Personally, I enjoy the comfort and convenience of using the iTunes music store with my iPod. While Linux may work brilliantly for them, most open software will still present roadblocks to the casual user. Often times these self-titled “apostles” simply come off to the general public as zealots. Unfortunately, many often bespectacled and shaggy-haired Linux enthusiasts have been steeped in the medicine of free software for too long. Microsoft Outlook has precisely the same problem if you have to use an Exchange server. But who can resist the simplicity of an MP3 player that just works? Linux enthusiasts would argue that you shouldn’t buy an iPod in the first place, because you are inherently supporting a locked-down corporate hierarchy. While you may be able to play most of the contents of your iPod in Linux, if and when it crashes, you’ll have to find someone with a Mac or PC to reset your iPod for you. Linux developers add support for new hardware all the time, but as Linux does not involve much corporate profit in comparison to Windows, Linux is always playing a game of catch-up, even if Linux catches up more and more quickly as time goes on.ĭespite all of this visual beauty, the pragmatist will note that he or she can under no circumstances use the iTunes music store, or virtually any other online music store, because of copyright-protection setups that simply don’t work on Linux. However, if you happen to have a brand-new PC or Mac, Linux very well may not support the hardware in your laptop. While this was previously the case, today the more popular versions of Linux, such as Ubuntu, Dell’s choice, and OpenSUSE, both incorporate very simple procedures for basic setup. I implied that Linux is simply hard to set up properly. To the general public, “free” is often associated with “cheap” and, therefore, “shoddy.” When I dismissed Linux in my last column, I had no intention of implying that Linux is shoddy. We will save thousands of dollars simply because we won’t be paying licensing fees to Microsoft. Consequently, when I travel to Ghana this spring break with a Reach Out trip, the computers in the laboratory we will be setting up will all run Linux - piracy of Microsoft software and community service should not go together. Its principal advantage, however, is that it is available at virtually no cost. Open-source software truly is inspiring and very helpful to the market. These last two reasons are precisely why computer-science majors are so excited about Linux and the world of open-source development. Unlike Windows Mobile or its computer counterpart, Windows Vista, Android is freely modifiable in every sense of the word and is available to manufacturers at no cost. But the Android software package is completely accessible to anyone with an Internet connection. While Apple opened up its iPhone to developers who wanted to create add-on programs, the rest of the software running on that phone is still closed to the public’s peering eyes. The significance of this development is not simply that the Android platform runs on Linux - Nokia phones have been doing this for ages - but that it is open-source. Google didn’t actually design a phone to sell to the masses, but the corporation did design a software suite called “Android” that will run on many phones, much like Windows Mobile does today. After years of rumors regarding the company’s intentions to produce a “gPhone,” Google made an announcement about the public buzz in November.
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