Linux
Linux is only free if your time has no value.
A fairly apt way to start my Linux discussion. (And a double pun there, for all us Debian flavoured users. Apt is the joke here, gentle reader. Its the remote package management system that so many people cherish about Debian).
Oh dear, what a dreadful way to start:) Well, its my blog and I will pun (badly, granted) if I want to.
So I will, as it is a big part of my life, having a semi regular discussion about Linux, and the FOSS community. SO here is a page to help make sense of some of what I am saying. I will add to it as I go, as I touch on new concepts.
FOSS stands for Free Open Source Software. Its defined as free as in speech, not as in beer. A good distinction, if you think about it for a moment. Linux is an operating system, and Debian is a distro (distribution, or customised flavour). Linux is also known as GNU/Linux.
I have been a member of the FOSS community for many years now. I belong to one of the liveliest LUGs (Linux User Groups) around, LinuxSA. A good place for help and information and support. And fractured debate;)
My distro of choice is Kubuntu, (a KDE based) Debian variant. Ubuntu (GNOME desktop based), Xubuntu (XFCE based, lighterweight and good for older machines), and Edubuntu (Educational oriented, K-12 version) are variations on the theme:) I use the latest beta version, which is currently Gutsy Gibbon (7.10).
I used to use yet a different window manager, FVWM. And here you go, a screenshot of my old desktop. Right clicking brings up customised menu choices, and of course access to all the application and games menus. It was customised to suit MY needs previously to a degree, but now that I am working, I find I am in need of less manual, CLI based interaction, and am happy to let the OS do the work for me:).
One daughters prefers the KDE desktop, one the XGnome. Of course, with different themes etc. Thats the advantage of multi user systems. Its just Linux is a very secure multi user system. The average user CANNOT break it, or lose each others files. Thats why universities use it, or similar variations, such as a Unix or a BSD system. Unless, of course, Microsoft sponsors their hardware. Then they find that they have little choice about the systems they run for users to work on.
Ongoing news is under the Geek/Tech/FOSS Category.
You know, Linux (and computing in general), is completely non gender biased. Any one with half a brain can use it, (and judging from some of the people I have met who are bemused by a woman programmer, they do!). So there is a group for us Linux women : linuxchix.org
