Is it the silence before the storm?

Seems so. Everything is so quiet, calm, still ...

One of the many stories of O' Henry that I like best is "Roads of Destiny". A young man arrives at a cross road. He takes the left road, and dies. He then takes the right road, and dies again. He comes back to his village and dies finally.

Seems I'm too standing in front of some crossroad today. And whichever branch I take, it's going to be  ...

For anyone who cares, this, to some extent, explains my somewhat famous (current) status message in Orkut, "Be optimistic ... don't lose hope ... have faith ... then jump from the 9th floor".

Few times I've wondered why I'm trying my luck against a million odds! Repeatedly. Is this hope? Or, is this loss of all the hopes? ... Let me quote Mirza Ghalib here:


"Kehte Hain Jeete Hain Ummed Peh Log
 Hum Ko Jeene Ki Bhi Ummed Nahin"

I've to wait for a few days more to see where my destiny leads me to.

Why should not you use Microsoft Windows?

Let me put this in another way, why should one use Linux and not Windows?

If you are system programmer or hacker or a tech-savvy person, then you already know the reason. Linux is a free and open source software, which allows you to change/modify the Operating System source code, and you are even allowed to freely distribute the modified source code. You can't do that with Windows.

But then, why should a common man use Linux? Let's check the reasons one by one.

1. Price: How much does Windows XP cost? Around Rs 4500 - Rs 6500. Okay, you can tell that if I buy a new laptop/desktop, I'll get it loaded with Windows. Agreed. The point to note is that you will not have your own CD/DVD of Windows in this case. So, say, if your entire hard disk gets formatted, what will you do in that case? It's always safe to have your own copy. Now you will say, my friend has a Windows installation disk -- I can just copy from him! Yes, that would save your cost and troubles. But let me tell you, according to theWindows license (which you accept while installing), you can't duplicate one installation disk. And if you do it, it's illegal.
2. Flavours: Windows XP (or any other version) comes only with a single flavour. Actually, no one else other than Microsoft develop Windows. So, you can't expect varieties. You can install theme packs, but they are just masks. That doesn't change the identity.
3. Hardware: Have you ever installed Windows on an age-old PC? Try it once and after sometime see yourself how do you feel.
   
4. Security: Do I need to tell anything about this? How many viruses have you found in your system till today? How many files have got corrupted "automatically"? How many times you have reinstalled Windows because it "gets so slow everytime"?

Now  examine these points from the view point of a Linux user:

1. Price: None! Yes, you can just download it from Internet. Or can ask your friend to give a copy of the installation disk to you. And if you really want to buy, you need to pay around Rs 75 - Rs 450. Hey, I'm not joking!
2. Flavours: So, how many flavours do Linux has? In one word, many. Check this site to get a view of it. Or  look into this picture. You can choose any of them, depending on your needs, personal preference, or support. Check this site on how to choose a Linux distribution.
3. Hardware: When you get frustrated with Windows in your old system, install Linux and feel the magic. And if you install Linux in a brand new system, rest assured that you would get a great performance for several years to come.
4. Security: By virtue of it's file system implementation, Linux provides an inbuilt immunity to viruses. If you take care of the file permissions, then, even if one user's account get affected with virus, other user's account would just work fine. Also, number of viruses targeted for Linux are far less than that for Windows.

I'm not at all discussing about the development tools that are virtually always shipped with Linux. I guess that would require a good number of pages to mention them.

What do you say now? What else do you want? Listen to music? Watch movies? Surf the Internet? Upload photos from your digicam? Burn a CD/DVD? Dear, today everything is possible from Linux!

So, go back home and give Linux a try today. And tomorrow you yourself would ask, "Why should one use Windows?"