HI
And welcome to the first blog from my corner of the interweb.
Firstly let me introduce myself again for those who haven't or can not be bothered to read my profile page. My name is Zachary Rappell and I am, like most people I know, an avid user of Open Source and in particular Ubuntu Linux. However, this does not mean that my thoughts or writings represent the same of those on the Open Source Technology Solutions team. Luckily for me they have kindly given me this little niche into which I can culture my own thoughts and given me the privilege to share them with you, the avid reader.

Now that that little disclaimer is out of the way I can now commit to the question in the title. What can Linux do for the Average Joe?
Unfortunately for the Open Source community a lot of mud has been thrown into their faces throughout the years questioning the quality, ethics and feasibility of programs and OS. As well as a lot of publicity bad-mouthing ^[1]. This, I believe, leaves a sour taste in the mouth for future customers when really in today's world, Open Source's flag is flying as high as ever.

Let me paint this picture for you, A man walks into a computer store looking for either a new computer or portable laptop. Without blinking I can only think of one item that should be on that shopping list, the brilliantly created Asus Eee Pc. This ingenious creation oozes portability and ease of use. Anyone can use them and everyone wants one, no wonder Asus is now the most hated company in the computing industry ^[2]. To put this laptop into perspective, this 7" beauty runs a combo Xandros^[3] distribution of Linux and although I personally wouldn't call this Linux's defining moment it looks fantastic all the same. The startup time for the Eee is about 10 seconds, and that's when it's being slow. Shutdown is performed with the simple one click of an "off" icon in the lower right hand of the screen (this "off" graphic is always present) and the total shutdown time is a whopping 5 seconds. We've all been ruined by slow hard drives and a bloated Windows OS I know, but I felt kind of giddy with glee seeing such fast startup and shutdown even after being spoilt with my own fairly speedy shutdown presented by Ubuntu on my system. I could talk forever on the qualities of this machine, however, we must press on.

So, if then, this man doesn't want this laptop and instead would rather something more powerful, maybe for some gaming.
Again, let us start with another project I am excited about, Shuttle's new $200 Linux barebone PC^[4]. Apart from the outrageously cheap price of this PC the great thing about these systems is the ability to 'beef up' your PC with the same ease as boiling water. Thus satisfying the hardware side and needs of any digital artist and hardcore gamer in this time/world.

i guess then the last question for the average guy is, "How can I use my windows programs on my new OS?". Well if this issue must be discussed then I would have to divulge that Wine, a windows emulator for Linux will do your every dirty deed for you. Especially with the release of wine 0.9.53^[5], all your bloated, spyware infested files are safe.

So if you were to ask me in one sentence to say why the average guy should go Open Source, I couldn't do it. With too many variables and human needs it is almost impossible to pinpoint what system and programs he will need. But I can guarantee that there will be an Open Source Solution suited for them.

Zachary Rappell

"Give me your Tux"

1.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/firefox_wicca.png

2.

The Most Hated Company in the PC Industry (http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3719...)

3.

Xandros on Asus (http://www.eeeuser.com/2007/10/29/eee-pc-xandros-linux-review/)

4.

Shuttle's $199 PC (http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9847365-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=N...)

5.

Wine HQ (http://winehq.org/?announce=0.9.53)