Start using opensource software on Windows, some years ago was a method to convert me to Linux easily. Open
source applications very often are written with technologies that
can compile on different platform and architectures, mostly unchanged.
So
they are identical on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris and other Unix.
When you learned those on Windows, when you use them on Linux, you already
know all, and you need to learn only the differences for the operating
system itself.
Lately Linux Debian Ubuntu is definitely easier to use than
Windows in some respects, like downloading, installing and removing
programs.
These days often the opensource solutions are the only available, or the one
that is far better than the others, also respect to payware.
Unfortunately there are few open source games, and worse, there are few games that run well on Linux at all, but who knows ...
In fact I now boot Windows just to play combat flight simulation. In a little, the emulation of
DirectX9 will be complete in WINE, the Windows emulator for Linux, and
then I will uninstall completely Windows.
The payware is the last chance, when no other alternatives are possible.
The GNU/GPL license permit the legal use for business purposes, and so is better than shareware.
You have the sources, so you can correct the bugs, or add
functions, and so is better than freeware.
The authors are protected with the GPL, and so is better than public
domain like old Berkeley BSD or MIT licenses that allowed MS to steal the code
of TCP/IP stack and use it inside Win32 and commercially sell it,
without say thanks to noone student that wrote that.
So my philosophy is: if
something exist that is opensource and do a function that I need, I use
that with a preference to different licensed software.
Open source applications realize something that I call: shared intelligence.
The work of the people are continually enhanced, you never had to
rewrite something someone other have already done. Even if people write
opensource software only in spare time, the quality
of certain products is very high, often higher than payware.
I report here the equivalent applications that I use.
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Copyright (C) 2008 Valerio Messina http://users.iol.it/efa
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From 20/10/1999 - 31/03/2000 the counter showed 770 visits, but it was reset from the provider (so add 770 ...)