by Mike Shea on 9 February 2007
I've had it with commercial operating systems and their focus on supporting the needs of the media conglomerates instead of their own customers. I've had it with buggy windows code and expensive Apple hardware. It's time to kick the habit and switch to a more usable, stable, and cheap operating system alternative: Kubuntu Linux.
I'm not going to play in Microsoft's Vision for "next generation content experiences". I'll go read a fucking book, thank you very much.
Here is my ten-step plan for getting off of Windows XP and into a new life of usable operating system:
Quit playing Everquest.
Quit playing World of Warcraft.
Rent DVDs of Battlestar Galactica and Rome instead of using iTunes or Bittorrent.
Watch Daily Show highlights instead of the full show.
Watch flash-based online videos instead of TV shows.
Buy Music CDs and rip them.
Get my gaming fix from my Nintendo DS, Wii, and Xbox 360.
Read more books.
Write more bad fiction.
Use Kubuntu for all of my other computing needs.
I envision a time when my PC works for me again. I envision a time when I am not expected to be a systems security engineer every time I chance a browse out to the internets. I envision a time when my PC becomes a hub of information, communication, and entertainment that supports my needs instead of the needs of marketing people and paranoid media conglomerates. It is going to take me some time to break away, but knowing exactly what I need to do helps me get there. Today is the day I start kicking my dysfunctional relationship with Microsoft Windows.