Stranger in a strange land

Life with Linux, week two…

A week ago, I decided to – finally – begin my move to Linux. Not the first time I try, but this time, it seems like Ubuntu is at least mature enough for me to stay. I still dualboot, since some stuff just won’t play nice (games, mostly). I run Photoshop and InDesign in a VirtualBox shell, which means they only get access to about half of my RAM, but they work and they work well. And as for the rest of my usual gripes, they have all been addressed. Foobar2000 has given way to MPD + gbemol. ID3-TagIT was discarded in favour of EasyTAG, WingIDE (for Python programming) had a Linux version (which, btw, I’m probably going to pay for one of these days. It’s that good) and so did wxFormBuilder, most of what PsiWin could do, I can do using PLPtools – and better. Except for conversion of transfered documents. I can’t seem to get Psiconv to work properly on my files. Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice are, of course, identical. DaemonTools has its counterpart in AcetoneISO2, font managing works just swell with FontMatrix, I read my digital comix with Comix, still use Putty and Mumble, Brasero is a rather competent CD burner and if it isn’t enough, Nero exists on the Linux platform as well. I use a combination of BitlBee and X-chat to do all my IM stuff, distraction-free. The XBMC port for Linux works very well, which is really important for my next project…

So, what are my thoughts? It all works very well. I used to feel awkward in Linux, constricted and disturbed. I used to itch to get back to windows. That’s usually why I end up going back to that monster of an OS with my proverbial tail between my legs. Not this time. Whanever I boot up Windows now, I feel strange. Like I’m wearing the wrong size in clothes or something. It’s very annoying. Luckily, I only boot into Windows to play certain games, like City of Heroes or Tunguska. Linux is no longer a strange land to me, but more like a new apartment. All my old furniture is there, and the whole thing feels more and more like a home. Too bad I couldn’t find a good spot for that gigantic sofa, or I’d be able to move out completely from my old apartment.

It’s good to be home, in any case.

Expect more reports as things progress.