About
About Linux FUD
No, it’s not a swear. It’s an acronym for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. FUD. These are all feelings a (potential) new Linux user feels. You can add stupidity to that list, too.
That’s how I feel. Stupid. FUDS.
You see, I consider myself to be a Microsoft Windows guru. I’ve been using/working with computers since 1991 (of course there was Commodore 64 and the likes before that). Remember MS-DOS Shell? How about QBasic? The original Nibbles? I’ve been using, studying, and tinkering everything “Microsoft” since its infant years. I know my stuff.
I’ve grown to hate Microsoft (for all the usual reasons), but still love it at the same time. Then I ask myself, “Honestly, is it really love?” Nah… I think it’s more like a habit or a security blanket. Stick to what you know.
And then there’s Linux, tugging at the security blanket, charmingly threatening to take it away and offer better things for free. It’s convincing, and I’m starting to let go of that blanket.
So why do I feel stupid? Well, although I took some basic Unix/Linux classes and little Linux network administration, I’m a noobie and it’s all different and a little too difficult to learn. Linux makes me feel stupid. I don’t know my stuff. Therefore, I fear it.
Over the years, I’ve tried different flavors of Linux and it always laughed at me and didn’t quite impress me. So I do what you usually do with an inconsiderate brat. I abandoned it. I ran away, hurt, and crying back to Microsoft. A bad habit. A bad relationship.Then what happened? A new Linux flavor shows up on the scene, looking all sexy and yummy like Haagen-Dazs ice cream, threatening my relationship with Microsoft. No, it wasn’t KKE Linux (Karamel Kone Explosion Linux), but Ubuntu Linux.
So, Ubuntu made me cheat on Microsoft. Ubuntu even moved in with me and Microsoft and the funny thing is, Microsoft doesn’t even know it! Microsoft can’t even see Ubuntu! In other words, I have a dual-boot system with Windows XP Professional.
I need to adjust. It’s a new relationship. I’m beginning to love it and I will fight for that love.
I can’t completely let go of Windows just yet… It still has its perks. To quickly run off the main three:
- I can’t live without MixMeister Pro, since I also love to mix music and it’s expensive software.
- I’m also having a hard time letting go of Winamp, the best piece of music software on the planet. Amarok is close to it, but it lacks serious features. (We’ll talk about that in another post).
- The most important reason I can’t let go is because of my crappy ATI Radeon 9200 SE video card. TV Output does not work and cannot be made to work (as far as I can see from the countless hours of research I’ve been doing), therefore I would have to watch movies and tv shows on my computer screen. So, no. I have to load Windows XP for that. I won’t let go.
So this blog will be about my experiences with Linux, mainly Ubuntu/Kubuntu, and tackling my FUD… or FUDS. I will also post most issues I’ve encountered and how I’ve solved them. I will post interesting information like tips, tricks, and links as I learn them.
If you are new to Ubuntu and are having FUD issues, you are more than welcome to visit this site to share the experience and learn with me.
Hope to see you around!
About Leonivek…
…Leonivek is Kevin C. Guertin. I live in beautiful Ottawa, Ontario, the national capital of Canada.
The name Leonivek isn’t a foreign name, it is my first name backwards with Leo in front. It’s been my online handle since 1998.
I’m a Scorpio/Libra (cusp).
I am primarily a Microsoft Windows user who is trying to get rid of this bad habit after 15 years.
Speaking of bad habits, I quit smoking in February of 2006 after 17 years of smoking. I don’t miss it. The patch was a miracle after many unsuccessful attempts. I am proud. I will never smoke again. What does this have to do with this blog and Linux? Nothing.
Is there a Patch for Microsoft Windows I can use? Maybe it’s (K)Ubuntu…
I have two cats. Chibi and Riley.
Any more questions? 
Kevin Guertin
brinkleybw
Too good to be true!
>Is there a Patch for Microsoft Windows I can use?
Yeah, LOTS of ‘em…or else it wouldn’t run.
My experience kinda parallelsyours, except I’m in Chicago. I’m a part-time IT consultant (read: geek-for-hire), part-time paramedic, and full-time nursing student.
My reasons for hating the evil empire are pretty much what everyone else’s are, but until Ubuntu came along the learning curve on Linux was just too steep to fit into my schedule. I’d tried a couple of other distros and mostly they crashed long before I got them to DO anything worthwhile (although Knoppix was looking good there for a while). Now, that I can get things to (mostly) ‘just work’, I can actually squeeze in some time to get involved with it.
Similarly, I really like the Ubuntu philosophy, here’s why: As a paramedic (25 years) I will come out in the middle of the night, in the rain, in the snow, to where you are, and SAVE YOUR FRIKKEN LIFE…for less than 15 bucks an hours. Consequently, I have to ask myself: What kind of value does Uncle Bill add to the world that is worth BILLIONS? The answer, of course, is that he doesn’t. But, he has managed to get a hammer-lock on the industry and is twisting that arm for all he can get. Some would say that’s good business, I call it obscene. OK, rant over.
From my perspective, Ubuntu is great, a real comer…but I have (as you and most others do) a few ‘gotta-have’ apps in windows that Linux just ain’t got, yet. Those keep me tethered to Windows, though the list is shrinking.
My ‘killer apps’ are Exchange, Hamachi, UltraVNC, and Xnews.
I talk up FOSS in general to all my computer clients, and Ubuntu if I can get them interested. What reins me in in truly recommending the “Big Switch” is they always have some app, some function, some thing that I’d have to tell ‘em ’sorry, no. It won’t do that, yet’. Even the perpetually broke college students I’m mingling with these days aren’t interested, because they have less time than I do to struggle up the learning curve, and windows came pre-installed on their machines.
Ah, well, the struggle continues…
I think something that would be totally wonderful, and start to fix the Microsoft problem is if just one major computer website would partner with Ubuntu. Selling systems that come with the newest Ubuntu version. I’d love to do it myself, and maybe someday I will.
When Ubuntu Studio is up and running may be you can let go of Microsoft a little more
[...] PC/Laptops is a step in the right direction. For a long time I have felt the same way about Microsoft other uses have, with the arrival of ubuntu studio that will all [...]