white noise

Well, the day has finally arrived. I have fancy new Dell Dimension E521 with an AMD dual core processor and Windows XP Home edition included. I started with Kubuntu on my laptop about 4 months ago and although I have a looooong way to go, I feel confident enough to call it my default OS. It’s a start. I’ll keep XP Home on the new desktop as long as it’s supported and possibly longer. However, because I find Microsoft’s philosophy and business practices truly abhorrent any more, I can’t say I’m willing to buy another Windows OS. If I can’t make it on Linux, I’ll buy a friggin Mac.

I’ve also found OpenOffice.org to be a delightful replacement for the Microsoft Office suite. Unlike changing operating systems, replacing MS Office with OpenOffice.org is fairly simple. There are subtle changes to some features, but otherwise, they’re very similar in look and feel. Again, instead of paying $200 to $500 for software you can’t use how you wish, you can help support projects like OOo with donations or your time. That time you give may be as simple as letting your friends and family know it’s a great program and that they should try it. Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool!

Yes, I’d like everyone to abandon Microsoft. You know the addage: Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. There are alternatives to surrendering the freedom to choose. Some are more difficult than others. We didn’t like what the Republicans have been up to and so we let them know by voting in the Democrats. David beat Goliath.

We could win, too.