Linux! -- AND -- Where is the Metropolis Yearbook #3?

Hello

The Metropolis Yearbook #3 was supposed to be out already.  Sorry about that.  I hope to put it out in the next two weeks...  I hope.

The reason I haven't released it yet gives me a reason to talk about Linux; which I have wanted to do on this blog for some time.  

I currently have no working computers.  (I'm creating this post on my ipad.)  Here's what happened.  I was ready to take the plunge.  I was ready to cast off Windows operating systems forever in favour of Linux.  I was sick to death of viruses and hijackers posing as really interesting freeware.

In defense of Windows.  I grew up on Windows and one of the things I always liked about it was the community of home developers.  Whatever type of software you wanted there was always someone out there somewhere who was programming what you needed and offered it to the world as freeware.  Very commendable.

Nowadays, downloading freeware is a sure way to harm your computer, unless you know how to discern trustworthy sources.

My wife was totally behind the switch to Linux.  She's on maternity leave and she was willing to take on a new learning curve provided she could "do all the things she could in Windows".  No problem.

I spent some time researching which distro I wanted to use.  I had it down to Linux Minut, Zorin and LXLE. I thought about Ubuntu; why not use the originator?  But I wanted more of a "out of the box" ready to run distro.  Mint proved to cumbersome.  Zorin and LXLE rocked all my boxes; all of which were not state of the art.  One of the boxes is more than six years old.  I chose Zorin because I thought it was kinder in its presentation to former Windows users.

I had two weeks and three computers to convert.  Again; no problem.  That should have been more than enough time.

Problem number one: YUMI.  Yumi is "Your Universal Multiboot Installer".  It's great.  I loaded a single usb thumb drive with six different distros with this program.  I was able to try them all out without having to recreate usb iso images all the time.

My problem was that I used YUMI to install Zorin to the hard drive.  When I did that Zorin seemed buggy.  It stalled a lot.  Sometimes the OS even froze.  I tried diagnosing it but in the end I gave up and tried LXLE instead.  That's when I finally got around to reading the YUMI webpage where it said "Installing Linux from the YUMI created USB Drive to a Hard Drive is not officially supported".

Darn.  I should have installed it using Universal USB Installer.  It's the same as YUMI, but it can only do one OS at a time.  I was so far into install LXLE that I didn't bother going back to Zorin.  It wasn't Zorin's fault.  It was mine.

I installed LXLE on all three computers.  I had all three computers ready to run in just a few hours.  I had XBMC installed on the living room box.  And all the stuff I like installed on the two computers in the office.  Then...

Problem number two: I couldn't successfully network them all together.  I worked on them for days.  Don't ask me what went wrong.  Yes, I followed all the directions mentioned on the hundreds of website dealing with Ubuntu based distro networking problems.  I will fully admit that someone with more computer knowledge than me could have solved the problem.  I'm no slouch mind you, but I know I have my limitations.

By the end of the two weeks I was burnt out.  I needed my computers working again and I had no more time to spend on it.  I went dejectedly back to Windows.

Someday, I do plan to make that switch to Linux.  It's been a long time coming.  I'm sure a lot of people feel the same way.  Mint, Zorin and LXLE will all still be high on my list of distros.  I recommend you have a peek at them.

Let me make one final point about Linux.  IT'S BEAUTIFUL!  The install is quick and clean.  It looks so good on big screens and small monitors.  The OS runs smooth on old and new computers no problem.  Boot and shutdown times are quick.  Tons of great programs all for free.  I didn't have to install drivers or extra programs.  It was all there and ready to go in under a 20 minute install.  And best of all it's virus-free, worry-free computing.  Don't let me mislead you, there is such a thing as Linux virus.  But it's totally manageable.  Google it and you'll see what I mean.  Start here.

PS: It's been a few days and I only have Windows installed on 2 computers.  That's just Windows the OS.  I don't have any drivers, antivirus programs, office programs or web browsers installed yet (not MS, the ones I like to use).

PPS: Yes, I have heard of Macs.  I have nothing against them, but if I had the money for a Mac I wouldn't be holding on to a six year old computer now would I?

Have a great day.