From Windows to Open-Source

As I educate myself more about computer security and become increasingly frustrated with programs and an operating system that seems to get bigger and bigger and slower and slower, I am finding open-source software and operating systems a much more attractive option.

I have used open-source programs in the past (firefox and others), but usually have decided the learning curve was too steep and the payoff to small to continue. No more.

I have installed OpenOffice.org to replace my old installation of MS Office. I am using an open-source statistical program called R. I have now burned a disk to run Linux (Ubuntu) on my computer (mainly to reassure myself of compatibility before I actually partition my drive and do a full install.) (I have installed a number of small utilities as well, but no unnamed ones are so far really life changing.)

My primary purpose for all of these pieces of software is for my education, research, and writing. In this blog I will examine each of these pieces of software in more depth, revealing my hours of research in terms of results that give primary conditions for decision making as to whether to use these tools or not.

Open-source software is usually available for download at no charge, but that does not mean it is free. It requires spending time to learn how to use. It is usually more powerful, but it is also less tolerant of mistakes. It can be less user friendly (though this situation has been improving for a while.) The same learning curve can be found in much pay software, so many people, especially those with more time than money, can benefit from learning about and using open-source resources.