Choosing the right Linux (and why bother at all?)

Lubuntu is more stable after removing flash, but not entirely. Note new Conky on right, which seems to be truly transparent. There’s some discussion about the inability of LXDE (Lubuntu desktop) to allow true transparency, but this one seems to work, and it also falls behind active windows, which I prefer.

Get this very cool Conky here >

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It took me a while to realize this, but choosing the right Linux version requires not only a lot of patience, but a love for diversity and willingness to step further away from one-size-fits-all operating systems.

There are extremes here -

* at one end, architecture and OS are tightly locked down (iOS);

* somewhere in the middle - OS is locked down but a wide variety of architecture and coding options remain  (Windows);

* at the other end, just about any combination of anything (Linux).

Once you step far enough away, new terminology casts familiar concepts in ways so strange, it can take a long time to realize you understand what’s being talked about.

I successfully got Lubuntu 14.01 set up as a dual boot, but it’s not ready for prime time (at least not on the box this blog comes out of, which is running 13.10 with few problems).

I’ll let you know when I’m comfortable migrating entirely over to 14.xx from 13.10.

Why do all this?

My goal is to eventually do everything on Linux as painlessly (painfully?) as I do on Windows, and if I can do it on a 10-year-old computer, I can do it on anything.

I have a Win7 box and Win8 laptop, but use Vista for day-to-day stuff. Once Vista is no longer supported, I may wipe it and restage it with some flavor or Linux.

Plus, working with Linux takes me back to my MS-DOS days, and there’s something enjoyable about computing from a command prompt.

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But I’ll still need a Windows machine, because…

* My office is on Windows and will refuse non-Windows connections.

* Right now, it’s reliable and more difficult to mess up than Linux.

* It’s easier to work with others who work in Windows.

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Caveat: If you're going to play around with Linux, don't do it on your work-a-day box. Put it on something that you can gleefully julienne and restage a gabillion times.

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