At work today I overheard my supervisor in the Technology Lab tell a fellow teacher that she would have to spend a good chunk of change on some Windows software. About $170 for Microsoft Office & another $80 to install Windows XP on her old computer. I was floored. Let me tell you why.

I’ve been using the Linux operating system in it’s different forms since about 2004. Since that time I have been using a reliable, stable operating system for free. When I first tell folks this they get quite confused. After having shelled out so much money for their computer software they can’t understand how such a thing could be possible.

If you’ve been using Mozilla Firefox you have already been using software that is OpenSource, which means anyone can program it to their liking and suggest improvements unlike all Microsoft software. It is also usually free. This is because there is a worldwide movement to keep software free(or cheap) for everyone to use. To find out more check here Linux.

Most people also assume that it would be a crappy desktop system but this couldn’t be further from the truth. This is what my current desktop looks like with some optional 3D adornements:

I’m using Ubuntu Linux which of course is free and it is very easy to customize and is productive right away. You have OpenOffice.org as an office suite, the GIMP as a photo editor, F-Spot as a photo organizer, and much much more. Open source & Linux is everywhere, even Google uses it to develop its software. WordPress is open-source, most web servers run Linux, many websites are running off Drupal which is open-source, and even Dell is selling computers with Ubuntu Linux on them!

If you’re not ready to take the plunge you can install many programs that run on Linux on your Windows machine. I know Apple computers like to boast being spyware-free, virus-free, and stable but you can have all that and more running Linux (although I do concede that OSX is superior when it comes to video/image editing).

So instead of giving Bill Gates more of your money, give Linux a chance and you’ll be wondering why you ever bothered to pay for software which can easily be replaced with much more superior, stable software.