Hi.

I’m not sure how many of you readers know me, but I’m sure its single digit. So I’m introducing myself, and that’s not something I’m really good at. I’ve been invited by the great man Halai to post on his blog. About what? Anything and everything specifically related to helping Windows users migrate to The Great Open Source Alternative, namely Linux. Actually, I’m here because this will help me get married someday in the near future in a short while. But first, some irrelevant history about me, if you may.

Non-geeks can skip this paragraph without noticeable loss to continuity.
Me and technology go way back. It was summer 1996 when I got my first computer. It came with what seemed like a nice fractal generator. All of a sudden it would go blue, put out some text and random numbers, and then the screen would turn into a pretty fractal. I later discovered that this was my graphics card ‘s drivers giving me trouble. But by then I had my third computer running Windows 98, and a lot more blue screens. Fast forward to 2000, I have 3 computers in my room networked together and I’m making cash in my spare time fixing people’s blue screens. I’m also testing all sorts of hardware and software, and by the time I get my first IT diploma, I realize Windows is not really as great as it is touted to be. But I couldn’t ever afford a mac, and the linux distros I tried [Knoppix of all things] didn’t really appeal to me. So Windows it was. Then I got a girlfriend and the geek in me went on vacation. Fast forward again to summer 2007, I’m girl-less (hint hint) and Abbas introduces me to Ubuntu and I’m playing with hardware and software all over again.

So thanks to Abbas, I’ve ditched Windows, and jumped on the linux bandwagon. I’m an Ubuntu Missionary now, and since I’ve been through the whole hesitation-about-what-will-work and learning about things from scratch stage, I’m more than willing to help others with their conversions. I find Ubuntu brilliant and easy to use, and there’s almost no learning curve. It’s also good for people who use their computers for professional applications. Like photo-editing for instance. I’ve been using GIMP, the free Photoshop alternative, and for most things its just as good. Sure, there are things I miss from Photoshop, but there’s a free script-fu plugin for just about everything. It’s also great for recording and editing audio. There isn’t much you can’t do with Ubuntu. Except maybe games.

Okay. If there’s anyone reading this who knows me and is wondering , I confess, I am a closet geek. Questions anyone?